Connie Gardner

About

Connie Gardner (born 1963, Washington D.C.) is an American ultrarunner from Akron, Ohio, and one of the most decorated women in the history of American ultra running. She grew up in Michigan, attended the University of Massachusetts (Sports Management, varsity rowing), and ran her first marathon at 17. She spent two decades running road marathons before entering her first ultra at age 36 in 2000 — the Groundhog Fall 50K in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Between 2001 and 2016 she accumulated twelve USATF national championships across the 50-mile, 100-kilometer, 100-mile, and 24-hour distances, was named USATF Ultrarunner of the Year in 2003 and 2012, and USATF Masters Ultrarunner of the Year in 2011. Her signature events were the Burning River 100 in Ohio (four wins: 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012) and the Mohican Trail 100 in Ohio (five wins: 2001, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2016). She also won the JFK 50 Miler three times (2002, 2004, 2008). Her career pinnacle came at the 2012 IAU 24 Hour World Championship in Katowice, Poland, where she set an American record of 149.368 miles, earned the silver medal, and led the USA women's team to gold. In 2020, at age 56, she ran 100 miles in 17:50:08 to set an American W55 age-group record. She finished at least 80 races of 100 miles or more and over 100 marathons across her career, and was inducted as the 25th member of the American Ultrarunning Hall of Fame in 2024.

Notable Wins

• — Burning River 100 2008
• — 2009
• — 2011
• — 2012; Mohican Trail 100 2001
• — 2007
• — 2008
• — 2012
• — 2016; JFK 50 Miler 2002
• — 2004
• — 2008; IAU 24H World Championship 2012 silver
• — American record (149.368 miles); 12× USATF national champion; USATF Ultrarunner of the Year 2003
• — 2012; American Ultrarunning Hall of Fame 2024

Race History