Ultrarunning is an unsung sport where most finish lines are hardly celebrated. Thankfully, those who do show up to spectate are often devoted and enthusiastic. Want an obscure statistic regarding the best 100-milers of all time? Ever dream of turning a running obsession into a career? Meet three of the sport's most knowledgeable and passionate followers: ultra's super fans.
Ethan Newberry
AGE 34
HOMETOWN Los Angeles
Ethan Newberry is a redheaded comedian who has turned his website, The Ginger Runner, into a full-time job.
Newberry ran his first marathon in 2002 and first ultra race in 2012. He started his website about four years ago, initially to offer product reviews from the midpack runner's point of view. In the last year, however, the site grew into a YouTube channel that hosts live interviews with elite ultrarunners.
It's a place where Newberry's background in improv and sketch comedy shines. With expertise in music, composing and graphic design, he originally moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting and comedy.
Eventually, Newberry experimented with putting all of his creative skills to use on the website, which he strives to make “entertaining but informative.” He estimates that it takes about 80 hours a week; he even broadcast his own race-weekend double, when he ran the Squamish 50 Mile and the Squamish 50K. Newberry uses his own music in his video productions, and his first album broke into the top 15 on iTunes.
“I never thought in my wildest dreams it would be that successful,” he says.
One of his online mottos is "Train Hard. Race Harder. Party Hardest." It's a nod to his philosophy—don't take running too seriously—and his live interviews with the elites of the sport keep the audience (and his guests) laughing. Newberry looks forward to tackling the 100-mile distance this year and continuing to grow the site. “I've got a lot of big things coming up that I'm really excited about, two to three years out,” he says. “I have stuff planned out that far in advance.”
Bill Dooper
AGE 80
HOMETOWN Leadville, Colorado
Bill Dooper has seen every Leadville Trail 100 race since 1988. With the enthusiasm of an NFL fan, he watched an oddball hobby turn into a global sport. While he's never run 100 miles himself, he likes the distance for its combination of strategy and endurance. “You miss your pace in a 100, it's not going to end well,” he says.
Dooper hikes up to 30 miles per week in Leadville, which sits at 10,000 feet above sea level. Some typical leisure reading for him during the season is 42 pages of results, entry lists and race reports from a weekend of ultra competition. He remembers all of these statistics, compiling them in his mental database of the sport.
His devotion to ultra-running and its competitors hasn't gone unnoticed in the community. Dooper's admirers raised money in 2014 to send him to the Western States Endurance Run, to show their appreciation for his longtime support. On the track in Auburn, California, he watched Rob Krar's victory. The champion greeted him there by his first name.
“When a guy like that remembers your name, that's pretty neat,” Dooper says.
He capped his dream summer by also spectating at the Hardrock 100 in Silverton, Colorado, and Run Rabbit Run in Steamboat, Colorado. As the unofficial human encyclopedia of ultra statistics, Dooper makes pre-race predictions—though he is careful not to offend his friends. (He now limits his guesses to an alphabetical list of top-10 finishers.)
Dooper has already booked his hotel for this year's Hardrock 100. He'll see you at the finish line.
Eric Schranz
AGE 40
HOMETOWN Sacramento, California
If ultrarunning had a voice, it would belong to Eric Schranz. The stay-at-home dad is the host of UltraRunnerPodcast, where he posts daily news from the world of ultra.
“When we started, I thought it'd be cool if I got a free pair of shoes,” he says of the venture, launched with three friends. That was three years ago, and now companies actively seek reviews on his site.
The podcast, which takes about 20 hours of work per week, remains a hobby for Schranz. He's been running for 30 years and likes talking about it almost as much as he likes doing it. He spends a lot of his time researching before interviews, which come off a little like conversations between friends on a long run.
Schranz competed in the 2013 Bryce 100—his first stab at the distance. He had a coveted entry to the Western States Endurance Run five years ago, but his first daughter was due to be born at the time. Instead, that year he stuck close to home and looped a park 100 times to finish 100 miles.
The reaction to his presence at some of the biggest races in the country drives home how popular his hobby has become in the ultra community.
“Hey, I recognize that voice!” is the refrain Schranz often hears. “It is weird,” he says. “I can't imagine what it's like to be a real celebrity.”
