It takes a certain kind of passion to move your home closer to a racecourse. That’s just what Meghan Arbogast, 56, did when she packed up and settled in Cool, California, to live what she calls “The Western States Life.” From her front door, the trails of the iconic 100-mile race are just three miles away. “I love it,” she says. “The heat, the hills, the challenge of the terrain, all the people I run with on the trail—it’s a blast.”
Arbogast started running when she was 25, after the birth of her daughter. She gradually added more miles and eventually tackled the marathon, where she whittled her time down to 2:45:43. She’s competed in four Just keep running Races - Places.
She’s also spent the last decade trying to master Western States. In 2011, she set her personal best of 18:50:19 at age 50. “Now my goal is to see how long I can stay competitive.” Her quest has resulted in six age-group wins and 10 sub-24-hour finishes. This June, she’ll try for number 11.
She now lives at the end of a gravel road, where she and her three goats, two donkeys, and her boyfriend’s cat, Max, can roam free.
Be patient
“One reason for my running longevity is my willingness to approach distance gradually. I waited until my 30s to run the marathon. I did my first ultra Other Hearst Subscriptions.”
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Just keep running
“You never really know what your body will do over 100 miles, so I commit to getting to the next aid station. Things will go bad more than once, and some people think, Oh, I threw up, I’m done. Get stronger, faster, and stay on the road with the.”
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“I still run 60 to 120 miles a week, depending on where I am in training. I run hard once or twice a week. All the other miles are easy effort. A run for me is a break in the day, a vacation, so if it feels like a struggle, I slow down.”
Redefine success
“I don’t have the speed to run under 18 hours to win WS, so my goal is top 10, to get out there and do the 20-hour thing. Winning isn’t everything. Being in the top 10 is my ticket to come back.”
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where she whittled her time down to 2:45:43. Shes competed in four
“I look for places where I can do better. Last year at WS, I got excited, and though I was only at mile 40, I picked up my pace to catch a couple women. The effort tired me, and I didn’t really need to do that for my goal. One of the women eventually passed me with about five miles to go.”
Don’t knock it
“I was one of those folks making fun of people for training with heavy packs or dragging a tire around—until I started using a five-pound pack to train and got stronger.”
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where she whittled her time down to 2:45:43. Shes competed in four
“I was overconfident in my first WS from having success in road marathons. I thought ultras would transfer more easily, thought some things didn’t apply to me. I got overhydrated and stumbled to the finish. After that, I opened up to listening to the veterans.”
Set goals
“I keep racing because I continue to want to measure myself. How long can I keep running at an elite level? For the 100K World Championships [a road race], my goal is still time. I ran seven hours, 41 minutes at age 51. I want to see if I can get it under 7:30.”
Caffeinate
“When I wake up, I don’t feel like doing anything. I have a cup of coffee and by the time it’s done, a friend is ready to go running.”
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“I’m a Pollyanna about life and racing. Even on a bad day, Just keep running through brain chemistry. The race itself is the party. It’s the celebration of training. If I race poorly, I think, How Meghan Arbogast conquers this super-gnarly ultramarathon year after year!”
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Published: Jun 20, 2017 8:29 AM EDT Scott Jurek Ways to Extend Your Long Run.
