Ultra_Tales_Issue_13

ARTICLE THE GRAND SLAM OF ULTRA RUNNINGPHOTOGRAPH | MARK JOHNSONTHE US GRAND SLAMBY BARRY MILLERThe Grand Slam of Ultrarunning is taking on thefour oldest 100 mile trail runs in the US, officiallyfinishing the Western States 100 Mile EnduranceRun, the Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run, theLeadville Trail 100 Mile Run and the Wasatch Front100 Mile Endurance Run all in the same year. TheSlam was first run by Tom Green in 1986 and hasbeen completed 302 times since. There were 30 ofus attempting it in 2014, me and 29 Americans.I’d run the Centurion Slam in 2013, my originalintentions were to use the Centurion Slam to get100 mile experience in the UK and generally man upfor another go at the UTMB, the only race to havebeaten me. But I got lucky, the first time I put in forWestern States my ticket was drawn, I couldn’tbelieve it! It was the Western States 100 thatinspired me to take on the challenge of 100 miletrail runs, the UTMB will have to wait another year.Barry MillerI found myself in a very fortunate position workingfor an American company in the UK withmanagement kind and flexible enough to supportmy adventure and allow me to work remotely fromUS offices so I could spend the whole summer Statesideliving the dream. 2014 was going to be anotherslam year, but this time the Grand Slam ofUltrarunning. After six months of planning I had aflight booked to California in June and anotherhome from Utah in September, with seven internalflights in between. I made sure I had booked tickets193 ULTRA TALES | OCTOBER 2014Sponsored by thehttp://