Scott Jurek

Early life

Raised in Proctor, Minnesota, Jurek is of part Polish descent. He is the son of Lynn (née Swapinski) and Gordon Jurek. His childhood involved a strong connection with nature developed through hunting, fishing, and camping with his family. Jurek began trail running as a child but did not run long distances until his sophomore year in high school when he started cross training with running to prepare for Nordic skiing. Although he hated running at first, after spending summers running on trails with ski poles, he found a new passion for trail running. On a challenge from training partner Dusty Olson, Jurek ran the Minnesota Voyageur 50 Mile in 1994, placing second in his first attempt at an ultramarathon, without even having run a marathon in training. Olson later served as Jurek's pacer in many races.

Education

Jurek was the valedictorian of his high school class at Proctor High School. He attended the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Health Science in 1996 and a master's degree in physical therapy in 1998.

Ultrarunning

During his college years, Jurek continued to compete in the 50-mile (80.5 km) Minnesota Voyageur, finishing second in 1994 and 1995 and winning the race in 1996, 1997, and 1998, when he set the current course record of 6:41:16. After graduation, he moved to Seattle, where he began competing on a national level, in 1998 winning the Zane Grey Highline Trail 50 Mile Run and the McKenzie River Trail Run 50K, and placing second in his first 100-mile (161 km) race, the Angeles Crest.

In 1999, Jurek won the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run on his first attempt, defeating five-time champion Tim Twietmeyer and becoming only the second non-Californian to win the race. He would go on to win Western States a record seven consecutive times. In 2004, he bested Mike Morton's 1997 time to set a new course record of 15 hours and 36 minutes.

Over the next five years, Jurek notched victories in the McDonald Forest 50K (1999), the Bull Run Run 50 Mile (1999), the Leona Divide 50 Mile (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004), the Diez Vista 50K (2000-course record, 2003), the Silvertip 50K (2002), and the Miwok 100K (2002, 2003, 2004). In 2004, he completed the "Ultra Running Grand Slam" by finishing Western States, the Leadville 100 (in which he was runner-up), the Vermont 100, and the Wasatch Front 100. He traveled to Hong Kong with Team Montrail to win the 2001 and 2002 Oxfam Trailwalker 100K team trophies, both years setting new course records. Jurek's 2001 teammates were Dave Terry, Ian Torrence, and Nate McDowell. In 2002, he ran with McDowell, Brandon Sybrowsky, and Karl Meltzer. Jurek was also on the winning team of the 2003 Hasegawa Cup Japan Mountain Endurance Run.

In 2005, just a few weeks after winning Western States, Jurek set a new course record in the Badwater Ultramarathon, widely considered one of the world's most difficult races. Jurek came from behind to win despite temperatures of 120 °F (49 °C), dealing with the heat by periodically stopping to immerse himself in a cooler of ice.

Jurek repeated his Badwater victory in 2006, a year that also saw his first of three consecutive victories in the Spartathlon, a 153-mile (246.2 km) race between Athens and Sparta in Greece. In 2007, he also won the Hardrock Hundred, setting a new course record.

Philosophy

Jurek is an advocate of plant-based eating for health and ethical/environmental reasons, and he cites his diet as the key to his athletic performance and recovery. He gave up eating meat in 1997 and became totally plant based in 1999, motivated by the belief that poor nutrition was responsible for the chronic illnesses he saw in his family and in his physical therapy patients.

When Jurek was very young, his mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He credits her as his major source of strength in the 24-hour race.

Jurek co-authored a memoir with Steve Friedman titled Eat & Run. It was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on June 5, 2012. Eat & Run was a New York Times bestseller, debuting at no.7 in non-fiction and later translated into twenty languages. He wrote a follow-up book, North, with his wife Jenny Jurek in 2018 about his attempt at the fastest known time on the Appalachian Trail.

Accomplishments

Held United States record for 24-hour distance on all surfaces (165.7 miles/266.01 kilometers) from 2010 to 2012.

Won the Spartathlon 153-mile (246 km) race from Athens to Sparta, Greece three consecutive times (2006–2008).

Won the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run (2007), and held the record until 2008.

Won the Western States Endurance Run seven consecutive times (1999–2005), and held the record time (15:36:27 in 2004) until 2010

Won the Badwater Ultramarathon twice (2005, 2006), and held the course record for two years (2005).

Finished first three times (2002–2004) and second three times (2001, 2005, 2006) in the Miwok 100K Trail Race.

Won the Leona Divide 50 Mile Run four times (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004).

Won the Diez Vista 50K Trail Run twice (2000, 2003).

Won the Montrail Ultra Cup series twice (2002, 2003).

Selected as UltraRunning Magazine's North American Male Ultrarunner of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007.

Set the speed record for completing the Appalachian Trail (approx. 2,200 miles) in 46 days, 8 hours, and 7 minutes in 2015.

Personal records

24 hours: 165.7 miles

100 Mile Trail: 15h36m, Western States Endurance Run 2004

100 K Road: 7h28m, GNC 100K 2001

50 Mile Trail: 6h21m, Ice Age 50 Mile 1999

50 Mile Road: 5h50m, GNC 2001

50 K Trail: 3h04m, Bendistillery 50K 1999

26.2 Mile Road Marathon: 2h38m, Austin Marathon 2006

Personal life

Jurek lives in Boulder, Colorado, with his wife Jenny. They have two children, Raven and Evergreen.

An accomplished ultrarunner and amateur chef, Scott Jurek enjoys plant-based cooking inspired by his travels. His active lifestyle includes yoga, cycling, Nordic skiing, and trail maintenance.