Running a 200 miler is a big effort, funny that, and as such requires more than one post. I had to stop for a cuppa’ and a biscuit so am now refreshed and ready to push on.  The link to my first post is here in case you missed it, https://www.runbkrun.com/2026/05/08/how-to-run-a-200-miler-ultra-part-1/

To sum up Part 1 I highlighted how important sleep is, something a lot of 200-mile runners forget which comes back to bite them towards the end of the event, as well as nutrition, basically eat a lot and often, looking after your feet, mental preparation and finally crew.

First thing we need to talk about is your why?  This is the reason you are putting yourself through the pain and pleasure that is a 200-mile foot race. This is important because somewhere along the way you are going to need this to help keep moving you forward when every ounce of sense in your body is telling you to stop. In a 200 miler all runners will experience this, be it the front runner racing the clock or the back of the pack runners being chased down by sweepers, we all need our why.  I’ve seen runners write their why on their body, or extreme cases, tattoo it, so it’s there as a constant visual reminder when needed or a piece of paper they can bring out in times of need.  It doesn’t matter where it is it just needs to be available when you need it most. A powerful why statement can make a massive difference and be enough to keep you moving forward.  For a 200 miler you must have a why, period.

Next is the distance itself. You can’t start a 200 miler and think the finish line is 200 miles away, that is just running suicide. The way to run a 200 miler is to break the distance down into smaller more manageable ‘chunks‘ and the best way to do this is by daisy chaining aid stations and concentrating on the distance to the next aid station only. This way you also achieve small milestones more often rather than a start race, finish race, with nothing in-between.  I even break down laps in backyard ultras and they’re less than seven kilometres long. For Delirious there’s nineteen aid stations, so I have nineteen smaller races to run, between ten kilomteres and twenty four, with an aid station at the end serving great food and my reclining chair waiting for me. It’s a wonder I finish within the cut off with so many excuses to drop time and sit down and eat.  This way you can always see the next finish line, albeit it’s an aid station until it’s not and it is actually the finish line. I remember when I ran my first 200 miler I didn’t have this mentality and we were about eighty kilometres in and I was totally trashed and I remember thinking I have hundreds of kilometres to go, when I should have thought it’s less than five kilometres to the next aid station. Total different way of approaching the same issue but you can see the difference it would make mentally.

Next is training or in my case probably lack off.  As with all things running you more you put in the better the end result but for ultra races there is also the mental side which plays a big part, so funnily enough your training for ultra’s doesn’t have to be as on point as shorter distances, as strange as that sounds. For example, a good friend of mine John Herzfeld finished Delirious West 2025 with no real training at all bar a few park runs and general fitness, John is also a vintage runner similar to me. What John does have though is mental toughness and he basically did enough to finish.  He admitted to me post-race he felt a bit embarrassed as he knew he had no right to be there, at the finish line, really.  He originally entered to keep Gabe Alves company to the finish, but Gabe dropped out and John just kept on trucking to finish in ninety-six hours.

I’m similar in that I trained very hard on the trails for three of my finishes, but the last two years have done very little trail running at all and no long runs of anything more than low twenty kilometres.  I have averaged less than eighty kilometres a week and ran four to five times , around ten kilometres each time.  I have added in gym visits which included pilates reformer time and some weight work, so trying to do something every day.  My friends reckon its muscle memory that gets me to the end of Delirious these days, not my training, and they could have a point. I feel with my experience and general fitness, combined with mental preparation, trumps general running fitness acquired by running, a lot.  Of course, I wouldn’t recommend my approach to the first-time athlete and would always do as much as you can, but if you can’t do as much as you’d like you can concentrate on other ways to stay fit and also work on your mental strength game.

With breaking the event down into aid station hops you only need to be fit enough to get to the next aid station, there you can recuperate, refuel and go again. These mini breaks can help you run further on less fitness; you’re not running a 200 miler you’re essentially running twenty smaller races?

