r/Ultramarathon

Shout out to the psychopaths who completed this race. I'm in awe. Just saw pictures of my bros legs and feet. Figured I'd ask what other people experience at this distance. He said both big toes are completely numb.

How long after your first ultra did it take to feel back to normal? I'm following a training plan with a coach and did my first ultra on August 1. It was a loop style race and in total I did 37.5 miles over about 8 to 9 hours. I honestly haven't felt super sore at all, but I feel like I've just been completely exhausted. Slowly ramping back up my mileage for my next race in October and even on a 7 to 10 mile run, the legs just feel like lead. Not pain or sore but just tired. And overall just very tired in general. I keep super close track of my fueling and nutrition but maybe it's still not enough? Just looking for input from how people felt after their first ultra! Thank you!

I grew up in the Peak District, UK, and spent a lot of time outdoors as a child, especially hiking with my family. I started fell-running as a young adult, and gradually moved to longer, more technical races. In 2019, I won the 268-mile Montane Spine race outright, breaking the overall course by over 12 hours. In 2024, on my third attempt, I became the first woman to complete the Barkley Marathons, reaching the gate with just 99 seconds to spare of the 60 hour time limit.

Aside from running, I am a mum to three children (8 years, 6 years, and 11 months) and a specialist veterinarian, working at the University of Edinburgh Small Animal Hospital. In 2022 I co-founded the Green Runners, a community-led group founded to inspire and inform runners to make more sustainable choices for the planet.

So Reddit, ask me anything about running, racing, balancing work and motherhood with training, activism, or anything else you are interested in!

https://preview.redd.it/scdzekcrc0kh1.jpg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a5ee515c670bc548cf094fd8bf12433b2f0382d3

I'm training for my first 50 miler which is in November. Completed a 50km last year and it was the most fun I think I've ever had in my adult life, so I've been absolutely pumped to train for and attempt the 50mile. It has about 2000m elevation.

Training has been going well, until I did a 55km hike over 3 days with about 600m elevation each day. Got a little niggle in my left ankle (I think potentially tibialis anterior tendon), took some runs off, went back to it, it went away, then increased my mileage way too quickly and the pain came back, so I went back to reloading it slowly. Successfully completed a 34km 1000m+ elevation gain long run on the weekend bringing my total mileage for that week to about 70km, so I thought I was back in business. This week, I went out and did an intense hill running session (15x1minute reps at about 75%), and started experiencing significant pain in my ankle again. It's the worst it's been so far.

I have a physio appointment booked, but I guess I'm looking for advice on how screwed I am or advice about how people have managed injuries during their training blocks and whether or not they've still managed to complete their races. I'm about 11 weeks out from the race, and ideally would love to be hitting as many kms as I can, but this one small part of my body is holding me back. I'm finding it incredibly frustrating. I also have a B race booked and paid for this weekend which is 40km, 1600m+ elevation and looks amazing that I really don't want to miss.

Any advice / personal experience stories would be much appreciated. I'm sure the physio will be big help as well.

I’m relatively new to the marathon running scene and recently registered for the Taco Bell 50K. When should I expect to hear more information about race day? Is there typically a lot of communication leading up to the event, or is it more of a ‘show up and run’ kind of thing?

my first time doing Ultraman pop culture than doing random gameplay, would love to hear your thoughts.

My GI system has been through a lot. Years of night shift eating has basically trained my stomach to accept food at completely random hours without complaint, which I thought would be an advantage going into ultra training. Turns out a 6 hour training run on trails is a different kind of stress than scarfing down hospital cafeteria pasta at 3am

I track nutrition pretty obsessively and still cannot nail down a fueling strategy that holds up past the 3 hour mark. I do fine early, then somewhere around mile 15 or 16 everything gets unpredictable. Gels work until they don't. Real food sounds good in theory but I've made some bad decisions at aid station tables that I won't repeat

What I'm trying to figure out is whether people land on a strategy through actual testing and iteration or whether it's mostly race day luck and gut adaptation over a long training block. I've read about training the gut like any other system but I'm not sure how seriously people actually do that in practice versus just saying it

What clicked for people who went from marathon fueling habits to actually managing nutrition across a 50k or longer? Was there a specific change that made the difference or did it just take a lot of miserable long runs to sort out.

Running the big loop around Mont Blanc (100 mile race) in a week and a half and am doing my finishing touches on packing before heading across the pond.

Any tips / tricks that more experienced folks would be willing to share for a first timer? I’ve had a great training block and feeling fit and ready to go but this will be my longest event, and first multi-day race. Would appreciate any and all advice, especially with regards to pacing / night running / gear etc.

FWIW, A time is 36 hours / B time is 40 hours / C time is finish (most importantly!).

Thanks all!

