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)

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