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2026 Zegama Marathon Race Preview and Picks · Let's Talk Trail Running

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to Let's Talk Drowning.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: This is your host, Robert Prosser.
0:05
We've got a very exciting episode today talking about none
0:10
other than possibly my
0:11
SPEAKER_00: favorite race on the calendar is Zagama as Cory,
0:15
SPEAKER_00: Marathon in the Basque Country in Spain.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so this is Let's Talk Trailing.
0:24
This is the show where we talk about upcoming trail races that
0:27
are on the Fantasy
0:29
SPEAKER_00: Free Trail calendar.
0:30
That's Free Trail,
0:30
the media entities,
0:32
fantasy picking apparatus,
0:34
fantasy.freetrail.com.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: And we preview any races
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SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robres
0:52
SPEAKER_00: RobrunsRaces,
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SPEAKER_00: the specs of the racecourse itself and considerations,
0:57
SPEAKER_00: and try to give you some background into who's running,
1:01
SPEAKER_00: who to look out for,
1:02
SPEAKER_00: and also just helping to try to build fans in the sport of trail running.
1:07
SPEAKER_00: There's plenty of shows talking about plenty of other sports out there,
1:10
and I feel like the more the merrier when it comes to talking
1:12
about trail running.
1:13
SPEAKER_00: So we're here to help you make your fantasy free trail picks.
1:17
SPEAKER_00: So, deep dive on Zagama.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: If you guys listened to the episode last year,
1:21
SPEAKER_00: it was one of my more listened to episodes for sure.
1:23
SPEAKER_00: We kind of did some trivia,
1:25
SPEAKER_00: deep dive into some history of Zagama,
1:26
SPEAKER_00: and then talked about the field.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: Gonna do some of the same stuff today.
1:29
I got some of the same trivia,
1:30
but also some new stuff added in this year.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: And then we've got a freaking stacked out of this world field.
1:37
I think if I counted correctly,
1:38
24 men over 923 women over 750 on the ITRA index.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: So,
1:46
It is going to be super duper duper competitive and it's just
1:50
one of my favorite
1:50
SPEAKER_00: times,
1:51
SPEAKER_00: you know,
1:51
SPEAKER_00: Zagama is Zagama and so I'm really excited about that.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: Before we get any further than this podcast,
1:56
SPEAKER_00: quick caveat,
1:58
occasionally I'll stop and maybe stop talking for a bit for
2:04
Jets taking off the
2:05
SPEAKER_00: background.
2:05
I am on an active duty airfield and the best place to record
2:08
outside is outside so
2:10
SPEAKER_00: I don't disturb other people and so just a heads up,
2:13
SPEAKER_00: if I say Jets,
2:14
SPEAKER_00: just feel free to
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SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround
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SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround
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Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround
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Robrunsround Robrunsround
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Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround
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Robrunsround Robrunsround
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SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Rob
3:26
SPEAKER_00: At least the top five.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: I think the top six, though, went underneath the previous course record.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: It was a perfect weather day is what they were saying on the commentary.
3:35
I think it was Martine Gafuri and whoever the Australian
3:39
commentator were,
3:40
they were talking to the Spanish coverage commentator and he
3:43
was saying that it was
3:44
SPEAKER_00: the best weather day he has seen in his memory at Transvaulconia.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: So we just saw some really fast times and I wouldn't be,
3:51
SPEAKER_00: I need to also give credit on the women's side.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: We had Blondine,
3:54
Le Hirondel smashed the women's course record and I believe
3:57
Lucy Bartholomew ran on
3:58
SPEAKER_00: the previous one as well.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: Okay, sorry.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: I wear noise-canceling headphones,
4:10
SPEAKER_00: and sometimes what the jets are taking off,
4:12
SPEAKER_00: I don't notice until after the fact,
4:13
SPEAKER_00: so I had to gauge the excessive noise of that.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: So,
4:17
SPEAKER_00: Transwell County,
4:18
SPEAKER_00: yeah,
4:19
SPEAKER_00: and then we saw David Sinclair win,
4:21
SPEAKER_00: we saw Petter Engdahl second place,
4:23
SPEAKER_00: so he did perform while I should have had him in my picks,
4:25
SPEAKER_00: and I almost swapped him in last minute.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: 3rd place we saw, I'm going off to memory, Nadir Mugwe.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: And then 4th place,
4:33
SPEAKER_00: Damien Humber,
4:34
SPEAKER_00: who I wasn't bullish on,
4:35
SPEAKER_00: but I said he could perform while at the very end of my podcast,
4:38
SPEAKER_00: so there he was.
4:39
And then 5th place,
4:40
I want to say it was Ben Deeman,
4:42
or Andreas Ryder,
4:43
or one of the two.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: Fast race.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: Just super great conditions.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: Really, really fun to watch.
4:48
SPEAKER_00: And then on the half marathon,
4:50
we saw Philemon Carriago win and break the horse record on the
4:54
men's side.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: And then we saw...
4:58
SPEAKER_00: Who else?
4:59
SPEAKER_00: On the women's side, I want to say Joyce won, but let me see real quick.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: No, Ruth Katanga won, Joyce got second, Christy Skye Dickinson in third.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: On the men's side, Philemon, Anthony Felber, and Richard Omaya Atuya.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: So, kind of a mixed bag.
5:14
My Trans-Valcane Ultra results were not as great because a lot
5:17
of the favorites did
5:18
SPEAKER_00: really good,
5:18
SPEAKER_00: so I was towards the bottom of that pack.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: And then my half-marathon results were mid,
5:23
SPEAKER_00: so I'm sitting 12th overall in the rankings,
5:25
SPEAKER_00: so that's cool.
5:27
SPEAKER_00: Anyways, and then personal life-wise, how to deload week.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: Sorry,
5:43
SPEAKER_00: there seems to be a lot more going on than typical,
5:45
SPEAKER_00: so I am going to do my best to power through it.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: Hope this isn't too annoying, but I might have to re-record it.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: We'll see.
5:51
SPEAKER_00: Anyways,
5:53
SPEAKER_00: Personal end, this week was deload week.
5:54
SPEAKER_00: I did like 60-ish miles of running.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: 63, I think.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: And it's been good.
5:59
SPEAKER_00: It's getting hot here, so that's fun.
6:01
SPEAKER_00: And next week I've got a big...
6:03
SPEAKER_00: 11 to 12 hour week of running with a couple of doubles.
6:05
So we'll see how that Ferris temps are getting up into the 90
6:09
degree range here.
6:10
So it's getting toasty and I'm just doing my best to make sure
6:14
I'm staying hydrated
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SPEAKER_00: and not sweating too terribly much on these runs.
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So that is my little five minutes check in and now we can get
6:25
to the big stuff,
6:26
Zagama.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: So
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Alright,
6:29
let's talk about,
6:29
I put together a lot of resources for today's Zagama Podcast.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: So look at the show notes for anything talked about.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to try to include all the links to everything I talked about.
6:39
SPEAKER_00: There we've got different things like the 2025 iRunFar recap.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: in the show notes.
6:45
We're going to have Subhubs headlines because that's where I'm
6:47
going to pull some
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SPEAKER_00: information from today.
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We're also going to have an I Run Far article about how to win
6:52
Zagama Marathon by
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SPEAKER_00: Mallory Richard.
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And then Golden Trail World Series highlights slash recap from
6:58
the 2025 race,
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a YouTube video.
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SPEAKER_00: and then a link to the past winners on Wikipedia.
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And I should also give credit to the Iron Farr recap from last
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year's Decky Fortune.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: So first and foremost,
7:09
SPEAKER_00: let's talk about Subhub did Subhub headlines where they talked about some
7:13
SPEAKER_00: considerations of Zagalman.
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SPEAKER_00: I thought it was
7:15
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robrux
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Basque Country in Spain,
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so kind of up in the northern end of Spain towards the French
7:36
border.
7:37
SPEAKER_00: The Basques have a very strong cultural heritage.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: They have a very beautiful flag.
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They have their own language,
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kind of their own cultural identity that's very strong.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: And it's just one of those races.
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SPEAKER_00: Bases,
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SPEAKER_00: they say Zagama is Zagama,
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SPEAKER_00: and it's just entirely unique in its own,
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SPEAKER_00: just like the Basque people or the Basque region is.
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SPEAKER_00: And so it's a mountain marathon,
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SPEAKER_00: you know,
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SPEAKER_00: 42 kilometers,
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SPEAKER_00: 26 to 27 miles,
8:00
SPEAKER_00: around 2800 meters of elevation gain and loss,
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SPEAKER_00: so around 9000 feet.
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And it's just marked by those kind of moody spring weather
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where you can never
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SPEAKER_00: really know what to expect.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: It can be super sloppy,
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SPEAKER_00: super rainy,
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SPEAKER_00: muddy,
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SPEAKER_00: hypothermic-like conditions,
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SPEAKER_00: or it could be hot and humid and dry.
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SPEAKER_00: More often than not, maybe not more often than not,
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SPEAKER_00: We do see a lot of white years,
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SPEAKER_00: but usually the fastest run times on this course are in dry years.
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SPEAKER_00: So on the Substack headline,
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they did a really good job of kind of emphasizing how much of a
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difference the
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SPEAKER_00: weather makes.
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And they kind of talked about in the context of what kind of
8:38
times will you see the
8:39
SPEAKER_00: winners run on this course?
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SPEAKER_00: And then what also,
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SPEAKER_00: if you're looking to be competitive in this course,
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SPEAKER_00: what kind of times do you need to be targeting?
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So they showed the 10 fastest men's and women's times in the
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history of the race,
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SPEAKER_00: and I'm going to read them out to you and kind of make some observations.
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SPEAKER_00: So on the men's side,
8:54
SPEAKER_00: should be no surprise,
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SPEAKER_00: the top two times ever at Zagama are owned by Killian Jornay.
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SPEAKER_00: His course record for the men's is 3 hours and 36 minutes and 40 seconds,
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SPEAKER_00: and that was in 2022,
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SPEAKER_00: which was a dry year.
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And then the second fastest time is Killian Jornay,
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338.07 in 2024,
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which was a wet year.
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SPEAKER_00: Third fastest time ever, Davide Magnini, 3-39-31, 2022 in a dry year.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: Fourth fastest time, Elazine, 3-43-28, dry.
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SPEAKER_00: Stian Agramund, 5th fastest time, 3-45-08 in a dry year, 2017.
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SPEAKER_00: Manu Marius, 6th fastest, 3-45-43, 2022 is dry year.
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SPEAKER_00: Seventh fastest ever, Elazine Elazawi, 3-46-16 in a wet year, 24.
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SPEAKER_00: So some observations on the men's side.
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SPEAKER_00: Interestingly, these top 10 times actually
10:00
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robux
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SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robur
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That's when Killian ran his second fastest time ever just under
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his course record.
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SPEAKER_00: And so he kind of pulled the field to really,
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SPEAKER_00: really fast and impressive times that year,
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SPEAKER_00: which shouldn't be surprising.
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SPEAKER_00: But with that being said, five of the top six times in the men's
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SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Rob
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SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm back.
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Like I was saying,
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Ninka Brinkman's course record 416.43 is just absolutely nuts.
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There's only one woman that's within 10 minutes of it,
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barely,
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and that's Maude Mathis 426.03.
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SPEAKER_00: But Ninka's kind of like in a world of her own, and I would be...
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SPEAKER_00: That course record is super stout.
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SPEAKER_00: We would need a good dry year and some really steep competition.
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SPEAKER_00: I don't see that course record going down this year.
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SPEAKER_00: It's just insane the time that Ninko ran.
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SPEAKER_00: Next fastest, like I said, Mon Mathis, 426.03, same year
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SPEAKER_00: Nika broke the course record in a dry year.
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SPEAKER_00: And then the third fastest time is also in 2022,
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SPEAKER_00: 426.40 by Sarah Alonso,
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SPEAKER_00: also in that same dry year.
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SPEAKER_00: So what do we see with these times?
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A lot of times there's one course record performance or near
12:36
course record
12:37
SPEAKER_00: performance that's pulling this field to really,
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SPEAKER_00: really fast times.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're seeing.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: You know, on the men's side, we've got
12:43
SPEAKER_00: No,
12:44
SPEAKER_00: excuse me,
12:45
five of the top ten times came from the 2024 year and three of
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them came in 2022.
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SPEAKER_00: So eight of the top ten times came from just two years.
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On the women's side,
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the top three fastest times ever all came from the same year,
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2022.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: And then a bunch of them came from last year and a dry year.
13:03
SPEAKER_00: So we got four of the top ten times came from 2025.
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SPEAKER_00: So third fastest time, Sarah Alonzo, 4.26.40 in 2022.
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Fourth fastest time,
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Sarah Alonzo,
13:14
also 4.27.25 last year when she won it.
