What is a sub ultra?

The New Vibe of Mountain Running
 

A sub ultra is shorter than a marathon on trails. Yep, that simple! 
And Sub Ultras are gaining in popularity in the run community.

“It’s fun because it’s based on short and fast trail racing, which is what I love,” says Allie McLaughlin, a Hoka-sponsored trail runner from Colorado Springs. “It’s just a different vibe than a lot of races.”

Overall, there are a lot more shorter-distance mountain running events and participants than there are in the ultra-distance scene, but for years ultrarunners and key races have gotten most of the attention.

“I think it’s much more approachable,” says Dani Moreno, an Adidas-Terrex pro from Mammoth Lakes, California. “If you told someone who wanted to get into trail running that they could only do a 100-miler, most would say, ‘Uh, no thank you.’ And I get it because when I first started trail running, I was asked, from the get-go, ‘When are you going to do your first 100?’ That was always the conversation, but it took me five years just to do a 50K. But the point is that the performances of runners at shorter distances are just as impressive as the runners doing longer distances.”