The running blog > Can you be an ultra runner and vegan?
December 18th, 2024
Not many people know this, but I’ve been eating vegan for over 4 years. Whenever people find out, I’m often hit with the same question:
“How can you run ultra-marathons and be vegan at the same time?”
The truth is, I’m not here to convince anyone to follow my path. Everyone should make their own choices. But in this blog, I’ll share my journey, experiences, and lessons learned from running ultras while following a vegan diet—what works, what doesn’t, and what I’ve discovered along the way.
A few years ago, I was dealing with severe skin issues—chronic eczema and constant fatigue. At that time, I wasn’t running at all. I was fully focused on calisthenics training, and I needed energy, clarity, and focus to maintain my training load. Frustrated with the skin problems, I started looking for answers.
That’s when I came across a few documentaries and scientific studies that sparked my interest in plant-based eating. On a whim, I decided to make the switch to a vegan diet—cold turkey (or cold tofu, I guess). Overnight, I went all in on vegan cooking.
At first, it was a challenge to figure out what to eat. But surprisingly, I didn’t crave my old diet. The best part? My skin cleared up for the first time in my life. I had finally found something that worked, and it was enough to keep me going.
I’m not a nutritionist, a doctor, or a food scientist. I’m just one person sharing one experience. Can you run ultra-marathons as a vegan?
Yes. Can you survive without protein? Also yes—because that’s a myth.
But here’s the deal: Don’t take my word for it. Your journey is your own. I’m only sharing what’s worked for me. The key for me wasn’t necessarily “being vegan”—it was about focusing on real, clean food. No E-numbers, no highly processed junk, just whole, nutritious ingredients.
I realized that it’s not so much about putting a label on your diet like “vegan” or “vegetarian.” It’s about fueling your body with real food—food that doesn’t need a paragraph of ingredients to explain what it is.
When I started this journey, I wasn’t focused on animal welfare. To be honest, I didn’t care much about it. But as time went on, my perspective changed.
Here’s my view today:
If you want to eat meat, you should be willing to kill it yourself. If you can’t, maybe you shouldn’t be eating it at all. I see it as a question of accountability. If you’re okay with someone else doing the hard part (the killing), it feels a bit lazy.
Would I eat meat if I were stranded in the wilderness? Yes, absolutely. But that’s different. In that scenario, it’s survival, and the food is real and clean, not something processed, frozen, and shrink-wrapped on a supermarket shelf.
I’m not here to preach. Everyone has their own journey. This is just how my perspective shifted over the years.
Recently, I decided to test my body’s reaction to reintroducing certain animal products. After four years of being fully vegan, I wanted to see how I would respond to eating dairy and eggs once a week. I’m always curious to challenge my beliefs and see what actually works.
Spoiler alert: It’s been a disaster.
Within weeks, my skin flared up again, worse than it had been in years. My overall well-being dipped. It was like hitting “undo” on four years of progress. I’m still pushing through this test to see if it’s a one-off reaction or something more consistent. But so far, the results aren’t looking great.
This little “dairy and eggs” experiment is leading me back to what I already suspected—I perform better on plants. Simple as that. It’s not about pushing an agenda. Some people thrive on animal products. But for me, it’s clear that plant-based eating makes me feel better, run better, and recover faster.
I ran my first ultra-marathon as a vegan.
I ran my first 100-miler as a vegan.
And I’m still running ultra-marathons as a vegan.
And yes, I’m still alive.
For me, that’s all the proof I need.
If you’re still skeptical about running ultra-marathons on a vegan diet, you’re not alone. But it’s worth noting that I’m far from the only one doing it. In fact, some of the world’s best ultra-runners follow a plant-based lifestyle. Here are a few names you might recognize:
One of the most legendary ultra-runners of all time, Scott Jurek has been vegan since 1999. He’s a 7-time winner of the Western States 100 and also set the Fastest Known Time (FKT) on the Appalachian Trail, covering 2,189 miles in just 46 days. His book, “Eat and Run”, is a must-read for anyone curious about ultra-running on a plant-based diet.
Author of “Finding Ultra”, Rich Roll’s story is one of complete transformation. He went from being a middle-aged, overweight lawyer to becoming an ultra-endurance athlete. Roll attributes much of his success to his plant-based diet, which helped him become one of the “25 Fittest Men in the World” as named by Men’s Fitness.
Harvey Lewis is another example of how veganism and ultra-running go hand in hand. Known for his dominance at the Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra, he has completed some of the toughest races on the planet, all while maintaining a plant-based diet.
Not only is Fiona Oakes a successful ultra-marathon runner, but she also holds four Guinness World Records for running marathons on every continent (and the North Pole). Her vegan journey began when she was just six years old. Oakes is a powerhouse in the ultra world and a symbol of what can be achieved on a fully plant-based diet.
Okay, so he’s not a runner, but it’s worth mentioning him. Patrick Baboumian is a world-renowned vegan strongman. His feats of strength challenge the old myth that “vegans are weak” and emphasize that you don’t need animal products to be strong, powerful, and capable of enduring extreme physical activity.
If there’s one takeaway from my experience and the stories of world-class athletes like Scott Jurek, Rich Roll, and Harvey Lewis, it’s this:
Yes, you absolutely can.
You can run ultras. You can crush FKTs. You can push the limits of human endurance—all on a plant-based diet. The key, however, is to be intentional about it. It’s not about slapping a “vegan” label on a bag of chips and calling it a health food. It’s about eating whole, clean, real food that fuels your body.
I’m not saying it’s for everyone. But for me, it’s been life-changing. My skin cleared, my energy levels rose, and I went from calisthenics to ultra-marathons. I’m not done yet, and I’m certainly not slowing down.
If you’re curious, I encourage you to try it. Test it out, experiment with it, and see how you feel. You might just surprise yourself.
And hey, if Scott Jurek can run 100-mile races on kale and quinoa, so can you.