While I’m not exactly hooked, I find myself being drawn in, intrigued to find out more about this world of ultra running. A few weeks after Oman, I get to meet Elisabet again. I’ve been commissioned to interview her for an article for the Guardian, so she comes to meet me at the newspaper’s offices in central London, where we sit on leather sofas, drinking espresso as people queue to buy their lunchtime sandwiches. I ask her how she first started ultra running.
虽然我并不完全吸引人，但我发现自己被吸引了，很感兴趣地了解了有关这个超级跑步世界的更多信息。阿曼几周后，我再次见面Elisabet。我被委托采访她为《卫报》（Guardian）的一篇文章，所以她来到伦敦市中心的报纸办公室会见我，我们坐在皮革沙发上，喝浓缩咖啡作为人们排队购买他们的午餐时间三明治。我问她她是如何开始超级跑步的。

She tells me she used to be a keen marathon runner, fitting her training in around a wellpaid job in London’s financial district. ‘I kept improving,’ she says. ‘But there came a point when I thought, what shall I do now? I could run a marathon faster - which is, of course, difficult, and a good challenge - or I could go further. And I just thought it would be interesting to explore the going further.’
她告诉我，她曾经是一名敏锐的马拉松赛跑者，她在伦敦金融区的一份薪酬工作中进行了训练。她说：“我一直在进步。” ``但是当我想到的时候，我现在该怎么办？我可以更快地参加马拉松比赛 - 当然很困难，也是一个很好的挑战 - 或者我可以走得更远。我只是认为进一步探索它会很有趣。”

Her decision to delve into ultra running was accelerated by some unexpected life events. Within a short span of time her father died, her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and her husband got cancer. ‘All of those things,’ she says, ‘make you realise that life is very short, and you just have to do it, you can’t sit and wait.’
一些意想不到的生活事件加快了她对超级跑步探究的决定。在短时间内，她的父亲去世，母亲被诊断出患有阿尔茨海默氏症，她的丈夫患了癌症。她说：“所有这些事情都使您意识到生活很短，您只需要做，就不能坐着等待。”

So she quit her job in the City and set off in search of adventure. To fund her way she set up her running shop, but since winning the MdS and now the Oman race, people have started writing articles about her, and sponsorship deals have begun to come her way. This makes it easier for her to travel to races and take on more challenges. What started off as a risky move seems to be paying off.
因此，她辞去了在城市的工作，并出发寻找冒险。为了资助她建立跑步商店的方式，但是自从赢得MD和现在的阿曼比赛以来，人们已经开始撰写有关她的文章，并且赞助交易开始出现。这使她更容易参加比赛并承担更多挑战。最初是一项冒险举动似乎正在获得回报。

Listening to her talk, I too feel a stirring. It reminds me of the feeling I had when I first decided to run a marathon. The idea had been hovering on the horizon for years, watching me as I tackled shorter races, wondering what was taking me so long. Suddenly, it was time. Life was moving on. So I ran a marathon.
听她的演讲，我也感到激动。这让我想起了我第一次决定参加马拉松比赛时的感觉。这个想法已经徘徊了多年，看着我要用较短的比赛，想知道这么长的时间才想知道这么长的时间。突然，是时候了。生活正在继续。所以我参加了马拉松比赛。

Ever since then, on the horizon, I keep catching glimpses of a trail up a mountain. A long, winding trail. I’m forty-two years old. I’ve had a few decent attempts at the marathon. Maybe it is time to explore the going further. To explore just what it is that people find out there on that trail that compels them to run these improbable distances.
从那时起，我一直在地平线上瞥见山上的小径。一条漫长的曲折。我四十二岁。我在马拉松比赛中进行了一些体面的尝试。也许是时候进一步探索了。探索人们在那条小径上发现的是什么，迫使他们运行这些不可能的距离。

