Welcome to Ultrarunning History Podcast. In this introductory episode, you will hear what the podcast will contain and I’ll reveal a little about myself, what it is like living with the name, Davy Crockett. These episodes won’t be dry history lessons from some old stodgy history professor. They will be fun with plenty of lame jokes from some old stodgy ultrarunner.
Who was the first American in the modern (post-war) era of ultrarunning to run a sub-24-hour 100-miler? Well, it depends on the criteria you use. Do you only count a 100-miler if it is achieved in a formal race? Or do you also count a “solo artist’s” achievement outside of a formal race? Remember in those early years before 1965, there had been no formal 100-mile or 24-hour races in the United States since decades before the war. Either way, the answer is surprising. It appears, with the information available, that the first America modern-day sub-24-hour 100-miler was a “walker.”
On August 26, 1950, when future ultrarunner Gordy Ainsleigh was a toddler, just starting to run around his yard, a determined and fit 63-year old man crossed a 100-mile finish line in less than 24 hours. Eleven years later on September 3, 1961 this man, now 74 years old, again crossed a 100-mile finish line with a time of 23:50. It was his fourth sub-24-hour 100-miler of his career. He was the first American in the modern ultrarunning era to cover 100-miles in less than 24-hours. Who was this age-defying man that would walk about 385,000 miles in his lifetime? Who was this man who for nearly 70 years during his life walked his age in miles on his birthday?
Don Ritchie was from Scotland and some people argue that Don was the greatest ultrarunner in history on tracks and roads. In his early teens he took part in school sports as a sprinter and usually finished in the top three. When he was sixteen years old, he participated in his first “walking race” which was popular at that time. The race was for seven miles and had 45 walkers. Don finished “a tired fifth” and walked in his working clothes and shoes. He walked the race again the following year and was bothered that two girls beat him. He concluded that he probably needed to train.
Don ran cross-country in school and during the track season raced the 440 and 880 yard races. His coach advised him to concentrate on the 880. In 1963 at the age of 19, he started to run fifteen miles regularly with Alistair Wood, one of the great ultrarunners of the early 1970’s, who later won London to Brighton race in a record time. Don eventually started to keep up with him on training runs.
L to R: Ken Kruzel, Greg Belgarde, and Dave Lenau covering Western States 100 on foot in 1972. (Photo by Joseph S Hindley, Fort Riley, Kansas.)
Sergeant Ken Kruzel looked at Specialist Greg Belgarde. Belgarde, an Alaskan Native American, resolutely stared back, but at that moment his face was gushing blood from a spontaneous and prolific nosebleed. Nearly fifty miles into the no-mans-land of the 100-mile distance, Kruzel, Belgarde, and Sergeant Dave Lenau were conserving the precious water in their plastic Army-issue quart canteens. The soldiers, all from Fort Riley, Kansas, were sucking on stones and thinking of being anywhere but this long, dusty Sierra Nevada trail. They saw defeat dripping onto the ground with every crimson drop.
“Hold back your head!” barked Kruzel, willing the blood to stop. Belgarde did his best to stanch the flow. Blood dripped onto his green fatigues and black leather boots.
“Just give me a bit,” protested Belgarde. “I need to sit and get this under control.”
Kruzel pondered. They still had more than 50 miles to go. Time was not a luxury they had, not if they were going to do what no one had ever done before: cover the entire course of the Western States 100-Mile Trail Ride (the equestrian Tevis Cup) from Squaw Valley to Auburn, California – on foot – in less than 48 hours. Even though this was twice the time it took a horse, they could not afford wasted minutes.
Over the years, several races of 100 miles have claimed to be the toughest ultramarathons or footraces in the world. Those were great marketing slogans, but those races must have never met Barkley. Those races with their high finisher rates of at least 50% don’t come even close to Barkley’s finish rate of about 2%. The Barkley Marathons, held in rugged mountains in Tennessee, is the toughest 100-mile race in the world. It was the subject of a 2014 film “The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young” that can be viewed on Netflix. This is how it all started. . . .
The early trail 100-mile races, including Western States 100, Old Dominion 100, and Vermont 100, all have their roots in horse endurance rides. The parallels from those rides to 100-mile ultras are many. Much of the experience and practices of those rides became part of trail 100 mile runs that were established in the 1970s and ‘80s.
In 1955 Wendell Robie, a successful businessman and outdoorsman from Auburn, California had a discussion with an associate about whether a horseback rider could cover 100 miles in a day. He got riled up about it and vowed to prove it could be done. He wanted to conduct the ride on a trail he had particular interest in, a historic trail used by miners in the 1800s between the California gold fields and the silver mines in Virginia City, Nevada. Wendell named the trail, “The Western States Trail.” It went through little old gold towns between Lake Tahoe and Auburn, Califronia, crossing over the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Wendell made plans, established a committee, and worked to get support from the city of Auburn. A stated purpose of the ride was “to determine if Western horses are bred today as tough as those of the Pony Express era.”
The fastest 100-mile ultrarunners during the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s
I am always drawn toward the stories of the early pioneers of ultrarunning. I think it is important to take time to appreciate the history and accomplishments of the runners who paved the way before us. The birth of the 100-mile trail race has been attributed to Gordy Ainsleigh, who in 1974 wanted to see if he could run a 100-mile horse race in California, the Western States Trail Ride, on foot, instead of riding a horse. He was successful, finishing in 23:42, proving that a person could run 100 miles in the mountains in less than a day. But ultrarunning, including 100-mile races, did not start there….
I’m very sad to hear that Ken Young passed away on Saturday. I wrote the following summary of his running accomplishments in my online book Swift Endurance Legends.
Ken Young, of Petrolia California, was an accomplished runner. But he impacted running in America far more by collecting running results and creating running statistics. He grew up in Pasadena, California and attended high school in Phoenix, Arizona. As a youth he loved running and math. He ran a 10:10 two-mile in high school. In college he quit the cross-country team after one year because of his heavy course load. But in the late 1960s after reading an article about the benefits of running on health, complete with numbers and statistics, it struck a chord with him and he started to run while attending Arizona State University.
Welcome to Ultrarunning History Podcast. In this introductory episode, you will hear what the podcast will contain and I’ll reveal a little about myself, what it is like living with the name, Davy Crockett. These episodes won’t be dry history lessons from some old stodgy history professor. They will be fun with plenty of lame jokes from some old stodgy ultrarunner.
