Jacob Rydman (Rocklin, Calif.) gained redemption for dropping from last years race with a 6:10 third-place finish. San Franciscos Jordi Moncada dominated the small 50K field in 5:21. “What I enjoy about astronomy is trying to solve a problem that might not have an answer,” says Adele Plunkett, an Ironperson from the European Southern Observatory. Bends Jody Chinchen held off Portlands Laurel Thomas for second, 1:11:22 to 1:12:01. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. The problem first came to a head in 2009, when Brett Maune–another unknown in the world of speed hiking–announced he had broken the FKT on … “The way to get better at running is to run more,” says Katie Keating, a physicist and runner from Rincon Research Corporation. “It takes a lot of effort, a lot of focus, and there’s a lot of pain and suffering that goes on in a PhD,” he says. She likes the glandular rush of all those variables, and the attempt to vanquish them. Yes, academics, you are very, very busy. She was fifth overall, just two minutes back of former mens Olympic trials marathoner Chris Lundstrom, and over an hour ahead of her closest female challenger. On the third day of every try, he started wheezing. Trish Horan (Norwich, NY) and Lauren Wiest (Sinking Spring, Pa.) fought to second and third-place finishers in 1:21:59 and 1:23:08, respectively. Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. It was exercise-induced asthma: dangerous, potentially deadly, and definitely a slowdown (other humans have to stop and suck wind every 15 steps at 14,000 feet in the best conditions). Making it a record year, John Fegyveresi, a researcher from Antarctica, successfully dipped under the cutoff with a 59:41 finish. Making it three Bend, Ore. runners on the podium, Michael Dennis was third in 1:01:22. Jenny Hitchings (Sacramento, Calif.), impressively at age 48, and Ashley Laird (Sonora, Calif.) were second and third in 7:21 and 7:24, respectively.British Columbias Jason Loutitt shook off a disappointing finish at Marchs Chuckanut 50K to win the inaugural race through the Cibola National Forest. A historic prison escape was the inspiration for The Barkley Marathons.In Frozen Head State Park, TN, runners from around the world line up before the Barkley Marathons CoFounder, Lazarus Lake. And scientists—while not usually rich—do fit the general profile.The barriers to entry and biases in ultra-sports, then, are some of the same that plague academia itself. After a day of that, it makes sense that scientists would want to exhaust their bodies and give their brains a break. Running, biking, hiking, climbing, swimming, or parkouring for hours shushes the inner voices. Runner-up in 5:59 this same weekend last year at American River, he finished the challenging course first in 6:30. The race director and course-maker, Gary Cantrell, had been smoking Camels and smiling under a shade tent while awaiting Maune’s arrival. earned the womens victory in 1:19:16. Max King repeated as champion at the seasons unofficial kick-off to the start of Central Oregon trail racing. “In races and in [telescope] observing, you arrive to the big day and you have prepared everything the best you can, but there are a million unknowns that determine the outcome, and you have to know how to deal with those factors,” says Plunkett. The 31-year-old is best known in his native New Zealand as a two-time winner of the prestigious Kepler Challenge trail race. Perhaps the greatest female ultrarunner since the legendary Ann Trason, Greenwood ripped up the course in 6:18, the races third-fastest time ever (trailing only Trason). So I talked to Maune and 15 other running, biking, climbing, masochistic scientists who participated in an open-answer survey about endurance sports.Nearly all of them agreed that scientists in general (and 10 out of 16 agreed that astro/physical scientists specifically) show up more often than they statistically “should” at endurance races. The trail race is 130 miles, 120,000' of elevation change, all in under 60 hours.Ultrarunner Jared Campbell clings to a tree while scaling “Danger Dave’s Climbing Wall,” one of the many challenging ascents faced during the course of the 2012 Barkley Marathons.Lazarus Lake, CoFounder of The Barkley Marathons, hangs one of the required entry items, a license plate from the runner's home state or country. “It is also on long runs or rides that I come up with some of my best ideas or solve problems I've been working on,” says Hörst.Doing a physical thing repeatedly for many hours is, while not easy, at least straightforward—more straightforward than dark energy and digital signal processing, or becoming a better scientist.
Just three weeks after taking second at New Zealands Tarawera 100K, Vajin Armstrong ran away from a competitive field in 5:53 for his first U.S. win. Stretching 60 hours over last weekend into Monday, three runners finished the grueling 100-mile run. Cantrell stood at the yellow gate to congratulate the new record-holder, who was one of just three people to finish that year.But afterward, Maune—who doesn’t really compete in other organized events—simply went back to his job at HRL Laboratories, where he worked on quantum electronics.