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By Davy Crockett
Both a podcast and a full article
As the Great Depression began raging across the world, race events for professional ultrarunners pretty much dried up in the United States. All professional sports suffered in America during that time. For a few years, promoters in Canada filled the void, and were able to attract some of the most talented American ultrarunners to head northward, to run in their races.
One such race was the 1930 Peter Dawson Relay held in the province of Quebec. This was one of those forgotten races that deserves a place in the history of ultrarunning. Both New York and Boston bid for the race but it was awarded to Quebec. It included many of the greatest American ultrarunners of that time. Most of them have been totally forgotten and all have now passed away, but some of them lived into the 1980s and 1990s.
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Crossing the Grand Canyon on foot is something many visitors of the spectacular Canyon wonder about as they gaze across its great expanse to the distant rim. Crossing the Canyon and returning back is an activity that has taken place for more than 125 years. Each year thousands of people cross the famous canyon and many of them, return the same day, experiencing what has been called for decades as a “double crossing,” and in more recent years, a “rim-to-rim-to-rim.”
Prior to the 1960s, most of the ultrarunners participating in ultradistance races were professionals. It was a spectator sport. The general public never had serious thoughts that they too could run ultradistances.
Paul “Hardrock” Simpson, of Burlington, North Carolina, was an elite colorful, professional ultrarunner of the late 1920s who worked to continue in the sport during the Great Depression. He was one of the very few talented ultradistance runners who bridged to the post-war modern era of ultrarunning in the 1950s. With creativity, charisma, and strong performances, he successfully captured the imagination of the nation during both the periods. During that time, he was recognized as one of the greatest long-distance runners in America.
What was the first American ultradistance race in the modern era? Perhaps the answer is the Padre Island Walkatahon 110-miler, a three-day stage race that was started in 1953. It may have even been the first modern trail ultra in the world. This unusual race was a point-to-point race that ran along the sandy beaches of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas. Those who put it on were very forward-thinking, introducing features that would be used in ultras decades later. Previously long endurance races were mostly limited to professionals. This race was for everyone, the old, the young teenagers, and even women during an era when female participation in endurance events was viewed as inappropriate.
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