What Is An Ultramarathon?

A marathon is 26.2 miles, but what’s an ultramarathon? 

Here’s what you need to know about how long an ultramarathon is including multi-day stage ultramarathon events and Backyard Ultras. 

HOW FAR IS AN ULTRAMARATHON?

An ultramarathon is any distance further than a marathon. A marathon is 26.2 miles / 42.2km.

They can be any length, but common races are:

• 50km (31.1 miles)
• 50 miles (80.5 km)
• 100km (62.2 miles)
• 100 miles (160.9 km)
• Or by time (e.g. 6, 12, 24 hours)

Many runners associate ultramarathons with trail and mountain races, but they also take place on roads and the track. 

TYPES OF ULTRAMARATHONS

Most ultramarathons are continuous races in which competitors have a set distance to complete within a time limit, which might be hours or even days. Some races are looped courses which start and finish in the same place (like UTMB) and others are point to point (like Western States or Comrades). 

The longest ultramarathons held as continuous races are over 200 miles and can take four or five days for the final finishers to complete (one of the longest is the Arizona 300, a 309-mile run with a seven day limit). Runners can rest and even sleep at aid stations along the way.

In a timed event, the objective is to run as far as possible within the time limit. This typically takes place on a looped course or track.

There are also multi-day stage events with participants stopping at check points each day and then continuing the next day. It’s common that race stages are from 25-50km or more each day, with three or more successive days of running. The Marathon des Sables is the most famous example of this and the MDS Legendary covers 250km over six days of desert running.

WHAT IS A BACKYARD ULTRA?

A Backyard Ultra is a last-person-standing event which sees competitors running a 4.167 mile lap which begins on the hour, every hour. Participants must begin each new lap on the hour, and failure to do so means they are out of the race. The winner is the last person remaining. 

If a runner takes 50 minutes to run each loop then they have 10 minutes spare to do as they wish – eat, rest, nap, care for any niggles – before they start the next loop. 

The world record for a Backyard Ultra is an astonishing 110 laps, or 458 miles (over 737km). That’s 110 hours of running with just minimal rest each hour. 

WHAT’S THE LONGEST ULTRAMARATHON?

The longest certified ultramarathon footrace in the world is the Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race. The event was created in 1996 by Sri Chinmoy and it involves running 5,649 laps around a city block in Queens, New York City. Participants have 52 days to complete the 3,100-mile run and they have from 6am to midnight every day in which they can run. They have to average 60 miles or 100km each day to complete the event! 

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Here’s James running the Comrades Marathon, which is one of the world’s most famous ultramarathons.