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2026 OCC Race Preview · Let's Talk Trail Running

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to Let's Talk Trail Running.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: This is your host, Rob Prosser.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: And in today's podcast, we are going to preview the very first of our UTMB World Series Finals.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: That is OCC, the 60-kilometer race.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: This is the show where we preview upcoming races that take place on Fantasy Free Trail.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's FreeTrail, the trail running media entity's fantasy trail running picks platform.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where we talk about and break down any races that are upcoming on that.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Typically the most competitive races in trail,
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: everything from one hour or less VKs all the way up to 24 hour plus 100 mile races
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: and sometimes even 200 mile races.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: And today we've got...
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Essentially the World Series of trail running or the Super Bowl or
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: the World Cup Finals of trail running.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that's going to be the UTMB Finals,
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: which is basically the big kit and caboodle,
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: the kind of season finale, even though it's only August in the year.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: This is what all the elites are leading up to for the most part.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's the most incentivized in their contract.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's the biggest...
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: What's the word I'm looking for?
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Concentration is what I'm trying to say.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Biggest concentration of elite talent that we see get together at each year,
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: more or less, and that's in the three major UTMB finals, OCC, CCC, and UTMB.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: So OCC is the first one we're going to talk about.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: This year,
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: it's about a 60-kilometer race,
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: but it's usually 55 to 60 kilometers, around 3,500 meters.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: CCC being the 100-kilometer race,
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: and then UTMB obviously being the race all the way around Mont Blanc.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's a little bit more than 100 miles.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll do previews upcoming in CCC and UTMB.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And if I'm talking to this audience, it's usually...
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Not needing a huge description,
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: but I'd still like to try to give one and just give a big bird's eye view.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Before we jump into previews for OCC,
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: which is a super stacked field on both sides, super exciting to talk about.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Just some housekeeping stuff.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: We did this here as an opportunity.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: I did a preview a couple weeks ago and since then I just got married in Austria
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: so that's super awesome.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wedding day was easily the most fun day of my life and I think Caitlin,
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: my new wife,
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: would also agree we just got to dance and celebrate and be
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: with our friends all night.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was really an amazing time in Austria.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: We followed up our wedding with a little mini honeymoon action in Switzerland.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Went to Murren, which is just outside of the Lauterbrunnen Valley.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So basically right as soon as we walked out of our hotel front door, we're staring at Eiger.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Monk, Jungfrau, three of the most iconic peaks in Switzerland, just behind the Matterhorn.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: The views were pretty much unbeatable.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Did some really amazing runs when I was out there.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Spent three nights and four days, I want to say, and just had a blast.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Some running.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of terrible at planning stuff during UTMB and I really need to stop
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: that now that I've done this
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm doing some training to boost my resume for some airline apps.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm getting certified to be able to do my written
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: for my airline transport pilot certificate, which is the next certificate I need.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm basically in the middle of a week-long course,
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: even though it's the weekend right now in Colorado Springs and we're four and
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: a half days out from OCC.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in class every day,
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: 8 through 5,
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: basically Friday through Friday,
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: and this is Saturday,
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: day 2 of the class,
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: so I've just kind of been taking notes and finishing up basically the class,
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: well, I'm just starting the class, but basically just trying to take notes for UTMB.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Outside of doing this class as well.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what's been going on.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: I've also been getting in some good running.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: I ran up and down Pikes Peak the long way via Bar Trail,
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: which was only my second time doing that, and had a really good run.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: I actually was able to take a segment on the downhill for Pikes Peak.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's not exactly as the race course, but pretty cool.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: 1,200 efforts, and I still got the top time coming all the way down Bar Trail from Pikes Peak.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: So pretty stoked on that for a pretty mediocre runner that I am.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, that's kind of what's been going on.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Just training, getting excited for Run Rabbit Run.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm only doing the 50-miler.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: But in some ways, I hear that course is a little bit more scenic, a little bit better.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: So that'll be September 18th.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Today's Leadville Day, so I've been following that.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Adrian McDonald just got a win, and the women's races are still racing.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: But it looks like Elsa McDonald's going to win.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: So Adrian McDonald's is third win, I want to say.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: So that's also exciting.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then...
