Latest / Let's Talk Trail Running / 2025 WMTRC Long Trail Preview
Transcript
- 0:01SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome back to Let's Talk Trail Running.
- 0:04This is your host Robert Prosser and today we're going to be
- 0:07covering a World
- 0:08SPEAKER_00: Mountain Running Championship 2025 long trail preview.
- 0:14Worlds is this week and it's super duper exciting because we're
- 0:18definitely seeing
- 0:19SPEAKER_00: the most deep field when it comes to trail professional
- 0:24And trail running,
- 0:27elite trail runners in general,
- 0:28participating in Worlds.
- 0:31SPEAKER_00: So super exciting.
- 0:31SPEAKER_00: We haven't had an edition since 2023.
- 0:33SPEAKER_00: They do it every two years.
- 0:35SPEAKER_00: And then we also had one in 2022 because of the weird COVID year.
- 0:38SPEAKER_00: But last Worlds was in Innsbruck, Stubai, and 2023.
- 0:44And this podcast today is going to cover the Long Trail Worlds
- 0:48preview for both the
- 0:49SPEAKER_00: men and the women's race.
- 0:51SPEAKER_00: For anyone looking for content on the other three races,
- 0:54SPEAKER_00: the uphill,
- 0:55SPEAKER_00: the classic,
- 0:55SPEAKER_00: or the short trail,
- 0:58SPEAKER_00: go check out my last Substack post.
- 1:00SPEAKER_00: I was fortunate enough to get invited by James L'Oreal onto his podcast,
- 1:06SPEAKER_00: the Steep Stuff podcast,
- 1:08He does a really awesome job of highlighting a short trail and
- 1:12kind of like sub
- 1:13ultra and even like 50 K and below athletes and also covering
- 1:16races and that genre.
- 1:18So I was really stoked when I happened to run into him on the
- 1:20trails in Colorado Springs.
- 1:21And then he reached out to me after listening to some of this
- 1:25content and asked if
- 1:27SPEAKER_00: I want to do a world's preview.
- 1:28SPEAKER_00: And I was super stoked.
- 1:30SPEAKER_00: So that's out on, on my sub stack, but also on podcast platforms.
- 1:34SPEAKER_00: If you look up steep stuff on YouTube,
- 1:37SPEAKER_00: Apple Podcasts or on Spotify, it is on there.
- 1:39SPEAKER_00: So
- 1:41SPEAKER_00: Anyways, that is intro for today.
- 1:44And today we're going to talk about,
- 1:45like I said,
- 1:46the Long Trail Worlds course.
- 1:48SPEAKER_00: The course itself,
- 1:50SPEAKER_00: the race is taking place in the Pyrenees,
- 1:52SPEAKER_00: Confrank or Canfrank,
- 1:53SPEAKER_00: however you want to say it,
- 1:54SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure the correct way.
- 1:56SPEAKER_00: And it's going on in the Pyrenees this year.
- 1:57SPEAKER_00: And the course is approximately 81 kilometers and 5,413 meters.
- 2:04SPEAKER_00: Or for us people in the States who are metrically challenged,
- 2:07SPEAKER_00: 49 and a half miles and about 17,800 feet of vert.
- 2:12Looking at the profile,
- 2:13it's tough to say how many big climbs and descents there are.
- 2:18SPEAKER_00: Essentially, the race kind of comes out with a bang.
- 2:21SPEAKER_00: And I think it starts off with like a 15 or 1600 meter climb.
- 2:25SPEAKER_00: And then there's a big descent right off the bat.
- 2:27SPEAKER_00: Another big climb, big descent.
- 2:30uh and then we have another big climb and then it kind of gets
- 2:31choppy for a bit
- 2:32where it goes up and down for a while and there's gonna be a
- 2:34big climb where i
- 2:35think a good bit of moves will be made um towards the end of
- 2:38the race up to the
- 2:39third highest point in the race latuca and then a big descent
- 2:43and then one last
- 2:44climb and a big descent so you could kind of say four or five
- 2:48big climbs but
- 2:49essentially this course is either going up or going down and
- 2:51from what i've been
- 2:52SPEAKER_00: saying
- 2:53SPEAKER_00: It's kind of weird running where it kind of just goes off trail.
- 2:58SPEAKER_00: And I've run on the Pyrenees before,
- 3:00SPEAKER_00: and they have a lot of these really steep,
- 3:02SPEAKER_00: grassy,
- 3:03SPEAKER_00: noli-type deals that are kind of uneven.
- 3:06SPEAKER_00: And they're weird to run on.
- 3:07SPEAKER_00: You can't really move super fast on them.
- 3:09SPEAKER_00: And they're not super fast downhill, either.
- 3:11SPEAKER_00: It's definitely going to play out to be an interesting race,
- 3:14and I'm definitely going to talk about who I think this course
- 3:20favors more or less
- 3:21SPEAKER_00: when it comes to that type of running.
- 3:26SPEAKER_00: With that being said, let's get into some of the storylines.
- 3:28I'm going to talk about some of the storylines on both the
- 3:30men's and women's side.
- 3:32SPEAKER_00: And then I'm going to go into individual racers in the race.
- 3:37SPEAKER_00: Also,
- 3:38SPEAKER_00: what countries I think are going to get medals,
- 3:39SPEAKER_00: because basically the top three,
- 3:41SPEAKER_00: they're going to add up the top three finishers times,
- 3:44SPEAKER_00: and whoever has the lowest time is going to get awarded the team medal,
- 3:48SPEAKER_00: and there'll be a gold,
- 3:50SPEAKER_00: silver,
- 3:50SPEAKER_00: and bronze,
- 3:51SPEAKER_00: excuse me.
- 3:52SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, storylines.
- 3:54SPEAKER_00: On the men's side,
- 3:55SPEAKER_00: I think the biggest storylines,
- 3:57SPEAKER_00: I said,
- 3:57is this the potential deciding battle or tiebreaker for the
- 4:00Trail Runner of the
- 4:01SPEAKER_00: Year award?
- 4:02SPEAKER_00: And I'm thinking that it's between Caleb, Francesco Poopy, and Jim.
- 4:06SPEAKER_00: So Caleb Olson, Francesco Poopy, and Jim Walmsley.
- 4:08SPEAKER_00: I think that if one of them takes gold,
- 4:10that kind of solidifies their case for trail run of the year
- 4:13and kind of puts them
- 4:14SPEAKER_00: on lock.
- 4:15SPEAKER_00: Caleb,
- 4:15SPEAKER_00: we're looking at a win,
- 4:16SPEAKER_00: of course,
- 4:16SPEAKER_00: record in Trans Grand Canary this year,
- 4:17SPEAKER_00: a win at Western States.
- 4:19SPEAKER_00: And I think this would be kind of topping it off.
- 4:21SPEAKER_00: Francesco, we're looking at a big wins at Canyons, 100K, big wins at CCC.
- 4:26He's taken a few wins at like Trans Grand Canary and Marathon
- 4:29and I think Chianti
- 4:30SPEAKER_00: Marathon and maybe a handful of others.
- 4:32SPEAKER_00: And he also had a 10th place at Sierra's and all.
- 4:34SPEAKER_00: And then Jim hasn't raced as much this year,
- 4:36SPEAKER_00: but his two races were big hitters on the UTMB index.
- 4:39Chianti was a really high UTMB index because he beat Killian
- 4:43and Vince Allen.
- 4:44SPEAKER_00: I don't think it was necessarily a hugely deep field.
- 4:46SPEAKER_00: He also beat Andres Ryderer, who DNF'd.
- 4:48SPEAKER_00: But then he backed it up with OCC performance.
- 4:51And I think that if he gets Worlds,
- 4:53it might be just enough to tip him over the top.
- 4:55SPEAKER_00: Other storylines I identified.
- 4:57SPEAKER_00: Does Christian Minogio shock the world again with another podium?
- 5:01Maybe not shock the world,
- 5:02but can he repeat with a little bit more pressure this time?
- 5:05SPEAKER_00: And then I said, how many U.S.
- 5:06SPEAKER_00: athletes can go top 10 on the men's side?
- 5:10SPEAKER_00: Last time we had five, six, and seven were U.S.
- 5:13SPEAKER_00: for the U.S.
- 5:14SPEAKER_00: men and got us silver in the team in 2023.
- 5:17SPEAKER_00: But who comes out on top between France and the U.S.
- 5:19SPEAKER_00: and potentially even Italy?
- 5:20SPEAKER_00: I think Italy has three really good runners.
- 5:22They don't have a lot of room for error if those three don't
- 5:24have a great day.
- 5:25SPEAKER_00: And then I also put, does Romania get a team muddled?
- 5:28SPEAKER_00: They're sending a pretty good team this year.
- 5:29SPEAKER_00: And I think that if Italy doesn't get the bronze, then Romania will.
- 5:34SPEAKER_00: Do we see a sweep of both sides of the long trail again?
- 5:36So last world,
- 5:38France took a sweep on the men's and the women's side on the
- 5:40long trail.
- 5:41SPEAKER_00: I put, can the U.S.
- 5:42SPEAKER_00: do that this year?
- 5:43SPEAKER_00: And spoiler alert, I think the possibility is strong that they do it.
- 5:46SPEAKER_00: And I think it just went down a little bit.
- 5:48SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, as I'm recording this podcast, it is...
- 5:51SPEAKER_00: Wednesday night in Colorado,
- 5:53SPEAKER_00: so probably coming up on the morning,
- 5:55SPEAKER_00: Thursday morning for anyone in Europe listening.
- 5:58SPEAKER_00: Jen liked to announce she's not racing,
- 6:00SPEAKER_00: so we'll get into that in a little bit,
- 6:01SPEAKER_00: but I think that makes it a little bit less likely for a U.S.
- 6:03SPEAKER_00: sweep.
- 6:04SPEAKER_00: And then I put,
- 6:04SPEAKER_00: does Caleb miss a beat now that he's back to being self-coached,
- 6:08SPEAKER_00: or is he just as dialed?
- 6:09SPEAKER_00: So up into Trans-Grand Canaria and Western States,
- 6:12SPEAKER_00: he was coached by Jack Kunzel,
- 6:14SPEAKER_00: and he's kind of been doing his own coaching now since Western States,
- 6:18SPEAKER_00: so that'll be curious to see.
