Yesterday, I presented a list with the top 24 Ironman races in the world. Today I am presenting the 12 toughest Ultras in the world.

The two most known and probably also the toughest are:

Badwater Ultramarathon: This race is also called “the world’s toughest foot race”. It’s covering 135 miles (217 km) non-stop from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, CA. The greatest challenge here is the temperatures, up to 130 degrees F (or 55 degrees Celsius).

RAAM – Race across America: This is a bike race over 3000 miles. The route touches 14 states and climbs over 100,000 feet. The distance is actually 30 % greater as Tour de France, with one big difference: The race is a one stage race. It normally takes a solo racer about 9 to 12 days to complete it.

More races are:

Marathon des Sables

Spartathlon

Grand Raid de la Reunion

Comrades Marathon – South Africa

Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc

Namibia 24 hour ultra Marathon

Atacama Crossing (Chile)

The last desert (Antarctica)

Sahara Race (Egypt)

Gobi March (China)

For those of you seeking a bit more motivation, I strongly recommend the book Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner. For those of you who has already bought the Kindle, there is an electronic version of the book here Ultramarathon Man (Kindle version)

Here is a list of the worlds greatest Ironman Races:

“Photo by: Bakke-Svensson/Ironman.”

Spec-Savers Ironman South Africa: Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Country Energy Ironman Australia Triathlon: Port Macquarie, N.S.W, Australia.

Ironman China: Haikou, Hainan.

Ironman Lanzarote Canarias Triathlon: Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain.

Ironman Brazil Triathlon Florianopolis: May 31, 2009. Florianopolis Island, Brazil.

Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene: June 21, 2009. Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Ironman Japan Triathlon: June 21, 2009. Goto, Nagasaki.

Ironman France: June 28, 2009. Nice, France.

Frankfurter Sparkasse Ironman European Championship, Frankfurt: July 5, 2009. Frankfurt, Germany.

Ironman Austria: July 5, 2009. Klagenfurt, Austria.

Ironman Switzerland: July 12, 2009. Zurich, Switzerland.

Ford Ironman Lake Placid: July 26, 2009. Lake Placid, New York.

Ironman UK: August 2, 2009. Bolton, United Kingdom.

Ford Ironman Louisville: August 30, 2009. Louisville, Kentucky.

Subaru Ironman Canada: August 30, 2009. Penticton, B.C. Canada.

Ford Ironman Wisconsin: September 13, 2009. Madison Wisconsin.

Ford Ironman World Championship: October 10, 2009. Kona, Hawaii.

Ford Ironman Florida: November 7, 2009. Panama City Beach, Florida.

Ford Ironman Arizona: November 22, 2009. Tempe, Arizona. <

Ironman Cozumel: November 29, 2009. Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico.

Ironman Western Australia Triathlon: December 5, 2009. Busselton, Australia.

Lotto Ironman Langkawi Malaysia Triathlon: February 27, 2010. Langkawi, Malaysia.

Bonita Ironman New Zealand: March 6, 2010. Taupo, New Zealand.

Ford Ironman St. George: May 1, 2010. St. George, Utah.

See also the 12 toughest Ultras in the world.