Scott Jurek
runner
Is he the greatest ultramarathon runner of all time? Few athletes have made an impression on their sport like Colorado-based Scott Jurek has made on this demanding sport, producing some performances which stretch belief.
- Set at least ten course records
- Broke the records from 24 hour running (USA) and the 2189 mile Appalachian trail
- Four times named Ultra Runner of the year
- Won Western States 100 mile race seven consecutive times
- Three time winner of Spartathlon
Scott has led the sport with some amazing performances including multiple wins and course records. Ultramarathon running starts at the distances beyond the standard marathon of 26.2 miles (42km), while Scott has excelled up to 246k – and beyond.
Career highlights include:
- Winning Western States 100 mile endurance run seven times
- Winning Millwok 100k three times
- Becoming the first American winner of the Spartathon (246k), before winning a second time
- Winning Leona Divide 50 Mile four times
- Setting ten ultramarathon course records
- Winning at least 24 ultramarathons between 77km and 246km
- Setting the American 24 hour record with a run of 165.7 miles
- The record for the 2189 mile Appalachian Trail
Scott was described in Chris McDougall’s book ‘Born to Run’ as “the top ultrarunner in the country, maybe in the world, arguably of all time.” The Washington Times names Scott as one of the top runners of the decade 2000-2009, and Ultrarunning Magazine names him Ultra-Runner of the Year four times.
Among his achievements lies a two week period in 2005. After winning his 7th consecutive Western States 100 mile event, Scott entered Badwater Ultramarathon just two weeks later. Badwater is known as ‘the world’s toughest footrace’. It is a 135 mile event starting below sea level, ending on a mountain and crossing Death Valley, where the world’s hottest temperatures have been recorded. This amazing double challenge ended with Scott winning Badwater and setting a course record.
In 2013 he featured in a Runner’s World article about the greatest runners of all time, over all distances. He was named as one of the top eight (read more here).
In 2015 he made an attempt at the world record for the 2189 mile Appalachian Trail (read more here). Despite adverse weather conditions and other setbacks he broke the record. He was later voted Vegan Athlete of the Year (read more here).
Running on plants
“a lot of people assume that one needs to eat animal products to gain a lot of muscle mass or sufficient muscle mass for even power sports, and that’s definitely been proved false time and time again.”
Scott has been vegan since 1997 and practices and advocates a 100% vegan diet. He claims that what he eats is crucial in supporting endurance, recovery and health.
Initially this was for health reasons.
“My initial, first reason was long-term health. I had done a bit of reading by Dr. Andrew Weil—actually the first book I ever read of his was Spontaneous Healing—and I was going to physical therapy school at the time, and my mother had multiple sclerosis at that time for I think almost 12 years…I just got inspired by the body’s ability to heal itself through natural healing, and everything kinda kept pointing towards the vegetarian side of things.”
He said in an interview:
“On a vegan diet I was improving not only my body composition, but I was increasing muscle mass. And a lot of people assume that one needs to eat animal products to gain a lot of muscle mass or sufficient muscle mass for even power sports, and that’s definitely been proved false time and time again.”
In Eat and Run he talks about his life and career (portion of amazon sales goes to support this site)
No Meat Athlete is a great running resource. Full disclosure: 50% of any book you buy on there goes to support this website but there’s also a ton of free resources there.
Scott's Links
Scott’s site listing career highlights and more