Fifteen-year-old Tatum Hagen from Wilsonville, OR, recently completed the 100 Miles to Auburn virtual event. She covered the distance in a combined time of 26:08:34 over a two-day period.

In my 20 years of running in wild places, I’ve encountered countless gorgeous, wild rivers but none of those made me younger by dipping my water filter in the cold mountain waters. I have, however, found a few strategies that have helped me continue to excel in ultramarathons and remain competitive with folks half my age.

In the past decade, something changed in the endurance recreation landscape. As long-distance triathlon finished its journey from the outskirts of sanity to the firm mainstream, those participants who longed for the hardest, longest, strangest challenges began to search outside the swim-bike-run barriers for whatever was next.

On the first Saturday in May each year, Esther Short Park is filled with the sounds of happy people, families and dogs. It is the most amazing sight to see more than 800 dogs happy to be with their people as they head out for a 5k run or 3-mile walk.

I remember a time when I was a younger and doing a lot of road races, when you simply planned out your racing calendar on the fly as you went through the year. For better or worse, those days are over. Now we’re planning, developing, mulling over, and plopping down big bucks on those race calendars.