LAUREL — If running is your passion and marathons are not enough, try braving an ultra marathon as Ed Daly and his son, Jack, did in Laurel Saturday.

Ed ran the 50 kilometer — roughly 31 miles — race in four hours and 23 minutes, placing second overall in the event, while Jack notched first place in the 50-mile race with a time of six hours and 18 minutes. Jack’s time was strong enough for the fourth-best time ever recorded for the event.

The annual run is a 12.5-mile loop of dirt and needle-covered horse trails through the DeSoto National Forest in the Mississippi 50 Trail run.

This is the eighth time Ed has competed in the Laurel-based event. He began running ultra marathons in 2006 when he competed in the Chicago Marathon.

“My wife (Stephanie Daly) signed up for the Chicago Marathon, so I signed up too,” Ed said. “We’d always been runners, but not long-distance runners. I ran that race and really enjoyed the whole atmosphere. Sure, it breaks you down mentally and emotionally, but you just enjoy the whole process around like-minded people.”

Ed said the trail run in Laurel is one of his favorite races. He is friends with the race directors, and said his best time for the 50-mile race was in seven hours and thirty minutes in 2013. He placed second in that race.

While Ed and Jack have taken home hardware from the race Saturday and from years past, Ed said the race is more about the atmosphere to him.

“Truthfully, at least for me, I’ve always just enjoyed the run and talking to people as I go,” he said. “I had a couple years where I had a good bit of success. I’m turning 50 next year so I’m getting a little bit slower this year.”

The training that goes into the race is a year-long process, Ed said. First is nutrition and the necessity to stay hydrated during the race. Ed said he carries energy gel in the pockets of his handheld canteen to stay fueled.

“The big thing is during the race you have to take these goo packets,” he said. “I take one every thirty minutes to stay hydrated.”

Ed, who practices internal medicine, said there is still debate in the medical community regarding the best way for a runner to nourish their body before a race, but there is still some clear science involved in running long distances.

“As a general rule you, try to eat more carbs a few days before the race,” Ed said. “You train your body to burn the fat that it has. Even the thinnest person has enough fat to propel them for hours and hours.”

Ed and Jack have been braving long-distance runs of all sorts for the past several years. The father and son have run ultra marathons in the Rocky Mountains, where Jack attends the University of Colorado. The flatter terrain in Laurel changes the way the two attacked the race.

“It’s very runnable,” Ed said. “In mountain races you’re hiking for a lot of the race. In this one, the people at the front (ran) pretty hard.”

Ed pegged Jack as “the odds-on favorite to win” the 50-mile race, noting their instincts and training regimen. Ed and Jack have chalked up new personal bests to beat in next year’s race.

“(It was a) great day for running,” Ed said.