Remember you won’t be running the full 200 miles; there will be times when you need to hike and practicing hiking is also important as you’ll be using different muscles. With a trail ultra it’s all about the quads, work on your quads as you’re constantly stepping, you very rarely just cruise along like a road marathon when all the muscle groups are utilised evenly. Quads, quads, quads and one more time quads, get to that quad rack baby and get squatting!

Another important part of a 200 mile is actually enjoying the journey, being ‘in the moment‘ and not over thinking things. Sometimes just stop and look around, breath in the sunsets and sunrises and let the scenery wash over you, it makes a massive difference to your mental well beings if you let your surroundings invigorate you. Several times during all my 200 miler events I will stop and just take it in where I am, just enjoy the moment of solitude and in my case normally take a photo or video but it never does that moment justice. These moments are the ones you remember, just you and the trail.

In the article below by Rachae Entrekin training is highlighted. https://ultrarunning.com/featured/how-to-train-for-200-milers/ Worth a read.

Let’s cut to the chase here. No one is talking about this topic. And, yeah, you can hold onto your flimsy idea that “200s are just fast hiking” all you want, but: a) this doesn’t necessarily have to be true, and b) shut up.

Below, you’ll find “Rachel’s Nearly Foolproof Guide to Running Your First Super Long Event.” While I’m certainly not going to claim to be an expert here, I’ve at least figured out some stuff, and honestly, we should be talking about this. Clearly, the drive to go these distances isn’t going away, and if we want to turn around the dumb narrative that these can’t be competitive, we’ve got to start sharing secrets so that they can be.

Note: I’ll be mostly discussing fixed-distance races, because that’s where it seems like there is the greatest potential for growth within the sport when it comes to participation and sponsorship.
Other note: My multi-day experience consists of four 48-hour races and three fixed-distance 200(+) mile races.

Training

Here’s where the back-to-back training runs come into play (or, if you can swing it, the back-to-back-to-back training runs). I think stacking weeks of a couple 6-8-hour/25-30-mile days in a row is the most beneficial way to get used to running when you don’t want to run. Friday, Saturday and Sunday consist of doing anywhere from 20-40 miles, at least three weekends out of a month. Practice fueling, moving your legs when they feel like they weigh 600 pounds and just being out there, for that long and then doing it again. And again. And again. Weekend after weekend. Stack. Those. Bricks.

That being said, I tend to not go hog wild with insanely high mileage during my training – probably 75% of my weeks were anywhere between 80-90 miles, with a handful of stacked 110(+) mile weeks. I think it’s pretty healthy to have one week a month where you “take a break” and do a lower mileage week (again, relative) of 75-80 miles. Trust me, when your usual week is 100 miles and suddenly you’re doing 75, it really does feel easy, which is exactly what you want.

Training specificity also matters. Think about the trail conditions of the area you’re racing in. Is it exposed? Rocky? Humid? Figure it out and try to simulate those conditions, particularly during your longer runs. Also, and I feel like this goes without saying, but learn how to run at night. You’ll be doing it at least twice. Don’t make the first time you realize you’re afraid of the dark (or the animals that live in the dark) be during the race. Also, at some point during the race, you’ll likely find yourself eating what could be considered “a meal,” then needing to keep running. Maybe, you know, practice that. Running after you’ve eaten is worth trying out prior to the race so you know how it feels and can get your gut used to it.

And, say goodbye to your social life, you belong to running now. I highly recommend finding friends who run.

Bonus Section: Training Races

There are few things worse in life than lining up in the starting corral next to someone who says “Oh, this is just a training run for me.” But now, you get to be that person.

I find that doing a few stimulus races during your build can be incredibly beneficial. However, be smart about placement of them during your training. I tend to do a larger effort run (18+ hours) and at least a couple moderate effort runs (8-12 hours) during my buildup to the multi-day and honestly, I treat them like they’re standalone events. Don’t forget though, you can’t thrash yourself so completely that you now have to take weeks off training. The goal of a stimulus race is finishing, but feeling like you could’ve kept going.