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that's all the housekeeping stuff.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: I do plan to get out OCC, CCC, and UTMB.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: ETC is going to be kind of too little, too late.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: But I am very excited for the races coming up this week, UTMB.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is the granddaddy of them all.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: So that's enough of a preamble coming in to OCC.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start talking about what is OCC.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to read the course description for OCC straight off of UTMB's website,
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: and then we'll jump into OCC.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: What that means for these racers.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Course description, the shortest of the UTMB World Series final races.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Typically around 55 kilometers and 3,500 meters of elevation gain.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: But this year the course is closer to 61 kilometers long and 3350 meters of elevation gain.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: So a little bit longer and a little bit less steep on average.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: OCC stands for Orsier,
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: which I'm sure I'm butchering,
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: and I apologize to all my French-speaking friends out there.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Orsier, Champé-Lac, and Chamonix.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: So basically, the three towns that it goes through, CCC, Courmayeur, Champé-Lac, Chamonix.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, anyways, description from the UTB website, and I quote,
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: The Swiss Valley will amaze you with its unique scenery,
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: the final ridges and striking peaks of the eastern side of Mont Blanc forming
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: the Franco-Swiss border,
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: hanging glaciers above polished rock faces, and rushing mountain streams.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: The OCC route will take you into the heart of this distinctive
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: and authentic landscape before reaching Champs-Élanc and then Trient.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: You will then cross the Franco-Swiss border via the iconic Col de Balm
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: and its breathtaking views over the Mont Blanc Massif.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: After reaching Tete de Balm at 2321 meters,
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: the new high point of the course,
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: you will descend onto the Swiss side before crossing back into France through
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: the Municipality of Valorcine and climbing up the Col de Poissette.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: You will then continue to La Tour before reaching Chamonix via
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: the Valley's Northern Balcony Trails,
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: where you will cross the legendary Finnish Arch in the heart of town.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Just kind of looking at the outline from the side profile view,
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: it looks like they pretty much start off the race and they kind of have a,
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: let's see,
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: in the first 12 miles,
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: excuse me,
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: 12 kilometers,
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: they have about 727 meters of climbing and then
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: the next They have another 800 meters of climbing, and they come back down.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: And then the big climb goes from Trient to the high point that we just talked about,
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Tete de Balm.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that's going to be over 17 kilometers.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: They're going to go up another 1,440 meters.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: So that's definitely going to be a crucial climb about,
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: what is that, 30-something kilometers into the race?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: 35 kilometers into the race is when they're going to reach the high point.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: One descent, and then one last climb.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: They go from 1700 to another 300-meter climb just about.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like we said,
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: the last 20 kilometers,
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: there's only 376 meters of elevation gain, so pretty freaking flat.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like it's more or less a relatively mountainous trail marathon,
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: and then it's kind of cruiser downhill trails where you want to have the legs
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: and be able to take advantage of leg speed after doing well in that trail marathon,
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: basically.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like a trail marathon and then a very...
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Fast, relatively speaking,
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: flat half marathon with only about 1,200 feet of climbing,
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: 1,200 to 1,500 feet of climbing.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: So that's definitely going to affect the race, and we're definitely going to talk about that.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: And we definitely even saw that play into the hands of the race last year
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: with Jim making a late pass on Christian Minogio.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: And we saw people with good like speed finish strong on both sides.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: All right, cool.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: So that is mainly what I want to talk about on the course.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: OCC has never been the same two years in a row from my understanding.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: So it's always a little bit different course.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of tough to compare Uh,
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: apples to apples with this course because it's always changing a little bit.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's always a little bit different.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um,
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: but last year we saw Jim win it and then unfortunately we saw Jolene Chepangino win,
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: but then get retroactively banned for, uh, cortisone injections.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we ended up seeing Meow Yao,
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: uh, be the winner of the race kind of retroactively, um, on the women's side.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, let's go into the men's race first.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: So storylines identified on the men's side of the field.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: I've got the race definitely feels more wide open than the women's race,
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: which is why I want to talk about it first.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like there's some obvious favorites on the men's side,
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: but there's no single one that stands out above the rest.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: There's nobody on the men's side who's like,
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: this person's going to win,
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: whereas on the female side, it very much feels like Tove is that case.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Other storylines from the men's side,
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: yeah, there's no single favorite, but a lot of really, really world-class racers.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: We have six out of the top ten from the World Short Trail Race last year
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: that are racing here,
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: so this is kind of like a World's Double Back round two for OCC.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Darkhorses identified,
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: and we'll talk more about them in a little bit,
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: but the Darkhorses on the men's side who I think are going to be not likely picked
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: but could very well end up in this top ten,
