Last updated: 06-Nov-18
By Elsa Trujillo
It’s not only chocolates in a box and family gifts that are shrinking, apparently ultrarunning brains also contract as they race, or plod, along. Here’s the New Scientist article to read over the holiday season, as you munch on your tiny box of chocolates and admire your new pair of socks.
We’re also throwing in a selection of articles about seven ultra trail runners and their experiences running deserts, trails, mountains or even parks. We envy their strengths and achievements, if not their brain size.
Elisabet Barnes: Marathon des Sables
She was just running for fun until 2011. Then she got serious and in 2015 she won both the Marathon des Sables in Morocco and the Oman Desert Marathon. Read on.
Seth Swanson: Western States 100
Two second places at the Western States in 2014 and 2015 got him into the 2015 UTMB, Swanson explains the differences between running the Montana trails and the French Alpine event. Read the full article.
William Sichel: World Record
Sichel lives on a small island in the Atlantic and thus has to travel far to get his really really long distances in: in 2014 he went to New York and ran 3100 miles (yes, that’s right) round a park in Queens, in 2015 he went to an indoor event in Oslo and ran 196.08 miles. Read more.
Sophie Radcliffe: Latin America
Sophie loves a challenge, running, cycling or swimming across icy water. Her latest one, and the last one for 2015, is a 3-week tour of five South American countries where she will run, walk or cycle up to 300km. Read her blog post.
Jo Meek: Everest Trail Race
Morocco, South Africa, Costa Rica, USA, Nepal, Qatar, UK, Romania, France, Turkey… Jo Meek has run almost everywhere. This November she went to Nepal to take part in the Everest Trail Race to give running on the highest mountain range on the planet a go. This is her blog diary.
Kilian Jornet: Skyrunning World Cup
Kilian Jornet the ultra trail runner runs up any mountain and seems to win most races he signs up for, blazing a trail of unbeatable records and giving off an aura of superhuman abilities. Kilian Jornet, the man, is a private, unassuming man that just loves running up and down mountains. Read more.
Rob Young: World Record
This incredible man ran 370 marathons in 365 days. Think about it, every day you got up and went to work Monday to Friday, Rob Young was running a marathon that day. And then two more at the weekend. And then he started all over again the next Monday. And all for a great cause. Read his interview with RunUltra here.
