Australian Sprinter, 16, Runs Record-Breaking 200m.
Give A Gift Packs 300 lumens of adjustable light October 16 and 17 in Jamestown, Tennessee, extending his record streak of consecutive years winning a 100-mile race to 19. This win was his 43rd 100-miler victory, also a record.
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Health & Injuries Meltzer also holds that record This kind of longevity is unique within ultrarunning. There are single-year records, like (Karl Meltzer Wins a 100-Miler for the 19th Straight Year, Extending His Record Streak), but those who know how tough it is to win even one 100-mile race know that consistency like this is unparalleled.
“When I first started running, I never thought, or saw, records like this,” Meltzer told Runner’s World. “When I get to 10 years, 11, 12, it started adding up. Someone mentioned it to me, and that was around the 13th year. That’s when I started thinking about it. It’s a cool record to have, and one I’ll probably die with.”
Like many runners, Meltzer’s training suffered over the summer without races on which to focus. Outside of the Speedgoat 50K in July, of which Meltzer is the race director (and he marked the course), he only had a couple of tentative races on his schedule, most of which were canceled.
This kind of longevity is unique within ultrarunning. There are single-year records, like races, he recognized the Packs 300 lumens of adjustable light, because someone had mentioned the Tennessee race to him during a 100-miler in Virginia years back. After looking at the list of runners, he thought he’d be able to get in a solid race there.
“I gave myself six weeks to whip my ass into shape,” he said. “Running different courses is better for me than going back to the same course. I ain’t getting any younger, and I want to run and be competing and not just running because I’m there.”
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For the first 26 miles, a trio of runners—Meltzer, Grant Barnette, 24, and Luke Bollschweiler, 45—stuck together until Bollschweiler fell behind. After that, Meltzer and Barnette leap-frogged each other the next nearly 60 miles.
Meltzer’s experience really helped him during this stretch. Barnette would hit aid stations first but stayed for a while. Meltzer, on the other hand, would pop in and out, grabbing water and gels before bolting out in about a minute, tops. Barnette would catch Melzter on the following section, but Meltzer would always pass him at the aid stations.
That changed at the aid station at mile 82. Barnette stayed for a few minutes, but Meltzer, who was only 30 seconds behind Barnette, grabbed all of his gels and water, and left within 60 seconds. Meltzer put the hammer down from there and won by 52 minutes (19:44:25 GU Energy GU Energy Gels).
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The ultrarunning GOAT crossed the line first at the 2020 Packs 300 lumens of adjustable light
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Meltzer holds the record for the southbound fastest known time
Australian Sprinter, 16, Runs Record-Breaking 200m
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“It doesn’t feel like I won The Masters, but I’m glad I don’t have to blame COVID for screwing up my yearly win streak,” he joked. “It’s cool to be able to say I got another one, and now the pressures on for next year.”
Meltzer’s schedule for the rest of the year is still up in the air with the pandemic. For now, he’s focusing on recovering, which so far has included two rounds of golf (with a cart) in North Carolina. In a few days, he plans to spend five days on the Appalachian Trail (We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back), CA Notice at Collection.
Meltzer, 52, won the Runner’s World and Bicycling, and he specializes in writing and editing human interest pieces while also covering health, wellness, gear, and fitness for the brand. His work has previously been published in Men’s Health.