- 6:20SPEAKER_00: So let's get into some men's storylines.
- 6:23SPEAKER_00: And then on the women's side, storylines identified no Katarina Hartmuth.
- 6:28SPEAKER_00: So she was the returning silver medalist from Last Worlds.
- 6:31SPEAKER_00: I put, does Jen Lichter go out hot and stick with Katie?
- 6:34SPEAKER_00: Does she run her own race?
- 6:36SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, Jen is going to be a scratch.
- 6:37SPEAKER_00: She took a fall and a training run on the course.
- 6:40And I think she did something to her hamstring and she just
- 6:42announced it today.
- 6:43SPEAKER_00: So it's a really big bummer.
- 6:44SPEAKER_00: I was really, really excited to see.
- 6:46I think that she would have gone out with Katie and held on for
- 6:48as long as possible.
- 6:49SPEAKER_00: And I really legitimately think that the U.S.
- 6:51SPEAKER_00: had a shot at two medalists on the women's side.
- 6:54SPEAKER_00: I put, is the U.S.
- 6:55SPEAKER_00: a lock for gold or will France give them a strong one for their money?
- 6:58SPEAKER_00: And I think now France has a pretty good chance.
- 7:02SPEAKER_00: They're going to be tough to beat.
- 7:03SPEAKER_00: They don't have as many big names,
- 7:05SPEAKER_00: but they have a really good top three that I think are going to perform.
- 7:09SPEAKER_00: So those are some of the storylines identified.
- 7:12SPEAKER_00: Now let's get into some of the fields.
- 7:13SPEAKER_00: Going over the men's side.
- 7:15SPEAKER_00: Scrolling down the list, we got Jim Walmsley.
- 7:17SPEAKER_00: I don't really know that I need to say much about him.
- 7:19SPEAKER_00: He's kind of the GOAT.
- 7:21The only thing that I see that's working against him in this
- 7:23course is this is a
- 7:24SPEAKER_00: pretty technical course.
- 7:28And I think that that might be one thing playing a little bit
- 7:31to his disservice.
- 7:32SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to think.
- 7:33SPEAKER_00: I mean, he did have the course record at Spigo.
- 7:35SPEAKER_00: We just don't see him race.
- 7:36SPEAKER_00: I mean, UTB is not
- 7:39it's vertical but it's not necessarily super technical it is in
- 7:42parts um but yeah
- 7:43i'm really curious to see how he plays this course next on the
- 7:47list we got
- 7:47francesco poopy um i think he very well could be a favorite but
- 7:51i'm also really
- 7:52hesitant my big question mark is is ccc too much or does fran
- 7:56flex his recovery
- 7:57abilities yet again we've seen him bounce back and race really
- 8:00well like two and
- 8:01three and four weeks apart with these like sub ultra marathon
- 8:04distance races
- 8:05But I'm curious if he's maybe biting off a little bit too much
- 8:07and thinking he can
- 8:08SPEAKER_00: do the same with such a good CCC performance.
- 8:12SPEAKER_00: But so far, you know, he hasn't missed at these longer ultras.
- 8:15SPEAKER_00: Last year, he won the Italian Long Trail Championships.
- 8:18This year,
- 8:18he knocked Canyons out of the park,
- 8:20and he also knocked CCC out of the park.
- 8:22SPEAKER_00: And it kind of just gets more and more competitive every year.
- 8:25SPEAKER_00: I'm curious.
- 8:25SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
- 8:26SPEAKER_00: I'm rooting for him.
- 8:27SPEAKER_00: And I think he could also have a really awesome result.
- 8:29But I'm just really hesitant that CCC might have been a little
- 8:32bit too much in the legs.
- 8:33SPEAKER_00: And we'll talk about,
- 8:34I talked about that in the short trail preview with guys like
- 8:37David Sinclair and
- 8:39SPEAKER_00: Eli Hemming.
- 8:40SPEAKER_00: But I also, yeah, I mean, CCC is going to be even a longer course.
- 8:43SPEAKER_00: So that's my big question mark around Francesca Poobie.
- 8:46Next one's going to be Caleb Olson,
- 8:47who I think very well could win this race.
- 8:50SPEAKER_00: My big question mark with him,
- 8:51SPEAKER_00: like I said,
- 8:51is does going back to self-coaching work in his favor against
- 8:56him or is it neutral?
- 8:57SPEAKER_00: And how is he coming off a big break after a stellar Western States win?
- 9:00SPEAKER_00: He's basically just been chilling.
- 9:02He talked about in some of his interviews how last year him
- 9:05doubling back and
- 9:05SPEAKER_00: trying to do CCC,
- 9:06SPEAKER_00: he could tell he wasn't fully recovered.
- 9:08SPEAKER_00: His legs weren't there.
- 9:09SPEAKER_00: So he's kind of saying this extra month was perfect for
- 9:11SPEAKER_00: Just not rushing recovery,
- 9:14SPEAKER_00: getting back in a big block,
- 9:15SPEAKER_00: and then also getting to do fun objectives like going up Mount Block,
- 9:18SPEAKER_00: I think twice in two days when he was at UTMB,
- 9:21SPEAKER_00: but not racing.
- 9:23SPEAKER_00: Next one on the list is going to be Christian Minogio,
- 9:25SPEAKER_00: took a lot of us by surprise,
- 9:27SPEAKER_00: Italian,
- 9:28SPEAKER_00: more of a sky runner,
- 9:29and basically went neck and neck with Jim and had him on the
- 9:33ropes until really it
- 9:34kind of came down to like a runnable road or toe pass type
- 9:37section where he just
- 9:39SPEAKER_00: didn't quite have the leg speed to hold off Jim,
- 9:40SPEAKER_00: but still finished within 20 seconds of him.
- 9:43SPEAKER_00: So a big question around Christian is,
- 9:44can he repeat a stellar day now that he's got some new
- 9:46expectations and kind of the
- 9:48SPEAKER_00: weight of last race on him?
- 9:49Because a lot of people are going to be thinking,
- 9:50hey,
- 9:50you went toe-to-toe with Jim once.
- 9:52SPEAKER_00: This course more suits you.
- 9:53SPEAKER_00: Can you beat him now?
- 9:54SPEAKER_00: So that's going to be a big question.
- 9:56SPEAKER_00: Earlier races this year, he did UTMB Monta Rosa Walserweg or Walserweg.
- 10:02SPEAKER_00: That makes me think so.
- 10:02SPEAKER_00: That course was 82 kilometers.
- 10:04SPEAKER_00: So really similar to this, 6,300 meters of vert, even steeper.
- 10:08SPEAKER_00: And he ran it in 937, which seems pretty damn fast.
- 10:12So he was also second to Francesco Pupi at the Italian Long
- 10:15Trail Champs last year
- 10:16SPEAKER_00: by about 10 minutes in a six and a half hour race.
- 10:18SPEAKER_00: So definitely excited to see what he can do.
- 10:22SPEAKER_00: Other names on the list, Petter Engdahl.
- 10:24SPEAKER_00: I feel like Petter Engdahl is really, he's back.
- 10:26SPEAKER_00: I think he's hitting his stride.
- 10:28SPEAKER_00: I think we kind of saw some injuries.
- 10:30SPEAKER_00: Last year, he didn't have his best year.
- 10:32SPEAKER_00: He did race into Western States with a third or fourth base at Canyons.
- 10:35SPEAKER_00: The ticket rolled down to him.
- 10:36And then at Western,
- 10:38he had an okay day,
- 10:41but it was outside the top 10,
- 10:42kind of got overheated.
- 10:43SPEAKER_00: And then he tried for UTMB, but DNF'd.
- 10:46SPEAKER_00: And was having some health issues, I think, throughout last year as well.
- 10:49SPEAKER_00: I think Petter is really back,
- 10:50and I honestly think this race distance is really his sweet
- 10:53spot for racing.
- 10:54SPEAKER_00: I mean, he is the CCC course record holder.
- 10:56SPEAKER_00: We saw him absolutely blitz that course,
- 10:58SPEAKER_00: and we still haven't seen anyone come within 15 minutes of that time,
- 11:01SPEAKER_00: I want to say,
- 11:01SPEAKER_00: like 9.50-ish,
- 11:02SPEAKER_00: 9.52 maybe.
- 11:04SPEAKER_00: And I think that really with that skiing background,
- 11:07SPEAKER_00: he's good at just climbing,
- 11:08SPEAKER_00: climbing,
- 11:08SPEAKER_00: climbing,
- 11:09SPEAKER_00: and kind of that pitter-patter,
- 11:10SPEAKER_00: and just climbing all day.
- 11:12SPEAKER_00: And so only question mark would be, is this course a little...
- 11:15too technical for him to do well out when I think about courses
- 11:18that he's done well
- 11:19but he does have a lot of sky running experience he does like
- 11:21sky running so I'm
- 11:23SPEAKER_00: feeling pretty bullish on Peter I think he's looking good
- 11:26SPEAKER_00: Next, I'll talk about Andrzej Witik, the Polish athlete, Andrzej.
- 11:32SPEAKER_00: He has been putting in big work on the course post-OCC.
- 11:36SPEAKER_00: I followed him, and he basically didn't.
- 11:38SPEAKER_00: He still did 100 miles the week before OCC or leading up to OCC,
- 11:42SPEAKER_00: and he kind of just took like a two- or three-day break.
- 11:44SPEAKER_00: But he kind of trained through OCC and still got third place,
- 11:47SPEAKER_00: ran an amazing race,
- 11:48SPEAKER_00: ASICS athlete from Poland.
- 11:50SPEAKER_00: And I've been pretty impressed by his training.
- 11:51SPEAKER_00: My only question...
- 11:53with him is i hope he's not leaving too much out on the course
- 11:55because he is still
- 11:56putting in big work even up to this wednesday as i'm talking
- 11:59about it and the race
- 12:00is only two days out so um he's looking real good a6 athlete
- 12:04from poland and
- 12:05looking to double back we're seeing a lot of guys we're going
- 12:08to talk a lot about
- 12:08occ we got like four or five or six guys we got a lot of people
- 12:12doubling back from
- 12:13SPEAKER_00: occ and in my top 10 i think i've got
- 12:16SPEAKER_00: One, two, three, four, five, at least five guys that race OCC.