It’s so intriguing that I’m soon on the phone to my editor. ‘I think I’ve found my next subject,’ I say. I’ve written books about travelling to Kenya and Japan to explore two unique running cultures. This time I’m drawn to investigate a cross-cultural, global phenomenon, which I’m only just begin-
这很有趣，我很快就会打电话给编辑。我说：“我想我找到了下一个主题。”我写了有关前往肯尼亚和日本探索两种独特跑步文化的书籍。这次我被吸引去研究一种跨文化的全球现象，我只是开始 -
ning to realise is so huge. What is this world of ultra running? Who are the people taking part? What is it all about? The best way to find out, I decide, is to sign up for another race.
实现是如此巨大。这个超级奔跑的世界是什么？谁是参加谁？一切是什么？我认为，找出答案的最好方法是注册另一场比赛。

Over the last decade, ultra running has grown at a staggering rate, becoming one of the fastestgrowing sports in the world.
在过去的十年中，超级跑步的增长速度惊人，成为世界上生长最快的运动之一。

The website runultra.co.uk lists most of the world’s biggest ultra marathons. Its founder, Steve Diederich, tells me that when he set it up twelve years ago he found 160 races listed globally. He now has over 1,800 races on the site - an increase of over 1,000 per cent. The German ultra running website DUV, meanwhile, lists the results of many smaller races, with its forensic database going all the way back to the first 89 km London to Brighton race in 1837 . Over the last ten years the site plots a similar 1,000 per cent increase in the number of ultra races around the world.
网站runultra.co.uk列出了世界上大多数最大的超级马拉松比赛。它的创始人史蒂夫·迪德里希（Steve Diederich）告诉我，当他在十二年前设置它时，他发现了全球列出的160场比赛。他现在在现场举办了1,800多次比赛 - 增加了1,000％以上。与此同时，德国超级运行的网站DUV列出了许多较小的比赛的结果，其法医数据库一直回到1837年伦敦的前89公里。在过去的十年中，该网站将全球超级种族的数量增加了1,000％。

Andy Nuttall, the editor of ULTRA magazine, drilled down deeper into the DUV statistics and found that in the UK the rise of the sport has been even steeper: in 2000, only 595 people finished an ultra marathon in the UK. By 2017, the number of finishers had grown to 18,611 .
Ultra Magazine的编辑Andy Nuttall对DUV统计数据进行了更深入的研究，发现在英国，这项运动的崛起更加陡峭：2000年，只有595人在英国完成了一场超级马拉松比赛。到2017年，终结者的数量已增长到18,611。

Everywhere I look, it’s a similar story. Ultra Running magazine in the US collects figures for North America, which show the number of races and finishers increasing every year since 1981. In Asia, too, the number of ultra races has exploded. Nic Tinworth, a race director in Hong Kong, tells me that ten years ago there were six ultra races in the territory, but that there are now over sixty. ‘In previous years,’ he says, ‘you could just turn up on the day in Hong Kong and enter, but now the most popular races sell out in minutes.’
我到处都是，这是一个类似的故事。美国的Ultra跑步杂志收集了北美的数字，该数字显示了自1981年以来每年增加的比赛和终结者的数量。在亚洲，Ultra Races的数量也爆炸了。香港的比赛总监尼克·廷沃思（Nic Tinworth）告诉我，十年前，该领土上有六场超级比赛，但现在有六十多个。他说：“在过去的几年中，您可以在香港的一天出现并进入，但现在最受欢迎的比赛在几分钟之内就卖光了。”

Many of the world’s most over-subscribed races, such as the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in France and the Western States 100 in the US, have had to implement lottery systems to cope with the numbers wanting to take part. Diederich manages the UK entries for the Marathon des Sables. Despite the steep $\pounds 4,250$$\pounds 4,250$£4,250£ 4,250 entry fee, he says the race sells out each year in a couple of minutes.
世界上许多最征收的种族，例如法国和美国西部100号的Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc，不得不实施彩票系统来应对想要参加的数字。 Diederich管理英国马拉松比赛的参赛作品。尽管陡峭 $\pounds 4,250$$\pounds 4,250$£4,250£ 4,250 他说，入场费，比赛每年在几分钟内售罄。

