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A Decade of Growth in Ultrarunning |
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Western New York has seen remarkable growth in interest in ultramarathons in the past decade. In 2000, there were only four events in our area with five possible races from which to choose. Eight years later, we have three additional events with six possible races, which are shown in bold font in the table below. The addition of 100K and 100-mile races is especially noteworthy and reflects the maturing of ultramarathoning in the area. Now, if we just had a 24-hour track event…
| Ultras in Western & Central New York | Race Length | Race Type | | BPAC 6 Hour Endurance Run | Timed | Road | | Highland Forest 1 2 3 | 30 miles | Trail | | Finger Lakes Fifties | 50K | Trail | | 50 miles | Trail | | Green Lakes Endurance Runs | 50K | Trail | | 100K | Trail | | Iroquois Trails Ultras | 50 miles | Trail | | 100 miles | Trail | | Can Lake 50 | 50K | Road | | 50 miles | Road | | Mendon Trail Runs | 50K | Trail | With the grown of races, there has been a corresponding growth in participation. The table below shows the number of individuals that finished at least one ultra in the Western New York Ultra Series each year from its start in 2004. Part of the remarkable growth shown came with the addition of new events and including supporting distances in the series scoring. But, in just the three years from 2006 to 2008 with no changes in races scored, almost 100 additional runners finished at least one of the series races. | Western New York Ultra Series | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | | Total Participation | 70 | 95 | 180 | 253 | 276 | | Series Events | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | | Scoring Races | 4 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
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