- 12:22SPEAKER_00: And I could even see a sixth one as well.
- 12:25SPEAKER_00: Next one on the list, Italian athlete for La Sportiva, Andreas Reiter.
- 12:29I think he's in that part of Italy that speaks German because
- 12:31most of his posts are in German.
- 12:33SPEAKER_00: He came out hot at CCC and kind of started off with the lead pack,
- 12:36SPEAKER_00: and he fell back to about 11th place,
- 12:38SPEAKER_00: so just outside the top 10.
- 12:40SPEAKER_00: But this course does suit him, in my opinion.
- 12:42He's also had really strong results this year with a third
- 12:45place at Lavarado behind
- 12:47Ben Diemen's course record and a second place at Transvolcania
- 12:49this year just
- 12:50SPEAKER_00: behind Peter Frano in terrible weather.
- 12:52SPEAKER_00: So,
- 12:53SPEAKER_00: uh,
- 12:53SPEAKER_00: he also ran into second at the long trail,
- 12:55SPEAKER_00: uh,
- 12:56SPEAKER_00: world championships when it took place in Austria.
- 13:00SPEAKER_00: So I kind of got a mixed bag.
- 13:01I'm a little bit hesitant if I'm all,
- 13:04so we kind of got to the big Italian names.
- 13:05SPEAKER_00: Well,
- 13:06SPEAKER_00: actually all the big Italians,
- 13:07SPEAKER_00: you know,
- 13:07SPEAKER_00: between Christian,
- 13:08SPEAKER_00: Francesco and Andreas all raced UTMB week.
- 13:11Um,
- 13:11and two of them race CCC,
- 13:12whereas Christian was the only one that raced OCC.
- 13:15SPEAKER_00: So I'm a little hesitant.
- 13:16I think that we're going to see some people,
- 13:18the double with CCC and Worlds not work out well.
- 13:21And it's just kind of like a crapshooter roll of the dice when
- 13:25it comes to who is
- 13:27SPEAKER_00: going to get in trouble with that.
- 13:28SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
- 13:30SPEAKER_00: Going down the list, Louisane Coiffette.
- 13:33SPEAKER_00: I'm sure I'm pronouncing that wrong.
- 13:34SPEAKER_00: Either way, French athlete, not really known to us U.S.
- 13:37SPEAKER_00: fans, but he competes on the sky running circuit frequently.
- 13:40He does really well in technical courses,
- 13:42along with long and kind of grindy races.
- 13:45He was second at the French long trail champ qualifier to
- 13:47Benjamin Rubel by about
- 13:49SPEAKER_00: two minutes,
- 13:49SPEAKER_00: and that was a seven hour and 15 minute race.
- 13:52And he finished in front of Baptiste Chassain,
- 13:55who got second at UTMB last year.
- 13:56SPEAKER_00: And it was kind of really big in the French scene.
- 13:58SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about him in a little bit here.
- 13:59SPEAKER_00: I think Louisone could be one of the point scores for France.
- 14:07SPEAKER_00: Essentially, there's four big names I'm looking at in France.
- 14:09SPEAKER_00: Benjamin Rubal, who we're going to talk about.
- 14:11SPEAKER_00: Vincent Bouillard, who we're going to talk about.
- 14:13SPEAKER_00: Louisone Cofet.
- 14:14SPEAKER_00: And then Baptiste Chassain.
- 14:16So,
- 14:16like I said,
- 14:17the top three,
- 14:18they combine their family,
- 14:19whoever's the lowest time wins.
- 14:20SPEAKER_00: And right now I think that, I think the U.S.
- 14:22SPEAKER_00: has four very legitimate people.
- 14:24SPEAKER_00: And then I also think France does.
- 14:25SPEAKER_00: So it's going to be, it's going to be tight.
- 14:26SPEAKER_00: We kind of saw that last time, long trail, U.S.
- 14:29SPEAKER_00: got silver.
- 14:30SPEAKER_00: But France, when Benjamin Rubel won it, he was like so far ahead.
- 14:33SPEAKER_00: And then we also had Thibaut Gribier in fourth place.
- 14:36SPEAKER_00: that the third point getter,
- 14:38SPEAKER_00: even though US went five,
- 14:39SPEAKER_00: six,
- 14:40SPEAKER_00: seven,
- 14:40SPEAKER_00: the third point getter,
- 14:41SPEAKER_00: I think was like 17th place.
- 14:42SPEAKER_00: I think it was Baptiste.
- 14:44SPEAKER_00: But it still was enough time that they dip below the US.
- 14:47SPEAKER_00: So that's gonna be important.
- 14:50SPEAKER_00: Uh, additional considerations.
- 14:51SPEAKER_00: Well, all right, let's talk about the French team.
- 14:53SPEAKER_00: So Baptiste Chassain,
- 14:54SPEAKER_00: third at the French trail,
- 14:55SPEAKER_00: long,
- 14:56SPEAKER_00: long trail qualifier behind Benjamin and Louisan.
- 14:58SPEAKER_00: He got second at Grand Raid,
- 15:01SPEAKER_00: uh,
- 15:01SPEAKER_00: 100K,
- 15:01SPEAKER_00: excuse me,
- 15:02SPEAKER_00: Grand,
- 15:02SPEAKER_00: excuse me,
- 15:03SPEAKER_00: Pontu,
- 15:04SPEAKER_00: 100K,
- 15:05SPEAKER_00: uh,
- 15:05SPEAKER_00: behind Ben Demon.
- 15:06SPEAKER_00: And then he's likely,
- 15:07SPEAKER_00: in my opinion,
- 15:07SPEAKER_00: like I said,
- 15:07to be the third point scorer behind Vincent Bouillard and
- 15:10Benjamin or potentially
- 15:12SPEAKER_00: Louisan as well.
- 15:14SPEAKER_00: Vincent Bouillard,
- 15:15we already talked about a little bit third at Chianti this year
- 15:17behind only Killian
- 15:18SPEAKER_00: and Jim.
- 15:19SPEAKER_00: He had a DNF at Western States.
- 15:20SPEAKER_00: It wasn't his best day out there.
- 15:22SPEAKER_00: He won UTMB last year.
- 15:24SPEAKER_00: He got in off a resume spot over Matthew Blanchard,
- 15:28but it's kind of tough to know where he's at because his job is
- 15:30dark and he doesn't
- 15:31SPEAKER_00: post a lot of stuff.
- 15:32SPEAKER_00: Interesting that they chose Vincent over Mathieu.
- 15:35The French team cited that it was because of his UTMB index
- 15:39being higher than
- 15:40SPEAKER_00: Mathieu's,
- 15:40SPEAKER_00: but honestly,
- 15:41I feel like Mathieu's kind of better suited to this course than
- 15:44Vincent are in my
- 15:45SPEAKER_00: mind,
- 15:46SPEAKER_00: because Mathieu's really good at technical stuff,
- 15:47SPEAKER_00: second at UTS,
- 15:49SPEAKER_00: Snowdonia 100k,
- 15:51SPEAKER_00: and just really good at really hard races.
- 15:53SPEAKER_00: So
- 15:54SPEAKER_00: Interesting choice.
- 15:54SPEAKER_00: We'll see if it pays off.
- 15:55SPEAKER_00: I mean,
- 15:56SPEAKER_00: I think Vincent Villard is definitely going to be one of the most fit,
- 15:58SPEAKER_00: but I don't know how he's going to fare on a course like this.
- 16:00SPEAKER_00: I haven't seen a ton of technical results from him.
- 16:03And then last one I want to talk about who's probably top on my
- 16:05list and who also
- 16:07SPEAKER_00: isn't really known to the U.S.
- 16:08SPEAKER_00: audience.
- 16:09He's going to be the reigning long trail world champ from 2023
- 16:12and also the
- 16:12SPEAKER_00: reigning European trail champ from last year's Euro trail temps.
- 16:16SPEAKER_00: That's going to be Benjamin Rubal.
- 16:18He does great when he's racing under the French colors and he's
- 16:21not quite as
- 16:21SPEAKER_00: impressive when he races,
- 16:22SPEAKER_00: uh,
- 16:23SPEAKER_00: when he's not racing for his nation.
- 16:25So expect him to be in top form and to have targeted this race
- 16:28the entire year and
- 16:29SPEAKER_00: to be peaking right at the right time.
- 16:30He did win the French long trail championship by two minutes,
- 16:33like I mentioned earlier.
- 16:35SPEAKER_00: All right, so next one on the list I skipped over.
- 16:36SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to come back to him.
- 16:37SPEAKER_00: That's going to be Adam Petergod, a.k.a.
- 16:39SPEAKER_00: Adam Peterman.
- 16:40SPEAKER_00: Win at Gorge 100k for the U.S.
- 16:42SPEAKER_00: qualifier.
- 16:43SPEAKER_00: You know, people are complaining.
- 16:44It's definitely not the most specific course to this course,
- 16:47but it's tough in the U.S.
- 16:48SPEAKER_00: We don't really have terrain, quite frankly, that mimics this.
- 16:51We also don't have terrain that we can pick a team early enough
- 16:55to mimic this.
- 16:55SPEAKER_00: So
- 16:56SPEAKER_00: It is what it is.
- 16:57SPEAKER_00: I don't feel bad at all that Adam,
- 16:59SPEAKER_00: like the team we're sending is awesome based off the Gorge qualifiers.
- 17:02SPEAKER_00: So I don't really feel bad about that.
- 17:04SPEAKER_00: Yep.
- 17:05SPEAKER_00: So Adam got a win at Gorge 100K.
- 17:06SPEAKER_00: He was not DNF at Western.
- 17:08SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
- 17:08SPEAKER_00: He walked it in at Western and then bounced back with a sixth at OCC,
- 17:12SPEAKER_00: even though he was closing really hard on Chris Jones.
- 17:15SPEAKER_00: He is coached now.
- 17:16SPEAKER_00: So I'm excited to see how he races.