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SPEAKER_00: So she's been very consistent and run about the same time each time.
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SPEAKER_00: Fifth fastest time, Sylvia Nordskar, 4.29.30.
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SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround
13:43
SPEAKER_00: 8th Fastest Time Ever, Rosa Laura Filou, 4.32 last year.
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And then 9th Fastest Time Ever,
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Therese LaBeouf,
13:51
also last year,
13:52
4.33.29 in a dry year.
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10th Fastest Time Ever,
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Maite Mayor in what was a course record in 2017,
14:01
4.34.27.
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SPEAKER_00: So those are the 10 fastest times.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: I hope that was a little helpful, not too many numbers.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: The big takeaways there are
14:09
SPEAKER_00: The course record times and the finishing times,
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SPEAKER_00: the winners are going to be really course dependent.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: And we're going to talk about that a lot because the forecast is really,
14:17
SPEAKER_00: really important for Zagama.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: So they kind of took away in the sub-hub headlines.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: For the men's race,
14:21
SPEAKER_00: if you're running sub 345,
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SPEAKER_00: you're in the mix to win it on pretty much any given year.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: And if you're running sub 340,
14:29
SPEAKER_00: you're historically having an elite day all-time performance at Zagama.
14:33
SPEAKER_00: Or killing Jordanes in the race,
14:34
SPEAKER_00: and he's thrown down,
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SPEAKER_00: which we'll talk about that in a little bit too.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: On the women's side,
14:38
SPEAKER_00: sub 440 is going to consistently get you competitive for 3 through 5,
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SPEAKER_00: so essentially a podium spot or getting points at Fantasy P-Trail.
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SPEAKER_00: Sub 430 is going to end up typically front end, if not a win in the race.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be a win most years.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: And then sub 420 is course record territory,
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SPEAKER_00: but I would really say sub 430 is win territory as well.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: So,
15:00
SPEAKER_00: going back to some Zagama trivia,
15:02
SPEAKER_00: some of these questions I pulled up last year,
15:03
SPEAKER_00: if you guys are new to the podcast,
15:05
SPEAKER_00: then you have not heard them.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: And if you heard them last year,
15:08
SPEAKER_00: then it'll be just a little refresher to get you excited about Zagama.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: So, Killian has raced here.
15:14
and he's got 11 wins and he's got 11 wins and 12 stars which is
15:18
just insane amount
15:20
SPEAKER_00: of dominance.
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So some Killian Zagama trivia and we'll also have some other
15:23
trivia to go with Zagama as well.
15:25
First question for the listeners is what was the year of
15:30
Killian's first win?
15:33
SPEAKER_00: And the answer to that question is 2007 when he was only the age of 19.
15:40
SPEAKER_00: The year before that,
15:41
SPEAKER_00: the legendary mountain runner Ricardo Mejia won it,
15:46
SPEAKER_00: multiple time winner of Sierra Zinal.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: Next question is, what was Killian's first ever winning time?
15:53
If you guys had to guess based off all those times I just read,
15:55
what would you guess?
15:56
SPEAKER_00: Would you guess sub 3.55, sub 3.45, sub what?
16:03
SPEAKER_00: And the answer is 3.56.59, the first year he ever won.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: So basically,
16:09
SPEAKER_00: You know, only about 18 minutes faster than Ninka Brickman's record.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: So 3.56.59 and he's brought that time down almost 20 minutes,
16:19
SPEAKER_00: over 20 minutes to his course record now at 3.36.40.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: Alright, next question is, what was Killian Jernay's closest win?
16:27
SPEAKER_00: Do you think it was...
16:29
SPEAKER_00: 5 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 10 seconds.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: Looking up this question last year,
16:35
SPEAKER_00: ChatGPT says he won his first race in 2007 by 6 seconds over Raul Garcia,
16:41
SPEAKER_00: but I can't find the link that it's using.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: But from what I can tell,
16:45
SPEAKER_00: from what I could find from recorded results,
16:49
SPEAKER_00: the closest one I found was 12 seconds in 2008 Zagama,
16:53
SPEAKER_00: which also served as the Skyrunning European Championships.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: He came just in front of Raul Garcia Castan.
17:02
And 2007,
17:02
like I said,
17:03
it sounds close as well,
17:04
but we can't find the specific time.
17:07
He also had another 12-second win in 2013 edition in front of
17:11
Luis Alberto
17:12
SPEAKER_00: Hernando,
17:12
SPEAKER_00: the same one whose Transvalcania record just got broken.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround
17:38
SPEAKER_00: Back then,
17:38
a lot of people were racing Transvalcania literally just two
17:41
weeks before Zagama
17:42
SPEAKER_00: and then coming in racing here.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: This year, they only fall a week apart.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: But because of the way the Skyrunning World Series was set up back then,
17:48
SPEAKER_00: they would do the Skyrunning Ultra,
17:50
SPEAKER_00: which would be Transvalcania,
17:51
SPEAKER_00: and then bounce back and race Zagama two weeks later.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: That's crazy to me.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: But times are different now.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: Biggest win for Killian Jornet.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: What's his biggest win at Zagama?
18:01
SPEAKER_00: The answer to that question is 2010.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: He won by 11 minutes and 57 seconds, which is pretty impressive.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: Next question is, he has won 11 of 12 Zagama titles.
18:12
SPEAKER_00: What was the one year that he did not win?
18:15
SPEAKER_00: And the answer to that, and also why didn't he win?
18:18
So I Run Fire article says he did not win in 2015 because he
18:23
was suffering from
18:24
SPEAKER_00: stomach issues having just returned from a Nepal adventure.
18:27
He was doing the Summits of His Life project and then I think
18:30
it ended up getting
18:30
scratched because that was a really bad earthquake year and he
18:33
just ended up
18:34
helping do rescue attempts from all the earthquake stuff and he
18:36
came back with some
18:37
SPEAKER_00: kind of stomach ailment from Nepal and jumped in the race last minute.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: So even though he finished 22nd that year,
18:43
the recap says he reached the city limits within the top 10 and
18:46
then he just
18:47
stopped to shake hands with anyone who wanted to meet him on
18:50
his way to the finish,
18:51
SPEAKER_00: which sounds very killing.
18:53
SPEAKER_00: Next question would be, who won the year he lost?
18:57
SPEAKER_00: And the answer to that question would be
18:59
SPEAKER_00: Tade Pivic, he's an Italian, and he won in 3 hours and 15 minutes.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: And Manu Mariaz actually finished 36 seconds behind him.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: We're going to talk about Manu a lot today,
19:07
because he is delicately intertwined with the history of this
19:11
race as well.
19:12
Other familiar names at that 2015 edition include Marco de
19:15
Gasperi,
19:16
who finished top 5.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: Azar Garcia was the female winner that year.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: Tati Pivic, I had to look up.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: He was an Italian runner I wasn't familiar with,
19:23
but he is still winning skyrunning races in Italy as of 2024
19:27
against guys like
19:28
SPEAKER_00: Andrea Roda.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: And it seems to me one of his biggest wins was Zagama in 2015,
19:34
SPEAKER_00: and he got a second at Run the Rutt to Remy in the 25K that year as well.
19:40
SPEAKER_00: We talked about Killian's course record already.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: That was a question I asked last year at 3.36.40.
19:44
SPEAKER_00: And then next question not Killian related.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: Who is the female with the most Zagama wins?
19:51
SPEAKER_00: The answer was news to me,
19:54
SPEAKER_00: and I wasn't familiar with this runner,
19:55
SPEAKER_00: so this is Corinne Favre from France.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: She has three titles to her name, 2005, 2006, and 2008.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: And then there's two other ladies who have two wins,
20:08
SPEAKER_00: Emmanuelle Brizio,
20:09
SPEAKER_00: she's Italian,
20:10
SPEAKER_00: and Oihana Cortazar,
20:11
SPEAKER_00: a Spaniard who's raced here many times.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: Fun fact, Killian and Emily Forsberg both won in the 2013 edition.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: Alright, so next question.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: I added a few more this year.
20:25
My question,
20:27
one that I added is,
20:28
who is the only American ever to win the race?
20:30
SPEAKER_00: And that answer is Stevie Kramer in 2014.
20:34
SPEAKER_00: And then I asked about,
20:35
SPEAKER_00: what about for the British contingent and my British listeners,
20:38
SPEAKER_00: who are the only Brits to ever win the race?
20:42
SPEAKER_00: I'll give you a hint, there have been three.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: Two of them are men.
20:46
and one of them are women and they're all pretty legendary in
20:49
the fell running
20:49
SPEAKER_00: scene from what I gather.
20:51
SPEAKER_00: So on the men's side,
20:54
SPEAKER_00: 2005 Rob Jebb,
20:56
SPEAKER_00: he ran the course record in a time of three hours and 54 minutes.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: 2005, Angela Mudge won and 2009, Ricky Lightfoot won.
21:06
SPEAKER_00: So we've had three Brits, all different, two men, one female.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: Other fun facts about Zagama,
21:11
Marco de Gasperi twice got second place while running on their
21:14
previous course
21:15
SPEAKER_00: record at this race.
21:16
Once in 2014 behind Killian when he broke Rob Jeb's course
21:19
record and once in 2017.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: So basically,
21:23
SPEAKER_00: Marco Degassari broke the course record twice,
21:25
but didn't even get a win on the day because he was beat by
21:28
other competition that
21:30
SPEAKER_00: also set a course record.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: So why do I like Sagama so much?
21:33
SPEAKER_00: I think it's beautiful,
21:34
SPEAKER_00: it's long,
21:35
SPEAKER_00: it's strategic,
21:36
SPEAKER_00: it's technical,
21:37
SPEAKER_00: the weather is extremely important,
21:39
SPEAKER_00: and it doesn't always just plain flat out reward the fittest runner,
21:43
but more so the most strategic runner who chooses where to
21:47
strike on this race.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: So that's our trivia for this year.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about the weather for a little bit,
21:55
SPEAKER_00: because we've been talking about how much it impacts the course record.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: I'm recording this podcast on Monday,
22:00
SPEAKER_00: May 11th,
22:01
SPEAKER_00: so we're probably about five days and change out.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: And so far,
22:05
SPEAKER_00: I've been looking at the weather every day,
22:07
SPEAKER_00: and it's been forecasted to rain every day leading up to the race.
22:10
Although,
22:10
as I look at it right now,
22:12
only Tuesday has 75% chance of rain,
22:14
Wednesday 45%.
22:17
Thursday 60% Friday 80% Right now it does not show Saturday and
22:21
Sunday as raining
22:22
but earlier in the week it did so we will see it does show
22:26
cloudiness and the
22:27
temperatures look like on Sunday they're gonna be from 44 to 62
22:31
or that's probably
22:31
around like 15 to no probably like 9 to 15 Celsius if I had to
22:37
guess so it seems
22:39
like it'll be a cool year which could help with fast times but
22:42
I question how wet
22:44
SPEAKER_00: it's going to be so it'll be interesting to see
22:47
And I need to stop putting my phone back on my table loud
22:49
because I realized that
22:50
SPEAKER_00: I'm knowing that it's less podcast.
22:51
SPEAKER_00: All right.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: So with that being said,
22:54
SPEAKER_00: I run far,
22:55
SPEAKER_00: like I said,
22:56
SPEAKER_00: posted an article about how to win Zagama Marathon by Mallory Richard.
22:59
I thought it had some really interesting insights and I'm going
23:02
to take a quote
23:03
SPEAKER_00: from it verbatim.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: So quote, if there was a turning point in the race, the data suggests
23:10
SPEAKER_00: That it's the long climb and rocky traverse between Sanctus Spiritu,
23:14
SPEAKER_00: about 20k into the race,
23:16
SPEAKER_00: and Akatigi,
23:18
SPEAKER_00: which is 23.2 kilometers into the race,
23:22
SPEAKER_00: checkpoints.
23:23
SPEAKER_00: For example, the women's winners from 2012
23:25
SPEAKER_00: onward were leading at St.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: Despair to 36% of the time,
23:29
SPEAKER_00: but 82% of the eventual women's winners led by Akatigi,
23:34
SPEAKER_00: less than 4K,
23:35
SPEAKER_00: but plenty of climbing later.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: So basically,
23:38
that kind of crucial move about halfway in the race on the
23:41
women's side decides to
23:43
SPEAKER_00: race a lot of times.
23:45
SPEAKER_00: And then,
23:45
SPEAKER_00: continue,
23:46
SPEAKER_00: quote,
23:46
SPEAKER_00: Interestingly,
23:47
there is a slight decrease in the percentage of eventual
23:50
winners who are leading at
23:51
SPEAKER_00: St.
23:51
SPEAKER_00: Dispiritu compared to the previous checkpoint.
23:53
It's possible the best performers save themselves for the climb
23:56
up at Katigi by
23:57
SPEAKER_00: giving a few seconds to their competitors as they approach the climb.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: So like I said, I Run Far has some really, really awesome race recaps.
