154: The American Championship Belt – 1879
Ultrarunning History
by Davy Crockett
1w ago
By Davy Crockett From 1875 to 1879, at least 130 six-day races were held, mostly in America and Great Britain. In 1879, the foot races became the #1 spectator sport in America. During that single year, at least 88 six-day races were held worldwide, with about 900 starters and witnessed by nearly one million spectators. Women played a significant role in these early six-day races, a century before they could take part in marathons. From 1875 to 1879, at least 30 six-day women’s races were held, involving 150 women starters who ran as far as 393 miles in six days. These daring women athletes cau ..read more
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153: The 3rd Astley Belt Six-Day Race (1879)
Ultrarunning History
by Davy Crockett
3w ago
By Davy Crockett This is the story of the ultramarathon that was the most impactful of all races in the history of the sport. This race was witnessed by tens of thousands of people in Madison Square Garden and followed by millions in long daily newspaper story updates. It received so much attention that it sparked an ultrarunning frenzy on multiple continents and captured the imagination of millions of people who came to realize the humans can run hundreds of miles and not die. This is the story of the 3rd Astley Belt race, held March 10th through 15th, 1879 in New York City. Make sure you get ..read more
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150: Around the World on Foot: The Paper Suits
Ultrarunning History
by Davy Crockett
2M ago
By Davy Crockett My new book, Around the World on Foot: The Early Globetrotters is available on Amazon. After an introduction to help you understand what in the world was going on, I will share a chapter about the strange tradition of starting in a paper suit. I am pretty proud of this book. I wanted to share some details about what my research found. Years ago, as I was doing some research into transcontinental walks and runs, I came across some newspaper articles about two German men, in 1893, who were trying to walk all the way around the world, taking steamers between continents. I had nev ..read more
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149: Encore – Across the Years
Ultrarunning History
by Davy Crockett
3M ago
By Davy Crockett This is an encore episode with additions in the article. The Across the Years race, established in 1983, is one of the oldest fixed-time races in the world that is still held annually. The race is always held at the end of the year, crossing over to the new year with a grand celebration. Through the years, it has attracted many of the greatest fixed-time ultrarunners in the world and still today is the premier and largest fixed-time race in America. Over its impressive history, about 2,500 runners have logged more than 500,000 miles at Across the Years. It all started in 1983 ..read more
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148: Ultramarathons on Christmas Day 1879
Ultrarunning History
by Davy Crockett
3M ago
By Davy Crockett New Book, containing the early history of The Barkley Marathons Watching sports on Christmas Day is enjoyed by millions of sporting fans. But it also is probably despised by even more of those sporting fans’ families who have other priorities on that special day. While today the events watched are primarily basketball and football, back 144 years ago in 1879, the most popular sport taking place in America on Christmas Day was ultra-distance running, called Pedestrianism. Why would thousands leave their festive holiday celebrations to go many miles by horse carriage to smoke-fi ..read more
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147: Gary Cantrell (Lazarus Lake) – Before the Barkley
Ultrarunning History
by Davy Crockett
3M ago
Gary Cantrell (a.k.a. Lazarus Lake), of Tennessee, was recently inducted into the American Ultrarunning Hall of Fame. Most people recognize him for creating the legendary Barkley Marathons, arguably the toughest trail race in the world. But few understand that he once was a talented runner during the 1970s and early 1980s. His running exploits when he was in his 20s and 30s groomed his experience into the most famous extreme sports race director in the world, and into an encyclopedia of ultrarunning wisdom. To understand the complexities of the man, Gary Cantrell, before he became Lazarus Lake ..read more
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146: The Early LDWA 100-Milers (1973-1979)
Ultrarunning History
by Davy Crockett
4M ago
By Davy Crockett Trail 100-milers started to be held in Great Britain in 1973, four years before the Western States 100 was established in America. This piece of ultrarunning history is largely unknown to Americans who have been told for decades that trail 100-milers began first in the U.S. In reality, trail 100s were also known to be held in Mexico among the Tarahumara as early as 1867. Thus, recognition is deserved among several cultures and countries to those who dared to head out into the rural wilderness to achieve the distance of 100 miles on foot. See the new book:  Running 100 Mil ..read more
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145: The Lake Waramaug 100K
Ultrarunning History
by Davy Crockett
4M ago
By Davy Crockett Get this history in my new book The first certified 100 km race in America was held at Lake Waramaug, Connecticut, in 1974. Today it remains as the oldest 100 km race in the country and the second oldest American ultra still held. For many years in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, it was the unofficial national championship for the 100 km distance and the best ultrarunners in the U.S. made their pilgrimage to Lake Waramaug to test their abilities on the 7.59-mile paved road loop around the lake. Before 1974, the 50-mile or 100-mile distances had been the America's ..read more
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144: Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim History – Part 13: More for 1990-2020
Ultrarunning History
by Davy Crockett
5M ago
By Davy Crockett This part will cover additional stories found through deeper research, adding to the history shared in found in the new book, Grand Canyon Rim to Rim History. Grand Canyon rim to rim hikes and runs become very popular as thousands descend into the Canyon each year. Fastest known times for R2R and R2R2R run at broken. In 1991, Jerry Chavez, a Vietnam veteran of Leadville, Colorado, worked for the NPS. He operated the pump station at Indian Garden, which pumped water up to the South Rim. He lived year-round at a nice residence down at Indian Garden. Chavez was also a member of t ..read more
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143: Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim History – Part 12: More for 1971-1989
Ultrarunning History
by Davy Crockett
6M ago
By Davy Crockett This part will cover additional stories found through deeper research, adding to the history shared in found in the new book, Grand Canyon Rim to Rim History. Overcrowding Concerns In 1971, because of overcrowding in the inner Canyon, the Park Service started to implement a reservation system for camping. They shared a situation on the Easter weekend when 800 people tried to camp at Phantom Ranch, which only handled 75. Park Superintendent Robert Lovegren (1926-2010), said, “We readily accept quotas on tickets to a theater or sports event. If the performance is sold out ..read more
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