What are all these runners striving for? I experienced something transformative in Oman that stayed with me long after the race. But I sense there is more to discover. I fell apart over the last two stages and almost gave up. Imagine if I could stay strong, even in the face of such a challenge.
这些跑步者都在努力什么？比赛结束后很长时间，我在阿曼经历了一些变革性的事情。但是我感觉到还有更多可以发现的东西。我在最后两个阶段崩溃了，几乎放弃了。想象一下，即使面对这一挑战，我是否能保持坚强。

I remember being struck by a photograph I saw of the Spanish ultra athlete Azara García, who has a tattoo on her leg that reads (in Spanish):
我记得我被我看到的西班牙超级运动员阿扎拉·加西亚（AzaraGarcía

The Devil whispered in my ear: ‘You’re not strong enough to withstand the storm.’
魔鬼在我耳边小声说：“你不足以承受暴风雨。”
I whispered back: ‘I am the storm.’
我小声说：“我是暴风雨。”

Is this the appeal of ultra running? To push ourselves to a place where we stand face to face guardians of ultra running jostle and fight for control and for a cut of the increasing amounts of money sloshing around. It’s a Wild West of a sport, still untamed, with many of the original prospectors fiercely protective of it, pushing back against the encroachment of ‘brands’ and ‘outsiders’ - people, they feel, who don’t understand the ethos of the sport. For many, part of the appeal of ultra running is its low-key, ‘Into the Wild’ minimalism, a chance to lose yourself in the wilderness, to cross the toughest, most extreme environments on Earth with little more than a flask of water and a rain jacket.
这是超级运行的吸引力吗？将自己推到一个我们面对面的超级奔跑者的监护人，为控制而战，并削减了越来越多的资金，我们面对越来越多的钱。这是一项运动的狂野西部，仍然没有受到驯服，许多原始的探矿者都对它进行了强烈保护，反对“品牌”和“局外人”的侵占 - 他们感到，他们不了解，他们不了解这些精神的精神运动。对于许多人来说，超奔跑的一部分是它的低调，“进入野外”的极简主义，是在旷野迷失自己的机会，越过地球上最艰难，最极端的环境，只有一瓶水。还有雨衣。

For some seasoned ultra runners, the influx of newcomers is already too much, and they are turning their backs on the big races in search of more isolated challenges. One outlet for these people, who hate mass starts and goody bags even more than a long night of hypothermia clinging to the side of a frozen rock face, is another growing phenomenon called FKTs (Fastest Known Times). This is where people head off, often alone, to run a set route faster than anyone ever (knowingly) has before. It could be from one end of New Zealand to the other, or a famous hiking trail such as the Appalachian Trail in the US. Or to the top of Mount Everest.
对于一些经验丰富的Ultra跑步者来说，新来者的涌入已经太多了，他们正在转向大型比赛，以寻找更孤立的挑战。这些讨厌弥撒开始的人和糖果袋的一个插座甚至超过了一个漫长的夜晚，低温紧贴着冷冻的岩石面的一面，这是另一个名为FKTS的现象（最快的已知时代）。这是人们经常独自一人前往的地方，比以前（故意）更快地运行一条固定路线。它可以从新西兰的一端到另一端，也可以是著名的远足小径，例如美国的阿巴拉契亚小径。或到珠穆朗玛峰的顶部。

But I’ll find out more about these later. For now I am looking for races. They are OK with me. I have run many races over the years. I’m just looking to run further, that’s all.
但是我稍后会找到更多有关这些的信息。现在，我正在寻找比赛。他们还可以。这些年来，我参加了许多比赛。我只是想进一步奔跑，仅此而已。

A word you commonly hear when people talk about ultra races is ‘runnable’. Some races are considered more runnable than others. This doesn’t necessarily mean you can run the whole way, unless you’re one of the sport’s superstars, but in theory the trail is smooth enough, the ascents and descents manageable enough, that you can run most of it. Some athletes complain when races are too runnable. These people prefer the opposite, known in ultra jargon as ‘technical’ races, where the climbs and descents are too steep and the ground too uneven to run freely. Races where you need to watch your step and occasionally use your hands.
当人们谈论Ultra Races时，您通常会听到一个单词“可奔跑”。有些比赛比其他比赛更容易奔跑。除非您是这项运动的超级巨星之一，否则这并不一定意味着您可以整个路线运行，但是从理论上讲，步道足够光滑，上升和下降足够易于管理，可以运行大部分。一些运动员抱怨比赛太能发挥了作用。这些人偏爱相反的情况，在超级行话中称为“技术”种族，攀登和下降太陡，地面太不平坦而无法自由奔跑。您需要观察自己的脚步并偶尔使用双手的比赛。
definitely veer towards runnable over technical. Sure, we can walk the tough parts, and I’m OK with some scrambling over rocks, but if I do this, I still want to run.
绝对可以转向技术上的发展。当然，我们可以走艰难的部分，我可以在岩石上争夺一些，但是如果这样做，我仍然想跑步。

