Many multiday races are held on tracks or measured loops, which eases provision of aid station support for runners.
Stage races are the alternative; these include point to point races such as the Trans-American races, which traverse the North American continent coast to coast, and the Gobi March,[1] a seven-day journey across the Gobi desert, the Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon, a 7-day, 250 km trail event in the Kalahari Desert, and the Yukon Arctic Ultra, a 430/300/100/26 mile challenge crossing Yukon in the dead of winter.
These events take the runner to a different level, where the race becomes a way of life and where nutrition, sleep, energy and psychological states have to be carefully managed.
[1] The golden era of multiday races stretches back to the 1870s and 1880s, when they were held on indoor tracks and offered substantial prizes.
[2] By the early 1890s, public enthusiasm for such events had moved into bicycle racing, and the multiday running craze came to an end.
In 1980, San Francisco postal delivery worker Don Choi [fr] organized the first modern era six-day race, on a track in Woodside, California.