Further than the marathon

The popularity of ultrarunning

Ultrarunning seems to be as popular as ever. Here at runbritain we have reported on many amazing feats of endurance by amazing runners. In our little runbritain articles five of the last ten have been about runners who are going the extra miles past the marathon.

Walter Hesketh ran Edinburgh to London in 1961

If you look back to the history of ultrarunning you will discover that human beings have been walking and running phenominal distances for ever and it became very popular in the 1950s and 60s when the London to Brighton race was inaugurated.

Some of the races we've written about are Dragon's Back, Comrades, Western States and UTMB but there are also those runners who set themselves a solo challenge. Over the past 18 months we've featured runners who have set off to run from Boston to Austin in America, California to New York in America, Scotland to the Sahara and John O' Groats to Lands End to name just a few. Chris Finill and Steve Pope are currently running across America and are, at present around 300 miles from Denver in Colorado. Andrew Murray, who ran from Scotland to the Sahara, is about to launch his book "Running Beyond Limits" on Saturday 17 September. It is published by Mountain Media and the foreword is written by Ranulph Fiennes.

For anyone interested, it's the story of Scotland2Sahara as well as runs at the North Pole, in the jungle, Outer Mongolia, The Sahara and more. There is also some reflection on running and life in general!

The book is being launched at Footworks 14 - 17 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh, EH10 4HN Edinburgh. There are 3 great events. A fun run for all ages and abilities at 10am, a Scotland 2 Sahara talk at 1200, and a Running Injuries and Nutrition talk at 1500. All are free, and Andrew will be there to do some book signings.

There is a facebook group for updates and questions.

Like ultra races these solo efforts became popular in the 1950s and 60s. Stockport Harriers celebrates its centenary this year. One of their most famous members Walter Hesketh appears in this footage on British Pathe News attempting to break the record running from Edinburgh to London wearing carpet slippers! He ran the 373 miles in 82 hours, covering around 110 miles a day for three days.

Could you run an ultra? We'd love to hear your stories and ultrarunning adventures. Leave a comment in the box below.