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: Nishan Kiplino, Maximilian Drione, And Marcin Kubitschka.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll talk more about them in a little bit, but I just want to put that out there.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to kind of go through the different categories and just kind of talk
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: about each of these runners and these categories that I kind of identified myself.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: First group we're going to talk about,
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: and these are some We got the Italian Stallions,
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: and that's going to include Francesco Pupi,
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Daniel Patisse, Luca Delpero, and Lorenzo Beltrami.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: It would have also included Davide Magnini, but he recently scratched, unfortunately.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Francesco Pupi,
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: previous winner of the race,
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: last year's winner of CCC,
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: coming off of his first ever 100 miler,
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: second fastest Western States time ever, 1351, which is just absolutely nutty.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Francesco Pupi,
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: he comes from this short trail running or short distance racing background.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: So he's no stranger to it.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: He's extremely fast.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: He's already won Chianti Marathon Trail earlier this year against Danny Patis.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: So he's no stranger to shorter, faster racing.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then we've seen him, you know, win CCC last year.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: He also went top 10 in Sierras and All,
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: won Lavarado 50K,
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Kanan's 100K,
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Keyanti Marathon again last year, Trans-Grand Canaria Marathon again last year.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: So he is really no stranger to shorter, faster running.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: He also was the runner-up at OCC in 2024 behind only Eli Hemming.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then,
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: like we said, he won,
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: but also kind of with a retroactive win in 2023 after Stian got disqualified.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then he also has another second in OCC in 20—or no, sorry, it just shows the same second.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: So he really is no stranger to this race.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he's going to be in a good place coming off of Western.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: He knows his body really well.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: He trains really intelligently.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's got to be a favorite to go top five.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know that I see him winning here,
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: but I think if you have him outside your top five,
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: you're probably not going to be right on that front.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete I'm super excited to talk about in the Italian styling group, Daniel Patisse.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: He's really leveled up another level this year.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: It kind of feels like,
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: I've said this before on the podcast,
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: but he kind of feels like Roberto de Lorenzi,
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: like how he just kind of kept getting better each year.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it felt like Roberto peaked about two years ago in 2024.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: And Daniel Patisse is on that upward trajectory.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: He's coming hot off 13th place at Sears and all and it's sub 235.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the time that would have got him top 10 last year.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: So that just goes to show how deep Sears and all was on both.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: The men's and women's side this year, we're going to talk about that.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think if you're top 20 at Sears and all, I don't think, I know it's world class.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, the times just go to show.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: The times this year were even faster than previously.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: And what it took to get top 10 was the hardest opportunity.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: He's coming off second place in the European Athletics Off-Road Championship.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: And he was only behind Fred Tranchand.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then he's coming off second place in a very tight Zagama,
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: where I think he was less than 20 seconds off Elozine-Elozawi.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: And he also won the Inzurek Alpine Trail Festival short course.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: And he beat some really heavy hitters in that race,
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: including guys like Philemon Carriago,
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Afantis Najeri,
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Richard Amaya Atuya, Yeah, so basically just a lot of really, really fast dudes.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I think Daniel is having certainly a top 10 Charbon of the Year worthy season.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is going to be kind of like his icing on the cupcake to get that final.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: But Daniel is racing at a next level, world-class scale.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: So that's Nino Patis.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's also going to be a favorite for his top five.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think he has the chops to win this, quite frankly, but I could very easily see him.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's a very strong chance that he podiums at this race as well.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete we're going to talk about in the Italian styling group,
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Luca Delpero was in my top 10 for trail runner of the year last year,
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: and I think he finished just outside of it.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: He hasn't had as much or as many races this year.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: He's kind of been dealing with injury issues, but where he has lined up, he has done well.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: So he ran the Hoka...
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: And he did win that race in 523,
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: beating guys like Gianluca Gianno,
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Anthony Felber, Leonard Matrica, Samuel Ponce, Alan Santamario Blanco.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of these same guys that he's going to be racing in,
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: In OCC this year, he's lining up and he's already beat once at that race.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then the other race that he did line up at was Montarosa-Volseweg,
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: where he got third place behind only Petra Engdahl and Willem Bofele.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: But he beat guys like Manu Marias, Mattia Bertoncini.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was a good field there.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: So Luka, it's tough to tell where he's at since he hasn't raced a ton this year.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: But, I mean,
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: this is one of those guys who was in that,
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: both, excuse me, that were in that Worlds top 10 last year.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he did finish 7th at OCC last year, which was an extremely deep field.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: And he finished 6th at Worlds to go with, what did he go, 2nd at Zagama?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: No, 4th at Zagama, excuse me.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: So...
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I want to talk about too,
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: like Worlds last year was,
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: or excuse me, not Worlds, OCC was extremely tight between second and sixth place.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: So Christian Minogio and Adam Peterman,
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: we had just about five minutes and 24 seconds supporting or splitting them rather.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, it was a tight field and even, you know, three through...
