Throughout the course, runners must locate 13 books hidden amongst the loops and tear out a page corresponding with their race number.

Over the course of 60 hours, runners must ascend and descend about 120 000 feet in elevation – the equivalent of climbing up and back down Mount Everest, twice. Often touted as the ‘masochist’s marathon’ and one of the hardest ultramarathons in the world, the Barkley Marathons is a series of five loops totalling 100 miles (approximately 160 kilometres) through Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee, USA. This will focus upon one very specific ultramarathon, that many would not have heard of: the Barkley Marathons. Famous ultramarathons include: the Grand to Grand Ultra (winding through the Grand Canyon), the Amazon Jungle Challenge (featuring a 10 500 feet trek through the Amazon), the Badwater Ultra (racing through Death Valley in the heat of summer) and the Spartatholon (held in Athens over 36 hours).īut this will not focus upon the history of women in those ultramarathons or in ultramarathons in general. Typically, ultramarathons falls into two categories: a specific distance that runners need to cover (usually either 50 kilometres, 100 kilometres or 160.93 kilometres), or an event dictated by a specific amount of time (and the winner is the person who has gone the furthest in the allocated time period). They are endurance races designed for the marathon runner who has conquered the traditional marathon and is looking for something more, something faster, something longer, or something higher. Whilst a traditional marathon is a gruelling 42.195 kilometres (or 26.219 miles, the distance from Windsor Castle to White City Stadium, as charted in the 1908 London Olympic Games), an ultramarathon is anything above that regulatory length.

What you do not immediately think of is ultramarathons. When you hear the word marathon, typically your mind wanders to the obvious: the Boston Marathon, Maratona di Roma, the Kilimanjaro Marathon, or the International Marathon of Marrakech.

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