Ann Trason (born August 30, 1960) is an American

ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

runner from

Auburn, California Auburn is a city in and the county seat of Placer County, California, United States. Its population was 13,776 during the 2020 census. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history and is registered as a California Historical Landmark. Au ...

. She set 20

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

s during her career and is considered to be the most successful female ultrarunner of all time.

Life

Trason was a top runner in high school, but a knee injury kept her from competing in college and injuries plagued her throughout her running career including not finishing her first two entries to the

Western States 100 The Western States Endurance Run, known commonly as the Western States 100, is a 100.2-mile (161 km) ultramarathon that takes place on California's Sierra Nevada Mountains trails each year on the last full weekend of June. The race starts ...

. Trason's ultra career began when she entered the 1985 American River 50 Miler at age 24 and both won and set a course record. She returned 8 years later and dropped her time by an hour to establish the 6:09 female course record that still stands.. Trason's Western States career began in 1987, but was not able to finish it until 1989 when she was first female finisher. She has won Western States 14 times in all, most recently in 2003. She held the women's division course record for 18 years (17:37:51, set in 1994) until it was broken by

Ellie Greenwood Ellie Greenwood (born 14 March 1979) is a British ultramarathon runner. She began her ultra career in 2008 and is a two-time 100km World Champion, winning the title in 2010 and 2014. She holds numerous course records, including those for the ...

in 2012. Trason appears in

Christopher McDougall Christopher McDougall (born 1962) is an American author and journalist. He is best known for his 2009 book '' Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen''. He has also written for ''Esquire'', ''Th ...

's accounts of the

Leadville Trail 100 The Leadville Trail 100 Run (aka The Race Across The Sky or the LT100) is an ultramarathon held annually on rugged trails and dirt roads near Leadville, Colorado, through the heart of the Rocky Mountains. First run in 1983, the race course climb ...

in the 1990s in his 2009 book, ''Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen''. Her time of 18:06:24 in the 1994 Leadville is the women's course record. In both 1996 and 1997 Trason performed the "double" of winning the Western States 100 just 12 days after winning the 56-mile

Comrades Marathon The Comrades Marathon is an ultramarathon of approximately which is run annually in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa between the cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg. It is the world's largest and oldest ultramarathon race. The direc ...

in South Africa. Trason and her ex-husband and training partner Carl Andersen co-directed the Dick Collins Firetrails 50 from 2000 through 2010. Trason set the female course record on the Firetrails 50 the one time she ran it, in 1987. After a decade away from running, Trason returned to the sport as crew and an occasional racer in 2013. She was a multi-year UltraRunner of the Year, and in 2020, she was inducted into the American Ultrarunning Hall of Fame.

Course records

* 6:09:08 – American River 50 mile (1993) * 3:59:32 – Cool Canyon Crawl 50K (1993) * 7:31:24 – Dick Collins Firetrails 50 mile (1987) * 6:13:54 – Hunter Thompson 50 mile * 18:06:24 –

women's record (2nd place overall in 1994)''Born to Run'', by Christopher McDougall. Alfred A. Knopfe, New York, 2009 * 8:55:49 – Miwok 100K Trail Race (2001) * 6:43:52 – Quicksilver 50 mile (1992) * 7:29:36 – Silver State 50 mile (1994)

References

External links

trasonrunning.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trason, Ann 1960 births Living people American female ultramarathon runners Sportspeople from California People from Kensington, California 21st-century American women