24:06
I thought another thing that I found when I was digging for
24:08
history of this race,
24:09
SPEAKER_00: a course description per Brian Powell from I Run Far in 2015.
24:13
He said,
24:14
it's certainly the toughest trail course mile for mile that
24:16
I've ever run.
24:17
The first half is through gorgeous beach forest with plenty of
24:21
leaves and rocks
24:22
while there's a long section through the mountains with steep
24:25
climbs and descents
24:26
SPEAKER_00: and more than enough rocks to keep the local dentist employed.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: So I thought it was pretty funny.
24:31
Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround
24:33
Robrunsround Robrunsround
24:36
Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround
24:38
Robrunsround Robrunsround
24:39
Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround
24:41
Robrunsround Robrunsround
24:41
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Rob
24:58
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robb
25:13
SPEAKER_00: And it just has an amazing community.
25:15
So if you don't know what I'm talking about,
25:17
look at my Instagram stories throughout the week.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: I'm at Robrunsround.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to be posting a lot about the race or click in the show notes,
25:23
SPEAKER_00: the Golden Trail World Series highlight recap from 2025 race.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: It's a 19 minute video,
25:27
but you can easily just watch a preview of it or watch like
25:29
three minutes of it and
25:30
SPEAKER_00: see why this race is just so freaking cool because it really is.
25:34
Alright so other things don't forget to mention it will be it
25:38
should be live
25:39
streamed on YouTube probably on the Golden Trail World Series
25:41
channel either way on
25:42
fantasy.freetrail.com whatever it's gonna be live streamed on
25:45
if you click on race
25:48
information or live stream it will be on there and with that
25:52
being said now that
25:53
SPEAKER_00: we've
25:54
SPEAKER_00: built up all the hype in 25 minutes.
25:57
SPEAKER_00: And let's actually talk about the freaking race field this year.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: And like I said,
26:01
SPEAKER_00: it's stacked on both sides,
26:03
SPEAKER_00: 24 men over a 900 UTMB index,
26:05
SPEAKER_00: 23 women over a 750,
26:07
SPEAKER_00: and this is assuming ITRA index is what I meant to say.
26:10
So themes I pulled from the women's field,
26:12
I'm gonna start with the women's field first.
26:14
Women's race,
26:15
is the returning Zagama champion Sara Alonzo not even the
26:19
favorite?
26:19
SPEAKER_00: That's my first question.
26:21
Second question,
26:22
we're welcoming Tobe Alexanderson to the Golden Trail World
26:25
Series.
26:26
Can she continue to dominate her trail racing dominance
26:30
basically in the past
26:31
couple of years after smashing the World Short Trail
26:35
Championships last year?
26:38
SPEAKER_00: Next storyline on the women's side,
26:39
does Judith Weider go two for two in her races after a flawless
26:42
debut second place
26:43
SPEAKER_00: finish in last year's race?
26:45
SPEAKER_00: So her first ever Zagama, she ran it like a champ.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: She ran the fifth fastest time ever, if I'm not mistaken.
26:52
SPEAKER_00: Next storyline I said,
26:54
how does Lauren Gregory do stepping up to a longer and more
26:57
technical race?
26:58
SPEAKER_00: I know it's not as long as Kanan's that she just raced,
27:00
SPEAKER_00: but it's going to take her longer than Kanan's she just raced.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: Next Storyline identified.
27:05
SPEAKER_00: Field is stacked and looking deeper than ever.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, 23 women above a 750 ITRA index, which is whack.
27:13
And then looking back at last year's race,
27:15
we saw,
27:15
or let's talk about last year's results.
27:17
So first place,
27:18
Sara Alonzo won,
27:20
which was awesome,
27:21
bringing it to the hometown crowd.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: Second place, Judith Weider.
27:25
SPEAKER_00: Third place, Malin Osa.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: Fourth place, Rosa Laura Filu.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: Fifth place, Therese LaBeouf.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: Sixth place,
27:32
SPEAKER_00: Ikram Rasala Seventh place,
27:34
SPEAKER_00: Ida Amelie Robesam Eighth place,
27:37
SPEAKER_00: Oyhana Kordazar Ninth place,
27:39
SPEAKER_00: Patricia Pineda And tenth place,
27:40
SPEAKER_00: Marta Martinez Some interesting observations there,
27:44
SPEAKER_00: we had one,
27:45
SPEAKER_00: two,
27:45
SPEAKER_00: three,
27:46
SPEAKER_00: four,
27:49
I think that's important to note,
27:51
and I think that will typically play a role.
27:53
SPEAKER_00: It's something you want to keep in mind.
27:54
SPEAKER_00: Spaniards and Scandinavians tend to do very well at Sagama.
27:58
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of their bread and butter,
27:59
SPEAKER_00: unless it's maybe a really,
28:00
SPEAKER_00: really hot year,
28:01
SPEAKER_00: but they tend to perform well on this technical,
28:04
SPEAKER_00: wet,
28:05
SPEAKER_00: jagged type of terrain.
28:07
Looking at my picks from last year,
28:08
I pulled them up because I was kind of curious.
28:11
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robrux
28:26
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Rob
28:45
SPEAKER_00: Uh,
28:45
SPEAKER_00: unfortunately Nadir dropped,
28:47
he fell off after coming out with a lead pack and Mando Marias
28:50
was in a good
28:50
position to make his move in the top 10 and then he fell off in
28:53
the back half.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: So we'll talk more about that in a little bit.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I should just talk about my women's specs really though.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: All right.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: So last year's race,
29:00
Sara Alonzo went to the front and had a minute gap on the field
29:03
by eight and a half
29:04
SPEAKER_00: kilometers into the race and held out for the entire race.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: Judith made a great push in the final descent to move in front of
29:12
SPEAKER_00: Malin and closed the gap between her and Sara around two minutes,
29:18
SPEAKER_00: but never close enough to actually threaten or give Sara a scare.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: So Sara Alonzo basically front ran the race and stuck it last year.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: All right, so those are some of the storylines identified.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: We're going to talk about the favorites in this field.
29:30
SPEAKER_00: First, I've got four identified.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: Tove, Sara Alonzo, Judith Weider, and Malin Osa.
29:36
SPEAKER_00: I'd be shocked if one of these women doesn't win,
29:38
SPEAKER_00: specifically if either Sara Alonzo or Tove Alex Anderson doesn't win.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: I think they've got to be hands down bar none of the favorites,
29:45
while I think Judith and Allen definitely have the chops to be
29:48
able to win here,
29:49
but are probably a little bit more likely just battling for a
29:51
top three spot.
29:53
SPEAKER_00: So first and foremost,
29:54
SPEAKER_00: Tobey Alexanderson,
29:56
SPEAKER_00: the Swede is,
29:57
SPEAKER_00: yeah,
29:58
SPEAKER_00: she's basically just coming off an amazing trail running season after,
30:04
SPEAKER_00: yeah,
30:05
SPEAKER_00: amazing trail running season and it's her first,
30:08
SPEAKER_00: yeah,
30:08
SPEAKER_00: we're going to finally get to see a full trail running season from her
30:12
She's got plenty of world,
30:14
excuse me,
30:15
orienteering and schema world championships as well.
30:17
So now she's trying to add some trail running medal onto the
30:21
trophy shelf.
30:23
SPEAKER_00: Basically, she blew everyone's minds.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: Like we said last year,
30:25
SPEAKER_00: when she showed up to World Short Trail Race,
30:28
SPEAKER_00: she just blew the door off the field.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: She finished 17th overall, men or women, in a five-hour race.
30:33
And she beat the competition's Sarah Alonzo by over 30 minutes
30:36
and a bunch of
30:37
SPEAKER_00: really,
30:37
SPEAKER_00: really amazing world-class trail runners and made it just look easy.
30:40
SPEAKER_00: It was insane.
30:42
Currently,
30:42
Tove is the fourth highest ranked woman in the world per the
30:46
UTMB Index at 849.
30:48
The only people in front of her are Katie Scheid,
30:50
Courtney DeWalter,
30:51
and Jen Lichter right now.
30:53
SPEAKER_00: Tove is already picking up right where she left off last year.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: She's already got a win this year at the UTMB Vontu 50K April 26th,
31:00
SPEAKER_00: so about four weeks out from this race.
31:03
I don't think that Tove raced as much on skis this winter as
31:06
she wanted to based
31:07
SPEAKER_00: off her Instagram.
31:08
I think she might have had an injury or something,
31:09
but it seems like she's in really good shape.
31:11
She's got to be a favorite here,
31:13
and like I said,
31:14
potentially even over Sarah Alonso or
31:16
SPEAKER_00: Edith Weider, who have both run this course and run amazing times here.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: We know Tove is good on technical stuff.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: That Worlds course last year was super technical.
31:25
We've also seen her throw down on some of the most technical
31:27
races at the Golden
31:28
SPEAKER_00: Trail World Series.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
31:30
I got to imagine that nobody can climb better than Tove in this
31:34
race in the women's
31:35
SPEAKER_00: field and even in most of the women's field.
31:37
SPEAKER_00: So Tove Alex Anderson, I
31:39
I kind of think she's the favorite over Sara Alonso despite not
31:42
having one here.
31:44
SPEAKER_00: The only thing that I'd be curious is if we have a hot year,
31:47
SPEAKER_00: which the forecast doesn't look like it,
31:49
SPEAKER_00: I think Tobey is probably the favorite.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: I think if it was a hotter year,
31:51
I might be a little bit more worried and think that Sara could
31:54
handle the heat
31:55
SPEAKER_00: better.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: But I think Tobey is probably the favorite if I had to guess.
32:00
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is the other potential favorite, Sara Alonzo.
32:02
She is the returning champion,
32:04
and she's also run two of the 10 fastest times ever here.
32:07
SPEAKER_00: I think two of the top six 10 fastest times ever.
32:10
SPEAKER_00: Two of the top six fastest times ever.
32:12
SPEAKER_00: So she is returning.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: She's picking right back up where she left off.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: She's got that home field advantage because she is from Basque Country.
32:18
And she's already got two wins under her belt at Sky Races in
32:21
the 2026 calendar.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: Calamara Sky Race and Contalados Del Norte.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: Last year we saw Sarah on a tear in her races.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: Third at the Golden Trail World Series Finals.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: Silver at the World Champs Short Trail.
32:33
SPEAKER_00: Fourth at OCC.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: One at Zagama and Kobe Trail.
32:37
SPEAKER_00: This will be...
32:39
The Bass Runners third time running Zagama and like I said she
32:42
ran to a third place
32:42
in 2022 but it's a top three fastest time all time and she ran
32:48
to a win last year
32:49
so she's never run slower than a 430 at Zagama which is crazy
32:52
because basically
32:52
every year that I'd win it for you but one of the two years she
32:55
ran it did not win
32:56
SPEAKER_00: it for her so
32:59
SPEAKER_00: Alright, let's see.
33:00
SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: So, question.
33:02
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, she's got to be a favorite to be on the podium.
33:04
SPEAKER_00: Question is,
33:04
can she use that home field advantage and course knowledge to a
33:07
big enough
33:07
SPEAKER_00: advantage to get the edge on Tobey and Judith Weider?
33:12
SPEAKER_00: Time will tell.
33:13
I think Tobey's the favorite in the battle between Sarah and
33:15
Judith is going to be tight.
33:16
SPEAKER_00: I think Judith is going to make a serious run for a silver medal here.
33:21
SPEAKER_00: Judith Weider, next one, we'll talk about Swiss runner for Hoka.
33:24
Mom,
33:25
gotta be probably one of the three best 50 game below female
33:28
runners in the world.
33:29
SPEAKER_00: She's so consistent,
33:31
SPEAKER_00: doesn't miss any race she lines up to,
33:33
SPEAKER_00: basically is a lock for the podium at anything she races,
33:37
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robrunsround
33:57
SPEAKER_00: This year,
33:57
SPEAKER_00: Judith already raced once to a second place at Chianti 75K by using B,
34:01
SPEAKER_00: which is longer than what she usually races,
34:03
SPEAKER_00: so it makes me wonder if she might step up to CCC this year,
34:07
SPEAKER_00: potentially.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: Judith,
34:09
SPEAKER_00: like I said,
34:09
SPEAKER_00: favorite for the podium,
34:11
SPEAKER_00: doesn't miss,
34:11
SPEAKER_00: gotta be one of the smartest and most gamer racers in the world who,
34:16
SPEAKER_00: if she lines up,
34:17
SPEAKER_00: she means poses.
34:19
Next athlete is none other than another Basque local,
34:22
Malin Osa,
34:23
runner for Sullivan
34:25
SPEAKER_00: I think she's 23 if I'm not mistaken.
