Finishing 100 miles is hard enough. Now, imagine doing that at age 65, with a walker, while dealing with rheumatoid arthritis. Well, that’s exactly what ultrarunning legend Ann Trason did.
According to posts shared by Aravaipa Running, Trason entered the Across the Years race intending to walk a 50K. As the days passed, she continued adding distance and ultimately crossed the 100-mile mark before covering a few more miles.
Across the Years is a multi-day event built around accumulating miles rather than racing a set distance.
Held on a short looped course, it allows participants to move at any pace, stop and rest as needed, and return to the course at any point over a six-day window. While the format is often associated with high-mileage performances at the front of the field, it also creates space for all types of ultra runners.
Now, most participants aiming for the 100-mile mark at six-day races usually do so by alternating running and walking, often front-loading distance early in the event. Trason’s approach was slower and more conservative, shaped by the need to manage rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune condition she has discussed publicly in the past.
Trason is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished ultrarunners the sport has ever seen.
Over the course of her career, she won the Western States Endurance Run fourteen times, recorded four victories at the Leadville 100, and set 20 world records at various ultra distances, including 100 kilometers.
Many of her performances came in an era when women’s depth in ultrarunning was far thinner than it is today. But her dominance and consistency truly reshaped expectations about what was possible, and even landed her in the Ultrarunning Hall Of Fame in 2020 (and rightfully so!).
She was also known for finishing near the front even in mixed-gender fields.
Trason won several ultra-distance races outright against male competitors, including the 24-Hour National Championship in 1989. Several of her course records remained in place for decades, with one falling only within the past year.
Trason stepped away from competitive ultrarunning in the mid-2000s, shortly after her final Western States win in 2003 and victories at Sierra Nevada and Waldo 100K. Her return to events in later years has been sporadic and not typically for her own goals, often pacing friends, supporting other runners, or entering races without performance expectations.
Trason’s entry at Across the Years was not framed around performance. Her original plan was to walk a 50K, and the race’s structure allowed her to continue beyond that when she felt able.
Reaching 100 miles came through steady accumulation rather than any defined push, in an event designed to accommodate that kind of approach.
