Abstract

The intent of this investigation is to gain understanding and insight into experiences of ultra running. Running an ultra event is a profound experience in the lives of runners, which can affect the very core of the individual's manner of engagement with the world. What is it like to participate in an ultra event? ;In order to address this question, I employed a human science approach which aims, through description and interpretation, to illuminate the participants' experience and reveal their meaning. The descriptive interpretive work of this investigation is based on conversations with nine ultra running narratives from these nine individuals. A lifehistory of running was constructed in conjunction with one woman runner. Narratives of memorable runs were collected from four participants. A race profile of an ultra run features the narratives from an additional four participants. ;The stories of these nine participants are presented in the form of narratives. In each individual's story, a certain pattern knowing, can be discerned. ;The inquiry, however, moves beyond the individual, since the quest is to identify and explicate aspects of ultra running experiences which are possible shared human experiences. I refer to these possible human experiences, as "experiential characteristics" which emerge from descriptions focusing on corporality, sociality, temporality, and spatiality. ;The experiential characteristics of corporality reveal that when a body is engaged in an act of running, it is given implicitly. It is only through a process of "reflective consciousness," that an individual is able to apprehend pain in their body. The experiential characteristics of sociality reveal that as ultra runners together undergo the stresses of distance running, they find that a sense of community has emerged. The experiential characteristics of temporality reveal that the lived body is qualified both retentionally and protentionally. The experiential characteristics of spatiality reveal that human space is articulated in and through an individual's practical and personal projects. ;Finally, this inquiry raises the question of the manner of accessing an individual's experience, which is a central component for Somatic Education