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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.
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.
During the World War II period in 1940s, ultradistance races in America totally disappeared. Many of the talented runners turned in their leather running shoes for leather boots and served their country in war. But as servicemen, there were many endurance activities that took place both on the bases and on the battle field.