Robert J. (Bob) Becker, Ultra Runner
Ultra Runner. Race Director. Record Holder.
ABOUT THE RACE DIRECTOR
Robert J. Becker: Ultra Runner. Race Director. Record Holder.
Bob Becker, who turns 80 in April 2025, has been running ultramarathons for twenty years. He became a full-time race director in 2008.
Running highlights:
World record for 75-79 age range in the 48-hour fixed-time event: 167.5 miles at "Six Days in the Dome", Milwaukee, WI, June 2024.
Race record at ARFTA--"A Race for the Ages"--Manchester, TN. Existing record broken with 230 miles completed in 74 hours.
Overall win at "Icarus Ultrafest", 24-hour race, Ft. Lauderdale FL in November, 2020. 97.6 miles.
Azalea 12-hour Ultra, Palatka, FL: Masters winner in November 2018--54.5 miles.
"Badwater Hall of Fame": induction in 2023.
"Badwater 135": four finishes, including 2022. Video of that finish viewed over a million times on "Outside" Magazine. The link: www.instagram.com/reel/CgFUVK_JtkS/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D
Badwater Cape Fear Ultra: 10 consecutive finishes.
Brazil 135, from Sao Joao da Boa Vista to Paraisopolis, along the Caminha da Fe in the Serra da Mantiqueira Mountains: Completed in January, 2019.
Javelina Jundred 100-mile: oldest finisher in 2017. Three -time finisher.
Mt. Gaoligong Ultra, Tengchong, Yunnan Province, China, November 2016.
"Badwater Double": 292-mile distance from Badwater Basin, Death Valley, to summit of Mt. Whitney and back to Badwater Basin. Oldest finisher.
Route 66 Ultra, 140 miles, November 2024, Seligman to Topock 66 Colorado River, AZ.
Multiple 100 mile and shorter distance ultramarathons.
Himalayan 100 stage race, along the Nepal border in West Bengal State, India, November 2023. Multiple additional stage races.
Race Director highlights:
Through his company, Ultra Sports, LLC", Bob has created and produces and directs unique long- distance running events. His races have introduced ultramarathon running to literally thousands of athletes in South Florida and beyond. His inaugural event, first held in 2008, is the KEYS100 Ultramarathon, including 100, 50- mile and 50-kilometer individual races and 100-mile and 50-mile team relays, from Key Largo to Key West, FL, held on the third Saturday each May. Other races have included the EVERGLADES ULTRAS trail race through the Florida Everglades, the PALM100 ultramarathon and Peanut Island 24, a fixed-time 24-hour race and the Barefoot Mailman Classic. In 2022, Bob acquired "Daytona 100 Ultra", 100-mile race along the ocean road from JAX Beach to Ponce Inlet, FL. And in 2024, Bob was hired by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida to create an ultramarathon based at their Village in the Everglades. The result, "the Miccosukee GLADES RUNNER Ultra" (www.gladesrunner.com), will take place on March 15, 2025.
Bob’s ultramarathon events raise money to combat prostate and other cancers through “The Cancer Foundation of the Florida Keys”, and support other charitable organizations. Bob Becker and his races have been featured in the “Sun-Sentinel” and “Miami Herald” newspapers, “Runners World”, “Trail Runner”, “Running Times” and “Masters Athlete” magazines, “South Florida Today” on NBC-6 and “Growing Bolder” radio, among others, and his running-related articles and reports have been published in “South Florida Running Forum”, “Masters Athlete” Magazine, “Ultra Running” magazine and “Florida Running & Triathlon” magazine. He continues to be the subject of online “live” interviews and speaks frequently to groups of new and experienced runners.
Links to recent interview podcasts:
Jeff Winchester and Jeremy Reynolds, “The Ultra Running Guys” podcast, May 2024: https://youtu.be/Fbdkowax9cU
“Miles with Marty” podcast, September 2022:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/07ddNy00L59QYK3Gbkg4Aw?si=A3ZxK4opRoiXl578LzoejA
“Training for Ultra” podcast with Andrea Kooiman and Rob Ultra, August 2022:
Letty Lundquist on the "We Got the Runs" podcast, January 2021:
https://anchor.fm/wgtr/episodes/34--Running-ultras-in-Florida-with-Bob-Becker-eosmsk/a-a4b5udu
