(Newswire.net — February 4, 2019) — People are always looking to challenge themselves whether this be through finding the next winner such as here at www.bettingsites.ng, making more money, or through a sporting challenge. There are now so many options available as the industry continues to grow, with more and more people pushing past the previous test of running a marathon for example. Here we cover some of the toughest sporting challenges available for people in the U.S.
Badwater Ultramarathon
There are very few people even among the ultramarathon community that are capable of finishing this tough and gruelling race. It has long been widely regarded as ‘the world’s toughest foot race’. The course consists of a 135 mile (217km) race, that starts at 279 feet (85m) below sea level, which is in the Badwater Basin in California’s Death Valley. The race then finishes at an elevation of 8360 feet (2548m), which shows just how severe a climb it is throughout.
To further the difficulty of the race it takes place in the middle of July, in which there are always extreme temperatures that can even reach 130 °F (54 °C). As of 2015 the race now starts at night, which has resulted in the best time being set back in 2016. This was an American in Pete Kostelnick who finished in 21:56:32. This Ultramarathon is a huge test for even some of the fittest people on earth.
The Barkley Marathon
A race that has long been out of the public eye but following the release of the documentary on Netflix has gathered a lot of attention. The Ultramarathon trail race is held in Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee. The full course consists of a 100 mile (160 km) route, with the race limited to a time of 60 hours to be completed. It is an annual race that takes place each year between March and April.
The race was designed and founded by Gary ‘Lazarus Lake’ Cantrell, and was first ran back in 1986. It is limited to just 40 runners each year, so it is a very difficult race to get accepted for. To enter you must complete an essay on why you should be allowed to run in the Barkley, and pay a small fee of just $1.60. This is something that makes the race very unique as some of these fitness challenges can be quite expensive to take part in.
The test of the race is extreme, consisting of loops of 20 miles (32 km), with no aid stations except two water points along the route. There are vertical climbs of 54,200 feet total (16,500 m), which just shows why to many this is the hardest ultramarathon in the world. This is also shown in the fact that 55% of the races have resulted in no finishers.