by Richard Carter

Karen Riddle, an area metallurgical engineer since 1992, could not have completed her university degree without running. Working full-time, her job paid for her to attend the ultra competitive Case Western Reserve University in engineering. The problem was that after work and classes, she was too tired to stay awake to study. Someone suggested that she begin running, and that energized her enough to be able to work and also earn her demanding degree.

Riddle really began to like running, though, during one of her first 5K runs. The run was nearly over, when the race director announced, ‘Lets cheer for the last person.’ The runners cheered a 70-year-old man, and she realized the sport was kind to its participants.

Growing up, Riddle had usually been one of the last players to get picked. And in team sports, she said people were always booing the loser. In running, she realized, everyone got cheered. The farther Riddle got into running, the more she appreciated that participants were really competing against their own personal goals.

She ran her first marathon in Ohio in 1990, and completed it in five hours. In 1992, she first moved to the area, where she worked as an engineer at what is now Pratt & Whitney. She also ran marathons. From 1996 to 2000, she worked in Oregon, before returning to the area. It was in Oregon where she began running trails. There were numerous scenic trails there, she said, and running trails was easier than running on concrete.

On a scale of one to 10, she said, if concrete is a one and grass is a much easier 9.5, then asphalt is a 6 and dirt is an 8.

Trails are much easier on your joints, she said. “There are a few runners I know who prefer to run on concrete, if they have the right shoes and are built perfectly. But for the average person, that’s not true.”

In addition to the more relaxed surfaces, she liked the people who participated in trail running.

“Trail running brought a different kind of person. There was more camaraderie on the trails and not so much focus on the time,” she said.

Those qualities led her to running ultras.

An ultra can be defined several ways. Ultras are longer distances than marathons, and can be as long as 100 miles or more.

One of Riddle’s favorite distances is 50K, which is 31 miles.

“If you run it on the trails, it takes longer but it’s easier,” she said. “You don’t even feel like you’ve run a marathon. You feel better.”

Riddle’s first real ultra was a 50-miler outside of Decatur, Texas, about seven years ago. She had just run The Texas Marathon Challenge (five certified marathons bunched closely together) and asked the director of the ultra if that was good enough training to do 50 miles.

“She said, ‘Yeah.’ She wanted people in her race,” Riddle said laughing. “So, I said I guess I should try a 50-miler, and I did it.”

Riddle’s personal best for an ultra was in a 24-hour race, were she completed 84.5 miles. “I actually won, and I am not fast,” she said. “The other two women dropped out, which left me knowing I could win it with 50 miles but why do that? Try harder,” she said.

“I run as many as I can.” It can be one or two ultras a month, depending on the location and when they are. Lately, she has been trying to keep them in driving distance.

For her, running keeps her healthy and lets her eat mostly what she wants. She also enjoys the positive mindset of people who run ultras.

“When you get to the longer distances, it’s 95 percent mental,” she said. If you think you can’t do it, then you can’t do it. You are around positive people and that’s what I really, really like.”

She also enjoys the ultra runners who are a lot more knowable than professional marathoners.

“If you run in an ultra, you can go out to dinner with the winner. You can keep in contact with them. They are your friends. They don’t care if you came in last or first or middle. You never see that with major marathon runners,” she said.

More at timesrecordnews.com

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