While I’m not exactly hooked, I find myself being drawn in, intrigued to find out more about this world of ultra running. A few weeks after Oman, I get to meet Elisabet again. I’ve been commissioned to interview her for an article for theGuardian, so she comes to meet me at the newspaper’s offices in central London, where we sit on leather sofas, drinking espresso as people queue to buy their lunchtime sandwiches. I ask her how she first started ultra running.
She tells me she used to be a keen marathon runner, fitting her training in around a well-paid job in London’s financial district. ‘I kept improving,’ she says. ‘But there came a point when I thought, what shall I do now? I could run a marathon faster – which is, of course, difficult, and a good challenge – or I could go further. And I just thought it would be interesting to explore the going further.’
Her decision to delve into ultra running was accelerated by some unexpected life events. Within a short span of time her father died, her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and her husband got cancer. ‘All of those things,’ she says, ‘make you realise that life is very short, and you just have to do it, you can’t sit and wait.’
So she quit her job in the City and set off in search of adventure. To fund her way she set up her running shop, but since winning the MdS and now the Oman race, people have started writing articles about her, and sponsorship deals have begun to come her way. This makes it easier for her to travel to races and take on more challenges. What started off as a risky move seems to be paying off.
Listening to her talk, I too feel a stirring. It reminds me of the feeling I had when I first decided to run a marathon. The idea had been hovering on the horizon for years, watching me as I tackled shorter races, wondering what was taking me so long. Suddenly, it was time. Life was moving on. So I ran a marathon.
Ever since then, on the horizon, I keep catching glimpses of a trail up a mountain. A long, winding trail. I’m forty-two years old. I’ve had a few decent attempts at the marathon. Maybe it is time to explore the going further. To explore just what it is that people find out there on that trail that compels them to run these improbable distances.
It’s so intriguing that I’m soon on the phone to my editor. ‘I think I’ve found my next subject,’ I say. I’ve written books about travelling to Kenya and Japan to explore two unique running cultures. This time I’m drawn to investigate a cross-cultural, global phenomenon, which I’m only just beginning to realise is so huge. What is this world of ultra running? Who are the people taking part? What is it all about? The best way to find out, I decide, is to sign up for another race.
Over the last decade, ultra running has grown at a staggering rate, becoming one of the fastest-growing sports in the world.
The website runultra.co.uk lists most of the world’s biggest ultra marathons. Its founder, Steve Died
