Ultrarunning website Run100s.com reached a big milestone last week, celebrating its 30th birthday!
The old-school site that functions like an online directory of all things ultrarunning in North America — with a particular focus on 100 milers, as the name suggests — was founded in May of 1995 by ultrarunner Stan Jensen.
He told iRunFar, ”I was working at Silicon Graphics in May 1995 when my boss told me to use our products to make a web site about a hobby of mine and, with a reference librarian for a mother, I thought that a ‘go-to’ site for ultrarunners might be useful, since most ultras did not have their own sites at the time. I made simple sites for ultras I’d participated in, and then started uploading race results and reports, and it grew from that.”
Stan Jensen, founder of Run100s.com. Photo courtesy of Stan Jensen.
Over time, the site has grown along with the sport and witnessed a lot of change along the way. While most ultramarathon events now maintain their own website and social media, the role of Run100s has evolved — but not lessened. Jensen said, “I no longer maintain personal ‘bio’ pages or photo albums and try to be a simple portal to help runners find what interests them.” The site is now a one-stop with links to the individual websites of hundreds of ultras, as well as blogs, forums, and a plethora of trail running resources.
Jensen, now in his 70s, still maintains the site alone, but said: “I get a lot of updates from Irv “Wasatch” Nielsen and several race directors. I also use weekly reports from “UltraRunning Magazine” and use UltraSignup for results and dates of future races.”
The site has maintained its simple aesthetic and functional format through the decades, and it continues to act as a traditional breath of fresh air.
Going forward, Jensen aims to maintain the site for as long as he can, but says he is also looking for a willing ultrarunning and website enthusiast to hand it over to, with a view to carrying Run100s.com into the next generation of ultrarunning. Could that be you?!
A screenshot of Stan Jensen’s bio page on the Run100s site from December 1998. Photo: Run100s.com
Call for Comments
- Do you use the Run100s site for ultrarunning information?
- Do you remember its early days?