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Seven were separated by three minutes and 40 seconds.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, it was just such a close race.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: So, I expect OCC this year is also going to be pretty tight.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if it's going to be that bunched up.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: But a lot of these guys raced OCC.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: Slightly different course last year,
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: but similar sentiment where it's flat and runable at the end.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think Luka,
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: he hasn't raced a lot this year,
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: but he's in prime shape to be able to do well at this race.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete in that Italian styling group is Lorenzo Beltrami.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: Lorenzo is one of those Italian athletes for Scarpa.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: And he is coming off of Win Cat 100,
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: the Marathon, excuse me, Cat by UTMB and Austria, the Marathon Trail.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: 15th place at Zagama this year.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then he's had a couple of DNFs in the European Championships
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: and another Sky Race in Italy, which is unfortunate.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then he got second place at Istrio 42K by UTMB, I think just behind Roberto De Lorenze.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Admittedly, a little bit of a less impressive UTMB.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: He did go 12th at Worlds Short Trail,
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: 11th at Giro de Mont,
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: but probably his most impressive result was that 5th base at Zagama in a really,
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: really deep field.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: He's a good guy who can race in the top 10.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: If I saw him, I think I'd see him more in that back half of the top 10.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: But he is definitely a very, very consistent racer.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: He's good on technical terrain.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think if it's a little bit closer to the old course, he'd be a little bit better suited.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: But I think he does have the chops to go somewhere in that 10 through 15.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that's Lorenzo Beltrami.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: Next group of athletes I want to talk about is the Spanish gold medalist Worlds team.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that's going to be the short trail Spaniards that's got the team gold
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: and went two, three, and four in Worlds last year.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: The only one they're missing is Maynard Marias, who got second place.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: But they got their third and fourth place racers.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: They also have their 12th place finisher from World Short Trail.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: And they also have somebody from the Classic team as well.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: So the athletes we're going to talk about in
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: the Spanish Gold Medalist Worlds team slash just the Spanish Worlds team in general,
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Alon Santamaría Blanco,
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Andre Blanes-Rieg, Antonio Martinez Perez and Alex Garcia Correa.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: So starting off with Alon Santamario Blanco,
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think Alon has probably got some of the most rising stock.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: He's kind of like Danny Pattis, but I guess for Spain.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: He's had some really world-class racing this year.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: He's coming fresh off 11th place in Sears and all 234.02.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's the time that last year would have got him in the top 10 because it only took
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think it only took 237 to go top 10 last year.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Alain Santamario Blanco was on the World's team.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: He got fourth in the World's Short Trail last year.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: So Spain went 234 with Mano Marias, Andro Blanas, and Alain Santamario Blanco.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And since then, he's also got eighth place at Pete's Alpine Trail just a couple weeks ago.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: He got fourth at the European Trail Running Championships, the 50K.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: So he was just behind Fred Tranchand and Danny Pattis.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then he also had some good races at Contalados del Norte Sky Race.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: He got third.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: So Alon is on the up and up.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: He's really, really, really impressed me with his progression.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: And he was even the winner of UTMB ETC, the short race last year.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I think he's really competing for maybe as high as fourth or fifth place in this race.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: But I think he's in a really good place to run OCC really well.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: His stock is on the rise.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: So that's Alon Santamario Blanco.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is Andrew Blanes-Rigue,
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: also coming off of a good but not quite up to his potential Sears and all.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: He finished 19th in 238-27, which, like I said, a lot of the time.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: That would have got him really probably in the 10 through 15 range.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: So that's just how fast it was this year.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: He kind of missed at European Champs this year, ran 54th, and that was in the up-down race.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then last year, Andrew had a really banner year.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: He was almost in my Troy top.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: 3rd place at Worlds Short Trail Championships,
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: 8th place in Sears and all at 235, and then he got 2nd place at Zagama.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: So he does do well in those longer grind year up-down races,
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: but he's not somebody that needs to worry about that long run.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: He hasn't had as hot of a year this year, but he is coming off a very good series and all.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: I could see him lacing a top 10 here, and I think he has somebody to watch.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is a perennial contender at OCC,
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: multiple podiums out here,
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: and that is going to be Spanish runner Antonio Martinez Perez,
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: runs for ASICS,
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: really likable guy,
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: really good sky runner,
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: really good on technical stuff,
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: and he is coming So far this year,
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: he's gotten 6th place at Marathon de Mont Blanc,
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: which is a good result, but maybe not up to his potential.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: He went 10th at Sagama at the beginning of the year,
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: and then he also won the Trans-Grand Canary.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: He also raced to 8th place at OCC.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: He has podiumed at OCC multiple times.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: He's finished ties 3rd in 2024, 2nd in 2023 with that promotion, and also 2nd in 2022.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: So he's raced plenty of different iterations of
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think the course favored him more and had that technical
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I think he's kind of a lock for that four through eight,
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: but I don't know that I see him on the podium of this particular iteration of
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: the course.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete, last one to talk about in the Spain group is Alex Garcia Carrillo.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: And he was on the world's team, just not a short trail team.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: He was on their classic distance.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: Brooks athlete from Spain.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: He's coming off 27th place at Sierras and Nall.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: He also went 16th place at Marathon of Mont Blanc and 10th at
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: the European trail running championships, the up-down.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: He was also 4th at Transvaal Cognac Marathon and 3rd at Chianti Marathon behind only...