The world of ultra running is a tree with many branches. The oldest of these, at least in the UK, is fell running, known as hill running in Scotland and mountain running in Ireland. These races can be of any length, from a mile to unfixed ultra distances, and take place across mountains and on mostly unmarked routes, meaning some self-navigation is usually required. The first known fell race took place way back in 1040, when King Malcolm Canmore of Scotland organised one in Braemar in Aberdeenshire to help him select a swift messenger.
Ultra Running世界是一棵树，有许多分支。至少在英国，其中最古老的一个人在奔跑，被称为苏格兰的山和爱尔兰的山跑。从一英里到未固定的超距离，这些种族可以长度任何长度，并且在跨山脉和大多数未标记的路线上进行，这意味着通常需要进行一些自动化。首次已知的摔倒比赛是在1040年进行的，当时苏格兰国王马尔科姆·坎莫尔（King Malcolm Canmore）在阿伯丁郡的布雷马尔（Braemar）组织了一名，以帮助他选择迅速的使者。

Despite its long history, fell running remains a parochial branch of the sport. Its local roots and low-key, no-nonsense character are part of its appeal and are fiercely protected. I’d love to try it, but when I think about taking up ultra running, what I’m really imagining is something more global and all-encompassing. The part of the sport responsible for the boom in numbers.
尽管历史悠久，但Fell Running仍然是这项运动的狭och派分支。它的本地根源和低调的，无意义的角色是其吸引力的一部分，并受到了严格的保护。我很想尝试一下，但是当我考虑进行超级跑步时，我真正想象的是全球性和无所不包的东西。这项运动的一部分负责数字繁荣。
with the Devil, the depths of the struggle, but then to rise up and overcome it? Could I stare into the storm - whatever it may be, whatever is thrown at me - and overwhelm it with the force of my will? It is an enticing thought. And a far cry from the $FT$$FT$FTF T journalist complaining because his bus to the hotel is late.
有了魔鬼，斗争的深度，但随后崛起并克服它？我可以凝视风暴 - 无论它是什么，什么都扔给我 - 并以我的意志力压倒了它吗？这是一个诱人的想法。与 $FT$$FT$FTF T 记者抱怨，因为他去酒店的公共汽车很晚。

I have to admit, this is all very appealing to my ego. I find myself watching a documentary about human evolution and the role running played in it, and a Professor of Anthropology at Hunter College in New York says: ‘We even have on record humans who can run 100 miles in one go.’ He says it as if it is scarcely credible, like these must be some kind of super-humans. And I spy my ego glancing over at me with that cocksure look that says: you could do that.
我必须承认，这对我的自我非常有吸引力。我发现自己观看了一部有关人类进化的纪录片及其在其中扮演的角色，纽约亨特学院的人类学教授说：“我们甚至有记录的人类可以一次跑100英里。”他说这好像是几乎是不可信的，就像这些一定是某种超级人类。我间谍我的自我看着我的外观：您可以做到。

As the US comedian and ultra runner Michelle Wolf puts it in an interview with Runner’s World magazine: ‘It does kind of make you feel like a badass.’
正如美国喜剧演员和Ultra跑步者米歇尔·沃尔夫（Michelle Wolf）在接受《跑步者世界》杂志采访时所说：“这确实使您感觉像个坏蛋。”

