The first thing I did after finishing my first 100-mile race, Ohio鈥檚 Mohican 100, after sleeping for 16 hours, was write.

Something had happened to me in those 32 hours of rain and mud, and documenting it seemed like the best thing to do.听I鈥檓 a writer, so perhaps that wasn鈥檛 surprising, but what was surprising to me was how so many other runners of this race also chose to document their experiences in race reports. Not only that, but many shared them far and wide鈥攕uggesting that if the story wasn鈥檛 shared publicly, the work wasn鈥檛 finished.

But was anyone actually reading these race reports? Why do runners create them in the first place? Are race reports simply navel gazing, or is there more to it? Setting out to answer these questions took me on a fascinating journey through the technological history of the past 50 years. Here鈥檚 what I found.

Race Reports and the Multiverse

In 2010, when I started running, blogs were de rigueur for race reports. Since then, the landscape has changed tremendously. With digital media, a variety of race report formats emerged, from vlogging to TikTok to Strava recaps. During ultras today, runners often capture and post footage on smartphones, while GPS watches chirp like birds.

The race report has officially hit the media multiverse.

Today, we associate race reports with the internet, but that wasn鈥檛 always the case. This introduces a number of challenges in chronicling the history of race reports. After all, the race report is a form of storytelling, and . Running is , and not all runs are races. Do FKTs count? What about the Tarahumara running traditions of ? Or ? In the end, people have always run and told stories about it.

The Evolution of the Race Report

When it comes to the modern sport of ultrarunning, race reports have been created and circulated using the changing technology of the day, from printers and the U.S. Postal Service to smartphones and Strava. Here鈥檚 a look at the three main leaps in its format, in the past 50 years.

1. Print (1970s鈥�1980s)

Some of the earliest 鈥渙fficial鈥� modern race reports were typewritten or dot-matrix printed and circulated among enthusiasts in the 1970s. (Certainly if we trace the sport鈥檚 history back to 19th-century pedestrianism, it was through the newspapers of the day that race reports were circulated.)

Then, in 1981, UltraRunning magazine came along. A major draw of the magazine was that it published the full results of ultramarathons, listing every single finisher.

鈥淧eople used to get the magazine solely so they could get their results and keep a physical copy of the results,鈥� said Amy Clark, editor of UltraRunning. Before the web, this was the only way to access them.

Along with race results, UltraRunning also included race reports. The earliest race reports were brief, one- or two-paragraph summaries from a third-person perspective. They offered a synopsis of the race, but not any particular runner鈥檚 individual story. In those days, race reports were almost exclusively text. The magazine did include black-and-white photos, sure, but only one every few pages on average.

UltraRunning remains an independent print publication. Today, the race reports found in UltraRunning are longer and much more personal, and they typically include multiple photographs. These race reports are editorially selected and polished. The goal, says Clark, is for each report to present 鈥渁 beautiful spread of photography and words.鈥�

On the other hand, Trail Runner founder Brian Metzler strategically veered away from publishing race reports in print, opting for more third-party race coverage. 鈥淲hen I started Trail Runner magazine in 1999鈥�2000, we purposely did not include any race reports in print. We did, however, write journalistic-style stories about runners, elite and recreational, and their experiences in races.鈥�

Whether the race reports were published or not, trail running grew more and more popular in the United States. Now there are dozens of ultra events each month and more emerging all the time.听Fortunately, now we have the internet.

2. Early Internet: Email Listservs, Blogs, Social Media (1990s鈥�2000s)

One of the race report鈥檚 earliest internet innovations was through email. The first email was sent in 1971, and many organizations adopted email in the 1980s. By the 1990s, it started to become common for individuals to have personal email accounts. One use of email was for mailing lists. In the days before web browsers existed, mailing lists were essentially email-based social networks. There were鈥攁nd remain鈥攎ailing lists for every topic under the sun, including ultrarunning.

was created in 1994, and it hosts archives going back to 2004. Today, the list has just over 1,600 subscribers. The ULTRA List was a popular place to share race reports; they were text-only, but they were easy to distribute and save.