34:27
She ran into a third place here last year after a great battle
34:30
with Judith Weider
34:31
SPEAKER_00: throughout the race where it looked like she started,
34:34
SPEAKER_00: where it looks like Malin had Judith for a bit,
34:36
SPEAKER_00: only for Judith to make the most of the last ascent and make her move.
34:40
Malin also is coming fresh off of the confidence of winning
34:42
Skyrace named Mathazine
34:43
SPEAKER_00: just two weeks before this race,
34:45
SPEAKER_00: so an awesome tune-up.
34:46
And she's kicking off her season this year strong after a DNF
34:51
at Calamaro Skyrace.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: Malin is two for two in her races at her hometown, Zagama.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: She finished second in 2024 behind Sylvia Nordsgar in third last year.
35:01
SPEAKER_00: She podiumed in pretty much everything she raced last year,
35:03
SPEAKER_00: Kobe Trail,
35:04
SPEAKER_00: Zagama,
35:05
SPEAKER_00: Rastanica,
35:06
SPEAKER_00: and Pete's Alpine Glacier.
35:08
The only place she struggled was Worlds,
35:09
where she had an off day and DMF'd.
35:11
SPEAKER_00: Malin is definitely a favorite for her podium yet again.
35:13
SPEAKER_00: The only thing to be concerned with is her issues with cramping,
35:16
SPEAKER_00: which occasionally cost her some races,
35:18
SPEAKER_00: or
35:19
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robrunsround
35:33
SPEAKER_00: Ana Tarasova,
35:34
SPEAKER_00: Spanish mom and runner for Norda,
35:36
SPEAKER_00: probably the biggest wildcard in the women's race,
35:38
SPEAKER_00: because I have no idea how to feel about her.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: She raced a ton of awesome races last year,
35:43
SPEAKER_00: has a golden ticket to Western States,
35:45
SPEAKER_00: so could be using this a little bit as a tune-up,
35:47
SPEAKER_00: in a few months from her third place finish at last year's CCC,
35:51
SPEAKER_00: where she battled all race and came out just a minute and 20 off the win.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: Anna Tarasova went on to win lots of races last year.
35:59
We said win at Labarado 80k,
36:02
she won at UTMB Indoor Marathon,
36:03
Mozart 100k,
36:05
Mt.
36:05
Fuji 70k,
36:06
and she got second at Trans-Granc Canary Advanced among her
36:09
other results.
36:11
Anna Tarasova races a lot and she's very good in that 5 to 11
36:14
hour range so I think
36:16
she's just on the edge of being fast enough to really mix it up
36:19
here seeing that
36:20
most of the female winners go around 430 and top 10 is usually
36:24
4.5 to 5 hour range.
36:27
SPEAKER_00: Question for you is what do you guys think?
36:29
SPEAKER_00: Do you think she's fast enough?
36:30
SPEAKER_00: Do you think we could see her make a legitimate push for top 5 spot?
36:34
SPEAKER_00: For context, she has raced here before in 2023
36:38
SPEAKER_00: And she finished 20th place.
36:40
But objectively,
36:40
she has leveled up a lot since that 2023 year and has been on
36:44
the tear.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: So I'll leave that up to you guys to decide.
36:47
Next athlete is none other than Fabiola Conti,
36:50
Italian Skyrunner and Long Trail.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: Robruns.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: Robruns.
37:14
She went 5th at Marathon of Mont Blanc and 3rd at Mont
37:17
Zerbillon Sky Race Fabioli
37:19
has raced Zagama before in 2022 to a 5th place finish on a hot
37:23
year and dry year
37:24
when the course records were broken so she has also run a
37:26
historically vast time
37:27
Sky Race to Mathesine is a good indication that she's quite fit
37:31
and good on
37:31
technical terrain I think she's poised to race well here on her
37:35
second go at the
37:37
SPEAKER_00: Classic Mountain Race
37:47
SPEAKER_00: Alright, so that is Fabiola Conti.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: Other athletes to look out for.
37:53
SPEAKER_00: Ida Nielsen is racing.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: Previous winner here to go with Sarah Alonso.
37:58
SPEAKER_00: She's the second.
37:59
SPEAKER_00: So they're the two previous winners in the women's field.
38:02
She's a Swedish ultra-running legend who's been running at the
38:04
highest levels since
38:05
SPEAKER_00: she ran in college 20 years ago at NAU.
38:08
Last year's results included a fourth at Western for her in a
38:11
win at Trans Grand
38:11
SPEAKER_00: Canary Advanced,
38:12
SPEAKER_00: among others.
38:13
SPEAKER_00: I heard she just got scratched from Western this year.
38:17
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it's caused to.
38:18
SPEAKER_00: Makes me wonder if she's also going to be scratched from this race.
38:21
I think she's still training a lot,
38:22
but apparently she's not racing Western from what I hear.
38:25
SPEAKER_00: Ida Nielsen, she has raced twice at Zagama before, once in 2018 to a win.
38:30
And most recently in 2022 to a 23rd place finish I don't see
38:35
Ida as a top 5
38:36
contender And I think on a good day would be back after the top
38:38
10 Next athlete
38:40
Nuria Gil Spanish runner for A6 lining up at her 3rd Zagama Two
38:43
previous races
38:44
she's ran to a 6th place in 2022 And a DNF in 23 Nuria Gil's
38:49
coming off having a
38:49
baby So hasn't raced as much in the past year But in 24 we saw
38:53
her win Chianti
38:54
SPEAKER_00: Marathon We'll take a chance
39:14
SPEAKER_00: Alright, I'm back.
39:15
SPEAKER_00: I apologize, it seems to be extra... diligent.
39:19
SPEAKER_00: Usually it's only one interruption per broadcast.
39:30
SPEAKER_00: Like I was saying,
39:30
SPEAKER_00: usually it's only one interruption per broadcast,
39:32
SPEAKER_00: but today seems to be a busy night.
39:37
SPEAKER_00: Nuria Gill is coming hot off of winning,
39:40
SPEAKER_00: or excuse me,
39:41
SPEAKER_00: in 2024,
39:42
SPEAKER_00: she won Kiaty Marathon,
39:43
SPEAKER_00: Mozart Marathon,
39:45
SPEAKER_00: and second place at Tom Playa Marathon Distance.
39:47
Nuria Gill also has a top two at OCC in 2022 to go to her name,
39:54
and a fourth at Worlds.
39:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so she might have got second at OCC.
39:57
SPEAKER_00: Fourth at Worlds Trail Race and World Trail Champs Race in Thailand.
40:01
SPEAKER_00: She's already raced once this year with a second place at Arc of Tristan,
40:05
SPEAKER_00: 25 miler,
40:05
SPEAKER_00: seven minutes behind Naomi Lang.
40:07
SPEAKER_00: So it seems like she's in good fitness.
40:10
SPEAKER_00: So it could be one to watch out for here.
40:11
SPEAKER_00: Definitely has the course experience.
40:14
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete I'm very curious about running here.
40:16
American Lauren Gregory Runner for Nike ACG has not raced at
40:21
Zagama before.
40:22
SPEAKER_00: Last year we saw another American crusher,
40:25
SPEAKER_00: Anna Gibson,
40:25
SPEAKER_00: make the step up in distance to a longer race at Zagama.
40:29
SPEAKER_00: And I kind of feel like this is a comparable
40:31
SPEAKER_00: They're very comparative to one another.
40:33
SPEAKER_00: They raced in college.
40:35
SPEAKER_00: They both come from track and field backgrounds,
40:37
and they both have had pretty good success on mountainous races
40:41
at the Golden Tour
40:42
SPEAKER_00: World Series,
40:43
SPEAKER_00: often kind of trading back and forth between who beats who.
40:47
So I think,
40:48
you know,
40:49
this year we get to see Lauren Gregory debut here and know Anna
40:52
Gibson.
40:53
SPEAKER_00: Yes,
40:54
Lauren did just race Canyon's 50K to a very impressive second
40:57
place behind McKenna
40:58
SPEAKER_00: Morley,
40:58
SPEAKER_00: but this is a more technical race,
41:00
SPEAKER_00: and despite that being longer,
41:02
SPEAKER_00: Zagama's gonna take longer on feet,
41:04
so she's gonna be out there for probably another 40-ish minutes
41:07
compared to her
41:08
SPEAKER_00: Canyon's race,
41:08
SPEAKER_00: which was like 3 hours and 50 minutes,
41:10
SPEAKER_00: I wanna say.
41:11
We have seen Lauren do well at technical races on the Golden
41:13
Trail World Series
41:14
SPEAKER_00: circuit,
41:14
SPEAKER_00: such as the finals last year at Ledro Sky Tarantino,
41:18
SPEAKER_00: which she won.
41:19
SPEAKER_00: She also won the Tepic Trail in Mexico.
41:21
I think Lauren's going to race to move up and race kind of
41:28
smart like Anna Gibson did last year.
41:29
SPEAKER_00: I think she's going to end up somewhere in the top ten.
41:31
SPEAKER_00: I don't think she'll be out front pushing,
41:33
and I think she'll kind of take it a little easy just because
41:36
it is a step up in
41:37
SPEAKER_00: distance for her as she's trying to work her way up to OCC.
41:41
SPEAKER_00: Ana just missed out on the top 10 last year.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: She was in the top 10 for a lot of it.
41:44
SPEAKER_00: And then the battle for 7th through 11th was super tight,
41:46
SPEAKER_00: and she ended up on the back end of it in 11th.
41:49
SPEAKER_00: I expect to see Lauren Gregory in that 5 through 10 range,
41:51
SPEAKER_00: and a great day would be a podium for her in her debut.
41:54
SPEAKER_00: I don't see a win happening for Lauren,
41:55
SPEAKER_00: just with how steep this field is and how deep the competition is.
41:59
SPEAKER_00: But I think on an awesome day, podiums possible.
42:01
SPEAKER_00: I think a more likely day is in that 5 through 10 range.
42:04
Next athlete is definitely capable of going top five here and
42:07
has really leveled up
42:08
SPEAKER_00: in the past two years.
42:09
SPEAKER_00: Ida Emily Robesam,
42:11
Norwegian athlete who switched her sponsorship from Hoka to
42:13
Asics this past season.
42:15
She's been quietly getting better consistently with some great
42:18
results last year,
42:18
SPEAKER_00: including seventh
42:19
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robrunsround
42:38
I think the conditions are a little bit better but I gotta
42:40
think she's fed if she
42:41
ran 10 minutes faster if it is the same course that is I think
42:45
that Ida is a really
42:46
strong pick for points and super likely to go top 10 possibly
42:49
as high as top 4 this
42:51
will be her third race at Zagama and even on her debut she ran
42:53
to top 10 so it
42:54
SPEAKER_00: feels like the Norwegians do well here and I don't think that Ida,
42:58
SPEAKER_00: Emily,
42:59
SPEAKER_00: Robesand will disappoint
43:01
Next athlete Lucille Germain,
43:03
French Skyrunning Specialist who runs for Normal.
43:05
SPEAKER_00: She's had some impressive wins at Skyrace,
43:07
SPEAKER_00: Skyrunning races last year,
43:09
SPEAKER_00: including Skyracing Mathesine,
43:10
SPEAKER_00: Mont Zerbillon,
43:11
SPEAKER_00: and Hope Koenig.
43:12
And she also got a second place at the French Short Trail
43:15
Champs last race,
43:16
last year's race.
43:18
SPEAKER_00: She had a DNF at Worlds,
43:20
SPEAKER_00: which was unfortunate,
43:22
SPEAKER_00: and she didn't race the Skyrunning World Series.
43:23
SPEAKER_00: I don't know why.
43:24
SPEAKER_00: She has raced Sagama once before in 2022 to a 16th place.
43:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure how to see about Lucille.
43:31
SPEAKER_00: I think on a good day,
43:32
SPEAKER_00: she does well in technical races,
43:35
SPEAKER_00: but didn't race in the back half of last year.
43:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm not really sure why.
43:39
SPEAKER_00: So I think on a good day out for Lucille,
43:40
SPEAKER_00: she could be in the back half of the top 10,
43:42
SPEAKER_00: maybe in like that game through 12 range.
43:45
Next athlete is a very consistently good racer at Zagama and
43:49
just a consistent
43:50
SPEAKER_00: racer in general.
43:51
SPEAKER_00: Swiss runner Therese LaBeouf, runner for Compress Sport.
43:56
SPEAKER_00: She is four
43:58
SPEAKER_00: for four on racing at Sagama.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: She's got three top five finishes,
44:01
SPEAKER_00: and her lowest finish was seventh place,
44:03
SPEAKER_00: and she's raced well in a variety of years,
44:05
SPEAKER_00: both hot and dry,
44:07
SPEAKER_00: as well as wet and cold.
