Ultra-motivated runners

Skiing went through its own growing pains in the late 1970s when an explosion of popularity led to long lift lines.  Hot-doggers in tight pants and short skis were pushing traditionalists into the backcountry and for the faithful few it was a sport that had lost its soul. For long distance runners tired of fighting their way to the start line 10 minutes after the starter’s pistol has fired, and longing for a community that the marathon hasn’t seen in at least a generation, ultra-distance events may be the isolated backcountry of running. For writer Vanessa Rodriguez, this is exactly how she likes it.

“Ultra runners see themselves as more of a family, and they feel responsible for each other on the trail,” she said. “There are some stories about front-pack runners coming across wild animals, waiting up to 10-20 minutes for the runners behind them, and together facing the obstacle to get through safely,” Rodriguez said.

Despite the inherent cooperative spirit among some, if not most runners, the highest strata of the sport is reserved for competitors who are able to complete courses, which can total in excess of 160K, unsupported. In races like the 135-mile Badwater ultra that begins at the floor of Death Valley and finishes at the base of Mount Whitney, unsupported can mean towing hundreds of kilograms of water through the desert. This inclination to cover vast distances unsupported, though peculiar and even rare within ultrarunning circles, in fact, forms the foundation of the sport itself. Consider that many believe that the birth of the sport occurred in 1974 when Gordon Ansleigh, upon realizing that his horse was lame prior to the Western States Trail Ride, chose to run the 160K and the animating principle behind these extreme tests of endurance becomes less opaque.

It’s a do-it-yourself ethos that hasn’t been part of long distance events since the Boston Athletics Association expected athletes to either secure their own water en route or rely on the generosity of spectators handing out orange slices. These days, it’s hard to find a 5K race that doesn’t provide a water-station every few hundred meters.

If rock and roll is as much about the lifestyle as it is about the music, and distance running isn’t just about race day, many ultras appear to embrace the best of both worlds, simultaneously offering a Dionysian contrast to the puritan marathon culture that presumes deference to a “healthy lifestyle,” observing a code of minimalism that, paradoxically is likely much closer to the spirit true of distance running than the race t-shirts, medals and loot bags that litter the contemporary marathon scene.

Rodriguez admits that she isn’t in it for her health.

“Nobody is running this far to lose weight or to get healthy. There is a deeper drive., a calling from the mountains, a camaraderie with the other runners. And an incredibly addictive perspective on running and life.”

According to Rodriguez, many ultras, such as the Woodstock and Born to Run Ultras actively encourage drinking, skinny dipping, and general nudity, not only the night before the race but sometimes between loops on the course, making the popular and syndicated “Rock and Roll” marathons seem closer to Celine Dion covering Back in Black than anything remotely rocking.

Rodriguez believes that how you run is more important than how fast or even how far.

“A few months ago I was running an ultra and got lost,” she recounted. “I cut the course short by accident and realized my mistake when the first place runner came up behind me. I had gotten in front of him. He stopped dead in his tracks to offer to help me with directions, even though he was defending his spot in first place and had no idea how far behind the next guy was. He didn’t think twice about wasting time explaining the course markings. That’s the sort of community and spirit that I value in ultras.”

As the marathon becomes swarmed by people who hope to endure the course but care nothing for the race, who have their attendance taken at the finish line but flout the relative quality of their effort; check it off the list and brag forever, ultra-running offers a throwback to a time when the sport was fuelled by beer, flat coke, waffle trainers and a community of iconoclasts.