Wichita Falls Man Named National Champion in 100 Mile Ultramarathon

Shout out to Jim Ingalls who at the age of 81 competed ANOTHER ultramarathon.

Famous marathons happen across the country where folks compete in a 26.2 mile race. Boston, Chicago, and New York are probably the most famous. A rarer achievement in the running community is completing an ultramarathon, which is technically anything over that 26.2 miles, but many start at 31 miles. However, some can go even crazier distances.

Jackpot 100 Mile Ultramathon Happened Over the Weekend

Over in Henderson, Nevada folks from around the world came to compete in this 48 hour ultramarathon. Turns out some new records were set at this event over the weekend, including a big achievement from someone right here in Wichita Falls.

Wichita Falls' Own Jim Ingalls Becomes Fastest 80-Year-Old Ultramarathon Finisher

81-year-old Jim Ingalls finished the ultramarathon in 38 Hours 51 minutes and 38 seconds. He was the fastest competitor over the age of 80 at this event and has the medal to prove it (picture above). According to KFDX, Jim has completed an ultramarthon in all fifty states and completed at least one in five different decades. Congratulations to Jim on that crazy accomplishment!

World Record 100 Mile Finish Set at This Event

In doing some research on this event over the weekend, I found out that Ashley Paulson set a new world record for a 100 mile ultramarathon for a woman. She finished in just over 12 hours, the next closest woman to finish came in at over 14 hours this weekend. Caitriona Jennings of Ireland set the record this past November at an event called the 'Tunnel Hill 100 Miler'. Caitriona's time was 12:37:04. Ashley knocked about seventeen minutes off that world record.

I am just tired thinking about running 100 miles, congratulations to everybody that crossed that finish line. A marathon sounds intimidating, this is crazy to me.