Talking to other ultra runners, however, I get the feeling that it isn’t only the satisfaction and validation of overcoming the challenge and making it to the finish that appeals to them, but also the feeling of oblivion they get from striding into the midst of the storm in the first place, from teetering so close to the edge. Digging in the pain cave, as seasoned ultra runners describe it with relish.
但是，与其他超级跑步者交谈，我感到，这不仅是克服挑战并使之达到吸引他们的挑战的满意和验证，而且还从中迈向了他们中间的感觉首先，从如此靠近边缘的摇摇欲坠。在经验丰富的超级跑步者中，挖掘止痛洞穴。

When I start scouting around for races to enter, I find myself looking at the race profiles, and (ə⿺𠃊 shows someone looking broken, close to tears. The runners look more like survivors of some nearapocalyptic disaster than sportsmen and women. It is telling that these are the images they choose to advertise the race. People want to experience this despair, they want to get this close to their own self-destruction.
当我开始四处搜寻比赛以参加比赛，我发现自己看着比赛的个人资料，（¶显示了一个看上去很伤心的人，几乎哭了。他们是他们选择宣传种族的图像。

Many ultra runners tell me they were inspired to take up the sport after reading Dean Karnazes’s first book, Ultra Marathon Man. In it he describes in minute detail the process of being broken by a 100-mile race, with one thing after another failing in his body and mind until it seems nothing is left and he is literally crawling along the road on his hands and knees. I read it and I shudder. I don’t want to hurt that badly. But other runners say they read that and thought: ‘That’s what I want.’
许多Ultra跑步者告诉我，在阅读Dean Karnazes的第一本书《 Ultra Marathon Man》之后，他们受到启发去参加这项运动。在其中，他详细描述了一场100英里的种族打破的过程，一件事又一件事在他的身心上失败了，直到看来没有剩下，他实际上是在手和膝盖上沿着路上爬行。我读了，我颤抖。我不想受到严重伤害。但是其他跑步者说他们读了这句话，并认为：“这就是我想要的。”

So, a little scared, but with my ego convinced that I’m tough enough, I begin to search for a race that will give me the full experience of ultra running, that will deliver me into the heart of this growing sport, that will reveal the secrets and allow me to fully understand what is going on.
因此，有点害怕，但是我的自我确信我足够坚强，我开始寻找一场将为我提供超级跑步体验的比赛，这将使我成为这项不断增长的运动的核心，这将会揭示秘密，让我充分了解正在发生的事情。

It is a big, unwieldy thing to get my head around, a sport morphing in many directions at once. With no central overseeing body or organisation, the races, interest groups and self-appointed
我的头是一件很大的，笨拙的事情，这是一项一次运动的运动。没有中央监督身体或组织，种族，利益群体和自我任命

It seems strange to us now, but in the nineteenth century, the sport of ultra running was incredibly popular, with huge crowds turning up to cheer on competitors in six-day races around tight indoor tracks in London or at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Hefty prizes worth hundreds of thousands of pounds in today’s money were taken home by the victors, while the fashionable and well-to-do of the day mingled with the rowdy crowds that turned up to bet, drink and socialise.
现在对我们来说似乎很奇怪，但是在十九世纪，超级跑步运动非常受欢迎，大批人群在伦敦的室内紧张轨道上或纽约麦迪逊广场花园的六天比赛中为竞争对手欢呼。胜利者带回家了，价值数十万英镑的奖金价值数十万英镑，而当天的时尚而富裕的人则与吵闹的人群混合在一起，这些人群都押注，喝酒和社交。

The sport rose in popularity in part on the back of the exploits of an American named Edward Payson Weston. It all began when, in 1861, after losing a bet with a friend over the outcome of the 1860 presidential election, he was forced to walk the 478 miles from Boston to Washington DC in ten days, in an effort to make it in time to witness the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln. As news of his feat of endurance got out, it stirred the curiosity of people living along the route, and crowds started coming out and lining the streets to see him walk through their town. He caused such a stir that when he got to Washington, although he missed the inauguration by a few hours, he was invited to the president’s ball that evening and got to shake hands with President Lincoln.
这项运动的流行程度在某种程度上是在一个名叫爱德华·佩森·韦斯顿（Edward Payson Weston）的美国人的漏洞的背面。一切始于1861年，在与一位朋友在1860年总统大选的结果中失去赌注后，他被迫在十天内从波士顿到华盛顿特区的478英里，以便及时及时行走见证亚伯拉罕·林肯总统的就职典礼。随着他的耐力壮举的消息，它激起了人们沿着路线的人们的好奇心，人群开始出来，在街道上排成一排，看到他走过他们的小镇。他引起了如此轰动，以至于当他到达华盛顿时，尽管他错过了几个小时的就职典礼，但他于当晚被邀请参加总统的舞会，并与林肯总统握手。