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Danny Pattis and Francesco Poopy.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: He did Race Worlds last year in the Classic.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: He got 13th place and he raced in the Vertical Uphill as well where he got 29th place.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then he got second at Kodiak by UTMB 50K.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I think on a good day, Alex is kind of in that 10 through 15 range.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know that I see him quite crack in the top 10,
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: but he could be somebody that gets points nonetheless.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: All right, next group to talk about is going to be none other than the Stars and Stripes boys.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's the people representing the United States of America.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of guys that are kind of on the list.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: So the ones that I specifically want to talk about, I've got six listed, I want to say.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: Christian Allen, Jeshurun Small, Noah Williams, Cade Michael, Matt Daniels, and Nick Handel.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, first one we're going to talk about,
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think, is the best chance of winning OCC for Americans, I guess.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: We've only had one American winner on male or female side,
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: and that is None other than Eli Hemming.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: Katie Scheid came pretty close when she got second year she ran it,
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: or maybe third if I'm not mistaken.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think second though.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: But we haven't had a female winner,
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: and Eli Hemming was the first male winner two years ago in 2024.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: If there was a chance to win on the men's side, it's for sure Christian Allen.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: And overall,
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think Lauren Gregory is probably the best chance,
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: although McKenna Morley could lace one if she really lines up well.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that it's more likely to happen on the women's side.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: But with that being said,
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: on the men's side,
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Christian Allen In the US contingent,
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: Jess Small,
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: Noah Williams,
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: Cade Michael,
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Matt Daniels and Nick Handel,
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: if I didn't already say those names, that's who I want to talk about.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: So Christian Allen,
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: we did see Christian Allen race at OCC two years ago in 2024,
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: and he took out the race like suicidally hot.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, he said, I've got the fastest legs in this field.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: Let me show you what I can do with them.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: And it was really fun to watch.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: It was kind of like a really crazy firework going off where you're like,
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: this is really fun, but it's not going to last.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: He went out really hard, like a bat out of hell.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: He basically led pretty aggressively,
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: I want to say through like 15 or 20 miles,
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: but then he just faded and blew up pretty hard.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: So that was a very aggressive move from Christian Allen.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: We've seen him race longer races.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: We've seen him have success at races like he won Speedgoat a couple years ago,
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: the same year that he tried to win.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Was it the same year?
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: No, he hadn't won Spigo.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he won Spigo in 2023.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: So he has won Spigo before,
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: but then in 2024,
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: when he tried to come out and bring it super hard out for OCC, it did not pay off.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: With that being said, I think he has...
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: He's had some important lessons learned as one of these guys coming from a track
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: and field background with cooling and fueling.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he just kept kind of overheating the crap out of himself
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: and also just not fueling properly.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it seems like he's gotten wiser.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: He's had a really good year.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I would argue that this is his best year to date.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: So far, he won a UTMB race in May, which I think got him into OCC.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then Sun of Peace Granbull, U.S.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: Champs, he got third.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: Broken Arrow Ascent, he got fourth.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: Broken Arrow 23K, he got 10th place, which wasn't as good as Broken Arrow last year.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: But I would say that his next two races were more impressive.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: Pizza Alpine Glacier, seventh place.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then most importantly, Sears and All, sixth place.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: Fastest ever American time, men's time, 231-14.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: His best Sears in all yet by far.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I honestly think it has been his best year of racing,
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: so I'm really excited to see what he can do at OCC.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: Biggest question marks for Christian Allen,
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: nicknamed Slim,
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: is can he preserve himself enough to actually be able to use his leg speed on
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: that last 20K where it's only, you know, 400 meters of climbing or whatever we said.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a big question mark around him.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's skilled enough to win this race.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think he has the tactical execution.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's more likely we see him kind of hit like an Eli Hemming fade in CCC
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: where he kind of fades into the back half of the top ten or like in the five
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: through ten.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: But he's 100% going to come out with lead pack.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: He's 100% going to race, you know, stupidly aggressive.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why we love watching him race.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know that he's going to stick the landing per se, though.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is going to be Jeshurun Small,
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: runner for Adidas Terex, living in Alaska these days.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: Coming off of a little bit of a disappointing,
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think probably for his expectations, Western States.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: It was his debut.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: He was just outside the top 10 in 13th place, 16 hours, 27 minutes.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: But I think he definitely trained as if he was going to run a lot faster,
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: and I think he is capable of running a lot faster.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Early in the season,
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Josh won Gorge 100K,
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: whatever that stupid prize purse was,
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: maybe like 30K or something like that at Gorge Waterfalls.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: And then he got eighth at Black Canyon, 50K.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: Josh is coming off of last year running CCC,
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: having a very good race,
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: racing to fifth place, even though being up front with Drew Holman for a lot of it.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: Also got eighth at Spigo, 50K, and then fifth at Broken Arrow, 46K last year.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: So kind of just on the cusp of making those Worlds teams but not quite making it.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: Jesch has run OCC multiple times.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: He ran in 2024 to an 18th place.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: He ran in 2023 to a 5th place and 2022 to a 24th place.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: So he knows what it takes to go top 10 here.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think on a good day he could.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious how well he recovered from his first 100-mile race at Western.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's kind of the big question Mark leaning over his head.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: I don't necessarily think that if Christian has a bad race that just is
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: the top American,
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think that we could very well see somebody like Noah Williams take
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: that top American spot.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, Noah Williams, La Sportiva.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: He was the top American on the world's short trail team last year, finishing 14th place.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: And he did finish in front of Tove Alexanderson, unlike David Sinclair and Eli Hemming.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: He also had a very good Sears and all last year.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: 27th place in 2 hours and 45 minutes in the 3rd place at Labrado ADK.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: He has not run any of the UTMB Finals,
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: so this is going to be his first time racing in Chamonix, from what I can tell.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: So that's going to be probably a learning curve,
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: and that's probably the only thing that I'm a little bit nervous about with Noah.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: But with that being said...
