February 26, 2024 – iRunFar

Mount Ida, Mount Cheaha, and Mount Mitchell are all right here, and so too are Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Wherever you go, we’ll discover you.

Joyful Monday, path operating and ultrarunning followers, let’s dive in.

Transgrancanaria – Gran Canaria, Spain

It was the occasion’s twenty fifth version and with some 4,500 runners throughout all of its races. Title sponsor The North Face introduced a bunch of their athletes to the race and the 126k Traditional race was the 12 months’s third World Path Majors occasion.

KV El Gigante

The Big! It sort of feels like extra enjoyable than Traditional or Superior. The vertical kilometer opened the multi-day occasion on Wednesday, February 21, and went up 1,060 meters over 5.5 kilometers. Runners took off each 40 seconds to stretch the pack out. Uphill ace Henri Aymonod (Italy) summited the quickest, going up in 39:19. Skyrunning professional Frederic Tranchand (France) was subsequent in 40:43, and Alvaro Escuela (Spain) was third in 41:56.

Katie Schide (U.S.) was a runaway winner within the ladies’s race at 47:31. Lena Laukner (Germany) and Moana Lilly Kehres (Spain) have been second and third in 50:45 and 50:55, respectively.

Starter 21k

The Thursday half marathon gained 1,400 meters (4,593 toes) of elevation. Solely the primary three males went underneath two hours with Antonio Martínez (Spain) successful in 1:52. Yoel De Paz (Spain) and Anartz Artola (Spain) have been second and third in 1:54 and 1:55, and the primary 5 finishers have been all Spanish.

Katarzyna Solińska (Poland) took the ladies’s win in 2:18. Brittany Charboneau (U.S.) got here subsequent in 2:22, and Flavia Stutz (Switzerland) was third up the rostrum in 2:24.

Marathon 46k

At 46k, the Friday race was simply longer than the usual marathon distance. Robert Pkemoi Matayango (Kenya) received for the second straight 12 months. His 3:31 end was six minutes again of final 12 months’s time. Juho Ylinen (Finland) and Tiago Vieira (Portugal) have been second and third in 3:38 and three:39.

Jennifer Lichter (U.S.) was victorious within the ladies’s race in 4:18. Spanish runners Greta García and Rosa Maria Lara joined her on the rostrum with 4:27 and 4:30 marks.

Classic 126k

iRunFar earlier shared particulars on the race. This one was 78 miles and it began at midnight on Friday night time, operating into Saturday. It featured heinous climate, with rain and wind, within the night time earlier than yielding to sunny skies and sizzling temperatures by afternoon on Saturday.

Not many bettors would’ve gotten the boys’s podium even near proper. Two Romanians completed within the high three. Raul Butaci (Romania, lives in Spain) received the race in 13:22 and Miguel Heras (Spain) was second in 13:32. Butaci was fourth right here in 2023, ending in 14:15, and raced usually in 2023 with a greatest end on the Val d’Aran by UTMB 100k, which he received. Heras, at age 48, continues to run among the many world’s greatest. He first received the now defunct The North Face Endurance Problem 50 Mile Championships means again in 2010. Third-place Ionel Manole (Romania, lives in Spain) completed in 13:49.

Courtney Dauwalter (U.S.) repeated as ladies’s winner. She completed in 15:14. That missed final 12 months’s mark of 14:40, although all are saying the night time situations affected end instances this 12 months. Claudia Tremps (Spain) was second in 16:27 and Emma Stuart (Eire) ran 16:50 for third. Tremps was third a 12 months in the past in 16:33.

The subsequent World Path Majors race is the Mt. Fuji 100 Mile on April 26 in Japan, and the collection’s fifth race, the Madeira Island Extremely-Path, is that very same weekend too.

Superior 84k

Andrzej Witek (Poland) received the roughly 52-mile race in 8:11, holding off David Cheraz (Italy) by 10 minutes. Borja Fernández (Spain) was third in 8:30.

Tara Fraga (U.S.) scored a giant win within the ladies’s race. She completed in 9:38. Kathrin Götz (Switzerland) was second in 10:03 and Martina Klancnik Potrc (Slovenia) was third in 10:18.

Full outcomes.

The Large Alta – Marinwood, California

The primary-year occasion was named for the course excessive factors within the Loma Alta Protect. The 50k ran on Saturday and gave out a $3,000 prize purse and Sunday’s 28k paid $2,000 to the primary three finishers.

