Max Jolliffe

About

Max Jolliffe is an American ultrarunner from Costa Mesa, Orange County, California, whose path into endurance sport began not through athletic ambition but through survival. A skateboarder and surfer from Southern California, he developed a severe opioid addiction in his teens after a skateboarding accident at 14 led to an oxycodone prescription — a spiral that ran through years of drug use, multiple arrests, and what he has described in interviews as the worst version of himself. Sobriety and running arrived together in 2017, and he built a 700-day consecutive running streak as a form of daily commitment and discipline. His competitive development was rapid: a 2:36 marathon at California International, second place at the SAMO 100 Mile (21:52:57), winner of the inaugural Saddles 50 (7:52:02). In 2024 he won the Moab 240 Endurance Run — 240 miles through Utah's desert terrain — in a course record 69 hours, 22 minutes and 17 seconds, establishing himself as one of the sport's emerging multi-day specialists. In 2025 he won the Angeles Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run in 21:23:43, nearly 47 minutes ahead of the field. Known for self-deprecating Strava posts, a surf-culture aesthetic at odds with ultra convention, and an openness about addiction and recovery that has resonated widely, Jolliffe is one of ultrarunning's most compelling stories of transformation.

Notable Wins

• — Moab 240 2024 CR (69:22:17)
• — Angeles Crest 100 2025 (21:23:43)

Race History