Another Bonus Section: Course Recon

If you have the opportunity to go and check out the route, great. If you don’t, there’s tons of stuff out there to glean information from – race reports on Reddit to full-length films, in some cases. Do your homework, however that looks for your schedule.

Sleep

I think there’s two schools of thought here:
a) Plan sleep (around weather windows, time of day, known circadian rhythms, larger fueling times).
b) Do not plan anything and sleep only when you’re essentially a health and safety risk (aka, my strategy).

Obviously, know thyself. If you can fall asleep on a dime (literally, what is this expression?) then maybe planning sleep would work for you. It does not work for me.
My usual rule of thumb for deciding when it’s time to sleep is if caffeine, food, pacers and/or daylight/adjusting your headlamp brightness don’t help, plus you’re slowing down, stumbling a lot or legitimately feel like you could fall asleep standing up, then you need to take a break and try sleeping. Don’t wait for the aid station. Curl up under a tree on the side of the trail and snooze for 5-20 minutes. If you’re at an aid station and your crew can use the time you’re sleeping to do additional tasks for you, maybe snooze a bit longer. It’s all about efficiency and multitasking.

In talking with others throughout my own experiences, I also tend to encourage holding off on sleep as long as possible. Sleeping during multi-days appears to be similar to “breaking the seal” in that once you start doing it, you really want to keep doing it. (But obviously, stay safe out there. Don’t zombie-walk off a cliff.)

Fueling

Multi-days are not casual. They are long, grueling, insane feats of human accomplishment, and you cannot do this on stupid race fuel like gels and sugary garbage, alone. If you do this, you will be throwing up violently or otherwise aggressively ill by mile 110. Gels, drink mixes and chews are great to snack on and keep handy because they’re light weight, usually have sodium and/or caffeine and are calorically dense. But unless you want to destroy your will to live by the halfway mark, I recommend figuring out what real foods you can take with you in addition to the traditional race fuels. Whether it’s McGriddles, mashed potatoes or milk, you need variety, and that means eating protein and fat in addition to carbs. You’ll want to practice beforehand, so you can determine how your body responds to larger meals while still needing to move forward. Don’t forget another one of the basics: electrolytes. Think in terms of IV drip speed, not avalanche, and try to get salt in your real foods.

Pacing

Okay. Controversial opinion incoming, but if you want to win the race, stick your nose in it from the get-go. I’ve spoken on a lot of podcasts about “barely manageable” pace utilization during these things, and honestly, this is something that you have to learn how to do during either fixed-time racing, 100-mile race efforts or long back-to-back days. If your plan is to “conserve energy until the end of the race, then pick off people who started out too fast,” I have news for you: the leaders have already finished the race by the time you reach the last third of the course. Do not “conserve energy for your future self.” Manage your pace so that you don’t crash and burn, obviously, but you aren’t going to feel “fresher” 186 miles into a race because you did a 15-minute pace for the first 100 miles. You’re just going to be 7 hours behind the front of the pack. It’s much easier to set the tone early than it is to try and rally late. Again, I am in no way endorsing starting off at a pace that you haven’t experimented with during training or other races. It’s not advisable to average an 8-minute pace when your usual is a 11:30-minute/mile. Don’t be dumb, but don’t hold yourself back, either. This is a race. Figure out what’s barely manageable and hold on as long as you can. It’s probably going to be about 180 miles longer than you think it’ll be.

Know the course well enough to strategize, whether you’ve been on it or not. Know where the climbs are, so you can fuel appropriately. Know what sections look runnable on paper but are actually rocky, technical hell-holes. Know where you’ll be around what time, so you can have appropriate gear and not die of exposure or cold. Will there be filterable water? Are my feet going to get wet? Not knowing these things will slow you down. Someone who knows these things, but maybe trained a little bit less, will go considerably faster than someone who trained a ton but knows nothing about how the course flows. Be smarter than them.

