About us

Ultra Sports LLC was founded in 2007 as a vehicle to create and produce the new KEYS100—the introductory South Florida ultramarathon running race in the Florida Keys.  The race was a hit and has become a growing and respected event on the national ultramarathon “circuit” ever since.  In its inaugural year of 2008, 141 runners from 12 states were at the starting line.  Four years later in 2012, the field included 932 runners from nearly 40 states and 6 countries.  In 2015 1,200 runners competed in the KEYS100, plus hundreds more support crew, volunteers, family, and friends.  Charitable fundraising, primarily in support of "The Cancer Foundation of the Florida Keys", has been an important part of the race effort from the beginning.

Over the past 15 years, Ultra Sports LLC has created other unique races: the PALM100, Peanut Island 24 and the EVERGLADES ULTRAS, each with its own charitable component.   Today, Ultra Sports and Race Director Bob Becker no longer produce "The Palm", "Peanut Island" or the Everglades trail adventure, but remain very focused on the islands of the Florida Keys and now Florida's "First Coast". Both races are sanctioned by USA Track & Field, the sport’s governing body.  Runners from nearly every state and dozens of countries have participated in these races.

Ultra Sports LLC's Race Director is Bob Becker, an accomplished ultra-runner and Fort Lauderdale, FL resident.  Bob is a prostate cancer survivor who, in 2008, became one of the oldest runners to successfully complete the iconic "Badwater 135" ultramarathon, a non-stop race of 135 miles in July in Death Valley, CA.  Bob has run numerous 100-mile races and has competed in the Marathon des Sables and Grand 2 Grand Ultra, each a self-supported desert stage race in excess of 150 miles.  In 2015, Bob set the record as the oldest runner to ever complete the original "Badwater 146" route to the summit of Mount Whitney and the 292-mile "Badwater Double".  In 2019, Bob won "A Race For The Ages" ("ARFTA"), completing 230 miles in 74 hours to break the course record, and won the 24-hour race at Icarus Ultrafest in November 2020.

Ultra Sports LLC works with local runners and groups throughout Florida and the Keys to develop ultra-distance events along beautiful and unique race routes.  “The scenery and overall quality of the experience for the runners are the two primary factors in the selection of race sites and distances”, says Bob Becker.  “When competing in an ultra, you are running a long way, and no ultra-runner wants those miles to be ordinary.  Florida gives us plenty of flexibility to ensure that views are spectacular, the venues memorable, and runner support first rate.  We work hard to achieve those goals.”