Participation in 5Ks and half-marathons has declined in the past few years, and and marathon participation has been flat. But interest in ultra racing, defined as more than 50 kilometers (about 31 miles) and usually on trails, continues to surge.
In April, Caroline Crawford, 37, started intensive training runs with the Los Angeles Ultra Ladies, a group of about 30 women who recently ran 35 miles within 12 hours in Griffith Park. They were preparing for races such as the punishingin October, a 100-mile race through the scorching Arizona Sonoran desert — nearly four 26.2-mile marathons — with hardly any stopping or sleeping.
Up and over: A climbing obstacle at the Tough Mudder race held at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino. Competitor Omar Rivas shakes it off as he comes out of a water hurdle during the Tough Mudder in San Bernardino.But what’s behind the current need to do so in calf-crippling agony while vomiting and staying up for 24 hours straight?
And obstacle course racing, often done in teams, gives participants a taste of the intense bonding experienced by Navy SEALs. “It’s like a band of brothers,” says Frankl, a former combat fitness officer in the Israeli army. “As we used to say in the army, if you share the pain, you have half of it.” “Only people who do Tough Mudders understand the mental grit needed to accomplish these courses,” Brown-Johnson says. “Other people think we’re crazy.”
“I was at a pretty low point. I was mentally drained, emotional-eating fast food and not exercising,” says Iwai, an air conditioning and heating contractor from Monrovia. After his weight topped out at 213 pounds, he saw an ESPN ad for the Spartan World Championship and began training.
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