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By Davy Crockett

Watching sports on Christmas Day is enjoyed by millions of sporting fans. But it also is probably despised by even more of those sporting fans’ families who have other priorities on that special day. While today the events watched are primarily basketball and football, back 144 years ago in 1879, the most popular sport taking place in America on Christmas Day was ultra-distance running, called Pedestrianism. Why would thousands leave their festive holiday celebrations to go many miles by horse carriage to smoke-filled arenas to watch skinny guys walk and run in circles for hours?

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By Davy Crockett

Trail 100-milers started to be held in Great Britain in 1973, four years before the Western States 100 was established in America. This piece of ultrarunning history is largely unknown to Americans who have been told for decades that trail 100-milers began first in the U.S. In reality, trail 100s were also known to be held in Mexico among the Tarahumara as early as 1867. Thus, recognition is deserved among several cultures and countries to those who dared to head out into the rural wilderness to achieve the distance of 100 miles on foot. See the new book:  Running 100 Miles Part One: A History (1729-1960).

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By Davy Crockett

The first certified 100 km race in America was held at Lake Waramaug, Connecticut, in 1974. Today it remains as the oldest 100 km race in the country and the second oldest American ultra still held. For many years in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, it was the unofficial national championship for the 100 km distance and the best ultrarunners in the U.S. made their pilgrimage to Lake Waramaug to test their abilities on the 7.59-mile paved road loop around the lake.

Before 1974, the 50-mile or 100-mile distances had been the America’s “standard” ultra distances. But most of the ultras held during the 1970s were of odd lengths. There were a few road 50 kms, such as those put on by the AAU in Sacramento. But in the New York City area, the hotspot for ultramarathons put on by Ted Corbitt (1919-2007), of the New York Road Runners, had a large variety of ultra distances during the 1960s and early 1970s. San Francisco had been the scene of multiple 32 milers. Racing around Lake Tahoe for 72 miles would become popular starting in 1975. No one had yet thought to put on a race that was exactly 100 km.

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By Davy Crockett

This part will cover additional stories found through deeper research, adding to the history shared in found in the new book, Grand Canyon Rim to Rim History. Grand Canyon rim to rim hikes and runs become very popular as thousands descend into the Canyon each year. Fastest known times for R2R and R2R2R runs are broken.

In 1991, Jerry Chavez, a Vietnam veteran of Leadville, Colorado, worked for the NPS. He operated the pump station at Indian Garden, which pumped water up to the South Rim. He lived year-round at a nice residence down at Indian Garden. Chavez was also a member of the park’s 20-member rescue team and kept in shape by running rim-to-rim.

Chavez said that the “dumbest thing” he saw was people hiking without food or water. “Chavez had seen a lot of weird things in the Canyon, including a guy hiking in a dusty tuxedo and women in high-heel shoes.” Often, he would rescue hikers suffering from heatstroke. One recent case was particularly bad. He remembered, “When I saw that man, he looked like death. We had to carry him up a mile. His temperature was 109. We were running water from a creek and kept pouring it on him. When they flew him to Flagstaff, he still had a temperature of 105. The doctor called and said whoever worked on him saved his life. The guy walked out of the hospital as normal as can be.” Chavez was awarded a National Park Service achievement award.

Out-of-shape parents were often seen bringing down small children. On a winter day in 1989, Chavez was out for a run and found parents with two small children and heavy packs. “The kids were lying in the snow and crying. I told them, ‘You’re going to have to carry those kids out.’” He offered to help, but the father refused and yelled at the kids about 2-3 years old. Finally, Chavez got permission to rescue the kids and carry them out.