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What would ever possess someone to want to go out and run 100 miles? After spending a year running regularly with a group of people who consider this “fun” in some warped way, the author finally gave in to her curiosity and approached experienced ultra-runner Stephanie Ehret in pursuit of the answer to this question. Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, at 38 Ehret is one of the best ultra-distance runners in the country (ultra-distance means longer than a marathon). Ehret’s dedicated attitude and her obvious passion for the sport have garnered her top finishes in many events, such her first-place overall (both male and female) in the 1999 Across the Years 24-hour race, as well as sponsorships by Montrail, Patagonia and Clif Bar. So just how does someone get involved in this intense sport, and what, exactly, does it take?

AR: How, when and why did you get involved in ultra-running?

SE: I started to get the ultra bug in 1996. I’d been running longer and longer runs and doing some races – a few 10K’s, half-marathons and longer trail races like Imogene Pass in Ouray/Telluride. I’d noticed that the longer the race, the better I did and the more I enjoyed it. I also went to a lecture that year by Alene Nitsky in Fort Collins about her experiences running Leadville. I thought, “I can do that!” And, when she said that her favorite training food was Twizzlers, I knew that it was the sport for me!

AR: What was your athletic background previous to that?

SE: I get my love of the outdoors and of physical challenges from my Dad, a longtime runner, mountaineer and outdoorsman. In my early teens we climbed a lot of fourteeners together.

I met my husband, Peter Bakwin [a gifted, all-around athlete], when I was 16 and have spent the last 22 years trying to keep up with him – on foot, road and mountain bikes, skis and snowshoes, and in canoes and rafts.

Running has always been my mainstay though. It’s strongly connected to my sense of who I am. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t run.

AR: Why did/does it appeal to you?

Ultrarunning suits my running strengths and personality. I’m not a speedy or gifted runner, but I have great endurance, a high pain threshold and a strong will. I also just really love to run – the more the better – and, frankly, I’ve never been one for moderation. As my husband’s uncle says, “If it’s worth doing at all, it’s worth doing to excess.”

I also enjoy observing and experiencing the human drama that unfolds during an ultra. It’s a microcosm of life – you experience joy, fear, despair, exhilaration, anger, frustration, excitement and ecstasy…all in the course of a day.

AR: What was your first race experience – when, and how did it go?

SE: I ran my first ultra, the Platte River 30 mile, in October of 1996. It was 30 miles of concrete through the industrial sections of Denver. There were only four of us entered in the solo division, and I won by attrition. The following week I could barely walk, but I was hooked.

AR: How many races do you do a year now?

I do between six and eight races each year ranging in distance from marathon to 100-mile and 24-hour races.

AR: What are your top finishes?

SE: I placed second at Leadville in 1999 (22:17), only 12 minutes behind the winner. My time made me the 7th fastest woman ever to run Leadville. In 2000 I was third at both Leadville (23:19) and Western States (the largest and most prestigious ultra in the U.S) (21:45.) I was especially proud of the latter as I competed against (and beat) some of the top ultrarunning women in the country and world. Probably my best performance in ultrarunning was at the 1999 Across the Years 24 hour race. I ran 128.99 miles, winning the race overall (men and women)and setting the woman’s course record (which still stands.) It was the seventh best all-time 24 hour performance by a North American woman.

AR: What are your goals for the future?

SE: My primary goal is to stay healthy and injury-free so I can continue to run ultras for many years to come. There are so many races that I would love to do – Hardrock, the Spartathalon (150 miles from Sparta to Greece), a six-day track race, and the Trans Gaule, an 18 day stage race across France.

AR: What does it take to be a successful ultra-runner?

SE: Really the only requirement is that you LOVE to run, because you’re going to spend a heck of a lot of time training. Mental toughness is useful too. It’s often said, regarding a 100-miler, that the first 50 miles are physical while the last 50 are mental.

AR: How do you train – describe a typical week?

SE: As I said, I’m a woman of extremes. I tend to undertrain or overtrain, and I’m still trying to find a balance. Last year I was in the throes of massage school and found it difficult to get the miles in. I ran when I could – almost always with a huge stack of study notecards. I raced well because I was fresh physically and psychologically – I was getting by on fewer than 50 miles each week and was chomping at the bit to do a long race. On the other end of the spectrum, last fall I started working with a coach. My program included speed work, hills, tempo runs, no rest days and weekly mileage between 100 and 120 miles. I was in the best shape of my life until, of course, I got injured. It was a wake-up call for me. I do best when I don’t worry about the miles –when I listen to my body, run how I feel and enjoy the process.

…to be continued