Throughout the 1990s, web browsers emerged and became easier to use, internet bandwidth increased, and the web gradually became festooned with images and multimedia. Blogging was born.

In the world of ultrarunning, blogging meant that any runner could publish their own race report with photos for free. And with online search, runners could easily find race reports for events they might be considering, even without following any particular runner鈥檚 blog religiously. For those who did follow particular runners鈥攕uch as champion ultrarunner Anton Krupicka, one of the first major digital media stars in the ultra world, 鈥攂logs offered an ongoing drip of ideas for races to run.

Social networks such as MySpace, Facebook, Reddit, and Instagram followed on the heels of blogging in the early 2000s, and these also became natural places to share race reports. Reddit, one of the most visited websites on the internet, hosts millions of communities called 鈥渟ubreddits;鈥� and are among them. Race reports have become such a mainstay of these Reddit communities that members have created .

3. Smartphones, Strava, Multimedia (2010s鈥�2020s)

The past decade has brought a profusion of new formats for race reports, thanks, in large part, to the rise of smartphones. In 2010, only 20 percent of the U.S. population owned a smartphone. By 2018, that number was 70 percent, and today 85 percent of American adults use smartphones.

The advent of Strava, a social network for athletes founded in 2009, was another major milestone in this history of running documentation and storytelling. The centerpiece of Strava is activity tracking: making use of smartphone sensors, users share data, photos, and comments from their runs and races with their community.

For some, these capabilities took the place of traditional race reports, while for others, smartphones enabled video race reports. These often combine live race footage with after-the-race commentary by the runner. One professional runner who has made use of this format for over a decade is Sage Canaday, 37, who shares video race reports, as well as training vlogs and advice for other runners , which has over 200,000 subscribers.

Other runners, including lesser-known ones, may not post as frequently but still demonstrate a growing audience for video-based race reports. And besides YouTube, in the past few years Instagram and TikTok have also become venues for post-race video updates, with , 45, building large followings.

Most recently, we have seen the emergence of audio race reports in the form of podcasts. An estimated 38 percent of Americans over age 12 . UltraRunning launched in 2020 alongside other newer entrants like and . These joined the handful of longstanding podcasts in the space such as and . Among other topics, these podcasts include interviews with runners in which they recount their experience at a particular event鈥攊n other words, race reports. have appeared in the past few years and are poised to continue to grow.

What Are Race Reports For?

As new media technologies have come along over the past fifty years, ultrarunners have continually made use of them to create and share race reports. Why is that? Why do we create race reports at all?

First, creating a race report is a path for closure, processing, and decompression after an ultra鈥攐r any mammoth ordeal. Reflecting on his first ultra, , 62, of Jamesville, New York, said of his first ultra, 鈥淭here was a lot to mentally process. Writing about it was cathartic. It also helped to capture lessons learned, and to create a record I could look back on, to remember the experiences better in years to come.鈥�

Second, race reports are a form of journaling, and psychologists have long established that , from mental clarity and improved memory to enhanced creativity and problem-solving. Journaling is particularly effective for processing and learning from difficult events.

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To this end, it has been heavily studied in contexts from to . Social psychologist James W. Pennebaker that journaling works because organizing our ideas into concrete form offloads some of the weight from our minds, freeing up the brain to do other work such as healing, mood regulation, memory formation and learning.

Doing so can be especially helpful early in one鈥檚 ultrarunning career, while we鈥檙e still figuring things out. That particular need may lessen with time. McHenry found that his itch to write 鈥渇aded in importance, and I stopped investing the time in writing race reports. I guess that鈥檚 because there was little new for me to process each time.鈥�

Another experienced ultrarunner, , 57, of Portola Valley, California, said, 鈥淚 still write them (but less often) to record what I鈥檝e learned for my own future reference, and because people tell me they like to read them. Sometimes I learn something really important at a race that I think is worth trying to capture in words.鈥�

Third, race reports often offer a service to readers. Ultrarunners use others鈥� race reports as an information source for choosing races, in training and preparation for specific races, and for coming to grips with a new distance or race format. More generally, race reports can be a treasure trove of wisdom for newcomers to the sport. Gear suggestions, nutritional strategies, training advice鈥攊t鈥檚 all there.

