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In the forest where I ride they have a 50 mile race every April. Yes FL 
heat and humidity and running in sand. I asked one of the organizers 
last year how many people run 50 and 100 mile events - compared to those 
that run marathons (26 + miles) and shorter 5 k, 10 and 20 k events. He 
didn't know but he said the longer distances are a very small precentage 
of the total number of what you would call distance runners.

It would be interesting to see the statistics on distance running say 5 
k and above to see how they compare to distance riding. Anyone know. 
This may just get down the the human issue as much as the horse issue. 

Truman

William Rice wrote:

> Newbie here talking, but also wondering why endurance riders might not steal a page from the endurance runners.  Tom N. can you chime in on this also?
>
> If we want more to ride 100 mile distances then those that have can influence that by being the mentors at each and every ride and encouraging us beginners along the way.  BTW I have plenty of support and have my sights on a 100 already and I really appreciate the kind folks here in Maine for mentoring me.
>
> For example:
>
> The endurance runners do this by allowing pacers for the 100 mile runs--perhaps riders could have an experienced horse go with the new horse and rider for their first 100?  Also at every 50 mile run we do all we can to help and encourage a 50 mile runner to step up to 100 miles.  The end result is that we have more runners than ever wanting to run 100 miles (crazy huh) so many in fact that most runs of 300 runners have huge waiting lists and now fill up months in advance.
>
> Crews, fueling and care of horses and other insights to successful distance completion should also be freely shared.  I do find that everyone I have ever asked a question of in this sport has bent over backwards to answer but some are more shy than others about asking the "experienced riders" questions.
>
> Further there are special awards/buckles etc for those completing a 100 miler.  So if it works to convince people to run 100 miles on foot (which is certainly outside the norm) then perhaps we can do the same in endurance riding?
>
> I realize I am very new to this sport but I find the riders/crews/race directors to be the same friendly type of people one finds at ultra runs.  And I want to see the sport continue--heck I am even trying to get more runners involved although they are not convinced that a horse is the best way to go :-)
>
> One other thing riders might steal from the runners is proper care of themselves.  At every ride I see the horses treated with the best electrolytes etc and the riders look like dead men walking :-)  A quick look at Kevin Sayer's web site can provide a ton of info we runners have learned the hard way about taking care of oneself http://www.ultrunr.com/ .
>
> Which brings me to the final point, and that is the horse.  I never thought I would enjoy being on a self willed animal quite so much, but if I can do it and I just learned to ride at the ripe (but still young) old age of 48 then anyone can.  So to you other newbies out there, you CAN do this and you CAN ride 100 miles--you just gotta' want to.  So grab your horse and get going, I plan to see you out there.
>
> Bill In Maine--doing some early morning musing
>
>
>
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