Encouraged by this reaction, over the next few years Weston undertook a series of ever more challenging routes. By all accounts a showman - he sometimes played a bugle while walking, or walked backwards to entertain the crowds - by the 1870 s Weston’s fame as a long-distance walker had grown to the point where he decided to capitalise by bringing his act indoors where he could charge people to watch. As a result he set in motion a craze for six-day races - the longest time you could walk and run without encroaching on the sanctity of the Sabbath. Over the next few years he held a series of closely fought and wildly popular head-to-head matches with an Irish American called Daniel O’Leary.
在这种反应的鼓励下，在接下来的几年中，韦斯顿采用了一系列更具挑战性的路线。众所周知，一位表演者 - 他有时在走路时打球或向后走去娱乐人群 - 在1870年的韦斯顿（Weston）的名气中，长途助行器成长为他决定通过将自己的行为带到室内的地点，以使他决定利用自己的行为。他可以指控人们观看。结果，他为六天的比赛带来了热潮 - 最长的时间您可以走路，而无需侵犯安息日的神圣性。在接下来的几年中，他与爱尔兰美国人丹尼尔·奥利里（Daniel O'Leary）举行了一系列斗争和广受欢迎的头对面比赛。

The six-day race reached its pinnacle in 1878 when a British nobleman, Sir John Astley, sponsored five international races for lucrative prize money and a championship gold and silver belt inscribed with the words ‘Long Distance Champion of the World’.
这场为期六天的比赛在1878年达到了顶峰，当时英国贵族约翰·阿斯特利爵士（Sir John Astley）赞助了五场国际奖项，以获利的奖金和冠军金牌和银色腰带，上面写着“世界上的长距离冠军”。

Previous incarnations of the sport of pedestrianism, as it was known, are recorded as far back as the early 1700 s. While these races, often of 1,000 miles in length, also drew large crowds, they were strictly walking races, with rules about heel-to-toe contact similar to today’s walking competitions. In contrast, the six-day races of the 1870 s were more akin to modern ultra running, and became known as ‘go-as-you-please’ matches in which contestants could walk, run or rest whenever they wanted.
众所周知，先前对行人运动运动的化身已记录在1700年代初期。尽管这些比赛通常长1,000英里，也吸引了大批人群，但它们严格来说是步行比赛，并具有类似于当今步行比赛的脚跟到脚的规则。相比之下，1870年代的为期六天的比赛更类似于现代的超级跑步，并被称为“随时随地”比赛，参赛者可以随时随地走路，跑步或休息。

The Astley Belt contests were the biggest sporting events of any sort during the period, complete with brass bands, enthusiastic press coverage and substantial betting. The first of the five races took place in London in 1878, in the Agricultural Hall, Islington, and pitted seventeen
在此期间，阿斯特利腰带比赛是任何最大的体育赛事，包括铜管乐队，热情的新闻报道和实质性的博彩。五场比赛中的第一场比赛于1878年在伊斯灵顿的农业大厅举行，十七

Another branch of ultra running, and one that is seeing a big rise in the number of people taking part, is the multi-day stage races such as the Marathon des Sables, which are usually held in exotic, inhospitable places: deserts, the jungle, the Arctic Circle. These races are expensive to enter and require lots of planning.
超级跑步的另一个分支，其中一个人参加的人数大幅增长，是多天的舞台比赛，例如马拉松赛萨布尔，北极圈。这些种族进入昂贵，需要大量计划。

