“After Jeff Sperber crosses the finish line of a 50-mile ultramarathon, he has a specific post-race routine. Like many runners, first, he stretches. Then he eats some protein. About an hour later, though, he deviates from the ordinary program by inhaling a few puffs of marijuana from a handheld vaporizer.
“When you’ve been running for that long, you’ve got swelling muscles and aching joints, and you’re tired,” says the 42-year-old Los Angeles resident, a runner since college who has been doing long races since 2007.”