Ultrarunner Miriam D铆az-Gilbert of Voorhees, New Jersey, illustrated this well in recalling her first encounter with a race report. 鈥淲hen I began training for my first 50 miler, the JFK 50 in 2005, I searched the internet to learn more about JFK 50, and a couple of race reports came up. I found them very helpful. They eased my anxiety and the unknown about running my first ultra,鈥� she told me. 鈥淚 like to read race reports because they can be inspiring, encouraging, insightful, and relieve any doubt or anxiety a runner might have.鈥�

Paying it forward, D铆az-Gilbert, 64, now publishes her own race reports .

In this light, it鈥檚 clear that race reports, despite their format, have continued to offer a great service to the running community. In ultrarunning, it鈥檚 become part of the culture.

The Future of Race Reports

It may feel like the world is awash in race reports, and you will likely scroll past most of the ones you encounter. Your friends and family might not keep reading yours. But that doesn鈥檛 mean they鈥檙e pointless鈥攁nd it doesn鈥檛 mean they鈥檙e going away. As the sport of ultrarunning continues to grow, the sport鈥檚 knowledge base is growing and solidifying, too. There are now handbooks and broad agreement on training advice. Running 100 miles is less of an unknown than it was 20 years ago. What is the role of race reports now?

Clark reminded me that there are always new races appearing. Courses change. Weather fluctuates. There鈥檚 always going to be a role for written race reports, even beyond personal journaling, as a way to prepare for a particular event.

鈥淓ven if there鈥檚 a bad race report out there, it still might give you a bit of detail about something you might not know about,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 just based on our desire to have more knowledge about something we鈥檙e about to attempt that’s not an easy thing.鈥�

That said, the zeitgeist is shifting away from long, text-heavy race reports, and toward shorter TikTok and Instagram reels鈥攎uch like the broader media landscape. These formats are no better or worse, just different. They still serve the purposes of sharing new races, telling stories, giving advice, and cultivating interest in the sport, and they still give their makers an opportunity to process and decompress. Yet even as the zeitgeist shifts, the internet is vast enough to accommodate all race report formats that have come before. Longform text and audio aren鈥檛 going away, as the success of podcasting and continued book sales show us.

This may be a moment of encouragement, to continue writing race reports, or making them in whatever format you enjoy鈥攁s a way of processing something meaningful and paying it forward to those who might follow in your footsteps. And don鈥檛 worry about readership or engagement, even in a world of likes and kudos. Because just like covering the distance of the race itself, the personal transformation is enough.

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A 30-hour trail race may not seem, at first, like it would make a great spectator sport. The course is too long to view from one location, and progress is relatively slow. But thanks to new technologies, the age of ultrarunning livestreaming is here.

Today, ultrarunning is one of America鈥檚 fastest-growing sports. On any given weekend, there are over a dozen ultrarunning events across the United States. The number of races in North America has more than doubled in the past decade, and, . Who would have guessed so many people want to run races of 50 or 100 miles鈥攐r, increasingly, even longer?

Despite this increasing popularity, vestiges of the sport鈥檚 niche history remain. There鈥檚 little prize money to be had, free camping at starting lines is common, and scruffy beards abound. Also, the infrastructure is still broadly low-tech. For some, these elements are seen as inextricable from the culture of ultrarunning. Others feel as though amateurism is holding the sport back. But things are changing as the sport grows, and the most impactful of these changes involve technology.

There鈥檚 much to be said about GPS watches, sport-specific equipment, online registration, social media, and the emerging world of fantasy trail running. But the media landscape of the sport, in particular, video livestreaming, is a major technological force shaping the future of ultrarunning鈥攏ot just for the runners but also for spectators. Livestreaming suggests an exciting future for ultrarunning鈥攁nd it also harkens back to the sport鈥檚 centuries-old roots.

