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The “World’s” 8 Toughest Races

26 November 2024

I know this is meant to be clickbait and I really shouldn’t, but I did… and now you have to too. Outside, or Trail Runner Magazine or Run powered by Outside, or whatever posted a listicle titled “The World’s 8 Toughest Races.

From the lows of Death Valley to the peaks of the Alps and San Juans, some races are so tough that they nearly destroy the best in the world. 

6 of the 8 are in the US. Toughness is never explained or quantified:

Since it’s nearly impossible to quantify toughness, we surveyed the most daunting roads and trails, consulted some of the pros, and whittled down our shortlist of running’s most extreme sufferfests.

There are so so many harder, tougher and more bad-ass races than the ones on that list. What an hilarious myopic attempt to get me to rage link to it. And so I did. And now I feel bad.

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