Ultrarunning History

19: Barkley Marathons – The Birth

March 22, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:06 — 41.5MB)

By Davy Crockett

Both a podcast episode and a full article

Read about the beginnings of the Barkley and the early years in this new book. Get it in your country’s Amazon site.

The Barkley Marathons, with its historic low finish rate (only 15 runners in 30 years), is perhaps the most difficult ultramarathon trail race in the world. It is held in and near Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee, with a distance of more than 100 miles.

The Barkley is an event with a mysterious lore. It has no official website. It is a mystery how to enter, It has no course map or entrants list is published online. It isn’t a spectator event. For the 2018 race, 1,300 runners applied and only 40 selected.

Those seeking entry must submit an essay. The entrance fee includes bringing a license plate from your home state/country. Runners are given the course directions the day before the race and aren’t told when the race exactly starts. They are just given a one-hour warning when the conch is blown. To prove that they run the course correctly, books are placed a various places on the course where the runners must tear out a page from each book matching their bib number. If they lose a page or miss a book, they are out. Directly opposite of most ultras, the course is specifically designed to minimize the number of finishers.

The inspiration for creating the Barkley in 1986 was the 1977 prison escape by James Earl Ray from Brushy Mountain State Prison. Ray was the convicted assassin of Martin Luther King Jr. He spent more than two days trying to get away in the very rugged Cumberland Mountains where the Barkley later was established. Ray’s escape has been a subject of folklore. This article will reveal the details of his escape, where he went, what he did, and why he was only found a few miles from the prison.

This is how the madness of the Barkley Marathons started…

This history along with the early history of the Barkley Marathons, and the origins of other classic ultramarathons are now contained in a new book: Classic Ultramarathon Beginnings by Davy Crockett, available in your country’s Amazon site.

Continue Reading →

18: 1,000 Milers – Part 2 – The Barclay Match

March 9, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:26 — 38.6MB)

By Davy Crockett

Both a podcast episode and a full article

Can a person walk or run 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours, doing a mile in each and every hour for nearly 42 days? That was the strange question that surfaced in 1809 in England. In Part 1 of the 1000-milers I covered the attempts to reach 1,000 miles as fast possible. This part will cover what became known as the Barclay Match, walking a mile every hour, which was a feat of enduring sleep deprivation and altering sleep patterns dramatically. In a way, these matches were similar endurance activities to the bizarre walkathons of the 1930s that required participants to be on their feet every hour.

Critics of these 1,000-mile events called them “cruel exhibitions of self-torture” that had no point except to “win the empty applause of a thoughtless mob” and put a few pounds into the pockets of the walkers. They said, “there is nothing to learn from such exhibitions save they are positively injurious, physically and morally.” But others thought the matches gave “convincing proof that man is scarcely acquainted with his own capacity and powers.”

These “1,000 miles in 1,000 hours” events captivated the world, were cheered in person by tens of thousands of people, were wagered with the equivalent of millions of today’s value in dollars and launched the sport of pedestrianism into the public eye. It was first thought that this 1,000-mile feat was an impossibility, and it was called a “Herculean” effort. Betting was heavy and wagers were nearly always against success. But during a 100-year period, there were more than 200 attempts of this curious challenge and more than half were successes. How did this all begin?

Continue Reading →

17: 1,000-milers – Part 1

February 14, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:27 — 42.3MB)

By Davy Crockett

Both a podcast episode and a full article

In the 1980s running 100 miles started to become more popular for the non-professional runner to attempt. By 2017 some in the ultrarunning community viewed running 100 miles as fairly common place. In recent years a saying of “200 is the new 100” emerged as a few 200-mile trail races were established, meaning that 100 miles used to be viewed as very difficult but 200 miles was the new challenging standard. This may be true, but what about running 1,000 miles? Will 1,000 milers ever be the “new 200?” What? Who runs 1,000-mile races?

In 1985 America’s first modern-day 1,000 mile race was held in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York with three finishers. The 1986 race was probably the most famous modern-day 1,000-mile race held with a show-down of several of the world greats. But most ultrarunners have never heard about 1,000-mile races. 1,000-mile attempts in one go have taken place for more than two centuries.

A curious 1,000-mile frenzy took place for about ten years in England during the early 1800s by professional walkers/runners. They took on huge wagers making those who succeeded, very wealthy men. These 1,000-mile events attracted thousands of curious spectators who also wagered and spent much of their money at the sponsoring pubs during the multi-week events.