50k

Eli Hemming’s on a roll. Simply two weeks in the past he crushed the Black Canyon 60k race and course document, and he beat out a robust group of runners right here to win in 3:38. That was means up on everybody else. Darren Thomas overtook Matt Daniels for second within the ultimate eight miles. Thomas completed in 3:55 and Daniels in 3:57.

Ladies’s winner Lotti Brinks clocked 4:42 and that made for a giant hole too. Kristina Randrup and Sarah Allaben have been second and third in 5:04 and 5:05, simply 54 seconds aside. Brinks is subsequent racing the Gorge Waterfalls 100k in April after which the Western States 100 in June.

Full outcomes.

28k

On the roughly 17-mile course, Nick Handel broke free from his chasers within the second half towards a 1:54 end. Paddy O’Leary and Liam Meirow each dipped underneath the two-hour mark to get on the rostrum at 1:58 and 1:59.

Ladies’s winner Tabor Hemming added to the couple’s weekend money haul with a 2:09 consequence. Klaire Rhodes got here in second at 2:13 and Samantha Diaz was third in 2:17.

Full outcomes.

Moab Crimson Sizzling Extremely – Moab, Utah

The Mad Moose Occasions race group added a 50-mile choice to the occasion, alongside the longtime 55k and 33k burners. There’s additionally a 15k occasion.

Forty-one runners completed the inaugural 50-mile run with Phillip Lapoint and Laura Newton victorious in 8:45 and 10:57, respectively.

Within the 55k, Jeshurun Small ran the race’s fifth-fastest time ever in 3:44, although the course is a brand new one in the previous couple of years. Cole Campbell and Caleb Olson have been second and third in 3:49 and 4:08. Ladies’s winner Anna Fisher gapped the sector with a 5:11 end, and Natalie Nicholson and Erin Park chased to five:39 and 5:49 podium finishes.

The 33k noticed Josh Eberly take dwelling the boys’s win in 2:20, whereas Timmy Parr chased him in an in depth second in 2:21. Finnian Jacobson-Schulte got here dwelling in third in 2:26. For the ladies’s race, Charli McKee received in 3:00, Megan Bowen was proper there for second place in 3:01, and Reall Regan completed in 3:15.

Full outcomes.

Nedbank Runified Metropolis 50k – Gqeberha, South Africa

The race has been a hotspot for document makes an attempt in recent times. The boys ran quick this 12 months, however not quick sufficient for a brand new world document, and the ladies’s race ran fairly a bit slower than in prior years.

Nobody threatened CJ Albertson’s 2:38:43 world document, however Pule Sibeko (South Africa) and Guilliame Ruel (France) completed on the high in 2:47:09 and a couple of:47:32. Sibeko ran down the longtime chief within the ultimate 5k, and Nkosikhona Mhlakwana (South Africa) was third in 2:50:12. Ruel, additionally a 2:14 marathoner, broke his personal European 50k document.

Loveness Madziva (South Africa) was on their own on the entrance of the ladies’s race at 3:22:49. Silindile Chili (South Africa) and Galetsang Mekgoe (South Africa) have been second and third in 3:32:13 and three:35:56, respectively.

Full outcomes.

Robust Mudder Infinity 8-Hour – AlUla, Saudi Arabia

We’re stepping a bit out of bounds with this protection of impediment course racing, however I’m fascinated by the $80,000 first-place prize. Even the second-place finishers earned $32,000. The whole purse was $480,000 with cash stretching 10 deep. That’s unimaginable. Even nonetheless, some most-time and part-time path runners have been there, chasing that prize cash, so we thought we’d report on the occasion.

The race ran on a 10k loop with 20 obstacles and with contributors making an attempt to complete as many laps within the time restrict as potential. That is new to me, however I’ve seen some references to 9 hours, and so I’m unclear if an eight-hour race right here means 8:00 or as much as 8:59. These within the know, fill us in, within the feedback!

Males

Jon Albon (U.Ok., lives in Norway) received CCC final 12 months and he’s racing the Western States 100 this 12 months, however additional again he received the Spartan World Championships in 2014 and 2018. He’s nonetheless bought that power and received the person race with 110k run. I’ve by no means accomplished an impediment course race, or 110k, however that sounds actually, actually spectacular. That’s 68 miles with 160 obstacles. For an apples-to-oranges comparability, Albon completed the 2023 CCC run — 62 miles and with 20,196 toes of elevation achieve — in 10:14.