44:09
SPEAKER_00: Therese LaBeouf does, like I said, have this course figured out.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: She had another great race last year,
44:15
SPEAKER_00: racing to fifth place,
44:16
SPEAKER_00: and then she also had a second place finish at IGRIN 51K.
44:59
SPEAKER_00: So I was going to say,
45:01
Therese LaBeouf had a second place at AGR51K and a seventh
45:04
place at Marathon in
45:05
SPEAKER_00: Mont Blanc.
45:06
Last year was Therese LaBeouf's fastest ever finish at Zagama
45:10
with a 4.33,
45:11
SPEAKER_00: which got her the top ten fastest times ever.
45:14
SPEAKER_00: But her highest place was in her 2023 race where she finished the third.
45:17
I think Therese is a super safe pick for the back of the top
45:20
five and a top ten
45:22
SPEAKER_00: here is in the cards for the talented and consistent Swiss runner.
45:25
SPEAKER_00: I feel like she's a very, very safe
45:27
SPEAKER_00: pick for getting you points.
45:30
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete, Yulia Font Gomez, Spanish trail runner for Brooks.
45:34
SPEAKER_00: Only race here last year led her to DNF,
45:36
SPEAKER_00: but she has the speed and the chops to run a top ten here,
45:39
SPEAKER_00: I'm confident.
45:41
Yulia has already raced to a fifth place at Chianti Marathon
45:44
this year under her
45:44
SPEAKER_00: belt,
45:45
SPEAKER_00: and last year's results included a 13th place at Sierras in all,
45:50
SPEAKER_00: fourth at Valderan,
45:51
SPEAKER_00: 50K,
45:51
SPEAKER_00: and second at Tenerife Marathon.
45:54
SPEAKER_00: I don't have her as a lock for my top ten,
45:56
but she does have the speed to be able to go five through ten
45:59
here on a good day.
46:01
SPEAKER_00: Last couple of racers to talk about,
46:02
Marta Martinez coming fresh off of two DNFs at Calamaro Sky
46:05
Race and Sky Racing
46:06
SPEAKER_00: Mathesine,
46:07
SPEAKER_00: so I'm not sure what's up with her.
46:08
SPEAKER_00: She started off the year with the third place at Calamaro Sky Race.
46:11
SPEAKER_00: Excuse me.
46:12
SPEAKER_00: I think she... No, third place at Contalados Del Norte, rather.
46:17
SPEAKER_00: Marta Martinez has run to the top ten here last year,
46:20
SPEAKER_00: and then she was third in 2024 and eighth in 2023.
46:24
SPEAKER_00: So she is no stranger to the race.
46:27
SPEAKER_00: And...
46:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
46:29
SPEAKER_00: and she's got three top 10s in a row,
46:32
SPEAKER_00: so she seems to have Zagama pretty well figured out.
46:35
The only thing that has me hesitant is her recent string of
46:37
DMFs,
46:38
two in a row.
46:40
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete,
46:40
SPEAKER_00: Elise Ponset,
46:41
SPEAKER_00: French Skyrunner for Arcteryx,
46:43
who had the Montblanc FKT until it just got broken earlier this
46:48
year by like two
46:48
SPEAKER_00: minutes,
46:49
SPEAKER_00: I want to say.
46:50
SPEAKER_00: Elise Ponset has a win this year at the Vontu 21K race recently.
46:55
SPEAKER_00: She didn't race as much last year,
46:57
only raced to a fifth-place finish at ETC and a DNF at the
47:01
French Vertical
47:01
SPEAKER_00: Kilometer Champs.
47:03
She has not raced here before,
47:05
but we've seen her have success at lots of technical sky races.
47:08
SPEAKER_00: So I think she could end up top ten on a good day.
47:10
Lack of recent races leaves me a little bit curious where she's
47:12
at though.
47:13
Last two athletes I want to mention are Lide Aguirre and she
47:16
has another last name
47:17
SPEAKER_00: that I'm not going to try.
47:18
Basque Runner with a crazy second last name that I won't even
47:22
try to pronounce.
47:23
SPEAKER_00: She is coming off sixth place at Calamaro Sky Race this year.
47:27
She has raced to a top five here as recently as 2024 and does
47:30
have the home field
47:31
advantage because she is Basque so people will be cheering for
47:34
her extra super
47:35
SPEAKER_00: duper loud.
47:36
SPEAKER_00: Last athlete I want to mention was Jade Bellsberg,
47:38
SPEAKER_00: Canadian trail runner,
47:39
SPEAKER_00: making her Zegama debut.
47:42
SPEAKER_00: The only question I have,
47:43
is she racing because she has like a bajillion pets they have
47:47
to get taken care of.
47:48
So she mostly just races in North America and rarely ventures
47:51
out to Europe.
47:52
SPEAKER_00: She did venture out last year to race the world's race.
47:55
SPEAKER_00: But I'm curious to see how she does in her debut.
48:00
SPEAKER_00: So now we finally freaking get to the point where I make some picks.
48:04
SPEAKER_00: Usual caveats, I'm 100% likely to change these.
48:06
SPEAKER_00: They're not even open right now as I'm doing this,
48:08
SPEAKER_00: so I just wrote down who I think is going to go top five.
48:11
SPEAKER_00: But first caveat,
48:12
I'm very likely to change these and move these around a ton in
48:14
the next five days.
48:16
SPEAKER_00: Second caveat,
48:16
I'm just picking people who I think are not likely to DNF and
48:19
who I think have a
48:20
SPEAKER_00: very strong chance of going top ten,
48:21
SPEAKER_00: so therefore they get you points.
48:23
SPEAKER_00: And then the
48:26
Third caveat is make sure you look at your picks and refresh
48:30
the page and look at
48:31
SPEAKER_00: how long the race is open.
48:34
SPEAKER_00: The race is going to take place on Sunday morning.
48:35
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what time,
48:37
but make sure you check your picks a few hours before or even
48:39
the day before to
48:41
make sure none of them dropped out of the race because there
48:43
are some people that
48:43
SPEAKER_00: are maybe going to get scratched off the list.
48:45
I know some people on the men's side that I'm going to talk
48:47
about that aren't going
48:47
SPEAKER_00: to race,
48:48
SPEAKER_00: but keep an eye on your picks and see if anyone dropped last minute.
48:51
So that's my advice to you We'll go 5th through 1st place And
48:55
I'm also going to
48:56
give you some people Who I think are likely to get points And
48:59
that I would consider
48:59
substituting in my top 5 5th place I got Ida Emily Robesam the
49:05
Norwegian Moving up
49:07
another few spots From her 7th place last year She is on a
49:11
heater She's on the up
49:13
and up in the trail scene 4th place I got Malinosa Basque home
49:16
field advantage
49:17
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't miss here Gamer Has a good day out there
49:21
Third place,
49:21
I'm going to go Judith Weider,
49:23
although I'm tempted to put Judith in second.
49:25
SPEAKER_00: It's a toss-up between Sara and Judith.
49:27
SPEAKER_00: Sara did take the edge last year.
49:29
She does look super-duper fit this year,
49:32
so that's the only reason I'm giving her the edge.
49:34
SPEAKER_00: But I think Judith, with how well she raced her debut last year, could
49:39
SPEAKER_00: LeapFrog with Sara.
49:39
SPEAKER_00: So third place, Judith.
49:41
SPEAKER_00: Second place, Sara Alonzo.
49:42
SPEAKER_00: First place, I got to go Tove Alexanderson.
49:44
Until I see her beat,
49:45
she's going to be the winner for any race that I see her race
49:48
in.
49:48
SPEAKER_00: Tove Alexanderson, your queen.
49:50
SPEAKER_00: People that I'd consider substituting in the top five,
49:53
SPEAKER_00: Therese LaBeouf hasn't missed here,
49:55
SPEAKER_00: never gone lower than seventh place.
49:57
SPEAKER_00: Lauren Gregory making her debut,
49:59
SPEAKER_00: but I'm kind of bullish on her doing really well here in her debut.
50:03
SPEAKER_00: I think she's going to race it smart and make moves in the back half.
50:07
SPEAKER_00: Fabiola Conti,
50:08
I didn't realize she was in this field until I was talking
50:11
about her earlier,
50:12
SPEAKER_00: and that's what you heard me typing.
50:13
I think she's got a really good shot at going top ten here,
50:17
probably in the top five.
50:18
She's got this weird mix of just speed,
50:20
but also really good on technical stuff.
50:22
SPEAKER_00: So last one I think is Lide Aguirre, race year 2024 to top five.
50:28
SPEAKER_00: She's bass, she's got that home field advantage.
50:30
SPEAKER_00: I think she could do pretty well here with another top ten.
50:33
SPEAKER_00: So those are my picks.
50:35
SPEAKER_00: All right, we got to the men's side, 50 minutes into this podcast.
50:38
SPEAKER_00: Finally talking about the men's side, storylines identified.
50:42
SPEAKER_00: Killian is returning,
50:43
SPEAKER_00: which means in this year's field,
50:45
SPEAKER_00: we have four previous Zagama winners in the field.
50:48
SPEAKER_00: Maynard Marias, Killian Jornet, Remy Benet, and Elazine Elazawi.
50:53
And we've got the owners of eight of the 10 fastest times in
50:57
Zagama's race history
50:59
SPEAKER_00: lining up and racing this year.
51:01
SPEAKER_00: So that's also kind of crazy.
51:02
SPEAKER_00: On the women's side, I think it was only
51:05
All right,
51:06
so storylines identified as well is...
51:13
All right,
51:14
let me see where I'm at.
51:16
Is this the year that Elozine finally becomes the Jedi Master
51:21
and gets the
51:21
SPEAKER_00: head-to-head edge on Killian as Killian is aging?
51:25
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about head-to-head matchups,
51:27
SPEAKER_00: but basically the four big people that I see,
51:30
SPEAKER_00: I got five favorites in this race,
51:32
SPEAKER_00: the four that I just mentioned that have won the race before,
51:35
SPEAKER_00: and then one extra who has the second fastest time,
51:39
SPEAKER_00: third fastest time ever on the race course,
51:40
SPEAKER_00: but second fastest time behind only Killian Jornet,
51:45
SPEAKER_00: and that's Davide Magnini.
51:46
SPEAKER_00: I think these five guys are your favorites, Manu Marius, Killian Jornet,
51:50
SPEAKER_00: Remy Bonet, Elzine Elzali, and Davide Magnini.
51:53
SPEAKER_00: I think I said him twice, but either way, I think those guys.
51:56
SPEAKER_00: And we're going to talk about the head-to-head matchups between them,
51:59
SPEAKER_00: and it will illustrate how dominant Killian is.
52:02
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of crazy.
52:03
SPEAKER_00: So does Elzine finally have the edge on Killian?
52:06
SPEAKER_00: Manderbrias is in immaculate form.
52:09
SPEAKER_00: Can he make a legit run to win here?
52:12
SPEAKER_00: I say he's never beat Killian at Zagama.
52:14
SPEAKER_00: He did beat him at the 2015 Zagama,
52:15
SPEAKER_00: the one where he's sick,
52:17
SPEAKER_00: but he's really just never beat Killian
52:19
SPEAKER_00: like head-to-head, except for that one Zagama.
52:23
SPEAKER_00: But he's looking in really, really amazing shape this year.
52:24
SPEAKER_00: So can he make a legit run here as well?
52:27
SPEAKER_00: So that's another question I have.
52:29
My other question is,
52:30
how does Remy Benet fare coming off of a fall in his last race?
52:33
SPEAKER_00: Remy Benet did his race in Vaughn 250K.
52:36
He didn't have his best day,
52:37
and he hasn't had his best day on longer,
52:38
more technical races.
52:39
SPEAKER_00: We've seen him drop out of OCC before for banging up his knee.
52:42
SPEAKER_00: So how does he fare if it's going to be a sloppy day out there?
52:47
And he's also just kind of seemed to struggle coming off ski
52:49
season and racing
52:50
SPEAKER_00: early season races these past few years.
52:53
SPEAKER_00: Other observations,
52:54
we have both of the World Long Trail silver medalists from
52:57
France in the mix,
52:58
SPEAKER_00: Benjamin Roubault and Louis-Anne Coffey.
53:02
And then we have an exciting debut,
53:03
Zagama,
53:04
for the US runner,
53:06
Taylor Stack.
53:08
SPEAKER_00: Like I mentioned earlier,
53:09
SPEAKER_00: 24 of the runners have above a 900 ITRA index,
53:12
SPEAKER_00: which is wacky,
53:13
SPEAKER_00: tabacky,
53:13
SPEAKER_00: absolutely.
53:14
SPEAKER_00: Last year's results, we'll talk about those first.
53:16
SPEAKER_00: 20, 25 results.
53:17
SPEAKER_00: Last year we had Elzeen Elizali with a win.
53:20
SPEAKER_00: Second place, Andru Blani's rig from Spain came out.
