Ultra Marathoners Get Plenty of Scenery on 50-Mile Route

Marathons are long, sure, but there’s a run this Saturday that’s almost twice as long as most. And instead of nice, paved streets, the runners will be contending with dirt mountain paths.

In other words, this is serious.

The sport is ultra-distance running (or just “ultra”), and the event is the San Juan Trail 50-mile run, slated for its ninth annual running on Saturday. Starting from Blue Jay Campground off Ortega Highway, the course winds along dirt trails through the Cleveland National Forest, up and over Saddleback Mountain.

There’s no race-day registration for this event. Organizer Barry Hawley, an English expatriate who goes by the nickname “Baz,” likes to screen the participants personally. “You’ve really got to know what you’re in for,” he says. “It’s really a tough sport.”

Although many competitors will walk the toughest hills, some will run the entire course.

“The leaders are running the whole way,” Hawley says. “Can you believe that? They are animals.” The course has been changed somewhat this year, but the winning time for the event is 6 hours, 40 minutes.

Hawley was inspired to create the race by the granddaddy of U.S. ultra events, the Western States 100 (as in 100 miles), which started in Northern California in the mid-’70s. Hawley, a veteran of more than 100 marathons, took part in the Western States event and became addicted to the sport.

A resident of San Clemente at the time, he began training in the Santa Ana Mountains. While out running one day, he says he thought to himself: “Hey, there’s enough miles (of trails) here to put on a race.” His first race, in 1984, attracted 106 runners, including some of the sport’s top competitors. The first winner was Jim King, winner of three Western States 100 races.

The San Juan Trail has become one of the top ultra events in the nation, attracting more than 200 runners in some years, including the cream of the ultra crowd. Hawley expects between 120 and 130 runners this time (participation has been hurt by proliferation of ultra events).

A form of ultra-distance running was popular in the late 1800s, especially in New York, Hawley says. Competitors would run around a track, sometimes indoors, for as long as six days. Popularity of the sport cooled by the 1920s, but it has remained popular in Europe in one form or another, Hawley says.

The popularity of the Western States 100 gave birth to a modern form of the sport, and it’s possible to find an ultra event (at least 50 kilometers, or 31 miles, and up to 100 miles) somewhere in the United States just about every weekend of the year. Eastern races tend to be on roads, Hawley says, while western events tend to be off-road.

“In California, we’ve got the terrain to do it” off-road, Hawley says. He sponsors two other annual races: June’s Shadows of the Giants 50K in Fish Camp near Yosemite (where Hawley owns a bed-and-breakfast inn) and the Mule Run 50K in Bishop, held in October.

The average age is 43, Hawley says; about a third of the runners in the latest Mule Run were women.

Hawley says he is preparing to move back to Southern California from Fish Camp and is planning to launch a series of off-road races with lengths more within the capabilities of most runners: 10K to 30K. Many runners would like to try off-road racing, but not at the ultra distances, Hawley says.

Hawley would like to hold all the races at one location, possibly in Orange County.

If that happens, we’ll be sure to tell you about it. Until then, hit the trails and get ready for next year.