Consider whether having lots of fellow participants sounds exciting and motivating, or hectic, and make your decision accordingly. Some folks will simply find a route and run an ultra by themselves! Again, the size of the event you choose will be dictated by the experience you’re looking for. Popular ultras can attract thousands of participants, while others might consist of a handful of friends. If your only goal is to complete an ultramarathon, or if you’re new to the sport, finding a local event can help eliminate some of the unknowns and let you focus on the experience. While it’s quite possible to thrive at a destination race, participants should be aware of the potential stressors before signing up. While it’s great to see new places and cultures through running, it can also be expensive as well as challenging in terms of disrupted sleep and dietary routines. ![]() Many runners like to target a “destination” race, which allows them to enjoy some travel around their event. Ultramarathon Distance & Elevation Comparison Is it possible to train for Hardrock or Leadville if you live in Kansas? Absolutely, but it will take more effort to prepare for the altitude and elevation change you’ll encounter. ![]() Factors like altitude, elevation change, the technicality of the trail, and typical weather can spell success or disaster on race day. With that in mind, consider whether your available training environment will give you the specificity you need to race well in your chosen event. Part of the beauty of ultra running is that you’ll be spending some serious quality time with the landscape. Other Considerations When Choosing an Ultramarathon Course Characteristics For newer runners or those new to ultra distances, participation in a big ultramarathon event can be a multi-year process. If your goal event requires a qualifier, be honest with yourself about the recovery you’ll need after a qualifying event, and plan your timeline accordingly. Experienced ultra runners may need only a month or so to get back to training after a big race, but newer runners may only be able to tolerate one ultramarathon a year (even if they do smaller races to prepare). This is an important consideration because of the time required to recover from an ultra event. PrerequisitesĪs on the road, many of the more famous and/or popular ultramarathons require qualification through results at other events and some are invite-only. The key when training this way is to make sure you’re working up to total training times that approach the total race duration of your target event This can mean planning some back-to-back long runs in the more advanced stages of your training. This can feel counterintuitive if you’re used to logging mile totals each week, but it will be more productive for your performance on the trail. The best way to set yourself up for success is to plan your training runs around time rather than distance. This can have some serious implications for your training in terms of attitude, planning, and performance. Because terrain can vary wildly in terms of elevation and technicality, an eight-minute mile effort on the road might net you 15 minutes for one mile of trail, or seven minutes if you’ve got a big descent. This isn’t always the case when it comes to trails. If you’ve trained for a road marathon or other distance before, you know that a big part of planning your runs and measuring your performance has to do with pacing. Courses may be point-to-point, loops, or multiple laps of the same loop. ![]() Ultramarathons can be self-supported, or may include aid-stations, crews, and volunteers.Courses can feature singletrack, dirt roads, pavement, or a combination of all three.Competition distances can range from 50 kilometers to 100 miles or more, covered in one push.An ultramarathon is any run exceeding the marathon distance of 26.2 miles, or 42 kilometers.
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