53:23
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Rob
53:44
SPEAKER_00: Fourth place, Luca Delpero.
53:46
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, he won't be racing this year.
53:47
SPEAKER_00: He is on the lineup, but he will be a scratch.
53:50
SPEAKER_00: Fifth place, Lorenzo Beltrami is going to be racing this year.
53:54
SPEAKER_00: Sixth place, Tamar Cardin from France in his debut, Zagama.
53:58
SPEAKER_00: Seventh place, Antonio Martinez Perez.
54:00
SPEAKER_00: Eighth place, Nico Molina.
54:02
SPEAKER_00: Ninth place, Sian Ongermund.
54:04
SPEAKER_00: And tenth place, Marcin Kubitschka.
54:07
SPEAKER_00: So,
54:08
SPEAKER_00: uh,
54:08
SPEAKER_00: like we mentioned,
54:09
so last year actually Elousine was a little bit different than
54:12
what we talked about
54:12
SPEAKER_00: in the article.
54:13
SPEAKER_00: He did not make his move until around 30 kilometers into the race,
54:16
SPEAKER_00: so he only had,
54:17
SPEAKER_00: what,
54:17
SPEAKER_00: about seven or eight miles left,
54:19
SPEAKER_00: and he made it on the climb up to Andrates,
54:23
SPEAKER_00: and he put in a heinous move,
54:24
SPEAKER_00: like I said,
54:24
SPEAKER_00: on the descent to,
54:26
SPEAKER_00: uh,
54:26
SPEAKER_00: put that seven-minute gap on Andru Blane's rig,
54:29
SPEAKER_00: which is crazy.
54:30
SPEAKER_00: Like I mentioned, for last year's race, I did pick
54:34
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround
54:52
SPEAKER_00: Like kind of like 11 through 15 pack, but that's kind of his MO.
54:56
SPEAKER_00: He's not known for being the best climber.
54:58
SPEAKER_00: He's a world-class descender.
54:59
And I was really thinking he's done this a lot at Sagama where
55:02
he comes from way
55:04
SPEAKER_00: far behind and makes up a ton of places on the last descent.
55:07
SPEAKER_00: And last year,
55:08
SPEAKER_00: he just kind of fell apart at the race,
55:09
SPEAKER_00: at the end of the race,
55:10
SPEAKER_00: which we really don't see.
55:11
SPEAKER_00: And we'll talk about that in a little bit too.
55:12
SPEAKER_00: All right.
55:14
SPEAKER_00: So...
55:17
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround
55:28
SPEAKER_00: The winners have got to come from one of these five people,
55:30
SPEAKER_00: but really probably one of these three people.
55:32
SPEAKER_00: And then the rest are kind of fighting for a podium on a really good day,
55:36
SPEAKER_00: but really just like a top five.
55:37
SPEAKER_00: We're kind of fighting for scraps, honestly.
55:39
SPEAKER_00: So we talked about Killian Jernay,
55:41
SPEAKER_00: Elzin Elzawi,
55:42
SPEAKER_00: Remy Benet,
55:42
SPEAKER_00: Manu Marius,
55:43
SPEAKER_00: and Davide Magnini is going to be up there too.
55:45
SPEAKER_00: He has not won the race before,
55:47
SPEAKER_00: but he's got the second fastest time,
55:49
SPEAKER_00: second fastest,
55:50
SPEAKER_00: third fastest time.
55:51
SPEAKER_00: Result ever, second fastest time behind Killian's two times ever.
55:55
All right,
55:56
so let's talk about how this group has fared head-to-head
56:00
against Killian Jornay.
56:01
SPEAKER_00: So he's faced those four other guys head-to-head a combined 37 times.
56:08
SPEAKER_00: And my question for you,
56:09
do you have any idea how many times he's been beat in those 37
56:12
head-to-head
56:13
SPEAKER_00: matches?
56:14
SPEAKER_00: The answer to that question would be three times total.
56:18
SPEAKER_00: One of them
56:20
SPEAKER_00: Was in the same race,
56:21
so Remy Binet and Davide Magnini both beat Killian and 2018
56:24
Limon Extreme.
56:26
I have no idea what 2018 Killian was doing or if he raced the
56:29
week before or
56:30
SPEAKER_00: whatever,
56:31
or maybe he just had a bad day where humans were allowed to
56:32
have bad days.
56:33
Killian almost never does,
56:34
but two of the wins come from that one result at that one race.
56:39
And then the only other time he was beat was that time in 2015
56:43
at Zagama when Manu
56:44
Marias beat him because he showed up coming back from Nepal
56:48
with a stomach virus.
56:50
Elzeen has raced Killian four times and has never beat him
56:53
head-to-head ever.
56:55
So Killian's level of dominance is absolutely insane
56:57
considering how it basically
56:59
looks like he had two bad races that were his only losses in
57:03
35-plus matchups with
57:04
SPEAKER_00: four of the best,
57:06
SPEAKER_00: most world-class trail runners,
57:08
SPEAKER_00: which is insane.
57:09
SPEAKER_00: All right, the big five.
57:11
SPEAKER_00: First one we're going to talk about is the GOAT himself, Killian Jornet.
57:14
SPEAKER_00: No introduction needed.
57:16
He's got to be a favorite,
57:17
first ballot Hall of Famer,
57:18
and he's the master of this race.
57:20
SPEAKER_00: If you're not picking him to win, then I don't know what you're doing.
57:22
I'm not saying he's 100% going to win,
57:25
but I'm just saying if you don't think
57:26
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robb
57:46
SPEAKER_00: I haven't seen a lot of specific to Zagama training,
57:49
but if there's anyone that I'm not worried about getting
57:51
prepared for Zagama,
57:52
SPEAKER_00: it's the guy who's won it 11 times.
57:54
SPEAKER_00: He knows exactly what it takes to win here.
57:57
He knows his body so well that you've got to think that Killian
58:00
is dialed into this effort.
58:02
SPEAKER_00: Plus,
58:03
SPEAKER_00: most importantly,
58:04
SPEAKER_00: and what I think is the scariest thing for Killian,
58:06
SPEAKER_00: is that he is motivated and excited by his race goals this year.
58:11
And it seems like that's the first time he's really been
58:12
excited to race for at
58:14
SPEAKER_00: least a couple of years,
58:15
SPEAKER_00: like maybe since 23,
58:16
SPEAKER_00: if I had to guess,
58:17
SPEAKER_00: or 22 when he won UCMB.
58:18
SPEAKER_00: Like, he is excited.
58:20
SPEAKER_00: He's hungry because he did not win Western States last year.
58:23
SPEAKER_00: And he's excited to kind of put two and two together.
58:25
SPEAKER_00: We've seen him win Zagama and Sierra Zanal.
58:28
SPEAKER_00: I think
58:30
in 24 he did both but he didn't do any Western or UTMB and then
58:34
we've seen him when
58:36
SPEAKER_00: UTMB in 22 and now he's trying to put that all together and when Zagama,
58:40
SPEAKER_00: Western,
58:41
UTMB and Sears and all excuse me Sears and all then UTMB so
58:45
he's excited like he
58:46
really seems like he's stoked on racing and I can't see myself
58:50
betting against him
58:53
SPEAKER_00: but with that being said he is he's going
58:56
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Rob
59:11
SPEAKER_00: Robrux
59:26
SPEAKER_00: I think this year it's looking wet,
59:29
SPEAKER_00: but if we were to see a course record go down,
59:31
SPEAKER_00: we saw Killian almost break his own course record in a wet year,
59:34
SPEAKER_00: and it took a guy like Elzeen to push him to that brink.
59:37
SPEAKER_00: I think we could see it again this year.
59:38
SPEAKER_00: I definitely think the men's course record is on watch.
59:41
SPEAKER_00: I don't think the women's course record is on watch.
59:42
SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't know.
59:44
SPEAKER_00: Tobey,
59:46
SPEAKER_00: I think Tobey actually,
59:46
SPEAKER_00: now that I think about it,
59:47
with Tobey being in this field and just how much she
59:49
obliterated the women's course
59:50
SPEAKER_00: last year,
59:51
SPEAKER_00: if somebody could get close to Ninkah's time,
59:53
SPEAKER_00: I think it would be Tobey.
59:55
SPEAKER_00: I think we're on course record watch for both fields.
59:58
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete to talk about,
59:59
SPEAKER_00: Olazine Elizali,
1:00:00
SPEAKER_00: the back-to-back Golden Trail World Series champion,
1:00:02
SPEAKER_00: Moroccan,
1:00:03
SPEAKER_00: flying camel,
1:00:04
SPEAKER_00: runs for Killian's company,
1:00:06
SPEAKER_00: normal,
1:00:07
SPEAKER_00: returning champion from last year who raced,
1:00:09
returning champion of Zagama from last year who raced last
1:00:11
year's race like a pro,
1:00:13
SPEAKER_00: didn't make that move until 30k.
1:00:16
SPEAKER_00: What's there to say about him?
1:00:17
SPEAKER_00: We've seen him run extremely well every time he's run here.
1:00:20
SPEAKER_00: This is a race that suits him.
1:00:22
SPEAKER_00: It's technical.
1:00:23
SPEAKER_00: It's got really steep down.
1:00:25
SPEAKER_00: Not really steep, but he just is a master of the downhill.
1:00:27
SPEAKER_00: He's one of the best downhill runners in the game up there with Killian.
1:00:31
SPEAKER_00: And he just hasn't missed here.
1:00:32
SPEAKER_00: So he had a fourth place in his debut in 2022,
1:00:36
where I think he just kind of stuck on Stian Angerbund if he
1:00:40
raced that year,
1:00:40
SPEAKER_00: if I'm not mistaken.
1:00:41
SPEAKER_00: I just kind of raced it behind him.
1:00:43
SPEAKER_00: Second place in both 2023 and 2024.
1:00:46
So he had been the runner-up to Manu Marius in 2023 and Killian
1:00:49
Jornet in 2024.
1:00:50
SPEAKER_00: Then he finally won it last year.
1:00:51
I think if you're gonna go against Killian,
1:00:53
you probably gotta go Elozine.
1:00:56
SPEAKER_00: But I don't know that I'm going against Killian.
1:00:59
Next athlete is Remy Benet,
1:01:01
a previous Golden Trail World Series champion as well.
1:01:03
SPEAKER_00: He's also a previous Zagama champion,
1:01:06
SPEAKER_00: and he's the winner of,
1:01:07
SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
1:01:07
SPEAKER_00: a bajillion Ski Mill World Cups,
1:01:09
SPEAKER_00: both individual and uphill,
1:01:10
and I think he was undefeated again this year for his third
1:01:13
year in a row.
1:01:14
SPEAKER_00: So you've got to believe the fitness is there for Remy Benet.
1:01:17
SPEAKER_00: He did win Zagama in 2018, a year that Killian didn't race.
1:01:21
We haven't seen him race Zagama since 2023 due to a combination
1:01:24
of either injuries
1:01:26
SPEAKER_00: or Schemo or just starting his race season later.
1:01:29
SPEAKER_00: He hasn't really raced well in early season races.
1:01:32
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Rob
1:01:47
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround
1:02:05
Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround
1:02:06
Robrunsround Robrunsround
1:02:08
Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround
1:02:11
Robrunsround Robrunsround
1:02:11
Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround
1:02:13
Robrunsround Robrunsround
1:02:14
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Rob
1:02:25
SPEAKER_00: I know the year that he won was super sloppy,
1:02:27
SPEAKER_00: I do understand that,
1:02:29
but there's no killing in and we haven't seen great outcomes
1:02:31
from Remy on super
1:02:33
SPEAKER_00: technical courses of late.
1:02:35
SPEAKER_00: So I'm a little hesitant to pick Remy.
1:02:37
SPEAKER_00: I don't like to doubt the GOAT,
1:02:39
but I also just haven't seen him race a good race on a
1:02:41
technical race recently and
1:02:43
SPEAKER_00: he has been kind of up and down.
1:02:45
SPEAKER_00: So, next athlete, if you guys listen to the show, you know that I love
1:02:50
SPEAKER_00: Manu Marias.
1:02:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm very biased.
1:02:52
SPEAKER_00: I like Manu Marias a ton.
1:02:54
SPEAKER_00: Spanish athlete for New Balance, long-time runner for Scarpa.
1:02:59
SPEAKER_00: Last year in my podcast,
1:03:01
SPEAKER_00: when I was doing the preview,
1:03:02
SPEAKER_00: I said death,
1:03:03
SPEAKER_00: taxes,
1:03:03
SPEAKER_00: and a top 10 at Zagama.
1:03:05
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robrunsround
1:03:22
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround
1:03:42
SPEAKER_00: More or less, maybe even eight months.
1:03:45
SPEAKER_00: So Manu has eight finishes at Zagama.