- 17:19And I think he's working with somebody that's out of Montana,
- 17:22maybe even for CTS.
- 17:23SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure.
- 17:25SPEAKER_00: All right, so a couple more names on this list.
- 17:26SPEAKER_00: Miguel Arsenio, Portuguese runner for Calasfugo.
- 17:31SPEAKER_00: Best results this year have been a win at the Swiss Canyon's 100K,
- 17:35SPEAKER_00: second at Madeira Island Ultra Trail 115K.
- 17:38SPEAKER_00: This course could suit his strengths.
- 17:40SPEAKER_00: He races a lot.
- 17:41SPEAKER_00: Doesn't do as good at shorter races,
- 17:43SPEAKER_00: but he's kind of,
- 17:44SPEAKER_00: it seems like to him,
- 17:45SPEAKER_00: his sweet spot's right in like that 100 to 120K.
- 17:46SPEAKER_00: So 85K, a little bit shorter, but a little bit steeper.
- 17:51think he could do pretty well here i've picked him in the past
- 17:53and got murdered on
- 17:54fantasy free trail um so sometimes i kind of hold him off but i
- 17:58think he could have
- 17:58a good race here raul roos belgian runner for new balance
- 18:02really impressed with his
- 18:03third place at marathon to mont blanc this year but doesn't
- 18:05have any results in
- 18:05longer races so curious to see how it goes just someone i'm
- 18:08going to throw out
- 18:08SPEAKER_00: there
- 18:09SPEAKER_00: And then getting to that US team,
- 18:11SPEAKER_00: one of my all-time favorite runners,
- 18:13SPEAKER_00: Zach Miller,
- 18:14SPEAKER_00: the little engine that could basically,
- 18:17SPEAKER_00: you know,
- 18:17SPEAKER_00: Jim Walmsley's trying to make trying hard cool.
- 18:20SPEAKER_00: Zach Miller is like the epitome of trying hard.
- 18:21SPEAKER_00: Like that dude tries as hard as any race and he leaves it all out there.
- 18:24SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it really works out.
- 18:25SPEAKER_00: And sometimes he blows up spectacularly.
- 18:28SPEAKER_00: This year at Hard Rock,
- 18:29SPEAKER_00: he kind of blew up,
- 18:30SPEAKER_00: maybe not spectacularly,
- 18:31SPEAKER_00: but definitely didn't have the race that he wanted and got fifth place.
- 18:34SPEAKER_00: Doesn't race a ton and is really smart about racing.
- 18:36SPEAKER_00: And he's known he's had this US spot for a while.
- 18:39SPEAKER_00: So how does he bounce back from hard rock?
- 18:41SPEAKER_00: And does he deliver a top 10 again for USA?
- 18:43SPEAKER_00: He was sixth place last world.
- 18:46SPEAKER_00: So definitely excited to see Zach.
- 18:48SPEAKER_00: This is definitely his type of course too.
- 18:49SPEAKER_00: He likes this rugged type of stuff, so.
- 18:53Next runner we're going to talk about is Slovakia's very own
- 18:56Peter Frano.
- 18:57SPEAKER_00: I'm really bullish on this guy.
- 18:59SPEAKER_00: I really like his build coming in there, his kind of maturity.
- 19:03SPEAKER_00: He raced Western, but he didn't – he's only done one tune-up like –
- 19:08SPEAKER_00: Slovakian Sky Race that was less than two hours since Western.
- 19:11SPEAKER_00: So he's really taken his time recovering.
- 19:13He did get a top 10 at Western,
- 19:14so he can come back next year if he want to.
- 19:16And in my mind,
- 19:16he had a pretty big disadvantage coming over with a sponsor
- 19:20that's not a U.S.
- 19:21SPEAKER_00: company like Scarpa.
- 19:22SPEAKER_00: And then also,
- 19:23SPEAKER_00: I think he's on Precision Fuel and Hydration now,
- 19:25SPEAKER_00: but I don't know that he had them when he raced.
- 19:27And I feel like for him to get top 10 at Western with how few
- 19:31resources he had,
- 19:32it's definitely not equivalent to somebody that runs for Hoka
- 19:35getting a top 10.
- 19:36SPEAKER_00: It was pretty impressive.
- 19:39SPEAKER_00: On top of that, he was second at CCC last year.
- 19:40SPEAKER_00: He was also eighth at Worlds in 2022 and third in 2023.
- 19:45SPEAKER_00: And then last year, he was the European Trail Champs.
- 19:47SPEAKER_00: They didn't have a long and short.
- 19:48SPEAKER_00: They kind of had an in-between.
- 19:49SPEAKER_00: It was like a 58K, I want to say, with around 4,000 meters of vert.
- 19:53SPEAKER_00: And he got seventh at that.
- 19:55SPEAKER_00: And then he also,
- 19:58SPEAKER_00: this year,
- 19:59he started off the year with a win at Transvolcania and
- 20:02terrible apocalyptic
- 20:04SPEAKER_00: weather,
- 20:05SPEAKER_00: sideways rain,
- 20:06SPEAKER_00: basically hypothermia conditions.
- 20:07SPEAKER_00: And I think he was only wearing a T-shirt,
- 20:09SPEAKER_00: and he was blue by the end of it,
- 20:11SPEAKER_00: but somehow he still finished the race and won over...
- 20:14over,
- 20:15uh,
- 20:16Andreas writer,
- 20:17but yeah,
- 20:18so I think the crappier the weather is the tougher he gets.
- 20:21SPEAKER_00: And, uh, I think he's going to be definitely somewhere in that top 10.
- 20:24SPEAKER_00: He's a really, he's a really smart racer.
- 20:26SPEAKER_00: He's really consistent.
- 20:27SPEAKER_00: I think he's the same age as me,
- 20:28SPEAKER_00: like right around 29,
- 20:29SPEAKER_00: but he races much more mature than his age.
- 20:33SPEAKER_00: All right,
- 20:33SPEAKER_00: next here on the list,
- 20:34SPEAKER_00: somebody who's already put South America on the map,
- 20:38but also could put them on the world's map out here in the long
- 20:40trail course.
- 20:41SPEAKER_00: And that's going to be Joaquin Lopez.
- 20:43SPEAKER_00: Really impressive start to the year,
- 20:44winning a big course record at Mount Fuji 100 against some good
- 20:47competition.
- 20:48I think he's had worlds circled this whole year on his calendar
- 20:51and he's really prioritized it.
- 20:53SPEAKER_00: He got Keyless Fuga to sponsor the Ecuadorian team and he's really,
- 20:56SPEAKER_00: really trying to promote trail running in South America,
- 20:58which is really awesome because I think there's probably some
- 21:00really awesome races
- 21:01SPEAKER_00: to be had down there.
- 21:03SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I think he just really wants to rep Ecuador.
- 21:05So I think he's going to show up,
- 21:06you know,
- 21:07he's been targeting this race.
- 21:08SPEAKER_00: He didn't race at,
- 21:10SPEAKER_00: any of the UTMB races, I'm pretty sure.
- 21:12SPEAKER_00: Maybe he did OCC.
- 21:14But either way,
- 21:15I think he's been targeting this race,
- 21:17and it's been high on his list.
- 21:20SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he did do OCC, and he got... So...
- 21:27SPEAKER_00: That is Joaquin Lopez.
- 21:29SPEAKER_00: And then some other names worth mentioning, Raul Bacacci, Romanian.
- 21:33SPEAKER_00: He's one of a couple of guys on Romania,
- 21:35along with Bogdan Damian and Leonard Matrica that I think could
- 21:40get them a medal
- 21:41SPEAKER_00: potentially.
- 21:41SPEAKER_00: I think his course suits him pretty well.
- 21:44His best results this year were second at Lavarado,
- 21:46just behind Ben Damon's course record.
- 21:48SPEAKER_00: And I think he was right around Hannes' course record time.
- 21:50SPEAKER_00: And he was the third at Madeira Island Ultra Trail 115K,
- 21:53SPEAKER_00: along with a win at Trans Grand Canary Advance,
- 21:55SPEAKER_00: which isn't the full length.
- 21:57SPEAKER_00: It's a little bit less competitive.
- 22:01SPEAKER_00: I think he's very likely for a top 15.
- 22:02SPEAKER_00: I think he's going to help put Romania on the board.
- 22:06SPEAKER_00: Ramon Menech, he's a Swiss runner for Salomon.
- 22:10SPEAKER_00: He's got wins at the Cat 100K in Austria.
- 22:14SPEAKER_00: 5th at Marathon of Montblanc 90K and a 5th at Transvaulconia this year.
- 22:17SPEAKER_00: 7th at CCC last year and a consistently good racer.
- 22:21So I think he's really likely to finish top 15 and really
- 22:23likely to finish the race.
- 22:25SPEAKER_00: Definitely could be somebody who cracks the top 10
- 22:28And a couple other names worth mentioning,
- 22:29but I won't go too much into them.
- 22:31SPEAKER_00: Leonard Matrica, Bogdan Damian.
- 22:33SPEAKER_00: We've seen some good results on Golden Trail World Series.
- 22:35SPEAKER_00: He's a really good descender.
- 22:37SPEAKER_00: Luke Grenfell-Shaw from the UK.
- 22:40SPEAKER_00: He's got some good 100K results,
- 22:41SPEAKER_00: some top tens at,
- 22:42SPEAKER_00: I want to say,
- 22:43SPEAKER_00: CCC and some other competitive races.
- 22:45SPEAKER_00: Abel Caratero from Spain.
- 22:47SPEAKER_00: He's familiar with this course.
- 22:49SPEAKER_00: Tyler Green from the USA.
- 22:51SPEAKER_00: And then Hugh Chatfield.
- 22:53SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
- 22:55SPEAKER_00: And then other guys worth mentioning.
- 22:56So from the U S team,
- 22:59we have got as well on the long trail team,
- 23:02I'm leaving out.
- 23:04SPEAKER_00: So we said Tyler green.
- 23:05SPEAKER_00: And then last one is tracing up Alaskan mountain runner.
- 23:08SPEAKER_00: Definitely think he could do well on this course.
