Anyone can finish a 100-mile race. That’s what “The Speedgoat” – 58-year-old legendary ultra-runner Karl Meltzer – thinks, anyway. He’s won more 100-milers than any other ultra athlete, so you might be thinking: Easy for him to say.
But the thing is, he’s not just saying it. He’s been doing it for nearly 30 years. Not only is he the winningest 100-mile runner on earth (50 wins bagged, including one at the historic and notoriously difficult Hardrock 100 and six at the suffer-fest that is Wasatch 100), but Meltzer was doing it before the internet made it cool, before earbuds made it more enjoyable and before the great carb revolution made it, well, more achievable.
The highest achievements come from humble beginnings
In the nineties, Meltzer snagged his first sponsorship deal: About $500 a year to run with Montrail. Just a few years later, he was meeting with Red Bull to discuss a major partnership just days after breaking the Hardrock 100 record. In 2007, he traveled to France for two weeks and ran UTMB completely for free, thanks to his dedication.
Most people aren’t like Meltzer. Most people would consider it crazy to ever aspire to come close. But the principles by which he lives his life – those that are driving him to complete one-hundred 100-mile races when the average athlete will never complete one – can instill a champion’s mindset in anyone.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, you can do it. You just have to focus a little bit and expect it to hurt because it’s going to hurt,” Meltzer says on The Hard Way podcast. “But you’ve got to like pain. You’ve got to like to suffer… Just keep moving forward.”
The bar that never stops rising
Meltzer has raised his own bar after reaching every goal in his life. How many times can I win Wasatch? How can I set the record at Hardrock? How many hundreds can I win in a year? How can I set the Appalachian Trail record? Now that he’s accepted that he won’t be winning many races, reaching one-hundred 100-milers is his next goal. After that, he says, he just might be done. Don’t miss it.
This championship season, find your bar. Raise it. Don’t stop until you reach it. Like Meltzer says, if you’re suffering, just blink. You’re going to get there.
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