There is disdain in some parts of the ultra running world towards some of these big multi-day races. Part of the resentment is against the cost and the corresponding hype of races such as the MdS. ‘A holiday for CEOs’ is how one ultra runner described them to me. Having been out there in the desert, I could see it was tough and gruelling, but also we did spend a good part of each day recovering in our tents. And despite being completely unprepared for it, I had been running near the front of the race for much of the time. A holiday may be pushing it, but I’m sure there are tougher, more competitive races out there.
在超级跑步世界的某些地区不屑一顾，其中一些大型的多日比赛。怨恨的一部分是违反了种族（例如MDS）的成本和相应炒作。 “为CEO的假期”是一个超级跑步者向我描述他们的方式。在沙漠里去过那里，我可以看到这是艰难而艰难的，但是我们每天都花了很大一部分时间在帐篷里康复。尽管我完全没有准备好，但我一直在比赛的前面跑步。假期可能会推动它，但我敢肯定，那里有更激烈，更具竞争力的比赛。

Indeed, another offshoot of the sport includes a whole host of races so tough and extreme that each one seems to occupy its own category. These include races such as the Spine Race, which traverses 268 miles of the Pennine Way in the north of England. Non-stop. In January. Or the Badwater 135, which starts in Death Valley in California, one of the hottest places on Earth, where temperatures in the race have hit ${54}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$${54}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$54^(@)C54^{\circ} \mathrm{C}. Or the Barkley Marathons, an extreme 100 -mile race on an unmarked route through remote mountains in Tennessee - so tough that in the first twenty-five years of the race only ten people managed to finish it. Or there is the longest ultra race in the world: the Self Transcendence 3100, which is a 3,100-mile race around a single city block in New York City.
确实，这项运动的另一个分支包括一系列如此艰难和极端的比赛，以至于每个比赛似乎都占据了自己的类别。其中包括种族，例如脊柱比赛，该比赛在英格兰北部穿越268英里的Pennine Way。马不停蹄。在一月。或Badwater 135，始于加利福尼亚州的死亡谷，这是地球上最热门的地方之一，比赛中的温度已经达到 ${54}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$${54}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$54^(@)C54^{\circ} \mathrm{C} 。或巴克利马拉松比赛，这是一场极端的100英里比赛，在田纳西州的遥远山脉的一条未标记的路线上 - 如此艰难，以至于在比赛的前25年中，只有10人设法完成了比赛。或世界上最长的超级种族：自我超越3​​100，这是纽约市一个城市街区围绕一个城市街区的3,100英里比赛。

I’m looking for something to push me to my limits, but I’m not insane. And I still want to run. You can’t run for 3,100 miles. Races like the Barkley Marathons are more about your wits, your mind and your survival skills than running. I want that, too, but I want it to still be, to some degree, a running race.
我正在寻找将我推向极限的东西，但我并不是疯狂的。我仍然想跑步。您不能跑3,100英里。像巴克利马拉松比赛这样的比赛更多地是关于智慧，思想和生存技巧，而不是跑步。我也想要那个，但我希望它在某种程度上仍然是一场跑步比赛。

Another offshoot of the ultra world, one where you can run, are the mostly flat, looped races
Ultra World的另一个分支，您可以奔跑的一个是公平的，循环的种族
hour races. There are world championships and world records in these races, which bear the closest resemblance to regular marathon running.
小时比赛。这些比赛中有世界冠军和世界纪录，与常规马拉松比赛最为相似。

These races interest me, but, like fell running, they aren’t the reason for the phenomenal rise in ultra running. Little has changed in the participation levels in these events since the 1980s, or the 1950s, or even way back to their heyday in the 1870s.
这些种族让我感兴趣，但是就像跌倒一样，它们并不是超级跑步中出现惊人的原因。自1980年代或1950年代以来，这些活动的参与水平几乎没有改变，甚至回到1870年代的鼎盛时期。

It’s an interesting aside to note that while these fixed-loop ultra races are today among the least glamorous and least heralded of all the ultra running branches, they were once among the biggest sporting events in the world
撇开一个有趣的是，尽管这些固定环的超级竞赛是当今所有超级跑步分支中最不迷人且最不明显的比赛之一，但它们曾经是世界上最大的体育赛事之一