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_00: He is very talented,
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: and he is very good on mountainous terrain,
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: and I think that there's a non-trivial chance that he ends up being the top American
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: on the men's side.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: Next, I'll talk about Cade Michael.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: Unsponsored, kind of like Boulder Boys adjacent.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: Basically,
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: he's definitely an insanely talented and insanely fit individual who's able to train
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: with the best of them,
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: but just hasn't been able to He kind of flirted with coming close to having
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: a breakout race last year here at OCC.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: He got 15th place.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: Since then, he's got 5th place at Kodiak, 50K.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: DNF at JFK, 50M.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: 3rd place at Black Canyon, 50K,
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: where he was up front flirting with Seth Ruling and Adam Peterman for a lot of it.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then Canyons, he came out hard but didn't stick the landing in the 100K.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: Twisted Fork, 68K, he got 4th.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then Broken Arrow, 46K, he got 52nd.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: So kind of...
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: He's somebody who is extremely talented and extremely fast,
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: and it's obvious that he is,
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: but it kind of feels like he leaves some of his best performances out
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: in his training runs or over trains or just hasn't figured out how to line up fresh
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: to a race.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll see if he can improve on his 15th place from OCC last year.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: Last two athletes worth mentioning, Matt Daniels and Nick Handel.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: So Matt Daniels, older boy, craft athlete coming in.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: I don't necessarily have high expectations for him this race
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: because I think he's still kind of running his way back into fitness
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: after recently becoming a dad this summer.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: But I think it would be really exciting to get a very fit,
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: very capable Matt Daniels on the OCC start line
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: because I feel like he really could create some magic out here.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then last athlete, Nick Handel.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: Nick Handel coming from Bay Area, California.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth place in Terrowire, 100K earlier this year.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the only race he's raced so far.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: He has raced OCC multiple times.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: 16th place in 2021.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: DNF in 2022.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: A 11th place in 2023.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then a 13th place in 2024.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: So he's kind of been knocking at the door and flirting with top 10s.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: He also raced CCC last year to a 13th place.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: So he's definitely no stranger to racing in UTMB races coming in somewhere in
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: that 10th through 15th.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: And he's looking to crack that top 10.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: All right,
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: next contingent to talk about the other red, white,
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: and blue boys,
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: which are,
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: or red, white, and blue, I guess, which would be the French athletes in this race.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: Specifically, I'm going to focus on Fred Tranchon, Sylvain Couchard, and Pierre Galborden.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: Fred, to start off with,
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: reigning Short Trail World Trail,
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: Short Trail World, Yeah, Short Trail World Champion from last year's Trail Marathon.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: He's also more recently the European Athletics Off-Road World Champion for 2026,
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: winning the 50K race that they put on there.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: He also is coming fresh off a second place at Marathon de Mont Blanc
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: behind only Remy Benet, who's in this field.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then, and somehow I don't have Remy's name written right now.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know why.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: I forgot to put him in a category.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so Fred also has a win at Skyrace to Mathesine.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then he has second place at Calamaro and Encantiladas del Norte to start
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: the year off, only behind Manu Marias.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: So Fred is on a heater of the past two years.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: And he really,
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: if I'm looking at his results, you know, second to Remy Benet, win, win, win, win.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: Second, twice in a row to Manny Marinas.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: Third place last year in the Skyrunning World Series Final.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: Wins at another Sky Race after his Worlds.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: Fred seems very focused and is racing at a really amazing level.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think Fred has got to be a favorite for the win in this race.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'd be hard-pressed to see.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think Fred Fran,
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: Daniel Padis,
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: and Remy Benet have the chops to win this race and have a very,
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: very good shot to win this race.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: And Petter Engdahl, actually.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: All right, let's see.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so that's Fred Trenton.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely a favorite.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely dangerous.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely somebody to keep your eye on.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete, Sylvain Cachard, coming fresh off a very impressive Sierras and All.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: Result, 12th place, 234-33.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was right around the fastest time that he has run Sierras and All,
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_00: if I'm not mistaken.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: Other races include...
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: Only one, from what I can tell, the Le Petit Train, which he won.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: So he hasn't raced, definitely hasn't over-raced this year.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: And Silvan was also one of those guys that was in the top ten at Worlds last year.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: He got ninth place for the French short trail team,
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: but I think that was good enough for them to take a team in silver.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: He has raced OCC in 2024 to his 17th place.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that's...
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sylvain definitely feels very intentional,
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: doesn't overrace,
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: and is very selective with what he does race, and he doesn't miss a lot.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: He also does not DNF.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: I don't see any DNFs in his results from this free trail tracker.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I think Sylvain is definitely a threat to go top 10 here.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think he would definitely be a wise pick.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: Last athlete to talk about from the French side is Pierre Galbourdain.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: Pierre raced the French Trail Championships this year,
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_00: and he was the champion for the short trail,
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: but for some reason, I don't think he raced any.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know if he was injured or what.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: He did, however, race at Marathon de Montblanc.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: He got 10th place.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then he did just recently race at Sierras and All to a 16th place in 237.25,
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: which, like I said, 237 when he got you pretty much top 10 last year.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_00: So that is pretty impressive, to say the least.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: All right, let me get some of that stuff.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that's Pierre Galbourdain.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so the last athletes, I want to talk about the best of the rest.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_00: Remy Benet.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's taken us a very long time, but we're going to talk about Remy Benet.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: Petter Engdahl,
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: Nishan Kiplimo, Maximilian Drion, Marcin Kubitschka, and then Samuel Ponce as well.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: So, first,
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: Remy Benet coming off of a very,
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: very impressive Marathon de Montblanc win where he kind of beat Fred Tranchant,
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: kind of regained his crown in some ways.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: Was not able to line up at Sears and all for a calf niggle,
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: but it sounds like he's worked through it.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_00: One place that we have seen a weakness for Remy is kind of...