- 23:12SPEAKER_00: It suits his kind of technical abilities.
- 23:15SPEAKER_00: But I think it is his world's debut.
- 23:18SPEAKER_00: I know his partner made the team last time,
- 23:20SPEAKER_00: Claire Rhodes,
- 23:20SPEAKER_00: who we'll talk about here in a second,
- 23:22SPEAKER_00: but I don't think he did.
- 23:22SPEAKER_00: So it's going to be his world's debut.
- 23:24SPEAKER_00: So that'll be exciting.
- 23:25SPEAKER_00: All right.
- 23:26SPEAKER_00: So that is the men's side.
- 23:29SPEAKER_00: And if I'm going to wrap up the men's, let's also go with country medals.
- 23:33SPEAKER_00: And also I'll go with my tentative top 10.
- 23:36SPEAKER_00: So first and foremost, we're going to go country medals.
- 23:38SPEAKER_00: And I'm pretty bullish.
- 23:40SPEAKER_00: I try to be pretty neutral.
- 23:42SPEAKER_00: If you listen to my podcast on the steep stuff with James,
- 23:44SPEAKER_00: I try to not,
- 23:45SPEAKER_00: you know,
- 23:46SPEAKER_00: I'm rooting for the USA.
- 23:47SPEAKER_00: I want them to win more than anyone.
- 23:49SPEAKER_00: Um, but I try to be kind of like objective as possible with these picks.
- 23:53SPEAKER_00: I would very legitimately though,
- 23:54SPEAKER_00: think that the U S uh,
- 23:56SPEAKER_00: men's trail team for the long team is the team to be,
- 23:59SPEAKER_00: and I've got them,
- 24:00SPEAKER_00: uh,
- 24:00SPEAKER_00: for gold.
- 24:01SPEAKER_00: I've got France in a close second.
- 24:03SPEAKER_00: I think France very well could take the gold as well.
- 24:06SPEAKER_00: Um,
- 24:06SPEAKER_00: and what scores to on the U S side,
- 24:08SPEAKER_00: Jim and Caleb,
- 24:09SPEAKER_00: I think are for sure going to be our top two scores.
- 24:11SPEAKER_00: And then for third, I'm kind of between Adam Peterman or Zach Miller.
- 24:15SPEAKER_00: And I think I'm leaning a little bit more towards Adam Peterman.
- 24:17SPEAKER_00: Um,
- 24:18SPEAKER_00: for being our top three scorers.
- 24:20SPEAKER_00: On the French men's side,
- 24:21SPEAKER_00: they've got four really good potential scorers in Benjamin,
- 24:24SPEAKER_00: Vincent,
- 24:25SPEAKER_00: Louisan,
- 24:25SPEAKER_00: and Baptiste.
- 24:26SPEAKER_00: Like I said,
- 24:27I think Benjamin Rubal is definitely going to be a scorer and
- 24:30probably even a
- 24:31SPEAKER_00: medalist.
- 24:32Vincent's kind of my wild card where I'm not sure,
- 24:34but I think he's going to race well.
- 24:36SPEAKER_00: And then Louisanne or Baptiste.
- 24:40Baptiste was the third scorer last time in the World Champs,
- 24:42and he's only improved since then.
- 24:44SPEAKER_00: And Louisanne,
- 24:44kind of not as well known to us Westerners as for sure Vincent
- 24:48or maybe even
- 24:48SPEAKER_00: Baptiste and Benjamin.
- 24:50But I think he could very well be a scorer and could go top 10
- 24:53in this race as well.
- 24:55For the bronze team medal,
- 24:57I have Italy with Francesco,
- 24:59Christian Minogio,
- 25:00and Andreas.
- 25:01And then kind of an honorary fourth place or somebody who I
- 25:04think very well could
- 25:05take the bronze because I don't feel like Italy has a lot of
- 25:07room for error if
- 25:09SPEAKER_00: Francesco or Christian or Andreas don't have a good day,
- 25:12SPEAKER_00: especially since all of them,
- 25:13SPEAKER_00: Francesco and Andreas,
- 25:14SPEAKER_00: are doubling back from CCC.
- 25:15SPEAKER_00: Christian's coming back from OCC.
- 25:17SPEAKER_00: Fourth, Romania.
- 25:18SPEAKER_00: Like I said, Raul Batacci, Leonard Matrica, and Bogdan Damian.
- 25:22SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of where I'm thinking there.
- 25:25SPEAKER_00: And then now I'm going to talk about my men's top 10 picks.
- 25:28SPEAKER_00: These are definitely subject to change.
- 25:29SPEAKER_00: I've still got two days and one hour and 51 minutes to change them.
- 25:34SPEAKER_00: But that's the caveat I always give you guys when I'm making these picks.
- 25:37SPEAKER_00: I'll probably fiddle with some stuff.
- 25:39SPEAKER_00: But tentatively, here is my top 10 right now.
- 25:41SPEAKER_00: And I'll give you all 10.
- 25:42SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to go 10 through 1.
- 25:43SPEAKER_00: So I'll go 10th place, Joaquin Lopez.
- 25:46SPEAKER_00: I think he's really primed for this race.
- 25:48SPEAKER_00: And I think he's really excited.
- 25:49SPEAKER_00: I think he could finish higher.
- 25:50SPEAKER_00: But I'm just not as confident, I guess.
- 25:54SPEAKER_00: Ninth place, I'm going to go Adam Peterman.
- 25:56SPEAKER_00: He's one of three males I've got in the U.S.
- 25:57SPEAKER_00: top 10, just like we had three in the top 10 last time.
- 26:00SPEAKER_00: Eighth place, I've got Vincent Bouillard.
- 26:03SPEAKER_00: Seventh place, Andrzej Witek from Poland.
- 26:06SPEAKER_00: Feeling pretty bullish on him.
- 26:07SPEAKER_00: I really liked his OCC performance,
- 26:09and I even had him as high as like fourth or fifth before I
- 26:11fiddled around.
- 26:11SPEAKER_00: I think he's going to have a good day out here.
- 26:14SPEAKER_00: Sixth place, the always wise and always smart racing Peter Frano.
- 26:19SPEAKER_00: I could definitely see him meddling again as well,
- 26:21SPEAKER_00: and I think he's a pretty safe,
- 26:22SPEAKER_00: pretty reliable pick to be up here.
- 26:25SPEAKER_00: Fifth place, Petter Engdahl.
- 26:27SPEAKER_00: Like I said,
- 26:28SPEAKER_00: I think we've got some prime Petter,
- 26:29SPEAKER_00: and I think he even has the chops to meddle in this guy,
- 26:33SPEAKER_00: but right now I've got him in fifth place.
- 26:36SPEAKER_00: Fourth place, I got Christian Minogio.
- 26:38SPEAKER_00: So I got him doubling back from that OCC performance.
- 26:40SPEAKER_00: I think this course suits him more than OCC does.
- 26:43SPEAKER_00: And the more climbing and ascending, the better off he is.
- 26:46SPEAKER_00: Third place, I've got Caleb Olson with the bronze medal.
- 26:51SPEAKER_00: I like that he has really chilled since Western,
- 26:53SPEAKER_00: learned from trying to double back too early last year.
- 26:55And I think coach or no coach,
- 26:57I think he has learned a lot this past year.
- 26:59SPEAKER_00: And I think he is a very formidable competitor.
- 27:02SPEAKER_00: Second place, I got Benjamin Rubal.
- 27:04from france he peaks at the right time he's really going to
- 27:07prioritize that this
- 27:08french team is going to be coming out guns blazing and i think
- 27:11he's going to repeat
- 27:12he just seems to do really well at this kind of stuff but with
- 27:14that being said i
- 27:15don't think he's better than the goat which would be mr jim
- 27:17walmsley so i got jim
- 27:18going for gold um and other names i left out you'll notice
- 27:23absent francesco poopy
- 27:24SPEAKER_00: like i said i
- 27:25SPEAKER_00: If he races, he's probably going to medal.
- 27:27SPEAKER_00: If he finishes, he's probably going to medal.
- 27:28SPEAKER_00: But my big question mark is CCC and the likes too much.
- 27:31SPEAKER_00: Same question with Andreas Reiter, CCC and the likes too much.
- 27:35SPEAKER_00: Louis-Ome Quiffet, I could definitely sub in to the top 10 somewhere.
- 27:40SPEAKER_00: And then same thing with guys like...
- 27:44Baptiste Chassain,
- 27:45Raul Butachi,
- 27:46probably even Zach Miller as well,
- 27:50or Ramon Minich.
- 27:51SPEAKER_00: So I think those are all strong picks if you're looking to make a case.
- 27:55SPEAKER_00: And that is my men's side.
- 27:57SPEAKER_00: So now we're going to get over to the women's side.
- 28:00SPEAKER_00: And I talked about the storyline some.
- 28:03SPEAKER_00: No Katerina Hartmuth.
- 28:05SPEAKER_00: Does Jen Lector.
- 28:06I talked a lot about Jen Lector,
- 28:07which is really a bummer that Jen scratched.
- 28:09SPEAKER_00: But I hope she's recovering okay.
- 28:10SPEAKER_00: I hope she's doing well.
- 28:12SPEAKER_00: Um,
- 28:13SPEAKER_00: and just kind of going through this list of names we've got,
- 28:15SPEAKER_00: and actually let's look to,
- 28:17SPEAKER_00: uh,
- 28:17SPEAKER_00: if I'm looking at the 2023 results on the long trail side,
- 28:23SPEAKER_00: gold team medals or for team medals,
- 28:26SPEAKER_00: France was gold.
- 28:27SPEAKER_00: United States was silver and Italy was bronze on the women's side.
- 28:30SPEAKER_00: France was also gold.
- 28:32SPEAKER_00: Germany was silver and Italy was bronze.
- 28:35SPEAKER_00: Um,
- 28:36SPEAKER_00: so we're going to talk about that a little bit,
- 28:37SPEAKER_00: but on the women's side,
- 28:40SPEAKER_00: first name on the list,
- 28:41SPEAKER_00: Katie Scheidt.
- 28:42SPEAKER_00: She's the GOAT.
- 28:43SPEAKER_00: I don't really know what else to say about her.