1:03:47
SPEAKER_00: All of them were in the top seven until last year.
1:03:51
So basically,
1:03:52
it was pretty much a walk for him to go top seven until last
1:03:55
year.
1:03:55
SPEAKER_00: Obviously,
1:03:56
SPEAKER_00: the past does not always predict future results,
1:03:59
SPEAKER_00: but I felt very safe about picking Manu last year,
1:04:01
SPEAKER_00: only for him to blow up in the back half of the race.
1:04:05
SPEAKER_00: And then he's got five results in the top five.
1:04:07
SPEAKER_00: So like I said,
1:04:07
SPEAKER_00: everything until this time was top seven,
1:04:09
SPEAKER_00: five of those in the top five,
1:04:10
SPEAKER_00: including he won the 2023 edition.
1:04:12
SPEAKER_00: Mando Reyes, like I said, he's in prime shape this year.
1:04:15
SPEAKER_00: He's already got two Skyrunning World Series wins under his belt.
1:04:19
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround
1:04:34
SPEAKER_00: Robru is even more fit than last year.
1:04:36
SPEAKER_00: He didn't win those sky races last year.
1:04:39
And he just feels like he's figured out whatever was going on
1:04:42
with him health-wise
1:04:42
SPEAKER_00: at the beginning half of last year.
1:04:44
SPEAKER_00: As I look at the forecast,
1:04:46
I know he's going to be an athlete that is best suited to
1:04:49
anyone other than maybe
1:04:50
SPEAKER_00: Killian and possibly Elozine to thrive in the mud.
1:04:54
SPEAKER_00: He prays for that rain to come every year.
1:04:56
SPEAKER_00: He loves the weather here at Zagama more than anyone.
1:04:59
SPEAKER_00: The more sloppy and
1:05:02
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Rob
1:05:20
SPEAKER_00: Last athlete I had in the Fade Five, Davide Magnini, Italian.
1:05:23
And like I said,
1:05:24
you're probably wondering,
1:05:24
all these other guys are past champions.
1:05:26
SPEAKER_00: It's obvious.
1:05:27
SPEAKER_00: It makes sense you pick them.
1:05:28
SPEAKER_00: Why did you pick Davide Magnini?
1:05:30
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, he's got the second fastest time ever, 338.
1:05:34
He pushed Killian to his course record to the brink on a hot
1:05:38
day in a 2022 dry year.
1:05:38
SPEAKER_00: And I think...
1:05:42
SPEAKER_00: We wouldn't have that course record without Davide.
1:05:45
SPEAKER_00: He was on Killian's tail the whole race.
1:05:47
SPEAKER_00: If you watch that 2022 Zagama recap on Golden Trail World Series,
1:05:50
SPEAKER_00: he was on them like white on rice.
1:05:53
SPEAKER_00: It was just all over him.
1:05:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Davide, he's had a rocky past few years.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what the injury is.
1:06:01
SPEAKER_00: I feel like it's something in his hip, I want to say.
1:06:04
But he really had a huge bounce back last year after kind of
1:06:07
like two-ish years of
1:06:08
SPEAKER_00: injury problems.
1:06:09
Wins last year at Gilles de Mont and Marathon de Montblanc,
1:06:13
which was awesome to see him win.
1:06:15
And then he got an eighth place at Worlds,
1:06:16
Short Trail Champs,
1:06:18
coming off of,
1:06:19
I think,
1:06:19
a D&S.
1:06:20
I think he did not start OCC,
1:06:22
but originally he was supposed to be on that start list.
1:06:24
On a good day,
1:06:25
Davide Magnini is 100% in the class of the rest of these guys.
1:06:29
SPEAKER_00: I know his ITRA index is a little bit down there compared to these guys.
1:06:34
We've only seen him race Zagama once,
1:06:36
but it was the second fastest time ever.
1:06:38
So my only hesitation with Davide is that he is coming off ski
1:06:42
season and how does
1:06:44
he fare in a wet Zagama because his only race at Zagama was in
1:06:48
a dry year.
1:06:50
SPEAKER_00: So
1:06:53
SPEAKER_00: That is my pick.
1:07:01
SPEAKER_00: Or those are my favorites, sorry.
1:07:02
SPEAKER_00: And sorry, I was looking at where I had Davide picked.
1:07:06
SPEAKER_00: So, alright.
1:07:09
SPEAKER_00: Now we're going to talk about the rest of these guys,
1:07:10
SPEAKER_00: fighting for a top ten and potentially a top five on a really good day.
1:07:13
SPEAKER_00: Daniel Pattis, Italian runner for Brooks.
1:07:17
He ran into a third place here last year and a really,
1:07:20
really good result.
1:07:21
SPEAKER_00: He's the highest finishing runner from last year besides Elozine.
1:07:26
He was in a battle for that win and just kind of ended up in
1:07:28
the back of the mix,
1:07:29
but he was ahead of Andre Blanes and I think even leading the
1:07:32
race at some point as
1:07:33
SPEAKER_00: well.
1:07:34
SPEAKER_00: Definitely was in front of Elozine for a good part of it.
1:07:36
SPEAKER_00: Daniel Pattis has already picked up right where he left off last season.
1:07:39
He's got second place,
1:07:41
a minute and a half behind Francesco Pupia at Chianti Marathon.
1:07:44
SPEAKER_00: And he has a win at Innsbruck Alpine Trail Fest two weeks ago.
1:07:47
SPEAKER_00: And he beat Richard Amaya Atua, the Kenyan, and Philmon Kiriago.
1:07:51
SPEAKER_00: So all signs point to Daniel being in really good shape.
1:07:55
SPEAKER_00: This will be his third time racing here.
1:07:57
SPEAKER_00: He raced to a 15th place in 2023 and a third place last year.
1:08:01
SPEAKER_00: I think Daniel's a strong pick for top ten,
1:08:02
SPEAKER_00: possibly even top five,
1:08:04
SPEAKER_00: and he looks already off to a great start this year.
1:08:07
SPEAKER_00: The next two guys I'm probably the most curious about,
1:08:09
SPEAKER_00: and I don't know how to pick,
1:08:11
SPEAKER_00: Louis-Anne Colfette and Benjamin Roubault.
1:08:13
SPEAKER_00: Both of them were the co-silver medalist finishers from last year.
1:08:17
SPEAKER_00: I think I feel better about Benjamin Roubault.
1:08:19
SPEAKER_00: He did just race Sky Raced in Mazine to a fifth place,
1:08:22
SPEAKER_00: and he does do pretty well in technical shorter races.
1:08:25
SPEAKER_00: He also raced to a second place
1:08:30
SPEAKER_00: Second place at the French Short Trail Champs earlier this year,
1:08:34
SPEAKER_00: so it seems like he's sharp,
1:08:35
SPEAKER_00: it seems like he's fast,
1:08:36
SPEAKER_00: it seems like he's fit.
1:08:38
SPEAKER_00: Benjamin Rubal has not raced Zagama,
1:08:40
so that's the biggest variable that I don't know where to slot
1:08:42
him in here,
1:08:42
whereas Louis-Anne-Coffette has raced Zagama in 2024 to 20th
1:08:46
place on a white gear.
1:08:49
Louis-Anne-Coffette hasn't raced since Worlds last year from
1:08:51
what I can tell,
1:08:52
so I don't know
1:08:53
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround
1:09:14
SPEAKER_00: I think if I had to pick one in the top ten, I'd go Benjamin Rubal.
1:09:16
SPEAKER_00: I don't know that I'd pick both.
1:09:18
SPEAKER_00: Next two guys, unfortunately, are not going to be starting the race.
1:09:20
SPEAKER_00: Sylvain Cachard,
1:09:21
SPEAKER_00: from what I can tell,
1:09:22
I think he's injured and just doing bike and just got back to
1:09:25
running pretty
1:09:27
SPEAKER_00: recently,
1:09:27
SPEAKER_00: so I don't know that he'll be racing.
1:09:29
And Luca Delpero,
1:09:30
I believe,
1:09:30
is also injured again,
1:09:32
sadly,
1:09:33
so expect those guys to scratch.
1:09:35
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete,
1:09:36
SPEAKER_00: Roberto De La Renze,
1:09:37
Swiss short trail specialist who has had a ton of success at
1:09:41
any races shorter than
1:09:43
SPEAKER_00: 60 kilometers these past few years.
1:09:47
SPEAKER_00: And he had a bit of a down year last year compared to his 2024 season.
1:09:52
SPEAKER_00: So far this year,
1:09:53
Roberto has raced to a win at the Istria 42K in Croatia and a
1:09:58
third place at the
1:09:58
SPEAKER_00: Swiss up-down champs behind Adrian Brefoge.
1:10:03
SPEAKER_00: Roberto has raced twice before here and has not found success.
1:10:07
SPEAKER_00: In 2022, he got 29th place and he DNFed last year's edition.
1:10:12
SPEAKER_00: Roberto definitely has the pedigree to go top 10 here,
1:10:15
SPEAKER_00: but I don't know which Roberto we're going to get this year.
1:10:18
SPEAKER_00: Right now, he looks fit, but we haven't seen him in a deep, deep race.
1:10:21
SPEAKER_00: So this might be the first test where you get to see that.
1:10:25
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is an Italian Gianluco Gianno,
1:10:28
SPEAKER_00: also an Italian trail owner for Brooks Skyrunning Specialist.
1:10:31
He won Mont Zerbion and Mount Canabalu Climathon last year to
1:10:36
go with top five at a
1:10:37
SPEAKER_00: ton of other sky races that were competitive.
1:10:40
His only race at Zagama was in 2022 to DMF,
1:10:42
but he is a much better runner since 2022.
1:10:46
SPEAKER_00: He's also raced a few times this year,
1:10:47
once to a second place behind Daniel Pattis at a trail marathon
1:10:51
and recently to a
1:10:52
SPEAKER_00: win at Istria 69K a month ago.
1:10:56
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is Taylor Stack.
1:10:57
SPEAKER_00: He is somebody I'm very excited about.
1:11:00
I think between him and Lauren Gregory,
1:11:01
we probably will see both of them in the top 10.
1:11:06
I'm probably feeling a little bit more bullish on Lauren going
1:11:08
top 10 than Taylor,
1:11:09
SPEAKER_00: but I think Taylor could have a good debut with Zagama.
1:11:12
He was the top finishing American on the Golden Trail World
1:11:15
Series circuit last year.
1:11:17
Ended the season in a fourth place overall in the rankings for
1:11:19
Golden Trail World Series.
1:11:21
And that's the best we've seen from an American male athlete in
1:11:24
quite some time.
1:11:26
Taylor Stack was the top American at his debut Sierra Sinal
1:11:30
last year with a
1:11:30
SPEAKER_00: 12-place finish,
1:11:31
SPEAKER_00: and he also raced to a third place at the Pete's Alpine Glacier race in
1:11:36
SPEAKER_00: in Austria,
1:11:37
and a fourth place at the Golden Trail World Series Final to go
1:11:41
along with 12th at
1:11:42
SPEAKER_00: the World's Classic Distance,
1:11:44
SPEAKER_00: and sixth place at Broken Arrow 23K.
1:11:46
SPEAKER_00: Taylor Stack,
1:11:47
SPEAKER_00: like I said,
1:11:47
SPEAKER_00: debuts Agama,
1:11:48
SPEAKER_00: which is a really big thing to consider,
1:11:50
but he did do very well in a sloppy race at Pete's Alpine
1:11:53
Glacier last year that
1:11:55
SPEAKER_00: was kind of cold and temperate and just technical,
1:11:59
SPEAKER_00: really.
1:11:59
SPEAKER_00: So I think he could surprise some people in the top 10 in his debut race.
1:12:03
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete, a few more Spaniards to talk about.
1:12:06
SPEAKER_00: Antonio Martinez Perez,
1:12:08
SPEAKER_00: trail runner for ASICS Trail and another guy that's a really,
1:12:12
SPEAKER_00: really strong runner below 60K.
1:12:14
SPEAKER_00: He's a multiple time podium finisher at OCC.
1:12:17
SPEAKER_00: He has raced already once this year to win,
1:12:20
SPEAKER_00: or twice this year,
1:12:21
SPEAKER_00: once to a win at Trans-Grand Canary Marathon.
1:12:24
SPEAKER_00: And he also got second place in a Spanish Trail Marathon behind
1:12:29
SPEAKER_00: Online Santa Maria Blanco we'll talk about next.
1:12:31
SPEAKER_00: Antonio Martinez Perez,
1:12:33
SPEAKER_00: despite him being,
1:12:34
SPEAKER_00: excuse me,
1:12:35
he has lined up at Zagama twice before he went 13th place
1:12:38
finish in 2022 and a 7th
1:12:40
SPEAKER_00: place finish last year.