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't do great in ultras, per se.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: So we've seen him do good at Zagama, and he did win it when he was young, but he's kind of...
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: Not repeated that magic at Zagama, which is one of the longer Golden Trail World Series races.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then he has lined up once at OCC, only to a D-NF.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: He was in the lead pack,
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: I want to say,
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: through like 20-plus miles, but just wasn't able to stick the landing.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I do, however, think Remy is primary form.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's a favorite for this race.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think maybe the flat to slightly downhill...
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: At the end,
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: it works against him,
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_00: but I think Remy's in really good shape,
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: and you'd be hard-pressed not to pick him as somebody who could win this race.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, Remy Benet, next athlete, Petter Engdahl, having a banner of a year, did race OCC last year.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: He was up front with Jim at times in both OCC and Worlds.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: He did
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_00: also just race Sears in all, 250 finish, which was good enough for 60th place.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah,
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: anyways,
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: he raced OCC last year,
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_00: fourth place finish,
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: followed it up with a race at Worlds in the long trail, sixth place finish.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: And he has also raced OCC before that as recently as 2021, where he got third place.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: I think that Petter is really having a banner year this year.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: He's got a win at Monteros or Valserweg.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: He's got two different medals at European Champs, third place in the...
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the classic distance and second place in the vertical, which is really impressive.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_00: He also ran under the course record time at Transvolcano,
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_00: which was good enough for second place behind David Sinclair.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: It just feels like Petter,
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_00: other than his DNF at Terroira, he's really kind of on one this year.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: It would have been nice to see him lace it at Sears and all.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that that might kind of set him up to do really well at OCC.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think Petter is a favorite to win.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: I would not be surprised if he did win.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he's pretty much a lock for your top five.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like this Petter is kind of back to that 2023 CCC champion level Petter.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: So that's exciting.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then kind of the dark horses that I mentioned or other people to watch out
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_00: that I think can absolutely go top ten.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: Nishan Kiplimo, a Kenyan athlete.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't remember.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: He is sponsored by Solomon, so he's not one of the run-together guys.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_00: He's ran to fourth place at Pete's Alpine Glacier Golden Trail World Series race and
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_00: a third place at Quebec Megatrail last year.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: going to be his longest race by probably an hour to an hour and a half.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: So that is something to keep in mind.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: Kenyans that step up in distance often have to kind of do some growing pains
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: with some fueling and things like that in a mandatory kit that UTMB requires.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that That Sean Kiplino can definitely have a very good race here.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_00: All right, next athlete to talk about, Maximilien Drione.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_00: He is a Belgian athlete, and he really impressed me this year with some of his results.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_00: Looks like he runs for A6.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, he really, really impressed me with his...
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: To start off the year with a 7th place at Zagama,
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, who is this guy and where does he keep coming from?
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then he followed it up with a 5th place at European Trail Champs,
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_00: the up-down race,
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_00: so shorter, faster, and then followed it up with a 2nd place at UTMB, Andorra, 50K.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then he also rounded it out with a top 20 at Sears and all, 238, 30.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, most years, that's more like a top 12, top 15 type time.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_00: So really good versatility,
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_00: really good speed,
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_00: already raced a longer, harder,
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_00: both trail 50k by Andorra,
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_00: which is kind of comparable vert-wise to OCC, a little bit shorter distance-wise.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: And the only guy that beat him was Robert Kamoy,
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_00: who's a very good Kenyan,
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: and he only beat him by about three minutes,
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_00: which Kamoy also beat him at Zagama by just a couple of minutes in two spots.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I think Max Drione is not super well known.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: He did a race at ETC last year and did get third place at ETC, which is very, very impressive.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_00: He also had a top 20 at Ceres and all last year.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_00: So interestingly enough, he actually ran...
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_00: About a minute faster, but lost three places from 17th to 20th.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_00: But I think he's really well positioned to do well here.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: I like his race schedule and design.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_00: I like his progression throughout the years.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that I would not be surprised at all to see Max Drione in that 5-10 slot.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he's kind of a dark horse in this race that most people haven't heard of.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_00: All right, last two guys I want to talk about.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_00: Marcin Kubitschka.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe not a dark horse, but maybe also kind of.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think he's just kind of slept on because he's Polish.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: He's a Solomon athlete.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_00: Really, really impressive last year.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth place, World Champs, Short Trail, Killer Time.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_00: Also went top 10 at Zagama last year.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_00: This year, he's kind of followed it up with a fifth place at Chianti Marathon.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_00: He got fifth place at the European Champs 50K.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then some went in some other Polish races.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I think he's definitely...