Crew

Yeah, I don’t know how people do multi-day fixed-distance events without a crew, so we’re going to assume that everyone reading this is interested in having support. Here are some short and sweet tips:

• Pick people who won’t baby you. They will see you at your worst, and it’s their job to keep you going.
• Pick people who you can argue with (and who can argue with each other) but know how to apologize and continue working well together.
• Pick people you are excited to hang out with. You’re going to be spending a lot of time together.
• Pick people who will take care of each other while crewing.
• Pick people who will kick your ass out of the cozy van at 3 a.m., who will keep their personal drama to themselves because they think it might affect your race and who willingly do whatever it takes to get you to that finish line. Your crew is the backbone of your race. They will be your brain when yours has left the chat. They are your spirit when you feel like death. They will keep you moving when you just want the race to be over already. Choose wisely.
• Bonus Tip: Have pre-race meetings to discuss your goals, fears and needs. Let them know, to the best of your ability, how they can manage you efficiently. It’s like a middle school group project, except you’re the project. Tell them how to earn an A.

Aid Station/Race Vehicle Management

Don’t camp out at aid stations. While you’re there, you don’t have to run, which is great. It’ll be tempting to hang out because snacks and friends are there. But you have to leave. Strategize to determine which aid stations are the ones where you’ll be spending longer amounts of time and stick to the freakin’ plan. Spend the preceding miles before hitting aid stations thinking about what you need to accomplish. Change of clothes? Eat hot food? Go into the aid station with a plan, and don’t assume you can figure it out when you get there.

It’s easy during the race to let everything get messy and out of control in your race vehicle, but digging through dirty clothes at mile 185 trying to find clean socks is not ideal for anyone. Keeping the race vehicle tidy is more of a crew task during the race, but organizing gear before the race even starts is on you. Also, I rent a camper van, which is expensive but worth it. It’s a home on wheels. While you shouldn’t be spending that much time inside, your crew will be making it their home while you’re off hallucinating in the desert/woods for days. Give them somewhere to sleep, shower and get some privacy, that isn’t on the side of the trail or in a creek.

Mental Resilience

Events like 200-milers are wild. You can’t conceptualize them as just two 100-mile races run back-to-back. They’re compounded, significantly. Everything can and probably will go sideways. You’re going to encounter new and exciting issues that you can’t even fathom. I don’t say that to overwhelm or frighten, but to encourage preparedness. You can be afraid of the challenges that are going to happen, or you can choose to look forward to them. You’re going to emerge from a multi-day race a completely different person, and you can be mentally and physically more capable than before, or the opposite. It is, quite literally, your choice. Mindset is everything, and I have found that it’s the most important thing – even more than physical fitness. You have to believe you can conquer what’s out there and embrace that you’ll be learning things along the way.

The Little Things

Study the maps. Read the race reports. Watch the movies. Plan the accommodations (in advance). Don’t forget to order shoes, and honestly, order extra pairs. Get your gear in order and have backups for everything. Use your gear, and backups, before race day. Prepare, rehash and prepare again. Have a medical kit, and don’t assume the race will provide you with first-aid supplies. Pack your car early and make sure everything is in there, that way, you’ll realize you forgot literally all your nutrition at home and can save $300 by not buying the same crap that you already had the day before the race. Everyone’s little things are different. Know yours and address them.

Have fun. Or something like it.

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Big shout out to fisiocrem , this product is just incredible for tired and aching legs. I use it daily and have noticed a vast improvement in recovery.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

Fractel ( https://fractel.com.au/ ) have your performance headgear covered. I love the colours and the functionality of these hats, I guarantee there is one model you’ll fall in love with.

Shokz headphones, let you keep in touch with the world around while losing yourself in quality tunes or podcasts. ( https://shokz.com.au/ )

T8 running apparel is the best you can get, second to none. Designed for the ultra humid Hong Kong conditions the owners live in.  It is light and does away with any chaffing worries. T8 is the name given to the highest typhoon warning in Honk Kong,  storms and typhoons with gusts exceeding 180kph, which explains the branding. ( https://t8.run/)

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