Scott Jurek, now of Boulder, Colorado, was raised in Minnesota. He had an active childhood in the outdoors. In high school, he began running to get into shape for cross-country skiing. Eventually running grew on him and he developed a passion for trail running. During his college years, after being challenged by a friend, he ran his first ultra, the 1994 Minnesota Voyageur Trail 50 and finished second among 69 finishers. Like many ultrarunners before him, he at first said, “never again.” His training increased and two years later, in 1996, he won the Minnesota Voyageur, his first ultra victory. In 1996, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in health science and later received a master’s degree in physical therapy.
After college, Jurek moved to Seattle, Washington, and began to compete in western trail ultras against some of the best trail ultrarunners in the country. He consistently would finish in the top three and some wins started to come in 50Ks and 50-mile trail races. Winning thrilled him, but he wanted to push his boundaries and explore his potential. After setting the course record at Minnesota Voyageur, he wanted to step up and run a 100-mile race – the 1998 Angeles Crest 100 in California. He placed second with 19:05:35 against stiff competition, including Tarahumara runners. He wrote, “I had almost won my first 100-miler. Now I knew I could run this distance. I knew I could win too. But few others knew it. It was my little secret.”
At age 25, Jurek set his sights on Western States 100, the race that had the most fame in the sport. As he put it, he wanted to use the race to prove to Northern Californians and the rest of the elite ultrarunners that he was worthy to be in their fraternity. The proof came, and the secret was out when Jurek, called a “flatlander” by some competition, won the 1999 Western States 100 in 17:34:22, dethroning five-time winner Tim Twietmeyer, of Auburn, who came in second. Jurek became only the second non-California runner to win the iconic race. He showed great joy at the finished, did barrel rolls across the finish line, kissed the track and jumped up, yelling “Minnesota, Minnesota.” His win as a first-timer at Western States shocked many, along with his successful strategy to lead from start to finish. Jurek said, “I went out hard and fast because that’s the only way you can try to beat people like Tim.” He went on to win Western States seven straight years.
In 2004, Jurek completed the “Grand Slam of Ultrarunning,” Western States 100, Vermont 100, Leadville Trail 100, and Wasatch Front 100, with the second fastest combined time in history up to that year, (now the fifth fastest time in history.) Jurek’s continued dominance on the trails and on the roads earned him Ultrarunning Magazine’s “ultrarunner of the year” for 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007.
In 2005, just two weeks after winning Western States 100 again, he followed that up by testing his speed and endurance on the roads by running in the hot and tough Badwater 135, across Death Valley to the Mt. Whitney portal. He won in course record time, 24:36:08, breaking the record by 85 minutes, and was the first to do a back-to-back Western States and Badwater within two weeks. He also won there the following year.
Jurek received an invitation in 2006 to travel to Mexico to run in the Copper Canyon Ultra (47 miles) with the Tarahumara. Accepting the invite and treating it more like a vacation to learn about the indigenous people. He finished second that year but returned in 2007 and won in course record time, and was featured in the best-selling book, Born to Run, published in 2009.
A few months later, in 2006, he traveled to Greece to run in the 153-mile Spartathlon road race from Athens to Sparta to compete against some of the finest ultrarunners in the world. There were 292 starters from 34 countries. He surprised the international world and became the first American to win the race. His time of 22:52:18 was only second to the legendary Yiannis Kouros’ times when he won Spartathlon four times. Jurek won Spartathlon in impressive fashion for the next three years, each time by more than an hour ahead of the second place runner.
After a DNF at hist first Hardrock 100 attempt in 2000, Jurek returned in 2007, spending a month in Silverton, Colorado, to acclimatize and train for the race at altitude. Unfortunately, he sprained his ankle two nights before the race but still started the tough mountainous course in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado. He toughed it out, and the ankle eventually went numb. He won in course-record time of 26:08:34.
In 2010, as a member of team U.S.A., he competed in the 24-hour world championship at Brive, France, where he finished second and set an American 24-hour record of 165.7 miles. He became an author in 2012 when he wrote about his running memoirs, along with his vegan lifestyle in Eat & Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness.
In 2013, he retired from competitive ultrarunning turning to family, business, and adventure running projects. In 2015 he accomplished the fastest known time on the Appalachian Trail, south to north in 46 days, 8 hours, 7 minutes, and later in 2018, co-authored, with his wife Jenny, their best-selling book, North: Finding my Way While Running the Appalachian Trail.
During his ultrarunning career, Jurek had at least 34 overall wins that included ten course records. His last known ultra finish came at age of 39, in 2013. PRs: marathon – 2:38, 50K – 3:04, 50 Miles – 5:50, 100K – 7:28, 100 Miles – 15:36 (Western States 100), 24 Hours – 165.7 miles.
Congratulations to Scott Jurek. Visit the American Ultrarunning Hall of Fame to read about the past inductees.