- 28:44SPEAKER_00: I think she hands down has to be the favorite.
- 28:46SPEAKER_00: She's on a tear.
- 28:47She's ascended to Courtney level where basically any race she's
- 28:50in,
- 28:50you expect her to win.
- 28:52SPEAKER_00: And then even races you don't expect her to win,
- 28:53SPEAKER_00: she finds a way to surprise you,
- 28:54SPEAKER_00: like with a second place,
- 28:56SPEAKER_00: upgraded to second place at Sierra's on all now.
- 28:58SPEAKER_00: So it's her race to lose.
- 29:00SPEAKER_00: She is the favorite.
- 29:02You know,
- 29:02basically until somebody beats her,
- 29:03I'm going to keep taking her.
- 29:05SPEAKER_00: Next one on the list is Rosa Larifilu.
- 29:08SPEAKER_00: She's more of a sub-ultra and trail marathon specialist.
- 29:11SPEAKER_00: She always goes top 10 in Sky Running World Series races,
- 29:15SPEAKER_00: a lot of Golden Trail Series races,
- 29:18SPEAKER_00: and just a lot of the most competitive marathon distance races.
- 29:20So she's coming off a top 10 at OCC,
- 29:24and I want to say she's like 6th or 7th.
- 29:26uh and lots of good top tens and competitive sub ultra races
- 29:28this year including
- 29:30marathon of mont blanc i think she was top five sky running
- 29:33world series races and
- 29:34other golden trail series races she did race in 2023 worlds in
- 29:38the long trail she
- 29:39got 11th place so she'll be looking to improve i think she
- 29:43could do well here i see
- 29:44her as more of a sub ultra specialist but uh she definitely has
- 29:49the speed to do
- 29:50SPEAKER_00: well
- 29:51SPEAKER_00: against a lot of these ladies,
- 29:53SPEAKER_00: and I'm not too nervous about her coming off OCC,
- 29:55SPEAKER_00: because I feel like that is a good tune-up.
- 29:59SPEAKER_00: Next one on the list I'm pretty bullish on, and that is Ida Nielsen.
- 30:02SPEAKER_00: I think she's fresh and primed.
- 30:03SPEAKER_00: I think she's going to do super well here.
- 30:05SPEAKER_00: Her last big race,
- 30:06SPEAKER_00: per se,
- 30:06SPEAKER_00: was a killer fourth place at Western States,
- 30:09SPEAKER_00: in which I think she was as high as second place,
- 30:11SPEAKER_00: and then just kind of had a gutsy back half of the race.
- 30:14Didn't blow up or anything,
- 30:15but other ladies just raced smart and kind of made moves late.
- 30:18Since then,
- 30:18she's run some other local races in Sweden,
- 30:20but nothing too much to sow.
- 30:22SPEAKER_00: So I think she's going to be pretty tuned and ready to go.
- 30:25SPEAKER_00: And I'm feeling pretty bullish on Ida.
- 30:27SPEAKER_00: Next one on the list is going to be Sylvia Nordskar.
- 30:30SPEAKER_00: This is another one of those people coming off a CCC,
- 30:32SPEAKER_00: amazing performance,
- 30:33SPEAKER_00: second place,
- 30:34SPEAKER_00: barely about 20 seconds,
- 30:35SPEAKER_00: epic race with Martina Milarnczyk,
- 30:38SPEAKER_00: who's racing the classic distance,
- 30:40SPEAKER_00: I want to say.
- 30:42SPEAKER_00: But my only big question is, is this too much racing too close?
- 30:47SPEAKER_00: I think that she could do extremely well here,
- 30:49SPEAKER_00: but I could also see there's being too much fatigue in her legs.
- 30:53SPEAKER_00: Not everyone can pull off that double, and I'll be impressed if
- 30:56SPEAKER_00: Really,
- 30:56SPEAKER_00: if anyone does,
- 30:57SPEAKER_00: or especially if Francesca Pupi can win back-to-back,
- 31:01SPEAKER_00: I don't see how he doesn't win trail run of the year.
- 31:03SPEAKER_00: But I also don't see many people doing that.
- 31:08SPEAKER_00: Next runner is Italian Fabiola Conti.
- 31:12SPEAKER_00: She has a win at a very vertical and,
- 31:14SPEAKER_00: I imagine,
- 31:14SPEAKER_00: very technical Monterrosa-Walserweg,
- 31:18SPEAKER_00: which was 122 kilometers with 8,200 meters of vert.
- 31:19SPEAKER_00: Holy steep.
- 31:23SPEAKER_00: She was also a top five at the Marathon of Mont Blanc this year,
- 31:26SPEAKER_00: and I think third at Mont Zerbion.
- 31:29SPEAKER_00: So she's looking pretty good shape,
- 31:31SPEAKER_00: looking to improve on her 18th place from the long trail worlds in 2023.
- 31:36SPEAKER_00: She could definitely be somebody to watch out for.
- 31:37I was kind of thinking that I couldn't remember much of what
- 31:40she did this year.
- 31:40And then when I saw that top five at Marathon of Mont Blanc and
- 31:43third at Mont
- 31:43SPEAKER_00: Zerbion,
- 31:44SPEAKER_00: along with that Valser regress,
- 31:46SPEAKER_00: which is like super vertical,
- 31:47SPEAKER_00: I'm like,
- 31:47SPEAKER_00: well,
- 31:48SPEAKER_00: she's got the speed.
- 31:48SPEAKER_00: She also can grind out in long races.
- 31:51SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I could see her doing pretty well.
- 31:55SPEAKER_00: Next on the list is from Hungary.
- 31:58Hoka athlete Esther Chilag,
- 32:00badass Hungarian runner from Hoka,
- 32:02lives in Hong Kong.
- 32:03SPEAKER_00: I think she's like an art historian or something like that.
- 32:06SPEAKER_00: She unfortunately had a DNF at Western States this year.
- 32:10And I think she also finished a race in Australia and set a
- 32:13course record,
- 32:14SPEAKER_00: the Buffalo something,
- 32:15SPEAKER_00: something Buffalo.
- 32:16SPEAKER_00: I think she'll be hungry to get redemption from Western states.
- 32:21SPEAKER_00: And I definitely think she's somebody to look out for.
- 32:24SPEAKER_00: TBD on technicality of the course,
- 32:27that might be the only thing that's making me a little bit
- 32:29nervous when it comes to
- 32:33SPEAKER_00: how she performs here.
- 32:37SPEAKER_00: All right.
- 32:37SPEAKER_00: And then next up on the list is Sunmaya Buddha from Nepal.
- 32:41SPEAKER_00: We haven't seen her race as much this year.
- 32:43SPEAKER_00: Early in the year, she got a second place at Hong Kong, 100K.
- 32:46SPEAKER_00: Really good showing.
- 32:47SPEAKER_00: That was like February.
- 32:48SPEAKER_00: She also got a win at the Chengdu 60K and the Mount Yun 30K in China.
- 32:54SPEAKER_00: But her last race on our UTMB index was April.
- 32:57SPEAKER_00: So I don't know what's been going on since then.
- 32:59We saw her go third place at Transvalkanya early last year in
- 33:02what was like a really deep field.
- 33:04And she also had a DNF at Worlds in 2023 and a 10th at the Long
- 33:07Trail in 2022.
- 33:07SPEAKER_00: Definitely could be a sleeper pick.
- 33:10Definitely could be somebody looking to recover or basically
- 33:14get redemption from
- 33:15SPEAKER_00: her 2023 Worlds DNF and make her country proud.
- 33:20SPEAKER_00: Next on the list was Jen Lichter.
- 33:23SPEAKER_00: who I was very excited to see.
- 33:24SPEAKER_00: I thought the US,
- 33:26SPEAKER_00: I very,
- 33:27SPEAKER_00: in the same way that I predict,
- 33:29SPEAKER_00: you know,
- 33:30SPEAKER_00: Jim and Caleb both getting medals,
- 33:32I really legitimately thought that there's a very strong chance
- 33:35that both Katie and
- 33:36SPEAKER_00: Jim Lector would get individual medals.
- 33:39SPEAKER_00: And then that would pretty much help our US team get a pretty easy gold.
- 33:44SPEAKER_00: I'm really bummed she's not racing, but I really hope everything's okay.
- 33:46SPEAKER_00: And I hope it doesn't set her back too much.
- 33:49SPEAKER_00: Next on the list is Jasmine Louther.
- 33:52A Canadian coming off the top 10 at OCC,
- 33:55and I think she was in 10th or 9th.
- 33:58SPEAKER_00: We've seen her win Ultra Trail Cape Town last year,
- 34:00which people say is really technical in certain parts in a
- 34:02weird type of way.
- 34:03SPEAKER_00: I think it's a lot different than this, but I could be wrong.
- 34:06SPEAKER_00: And we also saw her go fourth at Spigot this year,
- 34:10SPEAKER_00: but it was in the same time that she won the race last year.
- 34:12SPEAKER_00: So that's just how fast all the ladies in the field were.
- 34:14SPEAKER_00: I think this course suits her strengths well.
- 34:16SPEAKER_00: I think she's a strong pick for top 10.
- 34:19And I think she's probably coming in pretty well and fresh from
- 34:23an OCC tune-up.
- 34:25SPEAKER_00: Next person also used an OCC tune-up.
- 34:27SPEAKER_00: That's going to be German athlete Rosanna Buchauer.
- 34:30SPEAKER_00: Dina Fit athlete.
- 34:31SPEAKER_00: She was 11th place, I want to say, in OCC.
- 34:34SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she was 11th place.
- 34:35SPEAKER_00: She did a race in 2023 Worlds and got 5th,
- 34:38and she helped Germany get that silver team medal along with
- 34:41Katarina Hartmuth and
- 34:42SPEAKER_00: Sophia Hegman.
- 34:46SPEAKER_00: So far this year, she got that 11th at OCC and Dina Fit at Western.
- 34:51I think this course suits her strengths and she's one of those
- 34:53people that really
- 34:53SPEAKER_00: likes to come out super slow,
- 34:55SPEAKER_00: super conservative and race from behind.
