Faces of the Ultrarunning Community

It’s no secret that ultra-running participation is on the rise—exponentially so. A recent report by runrepeat.com found that ultrarunning has grown 1,676% in the last 23 years, meanwhile, sub-ultra-distance races have flatlined. You may have personally noticed this change in your local community as well. There are more races. More running clubs. More applicants trying to win their spot in race lotteries, like the Western States Endurance Run (WSER) which saw a whopping 6,664 applicants in 2020 (unfortunately, the race was canceled that year due to COVID). It is important to note that whenever there is an influx of participants in a sport, the demographics of the athletes change too.

For years, I thought I was one of a few queer gay ultrarunners until I became more explicit about my identity online. Since