100 Mile Runs

I've only done umstead and TRIED to do Western States (canceled due to forest fires)

Umstead in NC is on a fire road. So it seems that it may be an "easier" one than most other ones, as they are generally in trails. I can tell you from doing 70 miles of the Western States course in training weekends that WS is freaking tough.

Both races stated above are very well organized, scenic and all the racers involved were very friendly. 

There is another poster on here that just finished one a month or so ago, Jesswah I believe. They may be able to share more info.

GOOD LUCK! oh, and good luck getting in for the next year as well. Most races fill MONTHS in advance.

TEMPTING... VERY TEMPTING!!

For scenery it would be hard to beat the Hardrock Trail 100 in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. It's also well organized. The catch is that it's brutally difficult.

A little less difficult and still scenic/organized is the Leadville Trail 100.

Be aware that the DNF rate for either of the races is close to 50%.

You might want to check out this site:

http://www.run100s.com/

Yes, it is closed.  I'm in because I was in last year and it was canceled and they automatically signed us up this year. 

You have to qualify AND get your name drawn.  1600 people entered the drawing last year. Less than 300 are drawn. 

If you qualify 2 years in a row and don't get drawn your an automatic entry for the third year, assuming you qualify again.

Western States probably won't take anyone for 09 since 08 burned out.

Headlands 100 is spectacular.  I haven't run it, but did a night run of the first 50 of the course... awesome views of the bay area, SF, the coastline (I love that area).  Everything that PCTR does is very well organnized.

Heard good things about Javeline Jundred in regards to it being a bit like a Halloween party on feet... lots of people dress in costume, saw a pic of a guy from last year as a pink fairy!  But it can also be HOT... no shade, boring with the loops.

Cascade Crest is also very scenic.  Both CC and Headlands are challenging courses (I've heard Headlands may have more climbing than advertised).

Definitely do check out run100s.com as it has lots of good info on the races including cutoffs and finishing rates.  You may also want to head over to RunnersWorld.com and in the trail running forum is a lot of 100 mile runners.

There's a new one in Philadelphia, in July.  This year was the first year for it.  20 in 24, I believe.

It's not a true 100 miler, in that you do as many loops as you want in a 24 hour period.

A great resource for ultra runners is:

www.run100s.com

Matt Cazalas - Technical Writer

Network Cables

I have a naive question: how do train for a 100+ mile run (other than run lots)? I am assuming you don't run 100 miles prior to race, but do you run 80 miles (i.e. the equivalent of the 20 miler training for a marathon)?  Also, do you have pacers and a support team with you to bring you food, water, provide entertainment?

There are so many different ways to train for an ultra - and the length of your longest run varies widely between people.  First, some people do 1 long run on the weekend, while others do back to back runs.  I've heard of people with long runs of 50 miles (or less) - some of these people may do a weekend of say, 40 mi on Sat and 20+ mi on Sun, others not.  Some people will run a 50mi or 100k race as preparation 3 or so weeks out.  Others may do long solo training runs of up to 75 or 80 miles.  I feel that it's not necessary to run even 70 miles before the race... maybe not even 60.  And some people don't even pay that much attention to the miles, but rather the time on their feet (your body knows time, not distance). 

I went the route of a 62 mi solo long run - it may not have been necessary, but it gave me confidence that I had trained well.  There is a fine line between training yourself sufficiently while avoiding injury.  One big difference is that you will likely not be doing a long run every weekend - instead every 3 or 4 weekends, with shorter (15-30mi) runs on the weekends between, and the occaisional off weekend.

As far as pacers/crew - it's a personal choice.  I chose to have a pacer - wound up not being necessary as the night portion of the run wound up being on roads, but it was still nice to have company/moral support.  For most organized runs, I don't feel crew is necessary, but it can be nice to see a friendly face at 2am after running 80 miles.  I may or may not have a pacer for my next race - for me, the main reason would be that I'm too paranoid to run through the woods alone at night.

Take this all with a grain of salt... it's just my view of things, and I've only done one so far.

thanks.  interesting stuff.  I'd never have time to train for one or the desire to spend about 2 days running, but it is amazing what the human body is capable of.  sorry for the hijack

You do the first two fun runs of these four runs!  This page is a "joke", a local ultra-runner put it up, he does organize the Wickham Park 200 every year though, four 50 mile days, only has been completed once.

Nuts to even think about it!

The concept of a "short run" being only 15-30 miles is foreign to most people. It's so different from many marathon plans that call for a high volume week of about 45 miles, when the ultra runners often do that much in a single day.

A local ultrarunner here tries to keep his weekly mileage to no more than 180 miles. However, he has often exceeded 200 for several weeks in a row in the build for a key race. I think some of these guys use marathons as speedwork!

I have a relative who does ultra and it's common for him to do runs of 5-8 hours. He does well in races up to about 100K, but after that he has had nutritional problems. He keeps trying to talk me into an ultra, but so far I've resisted. I still plan on an iron distance race in my future before I go that long on a run.

It's