The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of 42km 195m, usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair divisions. More than 800 marathons are held worldwide each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes, as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants.
Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to two miles. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1500 m came about as a result of running 3+3⁄4 laps of a 400 m outdoor track or 7+1⁄2 laps of a 200 m indoor track, which were commonplace in continental Europe in the 20th century.
Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least 3 km (1.9 mi). Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength.
A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or ice skating. In the Olympic Games, there are several types of relay races that are part of track and field, each consisting of a set number of stages (legs), each leg run by different members of a team. The runner finishing one leg is usually required to pass the next runner a stick-like object known as a "baton" while both are running in a marked exchange zone. In most relays, team members cover equal distances: Olympic events for both men and women are the 400-metre and 1,600-metre relays. Some non-Olympic relays are held at distances of 800 m, 3,200 m, and 6,000 m. In the less frequently run medley relays, however, the athletes cover different distances in a prescribed order—as in a sprint medley of 200, 200, 400, 800 metres or a distance medley of 1,200, 400, 800, 1,600 metres.
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain.
An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of 42.195 kilometres. The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running.
Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport on the fells of northern Britain, especially those in the Lake District. It has elements of trail running, cross country and mountain running, but is also distinct from those disciplines.
The Badwater Ultramarathon is a 135-mile (217 km) ultramarathon race starting at −282 feet (−86 m) below sea level in the Badwater Basin, in California's Death Valley, and ending at an elevation of 8,360 feet (2,550 m) at Whitney Portal, the trailhead to Mount Whitney. It takes place annually in mid-July when the weather is the most extreme and temperatures can reach 130 °F (54 °C) during the day at Badwater Basin.
Multiday races are ultramarathon running events which are typically either segmented into daily events of a specified distance or time, or staged so that runners can run as far as they want, at their own discretion, over a set course or over a set number of days. Multiday races can range from continuous 48-hour track events to staged transcontinental treks.
A 24-hour run is a form of ultramarathon, in which a competitor runs as far as they can in 24 hours. They are typically held on 1- to 2-mile loops or occasionally 400-meter tracks.
Kara Goucher is an American long-distance runner, author, television commentator, and podcaster. She was the 10,000 meters silver medalist at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and represented the USA at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics. She made her marathon debut in 2008 and finished third the following year at the Boston Marathon.
The Ten Mile Road Race is an annual road running race held in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It originated in 1910, and follows a route linking Port Arthur and Fort William. The race draws about 700 runners, and is held annually on Victoria Day, a Canadian national holiday. This holiday occurs on the 3rd Monday in May.
Arthur "Al" Howie was a Canadian long-distance runner who won more than fifty marathons, ultramarathons, and multiday races in over two decades, including the 1991 Trans Canada Highway run in the record time of 72 days and 10 hours. A brass plaque on Victoria's Mile Zero marker commemorates this athletic event for which he raised $750,000 for a fund for children with special needs. Two weeks after running across Canada he won the Sri Chinmoy 1300 Miler in New York improving on his own world record time. Both the Trans Canada run and the 1,300-mile (2,100 km) race qualified for the Guinness Book of Records. He lived in Duncan, B.C., from 2005 until his death in 2016. He had been receiving treatment for Diabetes I. The City of Duncan awarded him the Perpetual Trophy for Excellence and Sportsmanship in December 2007, and in 2014 he was inducted into The Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.
Amy Palmiero-Winters is a below-knee amputee, long-distance runner, and triathlete. She holds eleven world records in various events. In 2010, she was awarded the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States and the ESPN ESPY Award as the top female athlete with a disability in the world.
The Philadelphia Distance Run (PDR) is an annual half marathon road running event which takes place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States on the third Sunday of September.
Eleanor Robinson is a British former ultramarathon runner and two-time winner of the IAU 100km World Championships. She was the first woman to run over 150 miles in a 24-hour endurance race. She was the winner of the first Badwater Ultramarathon in 1987. She was twice bronze medallist at the IAU 100 km European Championships.
Gary Allen is an American long-distance runner, race director and entrepreneur. He is the founder and director of the Mount Desert Island Marathon, the Millinocket Marathon & Half and the co-founder of the Downeast Sunrise Trail Relay and the Great Cranberry Island 50K Ultra Marathon.
Robert Young is an English endurance runner, who was originally known for multiple high profile marathons and long distance runs. He later took part in a failed trans-United States attempt, in which he was found to have cheated.
The backyard ultra or last one standing is a form of ultramarathon race where competitors must consecutively run the distance of 6.706 kilometres (4.167 mi) in less than one hour, which is a pace of 100 miles per 24 hours. The race is over when only one runner remains to complete a lap. This runner is marked as the winner and only finisher, with all other runners receiving a "DNF". The runner who completes the second-most laps in a race is often referred to as the "assist", in the sense that their effort is ultimately what determines how long the race is allowed to continue--there is no predefined end length or time in a backyard ultra, as long as multiple runners can complete each loop within an hour.
Gary Cantrell, known as Lazarus Lake, is an endurance race designer and director. His races include the Barkley Marathons, Big's Backyard Ultra, the Barkley Fall Classic, Vol State 500K, A Race for the Ages, the Last Annual Heart of the South, and the Strolling Jim 40. In 2018, Lake covered the United States on foot, starting in Rhode Island and ending in Oregon.
