Many runners treat walking as evidence that the race is going badly. In long ultras, it can instead be a deliberate gait choice. Whether and when it helps is individual, so treat it as a strategy to test rather than a rule that guarantees durability or a finish.
Walking Is Strategy
In a 5K, walking usually means something went wrong. In a 24-hour race, a backyard ultra, a mountain 100, or a 200-mile race, walking can be the choice that protects the rest of the day.
Planned walking may help some runners control effort or handle terrain, and it can create a lower-attention window for practiced fueling. Those possible benefits depend on pace, environment, technique, and the rest of the plan; walking does not remove heat, injury, or medical risk.
When to Walk
- When a climb or surface pushes effort beyond the range you practiced.
- At a tested time or course cue if planned breaks keep effort smoother.
- Where race rules, congestion, footing, or visibility make running less safe.
- When a practiced walk makes eating or equipment checks easier.
- Whenever slowing is needed while arranging help for a non-urgent problem.
Walking is not the response to an emergency warning sign. Stop and seek race-medical help for confusion, fainting, chest pain, severe breathing difficulty, loss of coordination, or other acute symptoms.
Choosing Walking Cues
Ratios are tools, not laws. Use them to prevent pace surges and to make tasks predictable only after testing them. Observational studies describe walking during ultramarathons; they do not validate one ideal ratio for all runners.
| Cue | Possible response to test | What to monitor |
|---|---|---|
| Time based | Alternate repeatable run and walk blocks | Effort spikes, distraction, and cutoff margin |
| Loop based | Use the same tested landmark or low-risk section | Changing weather, crowding, and surface conditions |
| Terrain based | Change gait where walking improves control | Gradient, footing, pole rules, and technical skill |
| Condition based | Slow or stop when heat, cold, pain, or alertness changes | Whether symptoms require withdrawal or medical assessment |
How to Walk Fast
Efficient walking is trainable, but technique varies with anatomy and terrain. Experiment with cadence, stride length, posture, and arm use at an easy effort. On climbs, poles or hands-on-thighs technique may help some runners if race rules allow it and the technique has been practiced.
Use comfort, control, and sustainable effort as feedback; sharp pain or worsening gait is a reason to reassess, not a technique problem to hide.
Train the Walk
If walking is part of the race plan, introduce it progressively within the training load you already tolerate. A qualified coach can help set duration and frequency when injury history or current symptoms matter.
- Try a brief, tolerable walking block before extending it.
- Compare time-, loop-, and terrain-based cues without forcing volume.
- Practice relevant climbs only when the terrain and current training support it.
- Use selected walking blocks to test the complete fueling plan.
- Test race footwear and socks without assuming they prevent foot problems.
Common Mistakes
- Copying another runner's ratio without testing it.
- Accelerating abruptly after each walk to "make up time."
- Ignoring cutoffs, terrain, weather, or a changing medical condition.
- Treating walking as a way to continue through an emergency warning sign.
- Using a race-day gait, footwear, or poles that were not practiced.
For timed events, combine this with the 24-hour pacing strategy.
Sources
- Inoue et al. (2019) - pacing behavior and time spent at walking speeds in a 24-hour ultramarathon
- Kerhervé et al. (2016) - observed pacing on level, uphill, and downhill sections of a hilly ultramarathon
- International Trail Running Association - Safety, Health and Rescue guidance
Frequently Asked Questions
Is walking in an ultramarathon normal?
Yes. Walking is common in long ultramarathons and can be a deliberate pacing choice. Whether it improves a particular runner's outcome depends on terrain, conditions, fitness, cutoff requirements, and a pattern tested in training.
What is a good run-walk ratio for a 24-hour race?
There is no evidence-based universal ratio. Test time-based, terrain-based, and loop-based cues in training, then choose a pattern that keeps effort controlled without creating unsafe cutoff pressure or abrupt pace changes.
Should you walk hills in an ultra?
Walking a climb can be useful when it controls effort, improves footing, or matches a practiced plan, but the decision depends on gradient, surface, weather, skill, fatigue, and cutoff. No single climb rule fits every runner or race.