Ultrarunning’Published: 17 February 2022 blisters and aching limbs. Some people start to see things. In the latter stages of races, I have seen tree roots turning into snakes trying to trip me up and, more pleasurably, tables adorned with red wine. I’m far from alone. From dancing elephants to imaginary lawn mowers, the world of ultrarunning is filled with such tales. While there are certain things runners can do to deal with hallucinations – including staying on top of nutrition and looking assertively at the trail rather than letting the mind wander – sometimes they just happen. And if they do? Try to ignore them – they're harmless, really. Here are five funny and frightening examples from the frontline…
Name: Emily Foy
Age: 37
Race: Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, 2017
‘I was filling up my water bottle from a sheep’s trough on the mountain at mile 70. I recoiled when I saw tiny severed heads at the bottom. I looked around at my fellow runners, expecting a similar reaction and panic but they were all utterly calm, filling bottles and chatting. Try as I might, I couldn’t make the heads turn into stones, which my rational mind knew they must be. I couldn’t stomach drinking, turned around, apologised to a golden retriever (aka a pile of dried grass) that I tripped over and continued up the mountain. It was broad daylight.’
Name: Jen Scotney
Age: 37
Race: Northern Traverse Race, 2018
‘I was 120 miles into a 190-mile race and hadn’t slept. Going into the second night, I started hallucinating really badly when it got dark. My headtorch was bouncing light onto the limestone walls, where cats and human faces were appearing. The night was so clear that the stars were twinkling all around. But I was hallucinating that they were around my shoulders. On my own, at 2am, everyone else tucked up in bed, and here I was in the Yorkshire Dales shouting at the stars to get back in the sky.’
Name: John Hunt
Age: 38
Race: Thames Ring 250, 2017
‘I was going into the second night, so was pretty wasted by then, and was on a country road with trees either side. I was about 150 miles in and remember thinking the trees looked really strange with weird “bits” hanging down so I stopped and had a closer look. To my amazement, it looked like someone had strung up thousands of rotisserie chickens as far as the eye could see. I was so confused by it so took a closer look and went to grab one (I was a bit hungry by this point). Alas, it was just a leaf.’
Name: Ben Rolfe
Age: 46
Race Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, 2013
‘It was 4am on Sunday morning, and I had been in constant motion since 4pm on Friday. Blocking my path in the middle of a track was a lawnmower. It wasn’t a cheap one, either; it was a proper mower used to get stripes on cricket pitches. I turned around to go back to the checkpoint, to tell the marshals to radio for assistance to move it. Then a Japanese runner came by and I watched as he didn’t even break stride, running straight through the middle of the mower. Later, I caught sight of someone in the bushes. I faced them: she was holding a machine gun and was completely naked.’
Name: Dan Stinton
Age: 40
Race: Lakeland 100, 2019
‘Everything started getting a little strange with about 5K to go. I knew something was wrong when everything went black and white. Shortly afterwards, I kept seeing animals and faces in every rock twist piece of rock, along with vivid pigs, old men and frogs. I knew I’d officially lost it when I saw a blow-up snowman with long, shaking, wobbly arms. It turned out to be a runner in the final death march into Coniston.’
The expert’s view
Dr Chris Howe is a sports scientist specialising in ultrarunning. He’s no stranger to midrace hallucinations, either, having once seen a huge white castle so convincing his support crew had to assure him it wasn’t there. He offers this explanation as to why hallucinations happen: ‘I think that hallucinations during ultras can be put down to the extreme fatigue caused by the event itself, coupled with the sleep deprivation of running through one or even two nights. Research from the UTMB found that strenuous exercise had a marked effect on cognitive performance, ranging from lengthening of response time to more serious symptoms such as hallucinations.’
