Why Don’t More College Students Run Ultras?
Five reasons why runners like Ben Troy are an exception
“The old college try” means putting forth a sincere attempt, often with futile effort, at something difficult or seemingly impossible. Running 100 miles in under 24 hours seems to fit the description of The Old College Try, but the offhand remark is not typically associated with deliberate on-foot or on-campus activity. This American idiomatic expression would more likely be ordered upon starting a term paper the night before it’s due, or maybe carrying a futon up three flights of stairs.
Sure, there are runners in their early 20s who compete in ultramarathoners, but the sport is not rife with college students. This demographic is more likely monitoring its GPA and avoiding D’s and F’s instead of GPS and DNFs.
The average age of ultramarathon runners is 42.3 years old, and that’s trending younger, according to the RunRepeat and The International Association of Ultrarunners’ State of Ultra Running 2020. There are theories to explain why endurance running appeals to older people who are well past the universal “peak age” for athletic performance. Sprinters peak in their mid-20s and more general measures such as maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) and muscle mass start to decline between ages 25–30.
One theory is that endurance runners require more years of training to build up tolerance.
“It’s not as physiological as people believe,” said Jeffrey Lynn, a professor of exercise and rehabilitative sciences at Slippery Rock University. “The people who have decided to become ultramarathon runners at a younger age have been just as good and held up just as well as those middle-agers.”
Lynn would know. Like many others, he took up ultra running past his athletic peak years, at age 37, but he’s been around college students and he’s studied the physiological responses of ultra runners throughout his career.
One of the students who Lynn mentored is Ben Troy, who gave ultra running The Old College Try after running his first standard marathon during his junior year at SRU. Within eight months, Troy was running his first 100-miler, and eight months after that, his first sub-24-hour 100, which he did remarkably well a week after a failed attempt.
“Here’s what I think happens,” Lynn said. “With a lot of folks, maybe they ran in high school or college, or maybe they just ran for fun and the marathon then becomes a challenge, so they tackle that challenge and maybe they do more. This is part of my story. You do it again and you get a little faster and you’re competing against yourself. That starts to become the motivation.”
The average age of marathon runners, as well as the standard distance races of 5Ks, 10Ks, and half-marathons, are also in the late-30s. Those types of runners are trending older, unlike ultra runners.
“But then, eventually you start to slow down: it’s inevitable with age.” Lynn said. “Then you start asking yourself, ‘Well, what’s the next thing? I can’t go faster, but I can go farther.’ The more you live, the more you realize that you’ve got some reserves and you can take on some challenges that you might not have taken before. This is why I think you see people at the starting line (of ultramarathons) who are mostly in their 30s, 40s and 50s. They just moved up and they are looking for a new challenge.”
Troy, 22, is uncommon because he realized this at an early age.
“I just decided I wanted to try ultra running competitively,” said Troy, who prior to 2019 never ran more than seven miles at a time or more than 20 miles in a week. “I signed up for a marathon, and after that, I decided I didn’t want to run any faster, but I’d rather go farther and see where that took me. I like the slower pace of a longer race.”
Around 70% of ultra runners are in their 30s and 40s, according to the State of Ultra Running, and fewer than 10% are younger than 30.
What likely keeps endurance runners around is a wider competitive window. A study by German researcher Dieter Leyk found that age-related losses in endurance performance do not occur before the age of 50 years.
If Lynn’s theory is correct, that runners “graduate” to run longer distances once they start to slow down, then why aren’t more runners in their early-20s graduating early and giving ultras The Old College Try?
Troy’s story is an example that younger runners are just as capable of competing in ultramarathons as runners of more advanced ages, but he’s also an exception as to why most college students don’t run 50- or 100-milers. Generally speaking, the college lifestyle and temperament are not conducive to ultra running. Here are five reasons why:
College students keep ungodly hours.
Studies have shown that the peak age for staying up late at night is 20. College students can still fit in training runs in the evenings but they also have to adapt their schedules around the rest of the population. Troy wakes up at 3 a.m. every day to train, around the time many of his classmates are going to sleep.
College students have erratic schedules.
Most people have consistent, weekday routines from 9 a.m.-to-5 p.m. and fit in a long run on the weekends, whereas college students might follow separate schedules for Monday-Wednesday-Friday and Tuesday-Thursday and work weekend jobs or catch up on studying. Three days a week, Troy has an internship that starts at 6:45 a.m., and some days he’s not finished until 7 p.m.
College students are socially stimulated.
Ultrarunning is a solo activity. Young, single adults, especially within a campus community, are exposed to a wide variety of social interactions. During a person’s college years, their social networks expand and opportunities for intramural team sports and more social recreation are readily accessible. Troy, on the other hand, said he craves monotony. He even considers it a skill. He has no problem completing his long runs on the same quarter-mile track or repeating a 1.4-mile loop around campus.
College students have the need for speed.
If there’s a smaller window during your life to run your PR in sprints or standard distances such as the 5K or even a marathon, why not focus instead on the challenge of setting your best time? The opportunity to compete as an endurance athlete will be waiting later in life. It’s the same reason why someone might play pickup basketball while they still can before picking up the golf clubs later in life. Troy, for example, decided to take up ultra running because he no longer saw any potential as a competitive weightlifter, his first sport of choice.
College students are still learning self-discipline.
College is a transition to adulthood, going from always having your parents, coaches, and teachers telling you what to do, to learning to be disciplined on your own. It takes a while to adjust. When you ask most people what they’ve learned in college, it’s usually things like time management or accountability. The muscles of willpower and self-discipline are only beginning to be stretched. “Running is the best thing for discipline,” Troy said, but too many 20-year-olds are overwhelmed to begin ultra running. They’re busy giving other things The Old College Try … such as life.