- 34:58And there's a lot of big,
- 35:00there's that big descent that I talked about at the end,
- 35:02big climb.
- 35:02I see her kind of being way,
- 35:04way back in the beginning and then just moving up.
- 35:06SPEAKER_00: We saw her do that CCC last year.
- 35:08SPEAKER_00: It got her all the way up to third place and got her a golden ticket.
- 35:11SPEAKER_00: And I think she was like 35th female or 30th female in the first climb.
- 35:16SPEAKER_00: So expect her not to look super great in the standings early on.
- 35:18SPEAKER_00: I expect her to make a lot of her moves in the back half.
- 35:21SPEAKER_00: She's really good at grinding.
- 35:22SPEAKER_00: She uses poles.
- 35:23SPEAKER_00: She's good at that technical type stuff.
- 35:27SPEAKER_00: Next on the list is Allison Bacca from the States.
- 35:31She is coming off of a six in,
- 35:35excuse me,
- 35:35she had a six in the 2023 world.
- 35:38SPEAKER_00: So she'd be looking to be a top scorer for the U.S.
- 35:40SPEAKER_00: again.
- 35:41SPEAKER_00: She was up there with Emily Schmitz in six and seven.
- 35:44SPEAKER_00: And...
- 35:46SPEAKER_00: So far this year, she's got a win and a course record.
- 35:48SPEAKER_00: Very speedy.
- 35:49SPEAKER_00: Deserets, 50K.
- 35:50SPEAKER_00: The DNF at the Valderan, 32K.
- 35:54SPEAKER_00: And then she raced CCC to 10th place.
- 35:56That's going to be my big question with her that has me a
- 35:58little bit hesitant is,
- 36:00SPEAKER_00: is CCC too much in her legs?
- 36:03SPEAKER_00: I'm optimistic because of her previous results at Worlds.
- 36:08SPEAKER_00: But I'm also like, it's kind of a lot to double back.
- 36:12SPEAKER_00: And I kind of think some other people might do it a little bit better.
- 36:15than her so um that's my big question there is how are her legs
- 36:23doing post worlds
- 36:25um or excuse me post ccc so that's awesome back because she's a
- 36:29hoka trail athlete
- 36:30and then next on this is another hoka trail athlete also from
- 36:33the u.s but not
- 36:34racing for she's not originally from the u.s she's from germany
- 36:37but she lives in
- 36:38the u.s now and that is lottie brinks who's racing under
- 36:40charlotta brinks uh and
- 36:44She is Boise homie,
- 36:46super awesome human being,
- 36:48very generous,
- 36:49very kind,
- 36:50very giving.
- 36:51SPEAKER_00: She has an awesome dog who's adorable.
- 36:54SPEAKER_00: And yeah, and I'll just be rooting for her.
- 36:56I'm definitely biased because she's a super awesome human being
- 36:59who's super
- 36:59SPEAKER_00: involved in the Boise trail community.
- 37:01SPEAKER_00: And every time I see her, she's got a smile on her face.
- 37:04SPEAKER_00: So she's coming off a six at CCC, but that doesn't do her justice.
- 37:07She took over an hour off her time,
- 37:09I think like hour 15 from last year's time.
- 37:12SPEAKER_00: Only big question there is,
- 37:13SPEAKER_00: you know,
- 37:13is this too close or does she repeat a stellar performance and
- 37:16pick up the slack of
- 37:18SPEAKER_00: not having Katarina racing this year for the German team?
- 37:21SPEAKER_00: And I think it's probably the latter.
- 37:22SPEAKER_00: I think she,
- 37:24SPEAKER_00: well,
- 37:24SPEAKER_00: there's a growth positive things,
- 37:25SPEAKER_00: but I think she can have a good day out here and she'll do well.
- 37:29So other athletes to watch Katarina Dombraska,
- 37:33Polish athlete,
- 37:34has a top 10 at
- 37:37SPEAKER_00: UTMB from two years ago,
- 37:38SPEAKER_00: and I think she just DNFed UTMB as well,
- 37:40SPEAKER_00: but I could work in her favor.
- 37:43more names on the list two french women coming up back to back
- 37:46actually three
- 37:46french women in a way marion de la spier or de la spier she's
- 37:51returning 2023 long
- 37:52trail gold medalist over multiple racers here we haven't seen
- 37:56her race as much
- 37:57recently uh but she has good results you'll see it seems to me
- 38:01like you see a lot
- 38:02of people kind of in her and benjamin rubal camp who really
- 38:06just come out and race
- 38:07SPEAKER_00: really well for these team races um
- 38:10and so she also did race in 2022 worlds in the long trail and
- 38:15she got seventh place
- 38:17uh so she does well racing under the french team jersey so far
- 38:22this year a lot of
- 38:23racing in france and ones that i've never even heard of uh only
- 38:27one i see that's
- 38:28out there is lavarado ultra trail 80k she got third place and
- 38:32she was behind anna
- 38:34SPEAKER_00: tarasova and engville so uh
- 38:40Let's see how far she was behind Anna Saraso by about 20
- 38:43minutes in a nine-hour race.
- 38:45SPEAKER_00: And Anna Saraso has had an awesome year so far this year.
- 38:48SPEAKER_00: Tough to say,
- 38:50SPEAKER_00: tough to say,
- 38:51SPEAKER_00: but I think that she'll probably be in pretty good shape for this race.
- 38:57SPEAKER_00: Next on the French list is going to be Anne-Louise Rousset.
- 39:03uh first came across my radar when she got second place to
- 39:06courtney at hard rock
- 39:07the year of the courtney slam she dnf the french long trail
- 39:09championship this year
- 39:10SPEAKER_00: after leading for most of it and uh hillary jrardy went on to win she won
- 39:15transvolkania this year uh second at madeira island ultra trail
- 39:18last year and she
- 39:19has world's experience uh the iron for article says that this
- 39:23is her last year as a
- 39:24professional runner so expect her to go out with a bang and
- 39:28while i say that too uh
- 39:30SPEAKER_00: Caveat,
- 39:31there's two really good I run for articles that I'm going to
- 39:33link in this Substack
- 39:34SPEAKER_00: post.
- 39:35SPEAKER_00: And it's two of their long trail previews.
- 39:38SPEAKER_00: And some of the stuff that I'm mentioning comes from there.
- 39:40SPEAKER_00: And I also use that just to look and see if I was missing any names.
- 39:43SPEAKER_00: So I'd highly recommend checking that out.
- 39:47SPEAKER_00: Megan Hicks posted one.
- 39:49SPEAKER_00: And the other one, I think, was Esther or Ani.
- 39:53SPEAKER_00: So check those out.
- 39:54I'll link them in the Substack post or the show notes,
- 39:59whatever you want to call it.
- 40:01SPEAKER_00: so that you guys can check that out if you would like to.
- 40:02SPEAKER_00: A couple more names.
- 40:05SPEAKER_00: So I mentioned another French one.
- 40:07SPEAKER_00: So this is another racer who is from the US, but is racing for France.
- 40:10They recently just got their French citizenship after living
- 40:14there,
- 40:14I think,
- 40:1412 years.
- 40:15SPEAKER_00: Hilary Girardi.
- 40:15SPEAKER_00: She is a former Mont Blanc FKT holder until just this year.
- 40:20She's one of my favorite mountain athletes for both Scarpa and
- 40:23Black Diamond.
- 40:24She just did a podcast on the Single Track Pod with Finn
- 40:26Melanson and talked about
- 40:27SPEAKER_00: her life abroad.
- 40:29SPEAKER_00: She's one of those athletes who's really just kind of an artist.
- 40:31SPEAKER_00: She does really thoughtful projects and is a really good storyteller.
- 40:34SPEAKER_00: And I just admire her a lot.
- 40:35SPEAKER_00: So I'll definitely be rooting for her.
- 40:37SPEAKER_00: I think it's cool that she's racing for France.
- 40:39SPEAKER_00: She did win the French long trail championship too.
- 40:42SPEAKER_00: So well-deserved.
- 40:43SPEAKER_00: She's super good at technical and longer races.
- 40:46SPEAKER_00: Races a lot of the Skyrunning World Series events,
- 40:48SPEAKER_00: but more of the longer ones that aren't just up and down,
- 40:50but that have a lot of climbing and ascending and are more like
- 40:52marathons or 50Ks.
- 40:54SPEAKER_00: We saw her last year win Trophy Akima for her second time.
- 40:57And she's also won other technical races like Ho Koenig and
- 41:00Montblanc 90K.
- 41:01SPEAKER_00: I think she's a really strong pick for the top 10.
- 41:02SPEAKER_00: I don't see her racing outside of the top 10.
- 41:04SPEAKER_00: I also don't see her going out too hard and not finishing.
- 41:07She races very well within herself and finishes pretty much
- 41:09every race she runs.
- 41:10SPEAKER_00: So I'm feeling pretty bullish on Hilary Girardi.
- 41:14SPEAKER_00: And then...
- 41:15SPEAKER_00: Next name, U.S.
- 41:16SPEAKER_00: runner Claire Rhodes.
- 41:17SPEAKER_00: I think she's probably the USA's third point scorer.
- 41:20SPEAKER_00: I was going to say behind Jen Lichter.
- 41:23SPEAKER_00: But now that might even make her the second point scorer.
- 41:27SPEAKER_00: In my opinion, she's Alaskan runner for the North Face.
- 41:29She's racing as well as her partner Tracen Knopp,
- 41:32who we talked about a little bit earlier.
- 41:33She's great on technical courses as proven by her course record
- 41:36at run the rut last year.
- 41:37SPEAKER_00: I think she was about 15 minutes below Jen Richter's course record,
- 41:42SPEAKER_00: which to be fair,
- 41:43SPEAKER_00: Jen Richter had never really been pushed at the rut.
- 41:44SPEAKER_00: She's never had a close race there.
- 41:47SPEAKER_00: but still very impressive.
- 41:50SPEAKER_00: Claire raced Worlds in 2023 to a 21st place in the short trail.
- 41:54SPEAKER_00: So I'm sure she's looking to improve on that placing.
- 41:56My only hesitation is she doesn't have a ton of international
- 41:59racing experience.
