Marshall Ulrich is an elite ultra-marathon, adventure runner as well as a mountaineer, having climbed the seven highest summits, including Mount Everest.

He has run more than 100 races averaging 125 miles each, two of which are Badwater (146 miles) and the Leadville Trail (100 miles) – two of the toughest ultra-marathons in the world. At 57 years of age, Ulrich crossed America, a run starting from New York to San Francisco, covering 3,063 miles in 52 days, an average of 60 miles daily.

This is how he started running and discovered his extreme talent.

Back in the early 80s, shortly after his marriage and the birth of his daughter, his wife was diagnosed with cancer.

Although fit and lean, but leading a very stressful life, that of a businessman and a father with a sick wife, Ulrich suffered from high blood pressure and hypertension. His doctor suggested cardiovascular exercise. His brother liked running and so he encouraged him to vent out his steam on the road.

Running was highly therapeutic and provided an excellent distraction from his life, a source of mental relief and emotional release. To keep away from his personal issues, he fantasised about his childhood dreams... exploring continents, scaling the Everest and trodding through the jungles.

Short jogs turned into 10km runs, gradually building up to mountain races and marathons.

After the demise of his wife, he pushed beyond the normal distances to elite courses, ultra-marathons and adventure races, taking him all the way from the United States to the remote jungles and deserts of Africa, Australia, Asia and the Himalayas.

‘Make friends with pain and you will never be alone’ Ken Chlouber, creator of the Lead-ville Trail once said.

Throughout his runs, Ulrich felt discomfort and suffered injuries. But, long-term running taught him how to detach from the pain, joking about it and treating it without becoming its slave.

“What’s physical pain compared to losing your spouse, parent, child or a friend,” he said.

In a meeting with Yiannis Kouros, considered the greatest ultra-marathon runner alive, holding 134 world records, Ulrich shared experiences of sensations within his body when he runs.

Unmatched for his awareness of what goes on within the body, Kouros explained that when reaching the limits of one’s own physical capacity, an altered state of mind is achieved – what in simpler words is known as ‘beyond the mind’ consciousness – when the body is no longer habitable and the mind shifts into another dimension.

This takes me back to one of my recent articles wherein I mentioned Gabrielle Roth’s 5 Rhythms of the Dance.

Remember, the ‘Staccato’ beat!

It was all about getting in touch with our energies and passions and expressing them to others.

Added slots

As already mentioned, registration for the full marathon is now closed with 400 participants.

Last week, the half was also momentarily full-up when the limit of 1,300 was reached.

But, as more late applications were still being requested, the organisers decided to increase places for the 21km run.

The added slots are on a first-come-first-served basis and the applications will close once these places are taken up.

With regards to the Walkathon, the 700 places are just about taken up. In fact, by the time you read this article they may have already been closed.

Enjoy your running!