Kate Bradshaw

_{Marcy Beard on the High Line Canal Trail in Colorado. Photos courtesy Marcy Beard.}

Blazing trails with Marcy Beard, the female runner setting endurance records around the U.S.

By Kate Bradshaw

September 3, 2020

Marcy Beard currently holds 31 women’s records for Fastest Known Time runs — and is the current women’s leader worldwide — but that’s only because she travels more than most people.

At least, that’s the humble answer she gave when I asked her about her achievements in a recent phone interview, where she picked up my call from Moab, Utah.

The ultrarunner doesn’t consider herself an “elite” runner — in the few hundred-milers she’s run, she says she’d consider herself a “mid-pack” runner. Becoming the world’s current leader with so many Fastest Known Time records wasn’t initially something she aspired to, but it’s something she’s come to enjoy the more she does it.

She first became interested when she was exploring the Fastest Known Time website and noticed that a lot of the routes listed didn’t have a women’s time posted, she said.

Full story here.