A day and night running round a track
bbc.co.ukThe same organization has one here in NYC that is nearly 5000km, running around a single block in Jamaica, Queens, over the course of 52 days: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Transcendence_3100_Mile_R...
For anyone in the northeast, i can recommend Three Days At The Fair [1], the longest duration of which is actually 6 days and the course is a 1 mile loop around a state fair ground in New Jersey. I did a mere 12 hour option on the final weekend, and the suffering of those competitors on their 5th/6th day is something i will never forget. Sideways leans, some quite pronounced, others moving backwards to alleviate pains developed moving forwards etc.
Why do they do it? Well, the camaraderie is incredible. Much of the course is lined where runners have pitched their tents/campers/chairs and the support, sharing of food, stories and beer make it a unique event. The shortest duration is 6 hours and you’re not obliged to run more than a single loop/mile if you don’t want to.
Reminds me of Beau Miles' "24 marathon" which was much more fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvT5XS7j-Dc&t=6s
Relatedly, see Big's Backyard Ultra[0]: runners run a 4-mile loop, on the hour, every hour, 24 hours a day, until only one runner completes a loop that nobody else does. In 2011, when it started, the winner did 18 laps. In 2023, the winner completed 108 laps!
Related: the Last Skier Standing - one uphill lap per hour.
https://unofficialnetworks.com/2024/02/15/last-skier-standin...
Reminds me of an awesome documentary about The Barkley Marathons called "The Barkley Marathons: The Race that Eats its Young". People are incredible!
Guess who came up with the idea of the Backyard Ultra? The Barkley race director.
We are 2024 and it stands at 110 laps, by a belgian team!
> it's the most pure running format.
Pro-tip: stay clear from anyone who makes these comments. Someone sold them a philosophy and they are too financially deep into it to back down.
I don't think that this is the most pure running format. I don't know what that would be, never having aimed at purity in running--maybe it's kids playing tag.
Financially, though, this doesn't sound that bad. One must go through quite a few pairs of shoes every year, and there's the cost of travel to such competitions. Plenty of people like to ski, and I can imagine they drop a lot more money on that.
Skiing is mentally and physically genuinely enjoyable. Endurance/exhaustion running is defined as at least 12-hours of pain, which to me translates as "proselytization via self-flagellation". I hope the sense of achievement they get at the end is genuinely worth it.
On skateboards, it's called an Ultraskate: https://24hourultraskate.com/
A 24-hour party of pain - a day and night running round a track