The Rise of Ultrarunning Tracking and Streaming

Previously, what happened on the trail stayed on the trail. Even when online race results finally came along, they weren鈥檛 posted for days after the event. The first step toward streaming was live runner tracking, online tables showing when runners passed certain checkpoints. This provided a rudimentary way to spectate these unwieldy events.

, founded by Ted Knudsen, who also owns the San Francisco Running Company. UltraLive was first used in a major event with the 2010 Western States, and today it provides free tracking services for ultramarathons. But Knudsen鈥檚 vision has always been more expansive. He first attempted live race photography and video before the smartphone era, but it didn鈥檛 catch on at the time.

As smartphones and action cameras such as GoPros became available, runners and photographers were increasingly able to capture footage from races and edit them into highlight videos and video-based race reports, to be published online in the days following a race.

Now, with higher bandwidth and streaming platforms such as YouTube Live and Twitch, video livestreaming has become far more accessible. One major example is the Western States Endurance Run, which began livestreaming its 2021 race. Live studio commentary accompanied footage of the course for the entire 30 hours, including predictions and stories about many of the runners on the field. Archived on YouTube, the first 10-hour part of has 146,000 views, as of this writing.

Aravaipa Running . Jamil Coury, owner of Aravaipa, points out how streaming allows even people who don鈥檛 run to grow their interest in the sport, while offering die-hard fans new ways to engage with their passion, including the ability to chat live with the commentators.

鈥淚 love the challenge presented by trying to tell these stories in real time in remote areas and bringing the sport I love to a broader audience,鈥� Coury told me.

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Indeed, the remoteness of many ultrarunning events is still a limitation for streaming. In many races, there simply isn鈥檛 enough of a cell signal to send a text, let alone stream video鈥攅specially on race day with all the people around straining the infrastructure. But connectivity may become less of a problem in the near future, thanks to low-earth orbit satellite internet and products such as the Starlink Roam, .

For a Glimpse of the Future, Look to the Past

Though ultrarunning hasn鈥檛 been popular for very long, its predecessor was the supreme spectator sport in its day, with betting and prize money to match. In the late-1800s, , in which dandies like Edward Payson Weston circled indoor arenas for hours on end. These events , and athletes competed for prizes equivalent to hundreds of thousands of dollars in today鈥檚 currency. But it wasn鈥檛 just about athletics. Walking exhibitions were places to see and be seen鈥攖here was flamboyant dress, food, music, and betting.

In the emerging age of livestreaming, perhaps ultrarunning might regain some of this popular exhilaration. Pedestrianism swept the nation through the turn of the century, but it faded away when bicycle racing became more popular, and ultimately it gave way to other spectator sports such as baseball and eventually football.

Speaking of football, the media history of America鈥檚 favorite sport may also hold some lessons for the future of ultrarunning. In the decades after World War II, professional American football rose from a disjointed enterprise with little money, to the behemoth organization the National Football League is today. Key to that shift was .

The earliest televised NFL games began in 1939, primarily using a single camera at the 50-yard line that turned to follow the ball. Today, the average NFL game uses around 20 cameras, including more than 90 at this year鈥檚 Super Bowl. Along with film came innovations such as instant replay and more sophisticated game strategy. Highlight videos and commentary became ways to dramatize and further publicize the sport. Today, 16 million people watch an average regular-season football game, and Super Bowl viewership is over 100 million. As a result, more people watch football remotely than could ever attend the games live.

Ultrarunning may never be as big as football, but there is still an intriguing precedent here about the value of making smart use of emerging technology to improve a sport and engage new audiences.

The Future of Ultrarunning

Knowing now that technology plays a critical role in the popularity of sport, where might livestream technology bring ultrarunning in the future? Virtual reality and 360-degree video are still in their infancy but are poised to grow. Imagine spectating a trail race through immersive, high-definition video. More cameras on the trail could offer spectators multiple views to choose from, and drone cameras could provide ongoing views of the leaders. User experience innovations could allow viewers to watch multiple streams at once. Artificial intelligence could be used to identify particular runners and create dynamically edited video clips from the ongoing feed. Spectators could be notified when a particular runner reaches a checkpoint, passes another runner, or exceeds a certain pace.