1:12:42
I think he's a really really strong pick for top 10 so for
1:12:46
points despite him being
1:12:48
farther down and us talking about him I think he's a very
1:12:51
consistent racer he raced
1:12:53
both races well here and I think he's very very likely to go
1:12:56
top 10 probably going
1:12:57
to be somewhere in that four through eight range but I think
1:12:59
he'd be a great pick
1:13:00
SPEAKER_00: that is very likely to do well here
1:13:03
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is Alon Santamaria Blanco.
1:13:05
He is somebody who's looking super fit this year but hasn't had
1:13:08
the results of
1:13:08
SPEAKER_00: Zagama that Antonio Martinez Perez,
1:13:10
but he has beat Antonio Martinez Perez at a race head-to-head
1:13:14
this year by a good
1:13:14
SPEAKER_00: margin.
1:13:15
SPEAKER_00: So I gotta think he's super fit.
1:13:17
SPEAKER_00: He runs for X Bionic.
1:13:19
And he did just win the Spanish Vertical Kilometer Champs about
1:13:22
two weeks before
1:13:23
SPEAKER_00: this,
1:13:24
SPEAKER_00: or before racing Zagama.
1:13:25
And he also won the Kimobi Marathon and a course record
1:13:29
finishing eight minutes in
1:13:30
SPEAKER_00: front of Antonio Martinez Perez in about a three and a half hour race.
1:13:33
SPEAKER_00: So all indications are that Alon is super fit.
1:13:37
He also ran to third place at Consolatos Del Norte,
1:13:40
just behind Fred and Manu Marias.
1:13:42
SPEAKER_00: But he has not raced well at Zagama before.
1:13:47
SPEAKER_00: He has raced three times and he went from 52nd place to 28th place to,
1:13:52
SPEAKER_00: I guess he did get 8th place in 2024,
1:13:55
SPEAKER_00: but then he had a DNF last year.
1:13:56
SPEAKER_00: So Alon Santamario Blanco definitely fit enough to go top 10,
1:14:00
SPEAKER_00: but the big question is how he handles a wet and sloppy year.
1:14:03
And if he,
1:14:05
yeah,
1:14:06
if he continues to carry that fitness into such a technical
1:14:10
race.
1:14:11
Next athlete has been a really,
1:14:12
really consistent Zagama finisher,
1:14:15
Robert Kamoi.
1:14:16
SPEAKER_00: He's a Kenyan racer.
1:14:17
SPEAKER_00: We don't see a lot of Kenyans race at Zagama.
1:14:20
I don't know if that's just because it's a more technical race
1:14:24
or what is keeping
1:14:25
SPEAKER_00: them run together,
1:14:26
SPEAKER_00: whoever doesn't go there.
1:14:28
SPEAKER_00: But Robert Kamoi has been really consistent at Zagama.
1:14:30
SPEAKER_00: He's run here three years.
1:14:37
SPEAKER_00: And in those three years,
1:14:38
Robert Kamoy has never raced slower than a three hour and 15
1:14:41
minute finish.
1:14:42
SPEAKER_00: And two of those three years were wet years.
1:14:44
SPEAKER_00: So 2023 when Manu won and 24 when Killian won his last race.
1:14:48
SPEAKER_00: And then he's finished fifth year twice and sixth one.
1:14:50
SPEAKER_00: So he's never finished lower than sixth place.
1:14:52
And all of his finishes were between three hours and 48 minutes
1:14:56
and three hours and 15 minutes.
1:14:57
So he's remarkably consistent and has run here on different
1:15:01
types of race years.
1:15:03
SPEAKER_00: Robert Kamoi did not race much last year,
1:15:05
SPEAKER_00: which is the only reason I would be a little hesitant to pick him.
1:15:08
SPEAKER_00: But he hasn't missed in three attempts.
1:15:10
SPEAKER_00: His only races last year were second at Trans Grand Canada Marathon,
1:15:13
where he got passed by Francesco Pupi right at the very end of
1:15:16
the race and ended
1:15:17
SPEAKER_00: up being a super tight battle.
1:15:20
And then he also raced the El Cruze race in Argentina last year
1:15:24
at the end of the year.
1:15:26
But it looks like he got pneumonia in the middle of the season
1:15:29
and was knocked out
1:15:29
SPEAKER_00: racing for a bit.
1:15:30
So I think that's why we did see him race and hopefully he's
1:15:35
bounced back away from
1:15:37
SPEAKER_00: that piece of pneumonia.
1:15:41
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is another Italian trail runner for Scarpa.
1:15:45
SPEAKER_00: That's going to be Lorenzo Beltrami.
1:15:47
And he impressed me with a super tight pack of 4th through 7th
1:15:52
place finishes last year.
1:15:54
SPEAKER_00: Here ending up in 5th just behind his Italian teammate Luca Delpero.
1:15:57
SPEAKER_00: So 4 through 7 were separated I think by 2 minutes or something.
1:16:01
SPEAKER_00: Last year was Lorenzo Beltrami's Zagama debut,
1:16:04
which makes it even more impressive coming out of 5th place on
1:16:07
your first Zagama.
1:16:08
SPEAKER_00: So far,
1:16:08
he's finished 2nd this year to Roberto De Lorenze in Istria 42K
1:16:13
and 3rd at Anderson
1:16:14
SPEAKER_00: Trail Marathon behind Daniel Pattis and GM Lucogiano.
1:16:18
SPEAKER_00: Lorenzo likes technical races,
1:16:20
SPEAKER_00: and this type of course suits him,
1:16:21
SPEAKER_00: so I wouldn't be surprised to see him
1:16:23
Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround
1:16:26
Robrunsround Robrunsround
1:16:27
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Robrunsround Rob
1:16:46
I don't know if he'll have a good debut,
1:16:47
but he's definitely one to watch.
1:16:49
SPEAKER_00: Another one to watch is another Kenyan runner, Ezekiel Arrudo.
1:16:52
SPEAKER_00: Always got to watch out for them,
1:16:53
especially when they have multiple top fives at Marathon of
1:16:56
Mont Blanc under their
1:16:57
SPEAKER_00: belt in an 11th at OCC last year.
1:16:59
SPEAKER_00: That's what Ezekiel Arrudo has.
1:17:01
SPEAKER_00: So he could make a good debut out here.
1:17:03
We have seen him do races longer than Zagama,
1:17:05
which is usually a big variable as well.
1:17:08
SPEAKER_00: Another guy to look out for, Adrian Briffid, Swiss triathlon champion.
1:17:12
SPEAKER_00: I think he was like the Swiss national champion.
1:17:14
SPEAKER_00: Turned trail runner.
1:17:16
SPEAKER_00: He turned a lot of heads at Sierra Zanon last year.
1:17:18
SPEAKER_00: He's leading for much of the race,
1:17:19
SPEAKER_00: and he ended up finishing fourth,
1:17:21
SPEAKER_00: I think,
1:17:21
SPEAKER_00: in his debut,
1:17:22
SPEAKER_00: Sierra Zanon.
1:17:23
SPEAKER_00: It might have been the second time running.
1:17:24
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure.
1:17:26
I worry about him on the technical course,
1:17:28
but I am excited to see him line up.
1:17:29
SPEAKER_00: He is a world-class climber for sure.
1:17:32
SPEAKER_00: Other two guys to look out for,
1:17:33
SPEAKER_00: Nico Molina,
1:17:34
SPEAKER_00: young Spaniard for Scott,
1:17:36
SPEAKER_00: a Spaniard stair runner for Scott.
1:17:38
SPEAKER_00: He did race to an A-place finish last year,
1:17:40
SPEAKER_00: and he's coming fresh off two Skyrunning World Series wins in Asia.
1:17:43
SPEAKER_00: Another guy to look out for,
1:17:44
SPEAKER_00: Fabian Venero,
1:17:45
SPEAKER_00: another young Spaniard Skyrunner for Solomon,
1:17:49
SPEAKER_00: I want to say,
1:17:50
and he was the Skyrunning half-marathon world champ last year
1:17:53
at Cintiero Luglio,
1:17:55
and he is a young and up-and-coming athlete for Solomon that
1:17:59
they've identified as
1:18:00
SPEAKER_00: somebody who could make some waves.
1:18:02
SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, we're going to get to the picks at long last.
1:18:06
SPEAKER_00: These ones probably won't be as surprising based off what I said.
1:18:10
SPEAKER_00: I've got the four people,
1:18:11
SPEAKER_00: uh,
1:18:12
SPEAKER_00: excuse me,
1:18:13
SPEAKER_00: four of the five people that I said are the hands-down favorites.
1:18:16
SPEAKER_00: Uh,
1:18:16
SPEAKER_00: but yeah,
1:18:17
SPEAKER_00: so,
1:18:17
SPEAKER_00: and then I'm liable to change them,
1:18:19
keep an eye out and know that some of these people might not
1:18:22
start the race.
1:18:22
SPEAKER_00: So keep an eye out if they do change the race.
1:18:25
SPEAKER_00: Fifth place, I'm going to go Daniel Pattis.
1:18:27
SPEAKER_00: Fourth place, Davide Magnini.
1:18:29
SPEAKER_00: Third place, Manu Marias.
1:18:32
SPEAKER_00: Second place, Elozine, Elozali.
1:18:34
SPEAKER_00: And then you guys shouldn't be surprised by this.
1:18:35
SPEAKER_00: I'm obviously picking Killian for the win.
1:18:38
SPEAKER_00: People that I'd be liable to sub out or in,
1:18:40
I could consider subbing out Davide Magnini if I feel like he
1:18:44
hasn't been training.
1:18:46
If I sub somebody in,
1:18:48
I think Robert Kamoy is a really safe and consistent pick here.
1:18:50
SPEAKER_00: I think Antonio Martinez-Perez is an awesome pick.
1:18:54
SPEAKER_00: And I also think that there's somebody else that I wanted to add.
1:19:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Antonio Martinez-Perez, Robert Kamoy.
1:19:04
I think Alon Santamario Blanco is going to have a year where he
1:19:09
shows out and
1:19:10
SPEAKER_00: finally has a good Zagama,
1:19:12
SPEAKER_00: but I haven't seen him do it yet,
1:19:13
SPEAKER_00: so I'm a little hesitant to pick him.
1:19:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:19:17
And then Remy Benet,
1:19:18
I do have as a good pick,
1:19:19
but I'm just,
1:19:20
he's got me a little nervous.
1:19:21
I don't want to doubt the GOAT,
1:19:22
but he has not raced well at early season races.
1:19:25
But I think Robert,
1:19:27
Remy,
1:19:27
and Antonio are all picks that you could easily sub in.
1:19:30
SPEAKER_00: You might not be as bullish on Davide as I am,
1:19:32
SPEAKER_00: and I might be reliving past glory from 2022,
1:19:34
SPEAKER_00: and I might have to sub him out.
1:19:36
SPEAKER_00: But I think Killian, Elzin, and Manu are obvious, obvious, obvious picks.
1:19:40
SPEAKER_00: I think Davide will run a really, really strong race here.
1:19:43
SPEAKER_00: And I think Daniel Padas is a safe pick as well.
1:19:46
SPEAKER_00: So we are almost an hour and 20 minutes into this.
1:19:53
SPEAKER_00: So those are my picks for the 2026 Zagama S-Cori Marathon.
1:19:58
SPEAKER_00: Stay tuned, tune into the race if you can.
1:20:01
I think it's Sunday morning at like 11 o'clock maybe,
1:20:05
European time,
1:20:06
but don't quote me on that.
1:20:07
SPEAKER_00: Either way,
1:20:07
SPEAKER_00: if you're listening to this from the United States,
1:20:09
SPEAKER_00: there's nothing better than getting up,
1:20:11
SPEAKER_00: grabbing a cup of coffee,
1:20:13
SPEAKER_00: croissant,
1:20:14
SPEAKER_00: pastry of some sort,
1:20:15
SPEAKER_00: you choose.
1:20:16
Lying in bed and just watching how beautiful the Racecourse
1:20:18
Sagama is and probably
1:20:21
SPEAKER_00: watching Killian won his 12th race.
1:20:23
SPEAKER_00: But either way,
1:20:24
just watching a beautiful masterclass of a race with all these
1:20:27
screaming fans and
1:20:28
SPEAKER_00: this beautiful forested territory going up mountain peaks,
1:20:32
SPEAKER_00: coming down rocky slopes.
1:20:35
I don't know how else to sell it,
1:20:36
but I appreciate you guys sticking with me.
1:20:38
SPEAKER_00: I apologize for any of the interruptions from the Jets today.
1:20:41
It seemed like it's a little bit busier than usual,
1:20:43
so I apologize for that in advance.
1:20:46
SPEAKER_00: And I appreciate you listening.
1:20:48
SPEAKER_00: I hope you found this helpful, and I can't wait for the next one.
1:20:52
SPEAKER_00: So cheers guys, and thank you for listening as always.