Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:25 — 38.2MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Pandora | iHeartRadio | JioSaavn | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More
By Davy Crockett
Many of today’s ultrarunners think that ultrarunning was invented during their lifetime. An article appeared in April 2020 Ultrarunning Magazine that stated falsely, “the format that most of us know as ‘ultrarunning’ today (trail and road races, typically 50k to 100 miles) is barely 50 years old.” Such statements are ignorant of the rich history of the past and the ultrarunners who paved the way, running ultradistances on dirt roads and trails for more than two centuries.
In April 2020, Runners World published an article proclaiming falsely that the first 100-mile ultra was held in 1974. This is part 4 of a rich 100-miler history. More than 1,000 ultrarunners finished 100 miles in less than 24 hours before 1974. If you missed the other parts, you can start with Part 1.
| Subscribe to the Ultrarunning History Podcast. Visit https://ultrarunninghistory.com/subscribe-to-podcast/ |
Contrary to popular misinformed opinion, 100-mile races did not originate in California, with the Western States 100 in 1978. One hundred years before, by the end of 1878, more than 200 successful 100-mile finishes had taken place in the 19th century, most of them with times under 24-hours, on dirt roads, trails, and indoor tracks.
Competitions to walk or run 100 miles have taken place for more than 300 years. 
The 100-miler! Running or walking 100 miles in one-go is an amazing accomplishment. Unfortunately, some people of today still mistakenly believe that the 100-miler was invented in 1974 when a man without his horse ran 100 miles. Contrary to the cunning marketing hype that has been spread for decades, the history of the 100-miler ultra on all surfaces started long before that year. The sub-24-hour 100-miler was accomplished by hundreds of people before that famed journey in the California Sierra in 1974. In April 2020, Runner’s World magazine erroneously called that run “The First 100-mile Ultra.”
The concept of walking or running extreme distances has taken place for thousands of years in many cultures, motivated mostly to relay swift communication between settlements or armies. Historic stories have been found regarding distances that were further than 100 miles such as Pheidippides’ run from Athens to Sparta in 490 B.C., a distance of about 153 miles.
Marcy Schwam, from Massachusetts, was an ultrarunning pioneer in the 1970s and early 1980s, during an era when some people still believed long-distance running was harmful to women. She won about 30 ultramarathons and set at least six world records at all ultra-distances from 50 km to six-days. At one point she ran 100 miles faster than any woman had ever run that far.
Charlie Trayer, of Reading, Pennsylvania, was one of the greatest “short-range” American ultrarunners of the 1980s. During his ultrarunning career, he accumulated at least fifteen ultra wins from 1981-1990, including several national championships. He was known for bolting out into the lead like a “wild banshee” at the start of a race with a “kamikaze attitude” no matter what the distance. It was a winning strategy that he used very effectively.
Park Barner of Pennsylvania was one of the greatest American ultrarunners of the 1970s. He was the first competitive American ultrarunner to become broadly known outside the ultrarunning community. He was shy, disarmingly humble and a man of few words. He avoided the spotlight, never was a self-promoter, and was known for his relentless metronome pace rather than speed.
Believe it or not, races across the Grand Canyon used to be conducted for hikers and runners. Early on, they occurred with the approval of the National Park, but in later years they were held contrary to rules set forth by the park. Eventually underground races or large commercial rim-to-rim hikes became a point of controversy and outsiders commented that rim-to-rim hikers and runners were turning the Grand Canyon into their own private sports arena for a day.