Continue Reading →

16: Western States 100 Beginnings

January 29, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:06 — 32.9MB)

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.

Continue Reading →

15: Sandra Brown – 200+ 100-milers

January 20, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:34 — 43.0MB)

By Davy Crockett

Both a podcast episode and a full article

The 100 x 100 list now includes 21 accomplished athletes who have finished 100 or more races of 100 milers or more. This article will introduce the Sandra and Richard Brown, both on the list, and highlights their amazing 100-mile careers and some of the events in Europe unfamiliar to American ultrarunners.

Sandra was the very first person in the world who finished 100 100-milers and the first to reach 200. By the end of July 2021, Sandra Brown, age 72, of England had accomplished a world-best, 208 100-milers, walking and running on tracks, roads, and trails in various event formats. About 160 of her 208 100-milers were accomplished in less than 24 hours, also a world best.

Continue Reading →

14: 100 x 100-milers

January 3, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:22 — 34.0MB)

By Davy Crockett

Both a podcast episode and a full article
(Listen to the podcast episode too with audio clips from some of the runners.)

The sport of running 100 miles competitively has existed for multiple centuries. In the 1800s, the most prolific 100-mile runner was Frank Hart (1856-1908), a black runner from Boston, Massachusetts. He reached 100 miles in at least 85 of his races across his 25-year running career. Most of those races were six-day races where he usually ran far more than 300 miles.

In the modern era, by the mid-1970s, running 100 miles in competition started to become more available to anyone. Before 1980, no one ran dozens of 100-milers during their running career, only a handful of 100s. Ultrarunning legend Ted Corbitt (1919-2007) ran fewer than ten 100-milers.

By the end of 1999, a few prolific ultrarunners had piled up 100-mile race finishes. Richard and Sandra Brown of England were way out in front with 87 and 82, reaching 100 miles in both running and walking events. Ray Krolewicz of South Carolina was next with about 60 100-mile finishes to his name. Don Choi, the prolific multi-day runner from San Francisco, had more than 40 100-mile finishes but had retired from 100-mile running in 1997 at the age of 48. The world’s greatest, Yiannis Kouros had an estimated 40 100-milers, most of them wins. As the decades passed, in 2024, there were 30 talented ultrarunners who had achieved 100 100 milers. Who are they?

Continue Reading →

Across The Years – The First Year 1983-84

December 23, 2018

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.

In the modern post-war era of ultrarunning the first 24-hour race in America was the 1964 Last Day Run held at the Los Angeles Athletic Club in downtown Los Angeles.

By the early 1980s fixed-time races grew in popularity across the country. The year 1983 was called a “revolutionary year” because 24 hours, 48 hours, and 6-day races that ran in circles, started to pop up all over the country. With more than 30 fixed-time events held that year, including an inaugural race, Across The Years. Many runners started to excel with this format to successfully reach 100 miles. In 1981 about 70 runners reached 100 miles by using this format.

Many ultrarunners felt that this race format was “loopy.” One runner wrote that he believed these events were “reserved for masochists” that they “degenerate into a scene with the majority of the competitors parading ghost-like and crippled around the track for what probably seems to be an eternity. Maybe that’s where St. Peter sends bad ultrarunners.” But most of those who have participated in these races, especially at Across the Years know truth, that it can be an amazing experience, especially because you are always in contact with the other runners who you can get to know well.

Continue Reading →

Sandra Kiddy (1936-2018)

December 21, 2018

By Davy Crockett

I was sad to read today that ultrarunning pioneer Sandra Kiddy passed away on September 16, 2018 at the age of 81.

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.

Sandra (called Sandy by her friends) started running multiple marathons a year. Her first win came in 1977 when she won the Orange County Marathon in 2:58, a new course record. Not only was she winning marathons, but her competitive nature was also in the cards. Her name was in the paper multiple times doing well in Bridge tournaments.

Sandra at age 42 burst on the scene of ultras when she ran in the Southern Pacific AAU 50K at Camarillo, California in 1979. She did well, very well, in fact fantastic! She won and set an American Record of 3:37, beating the current record by three minutes.

Throughout her ultra career, Sandra continued to race marathons. She said, “After I began running farther than the marathon, I would use races for speed work. I have done speed work on the track, but I preferred races where refreshments were available and the excitement of the race made me work harder.”

Continue Reading →