- 42:00SPEAKER_00: She had a DNF at OCC last year and a fourth place at Agra 51K this year,
- 42:05SPEAKER_00: which I know she was disappointed with.
- 42:06SPEAKER_00: So she'll definitely be looking to improve on that.
- 42:09And then a few other names worth mentioning,
- 42:10Martina Valmassoi from Italy.
- 42:13SPEAKER_00: She is a returning...
- 42:16SPEAKER_00: Let me double check.
- 42:17SPEAKER_00: I think she meddled last time.
- 42:19SPEAKER_00: But before I say that, she was just off the medal.
- 42:22SPEAKER_00: So she got fourth place.
- 42:25SPEAKER_00: So she's a returning fourth place runner from 2023 Chiang Mai.
- 42:28SPEAKER_00: Kind of had a bit of an up and down year.
- 42:32SPEAKER_00: But she'll be looking to represent Italy.
- 42:34SPEAKER_00: A couple other names worth mentioning.
- 42:36SPEAKER_00: Gemma Rinas for the U.S.
- 42:38SPEAKER_00: Shea Aquilano.
- 42:40SPEAKER_00: And then also for the US, Emily Schmitz.
- 42:44SPEAKER_00: For Germany, Ida-Sophie Hegman and Eva Maria Sperger.
- 42:52SPEAKER_00: Katarina Wilk, former top 10 at CCC for Poland.
- 42:56SPEAKER_00: And then I think that's about everyone that I wanted to mention.
- 43:00SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, so when I'm looking at these women's team,
- 43:08SPEAKER_00: I'll probably have to do a swap route.
- 43:10SPEAKER_00: I had the U.S.
- 43:11SPEAKER_00: in for, we're talking about country medals for team medals.
- 43:16SPEAKER_00: I had the U.S.
- 43:16SPEAKER_00: as a pretty strong lock for gold with Katie and Jen,
- 43:21SPEAKER_00: Katie Shai,
- 43:21SPEAKER_00: Jen Lector,
- 43:22SPEAKER_00: and either Claire or Alison Bacca getting points.
- 43:25And now I'm thinking that I might be leaning a little bit more
- 43:28towards France for
- 43:29the gold between Marion de la Spierre and Louise Rousset and
- 43:33Hilary Chirardi.
- 43:35SPEAKER_00: It's tough to say because I'm,
- 43:37SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
- 43:38SPEAKER_00: I'm still want the U S I think I might hold out in the U S and say,
- 43:42SPEAKER_00: Katie,
- 43:43SPEAKER_00: Claire and Alison backup.
- 43:44SPEAKER_00: But then my picks are going to kind of contradict that.
- 43:45SPEAKER_00: Cause right now I think I've got three French women in the top 10.
- 43:50SPEAKER_00: No, I've only got two.
- 43:51SPEAKER_00: So, um, Oh no, I'm looking at my men's picks.
- 43:54SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
- 43:55SPEAKER_00: Let me look at my women's picks.
- 43:56SPEAKER_00: I've got one, two, three French women.
- 43:59SPEAKER_00: So yeah, TBD on that one.
- 44:02My heart says USA,
- 44:03but my head is leaning towards France if Jen is not racing.
- 44:06So either way,
- 44:07I think those are going to be the top two teams,
- 44:09silver and gold.
- 44:10Third place,
- 44:10I think,
- 44:10is a strong bet that we get Lottie,
- 44:13that we get Germany.
- 44:14SPEAKER_00: So Lottie brings Rosanna Bukar,
- 44:16SPEAKER_00: and then we could also have Ava Marius Berger or Ida-Sophie Hegemann.
- 44:20SPEAKER_00: getting the point score.
- 44:21So they kind of got a little bit room for error if one of them
- 44:23doesn't have a good
- 44:24SPEAKER_00: day,
- 44:25SPEAKER_00: like Lottie bouncing back from CCC or Rosanna from OCC.
- 44:30SPEAKER_00: That is my team medals picks.
- 44:34SPEAKER_00: And then when we're looking at the top 10,
- 44:36if I'm going to have to go for a top 10 on the women's side of
- 44:38the long trail,
- 44:39SPEAKER_00: we're going to go 10 through one again.
- 44:41I'll go 10th place,
- 44:42Rosa,
- 44:43Maria,
- 44:43Laura,
- 44:44improving one spot on her 11th place.
- 44:45SPEAKER_00: I think she'll be anywhere from 7th to 10th in my mind.
- 44:48SPEAKER_00: She's more of a short trail specialist,
- 44:50but given her experience of the previous worlds and wanting to
- 44:53race longer,
- 44:54SPEAKER_00: I think she'll still have a good race out here.
- 44:56SPEAKER_00: And I think her OCC was a good tune-up.
- 44:59SPEAKER_00: Ninth place, I've got Charlotte Brinks, aka Lottie Brinks.
- 45:03SPEAKER_00: I think CCC will still be in her legs to some extent,
- 45:06SPEAKER_00: so I have a little bit of hesitation for that.
- 45:07SPEAKER_00: And I was kind of on the fence for picking her.
- 45:11SPEAKER_00: My heart says yes,
- 45:12SPEAKER_00: but my head says pick somebody who hasn't raced as recently,
- 45:15SPEAKER_00: like Fabiola Conti or maybe even Jasmine Louther.
- 45:18SPEAKER_00: But right now,
- 45:19SPEAKER_00: My heart is winning.
- 45:21SPEAKER_00: So Lottie Brinks in ninth, eighth place.
- 45:24SPEAKER_00: In seventh place, I got two French athletes.
- 45:26SPEAKER_00: I've got Anne-Louise Rousset.
- 45:28SPEAKER_00: She's raced Worlds.
- 45:29SPEAKER_00: She's a long trail crusher.
- 45:31SPEAKER_00: This is supposed to be her last year as a pro racer.
- 45:32SPEAKER_00: So I think she'll try to go out with a bang.
- 45:34And these French racers really kind of get it right because
- 45:37they really prioritize it.
- 45:38Seventh place,
- 45:39I've got the women's long trail champion from France,
- 45:42Hilary Girardi,
- 45:43U.S.
- 45:43SPEAKER_00: athlete.
- 45:44SPEAKER_00: Just recently got French citizenship as well.
- 45:47SPEAKER_00: Sixth place, I've got Sylvia Nordskar.
- 45:49SPEAKER_00: That's my big question mark, too, is CCC.
- 45:51SPEAKER_00: She just had a killer performance.
- 45:53SPEAKER_00: Am I expecting too much of her?
- 45:55SPEAKER_00: I think she really has the possibility to medal here, but I just don't.
- 45:58SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
- 45:59SPEAKER_00: I'm just really hesitant with that CCC double.
- 46:02So it's possible that I drop her out as well just because I'm
- 46:06nervous with people
- 46:07SPEAKER_00: that have run CCC.
- 46:09SPEAKER_00: Fifth place,
- 46:10SPEAKER_00: I got Rosanna Buchauer,
- 46:11SPEAKER_00: so that would put her in the exact same place that she got last time,
- 46:14SPEAKER_00: which was fifth place at World.
- 46:15SPEAKER_00: I think that she'll race a smart race.
- 46:17SPEAKER_00: I think she'll do well as the race goes later on,
- 46:20SPEAKER_00: and I think she'll just kind of pick off people as she goes.
- 46:23Fourth place,
- 46:23I got Esther Chilag,
- 46:25bouncing back from her DNF at Western States.
- 46:29SPEAKER_00: We haven't seen her run.
- 46:31SPEAKER_00: I don't see anything on her UTMB index since Western.
- 46:34SPEAKER_00: So I think she'll be coming in fresh.
- 46:36SPEAKER_00: I think she'll be coming in focused.
- 46:38And I think that she'll be wanting to represent her nation in
- 46:43Hungary very well.
- 46:45Third place,
- 46:45I've got reigning world long trail champion Marion Delespierre.
- 46:49SPEAKER_00: Same reasons that I talked about.
- 46:50I think the French runners really peak well here and are going
- 46:55to run super well.
- 46:56SPEAKER_00: Second place, I got Eden Nelson.
- 46:57SPEAKER_00: I told you I'm pretty bullish.
- 46:58SPEAKER_00: She hasn't raced since Western.
- 46:59SPEAKER_00: I was really impressed with Western,
- 47:01SPEAKER_00: or she has raced since Western,
- 47:02SPEAKER_00: hasn't really done a big effort since Western.
- 47:05SPEAKER_00: I think she's going to time this well.
- 47:06I think she's going to peak at the right time,
- 47:07and I think she's ready to go.
- 47:09SPEAKER_00: First place, call me predictable, whatever, Katie Scheid.
- 47:13SPEAKER_00: So I've got Katie and Jim winning.
- 47:15SPEAKER_00: And then when I'm looking at the women's,
- 47:17SPEAKER_00: if there's anyone I think I'm leaving out,
- 47:19SPEAKER_00: like I said,
- 47:20SPEAKER_00: I'm liable to swap out anyone that raced CCC,
- 47:22SPEAKER_00: aka Lottie Brinks,
- 47:24SPEAKER_00: Sylvia Nordskar,
- 47:26out for somebody who feels a little fresher or who maybe have a
- 47:30little less fatigue
- 47:31SPEAKER_00: in their legs.
- 47:32SPEAKER_00: I think Fabiola Conti is a good pick.
- 47:34student maya buda could easily sneak in there jasmine luther is
- 47:38also a very strong
- 47:38pick and then i could easily see alison baka being in that top
- 47:4110 as well along
- 47:42with one polish female here katerina dobrowska or katerina wilk
- 47:48and then also
- 47:48claire roads too i think is a very really strong pick so that
- 47:52is my women's preview
- 47:56SPEAKER_00: for today
- 47:58SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, let me know what you think I got right.
- 48:02SPEAKER_00: Let me know what you think I got wrong.
- 48:04SPEAKER_00: And that's going to wrap up our long Trail Worlds preview.
- 48:07SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoyed.
- 48:09SPEAKER_00: And if you want to get other content or if you haven't seen it yet,
- 48:11SPEAKER_00: go check out the short trail preview I did on Steep Stuff podcast.
- 48:15SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening and better late than never.