SpIn Sharing: Ultra Running & Autism

SpIn sharing is an integral part of autistic communication — and I will take every opportunity to share.

I’m writing an article for Autism Spectrum News titled “Autistic Endurance: What Ultra Running Has Taught Me About Regulation and Belonging.”

Running has been a SpIn of mine for a while, but I only started racing in September. For years, I avoided races. Too many people. Too many unwritten rules. Too much to figure out. What do I do? What are the social norms? Will people try to talk to me?

Then I went to one race and realized… oh. There’s a script here.

Fast forward five months and I just ran a 50K trail race — 31 miles — in 7 hours and 21 minutes of relentless forward movement.

In very autistic fashion, I’ve nerded out on ultra running. Training plans. Fueling strategies. Elevation profiles. Split pacing. The whole ecosystem. And I’ve noticed something: this sport is quietly populated by a lot of autistic people.

Which makes sense.

• The social pressure while running in the woods for hours is… minimal.

• Conversation is optional.

• Eye contact is irrelevant.

• It doesn't matter how I look/what I wear.

• The rules are clear.

• The structure is explicit.

• If you follow the training formula, you improve.

Even the running community tends to be structured and predictable. You show up to a group run and you already know:

• The distance.

• The route.

• The start time.

• The likely topics of conversation (upcoming races, fueling, training cycles).

• Sometimes there are even predictable rewards — demos, freebies, snacks.

It’s social belonging with scaffolding.

And my ADHD? It appreciates the novelty hits — new distances, new trails, new races — layered on top of that structure.

I’m not trying to convert anyone to ultra running. It has real downsides. It’s time consuming. It’s physically demanding. Not everyone wants to run 31+ miles at once.

But for me, it has become:

• A regulation tool.

• A container for growth.

• A community with edges.

• A place where intensity is normal.

It’s also shown me something I already knew: being autistic has required endurance my whole life.

Ultra running just lets me practice endurance on purpose.

For fun.