Brenda Guajardo

About

Brenda Guajardo is a Texas-based ultrarunner who came to the sport in 2008 while living in Virginia Beach, switching from aerobics instruction to ultra racing and discovering within a few years that her capacity for pain and relentless forward movement translated into outright victories at the longest road distances available. Known for her exceptional resilience over multi-day road ultra events, she has won overall — male and female — at the Keys 100 mile in Florida, the Graveyard 100 mile in North Carolina, and the Palm 100 km. Her most extraordinary season came in 2016 when she attempted the first-ever Ultra Road Running Grand Slam: four ultra races across two continents in 181 days totalling 717 miles. She won the Nove Colli 125M in Cesenatico, Italy outright with a new women's course record; finished second female at Badwater 135; competed at the Spartathlon 153M in Greece; and won the Pheidippides Race 304M in Greece outright in 74:35:43, shattering the men's course record by four hours and twelve minutes — placing her among a vanishingly small group of women who have ever beaten an entire mixed-gender field over an event of 300-plus miles. A Newton Running athlete, she has competed in events over 300 miles in total distance.

Notable Wins

• — Nove Colli 125M 2016 (1st overall
• — women's course record)
• — Pheidippides Race 304M 2016 (1st overall
• — men's course record -4:12)
• — Keys 100M (1st overall)
• — Graveyard 100M (1st overall)
• — Palm 100km (1st overall)
• — Badwater 135 2016 (2nd female)

Race History