Running 50 miles may sound like torture to many people, but to 65-year-old ultrarunner Gary Knipling, even 100 miles doesn’t sound too bad.
“After a 100-miler, the runner’s high sometimes lasts for a week,” the Mason Neck resident said. “You may be dead tired and your legs, your feet and your ankles are sore, but you still have that feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.”
Ultrarunning, also known as trail running, includes any race over the 26.2-mile marathon length, extending all the way to 150 miles. Knipling runs mainly in 50-mile races and has finished about 20 of the 100-mile races, which can take up to 36 hours.
“It’s the community of friends that I’ve met,” he said. “It’s just a fun-loving fit bunch of people to hang out with. … I’d rather be with that group of friends than with almost anyone else in my social circles.”
His latest challenge is the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 Mile Run, which will be held May 16 in the Shenandoah Valley. The race is full — 180 competitors have signed up to run the trails of Massanutten Mountain starting in Front Royal.
Knipling started running in high school because he loved sports but wasn’t “very big physically,” so he joined the cross-country team.
“I coveted a varsity letter in high school — I just wanted one of those letters so badly,” he said. “So I found a niche that I could slip into barely, perhaps, to attain that status.”
During college and veterinary school, Knipling didn’t run much — just the occasional jog on the track to loosen the legs. But once the busy life of veterinary practice and family set in, he found running to be his release.
“When you’re out there on the trail, it’s almost like truth serum,” Knipling said. “You talk about things you may not talk to your neighbors or your sister or something about. There’s just something about being out there.”
The mid-Atlantic area is a hotbed for ultrarunning, he said, because it has great parks and hiking trails.
On his lengthy runs, Knipling encounters what he calls “gifts of the trail,” which can come in the form of wildflowers and beautiful views, or in sightings of deer, bears, rattlesnakes and other poisonous snakes.
The animal interactions don’t bother him.
“We’re almost intruding on their space, so I just try to enjoy them and appreciate them and move on and leave them to their own turf and space,” he said. “The key whenever you see something like that is knowing where they are.”
One of Knipling’s fondest memories is accomplishing the “grand slam” of ultrarunning — four of the oldest 100-mile races in four consecutive months. In 2006, Knipling and his son, Keith, became the first father-son duo ever to complete the grand slam, a moment he considers the pinnacle of his ultrarunning career.
“For me, it’s not the time, it’s not the speed anymore,” he said. “It’s just being out there and sharing the trail with a bunch of fun people.”