All of these technologies already exist鈥攖hey just haven鈥檛 been put to use. If they are, they could create more dynamism, more excitement, and more personalization for spectators. We could also see audiences grow beyond the friends, family, and other runners, to include non-runners who enjoy spectating, similar to how most NFL spectators do not themselves play football.

Ted Knudsen, owner of UltraLive, says that streaming and tracking also offer safety benefits that shouldn鈥檛 be overlooked. With better technology, race staff will know who is on the course and where, and who dropped out or may need medical attention. Currently, that information is limited and delayed.

Barriers to Growth

There are some barriers to technological adoption in the sport. First, technological issues such as battery life and connectivity are major limiting factors. Still, these have come a long way in recent years, and we can expect improvements to continue.

Next, data collection will likely remain a challenge. Knudsen says that data is always the biggest issue at ultramarathons, and it comes down to staffing. Flagship races such as Western States may have 1,500 volunteers for the 400 runners in the event, but at smaller races the proportion is reversed. With volunteers already stretched thin, it鈥檚 unlikely that they鈥檇 also be available to collect data for tracking, much less operate cameras and engage with streaming platforms. As interest in the sport continues to grow, perhaps so too will volunteer involvement.

Then there鈥檚 the money. Ultrarunning is a small sport, and no matter how much it grows, it鈥檚 still tiny. For scale, Western States has less than 1 percent of the viewership of the average NFL game. Even Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, which is quickly becoming a media giant, does not come close to NFL鈥檚 viewership numbers. The UTMB livestream team employs world-class mountain bikers and trail runners to the lead runners around the entire 104-mile course with wireless cameras that transmit live video via backpack-mounted transponders. across the UTMB Live platform and official social networks throughout the whole week鈥攖hat鈥檚 one-tenth of the viewership of the Super Bowl just on live TV.

A smaller sport means less money to invest in new technologies and user experience for spectators. The most exciting emerging tech may always be out of reach. Ways to overcome this could include sponsorship鈥攕omething that鈥檚 increasing at the big races鈥攁nd higher registration fees. Another path forward is for developers to create platforms that could be shared across the world of ultrarunning (not tied to just one company) and perhaps other ultra-endurance sports, such as triathlon and cycling.

Finally, there鈥檚 the cultural issue. In the U.S., ultrarunning has a grassroots legacy and reputation. Races have long been cheap and no-frills, (鈥渘o fees, no awards, no aid, no wimps鈥�). Not everyone will accept new technology, corporate sponsorship, or higher fees. This is leading to a between old-school, grassroots events without tracking or media to speak of, and big-ticket races with high-tech media production.

Candice Burt, founder of , specializes in small events without sponsorships or cutting-edge technology. She recognizes that big-ticket races will help bring newcomers into the sport, but she says that small events can be more innovative and community-oriented. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a future where we can balance the two seemingly competing forces,鈥� Burt .

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Bottom Line?

Indeed, ultrarunning is an expansive sport. Already it combines very different distances鈥攁 50K is a far cry from a 200-mile race. And in any given race, elite runners are playing a different sport from the back-of-the-pack runners. That鈥檚 not to say any of them are better or worse. We may admire the top finishers with sheer awe at their performance, but we also admire the Golden Hour finishers, often with tears, for what they teach us about the human spirit.

Looking again at the history, it鈥檚 interesting to note that the pedestrianism craze swept the U.S. at the dawn of automation. I wonder if it鈥檚 for similar reasons that ultrarunning is seeing renewed growth as we get deeper into the digital age. This time, it鈥檚 not just long-distance exercise, but it鈥檚 going out into nature. Are we responding to something that鈥檚 missing from our lives?

In this light, infusing technology into ultrarunning may seem to many like an oxymoron. But if we consider how more attention to the sport could bring far more people into the natural world, then this may be an upside: more attention to our natural environment, more stewardship of public lands, and perhaps more balance in the digital age.

Tim Gorichanaz teaches and conducts research in the College of Computing & Informatics at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He explores the ways in which meaningful human pursuits are evolving in the digital age.

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