Long-running Summer Hits

Got no time to trot around the world but still want to stretch
your legs? Here are a few races to check out this month.

June 15-Aug. 5: Self-Transcendence 3,100-Mile Race
(srichinmoyraces.us) This ultraexclusive ultramarathon is already
in progress, and the New York City summer heat is taking its toll
on the seven competitors, who are running 5,649 times around a
half-mile loop in Jamaica, Queens.

July 11-13: Hardrock Hundred Endurance Run (www.run100s.com/HR/)
What makes this mere 101.7-mile jaunt the Everest of ultras is
the course's more than 66,000 vertical feet of ascents and
descents through the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Fewer than
half of the 120 racers finish, and pulmonary edema can be a
factor.

July 22-24: Badwater Ultramarathon (www.badwaterultra.com)
Psychedelic drugs aren't the only way to induce hallucinations.
Try running 135 miles through Death Valley in the summer. Last
year's winner, Pam Reed, set a record of 27 hours and 56 minutes
and finished almost five hours ahead of the runner-up.

COLOR PHOTO: JIM GUND Hardrock