Why an Ultra-Marathon?

 

I had just come through a tough four-mile stretch of very rocky terrain.  So rocky, that my feet never seemed to land on dirt.  My toes were in pain from the constant stubbing and banging on rocks and I was moving slowly. Yet after I crossed a very rickety bridge (I use the term “bridge” loosely, it was just some planks nailed together high over a rocky stream, not really a bridge with handrails and stability) and climbed some more rocks until I came to a wider path. This path was still strewn with a few rocks but wider and much easier to navigate.  I felt a bit of relief even though I had another three miles to go before ending my thirty-mile ultra-marathon.  This was my third of three ten-mile loops so I knew that once I got to this point that the last three miles were the easiest to maneuver on the course.

After I had crossed the bridge, I had heard a man scream in pain and then curse loudly to himself.  I did not have to turn around to know what happened because I had done that myself numerous times on this course hitting my toes on the rocks. I would say his screaming and cursing was much louder than mine.  I did turn around though after I got to the wide path and saw the runner by the stream not crossing it but taking his trail shoes off and I guess he was going to put his feet in the icy cold water for some relief. I recognized the man because he had passed me at the mile 14 mark, but I passed him on mile 18 as he was walking then. 

At the aid station, he came in after me and he was struggling.  We were both sitting down with our refreshments refueling when I said to him “Just one more loop.”  He looked up with exhaustion oozing from every pore in in his body and said “I know, it ain’t going to be pretty.” We had been pretty much on the same pace for almost 20 miles.  He was probably in his thirties almost half my age.  I headed out before him and pretty much saw no other runners on the trail for the last ten miles, until I heard him scream.

(Bruised toes)

Why were the two of us doing this? Why was the first in-person race we did during the pandemic an ultra? Why would anyone sign up and do trail ultra-marathons?  Why is the motto for NJ Trail Series, who put on this race, “We make running fun!” If people were looking at us or any of the other runners in this race, the word “fun” does not immediately comes to mind.

I know many people when I tell them I ran a 50 mile or 50k race are amazed and perplexed.  Why would anyone want to do that? If they saw the pain and agony that young man was putting himself through, they would question his sanity. If they saw the bruises on me after the race, they would question my sanity.  As my son says to me when I do an ultra or a grueling obstacle run like the Tough Mudder “Let me get this straight you PAY to punish yourself for a t-shirt!” I look at him and say, “Yes but I get a free beer too!”

Now this may seem strange to think but I used to believe everyone was like me! Like me, they would think it would be “FUN” to test yourself physically and mentally by doing an ultra-trail run. Let me repeat that, I thought everyone if given the chance would want to try something along the lines of an ultra-marathon.

As I was writing this I had to stop at that last paragraph because I quickly realized that the answer to the question - Why an Ultra-Marathon? Was one I thought I had an answer to when I started to write this blog but then it disappeared on me.  It is like waking up after a particularly vivid dream that was great and then not being able to remember it.

Then it hit me to some degree the answer was in the question “Why would someone want to push their body to its limits and maybe beyond?”

For people like me who thoroughly enjoy physical activity, just running and working out is not enough.  Once and a while we want to push ourselves to our limits. While I guess that can be accomplished in a shorter race, once you have done a half-marathon relatively easily you need a new challenge. In some unusual way the challenge really is fun.

While the challenge can be fun, it is not easy. Meb Keflezighi, one of America’s most accomplished marathoners, said in his book 26 Marathons that after his first marathon he wrote in his journal “I don’t ever want to do this again” but he did.  In every marathon, he also thinks to himself “Why am I doing this?” My experience is the same with ultras.  The first one I said “never again” out loud not just to myself but to the runners next to me.  Yet the next year I came back to do the same race.  Every race I say the same thing, “this is my last”, but then I come back.

Emil Zatopek, the only runner to win the 5K, 10K, and marathon in the same Olympics once said “If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience life, run a marathon.”

This is even truer on an ultra because you are running often times on single-track paths and with significant changes in elevation.  My experiences have also included bad weather.  While obstacle races like the Tough Mudder encourage teamwork and camaraderie to get past obstacles, an ultra-marathon is a solo act.  Yes, the fellow racers are encouraging but only you can take the steps.

While I only do one ultra a year, it is the one time I find out about myself. Like, Emil Zatopek says you will “experience life”.  There are times I am carefree, times I am exhausted, times I feel that maybe I am getting too old, times I have to just stop in take in the beauty of the forest, and yes even many times I am having fun. Despite the pain, injuries, and fatigue, at the end when you finish you know that you accomplished something significant, even though, if you are like me, finishing nowhere near the top.  It is not about winning but finishing.

There are very few times in your life when you know that you have pushed your mind and body to its limits and maybe even outperformed your own expectations.  There are very few times in your life when you do not just “believe” but “know” that you can do almost anything. Those times are an ultra-high.  You feel that satisfied with yourself after completing an ultra.  That is why I do ultras for that feeling – plus I get a t-shirt!