Edit: this is my first time running the UTMB race (110 mile loop around Mont Blanc), not my first ultra or UTMB branded event. Just looking for advice from folks who have run the big loop before!

Mark Dowdle(USA) & Ayyoub El Osrouti(GER) final 2 runners. Loop 88.

Looking for anyone who may have some insight to a good alternative to the Mount to Coast H1. I bought them last week and ran 30miles on trails with them. Overall, I love the feel! The only problem I’m having with them is that i can definitely feel sharp pointed rocks when I land hard on them going downhill.

Previously ran in the New Balance Hierro v8 and never had any problems with the same thing.

Does anyone know if the T1 or M1 doesn’t deal with the same issues? For reference I’m in North AL and trails around her get quite technical.

Mark Dowdle wins with 94 laps. Great event, this coverage is unmatched and there were a lot of inspirational stories and records, cant wait for more races of this quality.

I’m looking for some perspective from more experienced ultrarunners because I’m having a hard time figuring out whether I’m being realistic or letting my emotions get in the way.

I’m planning to run Superior 100 in three weeks. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten the volume I was hoping for. My last 9 weeks have looked like:

24 miles / 4 hours
30 miles / 4.75 hours
26 miles / 4 hours
34 miles / 5.5 hours
24 miles / 4 hours
29 miles / 5 hours
36 miles / 6 hours
43 miles / 6.75 hours
43 miles / 6.75 hours

I’m confident in my fitness, so that’s not really what concerns me. Over the past two years I’ve run two 50Ks and a 50-miler, all on the same course. The 50-miler was the back half of the 100 last year, and I ran a 50K on the course this spring, so I’m very familiar with the terrain and what I’m getting myself into.

I’m planning to taper well, and I have two more long runs coming up that should hopefully give me some additional information about where I’m at.

The bigger concern is my knees. I’ve struggled with runner’s knee over the past few years, and my knees tend to flare up in the few weeks leading into races. So far, the actual races have gone surprisingly well with minimal knee issues. I saw a PT a few months back but I failed to fully follow-through on the exercises and drills I was prescribed.

This past weekend, I did a 4-hour night run after spending the entire day working on my feet. I ran on roads, and my runner’s knee flared up pretty badly during the second half of the run.
That has gotten in my head a little. If my knees are hurting during a 4-hour run, how realistic is it to expect them to hold up for 28+ hours?

I’m emotionally invested in this race, so the thought of a DNS hurts. At the same time, I understand that a DNS is much better than causing a serious injury because of my ego.

For those of you with 100-mile experience: How would you approach this?

Would you still plan on starting and see how the next couple of weeks/taper go?

If I do start, my mindset would be that I’m committed to finishing, but I’m also willing to drop if the knee pain becomes significant enough that continuing could cause further injury.

I’d really appreciate some honest reality checks - especially from people who have been in a similar situation before. Thanks for the help!

Training for first 50k in early Nov. I have a rough plan based on modifying/combining plans I found online. My plan peaks at 42 MPW with a long run of 18 miles (running 5x / week). That equates to 43% of my mileage that week. Is that a bad idea? I'm trying to reconcile the following three pieces of "conventional wisdom" that don't seem to mesh:

1. You only need ~30 MPW to finish a 50k
2. You should try to have at least one long run in the 18-20 mile range
3. Your long runs shouldn't be more than 30% of your weekly mileage

I could reduce my long runs and add miles to my other runs to keep the same weekly mileages, but am I going to be in trouble if my longest training run is ~14 miles?

Hi all, need some advise please. I tweaked my knee two weeks ago on a 36km run. Finished the run and felt fine but a couple of hours later I had a dull aching pain. Decided to rest for 3/4 days then managed a 10km but the pain soon returned. Its now nearly 2 weeks after and the pain is still there. I can walk fine stretch ect but I'm fearful if I attempt any training it'll flare up.

I'm due to do a 54km on September 19th and don't want to risk failing this. I've come so far from not being able to run 5km in February to hitting 75km a week in July I don't want to put anything at risk.

Can someone advise me if I should try a short run and ease back in or stay resting for another couple of weeks please.

Absolutely incredible watch this has been!

5 left and we are 64 hours in. 420km. This is a very strong field and the live coverage is so very much appreciated. Rappid has done a fantastic job with promoting this event and the backyard ultra format.

https://www.youtube.com/live/E5o4pTPZmPs?si=Og4-WfhCOImiGEMD

Who do you guys have?

I believe that Norman Mascher, Ello, and Hendrik will be top three, and Norman to win it!

Planning to do my first ultra, likely 50km/50m.
I was curious how far out people train typically? I’m aware it’s vastly different, but just wondering if there’s a general consensus. I have ran many half marathons, so not too worried about doing the actual training for something. Well aware this is a different beast.

Bonus for good/cool races for a first timer? Located in Michigan if that helps.

Very excited to give myself a challenge.