Ryan Atkins (Canada) was second with 100k. He was sixth on the 2023 Canyons by UTMB 100 Mile, amongst different path races, and has a number of high finishes in impediment course racing.

Mark Batres (U.S.) was third, additionally with 100k, and he’s run as quick as 29:25 on the monitor for 10,000 meters.

Ladies

Ladies’s particular person winner Alisa Petrova (Russia) totaled 90k, and Nicole Mericle (U.S.) was second with 80k. Janka Pepova (Slovakia) was third, additionally with 80k.

All three have raced trails in sub-ultra or extremely distances, and Mericle is a rock and ice climber, too.

Numerous different high finishers have ties to path operating and ultrarunning, however deeper outcomes have been an impediment. Once more, these with particulars really feel welcome to share within the feedback!

Further Races and Runs

Orcas Island 100 Mile – Orcas Island, Washington

The Rainshadow Working race runs as 4 25-mile loops. Jeremy Douglas and Pollee Brookings bought it accomplished in 21:32 and 27:13. Full outcomes.

Lord Hill Path Run 50k – Snohomish, Washington

Jared Moore and Tanna Russell received in 4:21 and 6:17. Full outcomes.

Montara Mountain Path Run – Pacifica, California

The Coastal Path Runs hosted a number of distances, however within the 50k Aaron Kubala and Beverley Anderson-Abbs have been the quickest in 4:32 and 5:31. Full outcomes.

Salmon Falls 50k – Pilot Hill, California

Robert Ressl and Emily Hawgood have been victorious in 3:51 and 4:23. Full outcomes.

Copper Hall 50k – Superior, Arizona

The Aravaipa Working race topped Jonathan Kuplack and Stephanie Cloutier as winners in 4:01 and 4:45. Full outcomes.

Rock n Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon – Las Vegas, Nevada

Andy Wacker received the nighttime race in 1:04:47, ending in entrance of the enduring Bellagio fountains. Ladies’s winner Alice Wright (U.Ok., lives in U.S.) ran 1:14:10. Full outcomes (when out there).

Cowtown Extremely – Fort Price, Texas

Scott Preston and Neringa Kaulinaite received the highway 50k in 3:21 and three:45, respectively. Full outcomes.

Mount Mitchell Problem and Black Mountain Marathon – Black Mountain, North Carolina

Climate once more minimize off the mountain summit and made the 40-mile Mount Mitchell Problem unavailable. Everybody as a substitute did the Black Mountain Marathon on the decrease slopes. Nathan Thomas beat out Sean Bowman by a single second for the win. The 2 clocked 3:18:23 and three:18:24, and Anne George received the ladies’s race in 3:53. Full outcomes.

Lake Ouchita Vista Path – Mount Ida, Arkansas

Karl Meltzer received the 100-mile race in 20:35, and Amanda Lynch was first feminine in 23:50. It was Meltzer’s 82nd 100-mile end — wow. Full outcomes.

Mount Cheaha 50k – Delta, Alabama

It was the nineteenth 12 months for the point-to-point race that finishes on the highest level in Alabama. Graham Grant and Deanna Doane have been champs in 4:54 and 5:19. Full outcomes.

2023 IAU Athlete of the 12 months Awards

On February 16, 2024, the Worldwide Affiliation of Ultrarunners (IAU) introduced its 2023 award winners. Aleksandr Sorokin (Lithuania) and Miho Nakata (Japan) have been voted as winners after each received the 2023 IAU 24-Hour World Championships, and Nakata set a world document on the occasion. It was Sorokin’s third straight Athlete of the 12 months win, and his fourth total. Announcement.

2024, 2025, and 2026 Canadian Mountain Working Championships

Athletics Canada simply introduced the situation for the Canadian Mountain Working Championships for the following three years. Each the Vertical and Traditional disciplines will probably be in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Québec. The championships are a part of Défi des Couleurs, a decade-old occasion that hosted over 3,500 runners in 2023. This 12 months’s occasion is October 12 to 13, 2024, a date that coincides with Canada’s Thanksgiving weekend.

The group additionally anticipates attracting high competitors from outdoors of Canada too.

Name for Feedback

• What would a $480,000 prize purse ultramarathon in Saudi Arabia appear to be? And, are you able to fill us in on anything from the weekend’s Robust Mudder occasion there?
• The place else did you race or watch a race this weekend? Share some particulars!