Running 100 miles sounds like a pretty crazy thing to do. When people hear about it, a lot of people remark that even driving 100 miles makes them tired. While completing a 26.2 mile marathon is the ultimate goal for many runners, there are people who run races that are much longer.
Ultrarunning Becoming More Popular
Several years ago, I finished the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Miler. There were 119 runners on the starting line. This year, so many people signed up for the race that race officials with the VHTRC had to conduct a lottery to determine who could participate. While running 100 miles on a good surface is plenty tough, the MMT100 is even more challenging because it takes place on rocky mountain trails that repeatedly go up and down over Virginia’s Massanutten mountain range. The MMT100 begins on May 16th this year.
Why do people want to run 100 miles?
Usually, there are just a few competitive ultrarunners with a good chance of winning. For most others, they are motivated to test themselves and see if they can go the distance. The 100 mile “run” is actually a mix of running and walking. Typically, runners will run the downhills and flat sections and hike the uphill portions. Most runners do not nap during the event, but do need to eat several times during the race.
Those who finish a 100 mile event within the required cutoff time are rewarded with a belt buckle and a sense of accomplishment that can never be taken away.
While some ultrarunners keep entering races for decades, personally I never plan to enter another 100 miler. For me, once was enough.
