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By Davy Crockett
Both a podcast episode and a full article
In Part One on Endurance Riding, I covered the very early history of the sport of endurance riding from 1814-1954 when forgotten individuals established the sport they called “endurance riding” and paved the future for the sport. In Part Two I covered the early history of the Western States Trail Ride (Tevis Cup) from 1955-1970 and worked through some folklore about the history of the Ride. In this concluding part we will wade through some controversy and get to the ultrarunning fun, the founding of the Western States Endurance Run or commonly called, the Western States 100.
By 1970 with all the numerous endurance rides held across the country, the Western States Trail Ride, or “the Tevis” had emerged as being the toughest and the premier endurance ride in the country. It had survived intense criticism over the years from the public and animal rights groups. Under the leadership of Wendell Robie, the ride had made adjustments, weathered the storms of criticism, and increased in popularity.
By 1970 among the dozens of endurance rides, there were still only a few that patterned their event after the Western States Trail Ride, Virginia City 100, and two 50-milers in California, Castle Rock 50 and Blue Mountain 50. In 1971 two more were established, Big Horn 100 in Wyoming, and Diamond 100 in California which awarded a Wendell Robie Cup.
The 
Fixed-time races are a different breed of ultramarathons. Instead of competing at a fixed distance like 50 miles or 100 miles, the competition involved running the furthest you can in a fixed time. Six-day races became popular in the late 1800s. In 1874 Edward Payson Weston walked 500 miles in six days at Washington State Rink in Newark, New Jersey in front of as many as 6,000 spectators. That started the era of six-day races that would be held for a few decades.
When Sandra Kiddy of California was in her 30’s, in 1970, she and her husband, Fred, started to jog to lose weight, running about two miles a day. She had never been very athletic in her youth. After moving to Palm Springs in 1974 she started running with a more serious group of runners. Eventually her group got her interested in road racing. Her first race was in 1976 at the age of 40. She ran a couple short races, but quickly tackled the marathon because the shorter races seemed like a sprint.
You might ask, what does the history of endurance riding have to do with ultrarunning? There are many close parallels between these two endurance sports. Ultrarunners should feel indebted to those of the endurance riding sport who had the vision to establish some early trail 100-milers for runners. The trail 100-miler inherited many of the same procedures of aid stations, course markings, trail work, crews, medical checks, cut-off times, and of course the belt buckle award. 
Endurance riding is the equestrian sport that includes controlled long-distance riding/racing. The sport has existed for more than a century in various forms. 100-mile trail ultramarathons, especially the Western States Endurance Run, Old Dominion 100, and Vermont 100 can trace their roots to endurance riding. Other trail 100s that emerged in the 1980s were also influenced by endurance riding practices.
There is a special breed of ultrarunner that historian Jim Shapiro in 1980 called the “solo artist.” These runners usually had solid ultrarunning abilities, but instead of regularly completing in races, they used their abilities to accomplish stunts. This was done to garner attention from spectators and fans and to gain income and sponsorships. Solo artists would always invent and claim “world records.” They had creative nicknames and their marketing people would prop them up as being the “world’s greatest runner.” Solo artists have always existed in ultrarunning and still exist today.