The sport of running has never been more popular than it is right now, and by extension neither has participation in ultramarathons. Case in point, Kyle Forgeard and the Nelk Boys just completed a 100-mile ultramarathon from Area 51 to Las Vegas where they raised over $332K along the way.
An ultramarathon is technically any distance longer than the standard 26.2-mile marathon. Typically, they come in 30 miles, 50K (31mi), 50 miles, 100K, and 100 miles. And then there are the big boys, the 200s, 250s (like Cocodona), and even longer.
Nelk Boys And Kyle Forgeard Finish 100-Mile Ultramarathon For Cancer Charity
Finishing a 100-mile race without tapping out requires incredible mental strength on top of physical fitness. At some point, everyone enters the ‘Pain Cave,’ a term coined by ultrarunner Courtney Dauwalter who set records in the Western States 100, UTMB, and Hardrock 100 in the same year.
The key to finishing a race that long, according to Courtney is to embrace the pain. Entering the Pain Cave is an inevitability. Humans cannot run 100 miles without struggling. But embracing it, expecting it, knowing that you are right where you need to be when it arrives because you chased after it, that is all part of the experience and now Kyle Forgeard and Nelk Boys can say they’ve entered the Pain Cave and made it out on the other side in one piece…