Comments on: 6 Races That Make Marathons Look Wimpy

By: David

David — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 21:12:25 +0000

How about the (Continental) Tour Divide Race…Canada to New Mexico.

Tour Divide is an ultra-cycling challenge to race self-supported along all 2,745 miles of Adventure Cycling Association’s Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Tour Divide has no designated rest periods or set distances a racer must travel daily. The clock runs non-stop. She or he who can ride the fastest while making fewer, shorter stops usually wins. With an average time-to-completion of three weeks in the saddle, TD is the longestâ€“arguably most challengingâ€“mountain bike race on the planet. It is a contest for the ultra-fit but only if ultra-prepared for myriad contingencies of backcountry biking.

By: Joel

Joel — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:09:21 +0000

I was in Sacramento recently and there is a mileage sign on I-80 of which the last line reads Ocean City, MD 3078.

By: Kirkland

Kirkland — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:00:45 +0000

and traditon states that the olympic decathalon winner is proclaimed the world’s greatest athlete…frankly, it seems that a person who finishes any of these races without dying should be given a gold medal just because…

but wow. who finishes a 60 hour race in 22 hours?!? that’s insane.

I feel I need to go the gym now…

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:52:59 +0000

I live in Santa Clarita and a couple times my older brother Jason once competed in Bad Water. He lost though!

By: UltraRob

UltraRob — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:43:40 +0000

I’ve finished one of these (the 508) which qualfied me for the one that I made 2,000 miles before dropping out.

By: Larry

Larry — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 04:29:54 +0000

Ha! #2 & #3 look like home to me :)

As one of the closest (and largest) communities to Death Valley, Ridgecrest, CA is the proud home of many Ultra Marathoners. Our local track & bike clubs put on lowest to highest events that are open to the public as well as many other fun events throughout the year.

120 degrees.. yes it gets that hot, and sometimes worse!

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 02:48:38 +0000

Check out the 100 Mile Western States Run here in California

By: Jordan Wilberding

Jordan Wilberding — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:08:00 +0000

This fails in comparison to what marathon monks do.

http://www.howtobefit.com/tendai-marathon-monks.htm

The first 300 days are basic training, during which the monks run 40km per day for 100 consecutive days. In the fourth and fifth years they run 40km each day for 200 consecutive days. That’s more or less a full marathon every day for more than six months. The final two years of the 1000-day challenge are even more daunting. In the sixth year they run 60km each day for 100 consecutive days and in the seventh year they run 84km each day for 100 consecutive days. This is the equivalent of running two Olympic marathons back-to-back every day for 100 days.

By: AS

AS — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:52:59 +0000

Another race that deserves at least to be in the top 10 would be the relatively new “Canadian Death Race” which is run through the wilderness over 3 mountain summits and 125KM. The race is ran in August and runners should be prepared for extreme heat and extreme cold, having had heavy snow during some of the races.

Go to
www (dot) canadiandeathrace (dot)com

By: dolface

dolface — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:43:46 +0000

There is also Primal Quest: the 2008 edition features over 100k feet of elevation gain, and 450 miles of navigation through the wilds of Montana.
Teams of 4 will take 5 – 10 days to complete it, and there are no rest periods, they nap when they can’t go any longer, then go some more.