How can anyone possibly run 100-plus miles? Just ask Kaylee Frederick.
Sixteen-year-old Kaylee Frederick is 93 miles into a 100-mile race when the pain catches her. She falls to the ground and starts to sob. It’s her first 100-miler, and she’s been awake and running for more than 20 hours now. Her body is begging her to quit. But she can hear the rhythmic pounding of her competitors’ shoes against gravel as they pass her by, and she knows that if they can keep running, she can, too.
So, she struggles to her feet and begins to move. It’s not pretty.
“It was a death march,” says Frederick, now 19 and a biology and education major at Pitt-Johnstown. “It was probably the slowest seven miles I've ever done. But I didn't really care, because I was moving, and every step was getting me closer to the finish.”
She crossed that finish line 27 hours and 37 minutes after starting.
Here at Pitt Magazine, we know exactly what you’re thinking: Why?
For dedicated athletes, ultra running — anything longer than the traditional 26.2-mile marathon — is considered the ultimate test of endurance and mental strength. It’s where the mightiest prove their mettle.
“I've always just wanted to see what’s possible,” Frederick says. “I always think ‘You're never promised tomorrow, so do it today — dream the impossible and don't stop until it's possible.’”
In the past few years, Frederick has proven her mantra, cutting her 100-mile time by more than nine hours and becoming the youngest finisher at Badwater 135, considered the world’s most grueling footrace with a course that cuts through California’s Death Valley. She does it all without sleep (even when a race stretches on for days) or music (she prefers to pass the time by doing math calculations in her head).
Impressed yet? Read on to get Frederick’s advice on achieving your own goals, running or otherwise.
Believe in yourself: “So many people think, ‘I could never do that,’ so they never even try. Everyone starts somewhere, whether you're trying to run a mile or an ultramarathon. It doesn't really matter if you're a runner or if you look like a runner or if you’re walking. You can do it, and you can make yourself better. You just have to give yourself a little credit.”
Go into your pain cave: The pain cave is the point where you feel like you can’t go on, and you must either decide to stop or vow to march farther down into that cave, where you know it’s physically difficult and mentally dark. Classic mind over matter. “It’s where you find out how powerful your mind truly is,” Frederick says.
It’s never too late to start: Frederick is often among the youngest competitors at any ultra race. In fact, many ultra runners don’t get started until their late 30s or peak until their early 40s. Frederick believes it’s because ultra running is all about overcoming obstacles, and the older you are, the more likely you are to know how to do just that.
Photography courtesy of Kaylee Frederick