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_00: Strong pick.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_00: He's raced a lot of these guys before in that Worlds race last year,
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_00: and he's beat a lot of these guys in this field as well.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_00: He was one of those guys that won top 10.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_00: I think Marcin could be in that like four through 10 easily on a good day out here.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: Last athletes talk about Samuel Ponce, ultra athletes from Andorra.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_00: He did run OCC last He's followed up this year with a win at the UTMB Andorra ADK.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_00: At the PDA, the European UTMB Champs, he got seventh place in the 55K.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then he also ran the DNF at Chianti.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_00: So kind of a mixed bag,
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_00: but it definitely feels like Samuel Ponce has the speed and the knowledge to be able
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: to go in that top 15.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_00: All right,
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_00: so those are all the guys that I want to talk about,
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: but other names just to kind of throw out there to look out for.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_00: Koken Ogasawara from Japan.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very curious to see how he races.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_00: Roberto De Lorenza,
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_00: I guess I left out,
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: but I just don't know if I see him going top 10 in this current version of Roberto.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_00: He might be able to go top 15.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: Miguel Benitez, somebody to watch out for.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of left out some of the Chinese athletes.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_00: But Xiaozhu Zhou won the Chongling 168, second place at Mount Fuji 100.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: So this seems like kind of a shorter race for him.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then we've had other, let's see, Roy Yuida.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_00: Alex Oberbacher's not racing because he just raced.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_00: Mattia Bertocini's not racing because he just raced.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see if there's anyone else.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's kind of who I want to talk about.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Yuxing Wan, Chinese athlete, did go top five at OCC in 2023.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, that's kind of who I want to talk about.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_00: So, without further ado,
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: we'll go into my picks for the men's race with the caveat that I'm Almost 100% going
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_00: to change them before I finalize them.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_00: This is all for fun and there's no shade on any athletes.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's just who I think is most likely to A,
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_00: finish because you can't get points unless they finish,
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_00: and B, just who I think is going to do well in this race.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'll also give you people that I am liable to swap in or picks that I'm liable
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_00: to swap in or out or changes that I'm considering making.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_00: With that being said, we're going to go 10 through 1 on the men's side and why I put them there.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start off with 10,
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_00: and I didn't realize I put all these guys in a row,
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_00: but I've got a Spanish trio in the back half of the top 10.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: So we're going to go 10th place, Alon Santamario Blanco.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_00: I really like his trajectory.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_00: I think that he's set up for a really good race here based off his year of racing.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, I've got him 10th.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_00: 9th place, Antonio Martinez Perez.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think if this course did not...
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_00: I would have him higher up,
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_00: but I think that the course change kind of hurts him with the more runnable stuff.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: Eighth place,
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: and I would say this is probably the biggest question mark,
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_00: and I feel like he's had the most up-and-down season,
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_00: so I could be liable to swap him out on Drew Blaney's rig.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_00: Returning bronze world medalist in the short trail last year.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_00: So we kind of have, like,
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_00: those are all three guys from Worlds on the Spanish short trail team last year.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_00: 7th place, I've got Christian Allen.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think Christian Allen has, like I said, the skills to win this race.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's got the speed to win this race.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if he has the race experience to race this race smart enough
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_00: to take advantage of his like speed in a way that makes him win.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's going to come out hard.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's going to fade.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of why I have 7th.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_00: Sixth place,
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_00: not as much racing under his belt this year,
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_00: but I still think he's one of the best gamers in the field.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_00: Luca Delpero improving on his spot, I think, one year from last year's OCC.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth place, I got Petter Engdahl.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think Petter has the chops to win it.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think I could see me swapping him into top place,
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_00: but right now on my picks, he's got fifth place.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth place,
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: Francesco Pupi,
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_00: doubling back,
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_00: races OCC like a champion, knows how to race here, knows how to get it done.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth place for Fran.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_00: Third place, I got Daniel Patis.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_00: Fran has the head-to-head edge on Daniel,
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_00: but I think, you know, Daniel did just break his Lavarito course record.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think Daniel's a little bit fresher and has
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_00: a little bit better race selection coming into wanting to race OCC,
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_00: and I do think that Daniel just had his fastest-ever Sierra's in all in 2, 34, 48.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that's going to bode well.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_00: Last two spots.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_00: Second place, Fred Tranchand.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_00: Top 2 is looking just like Marathon of Mont Blanc.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_00: First place I got Remy Benet.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_00: I am liable to swap Freden for the win.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm liable to swap Petr Engdahl for the win.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_00: If I was going to take somebody out of my top 10,
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think Andre Blanes is the one who I'm least confident in keeping in this top 10,
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_00: just because he hasn't quite been to his form.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm liable to swap in Savan Kachard,
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_00: who I think is having a great season and I think is really well set up
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_00: for this race.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_00: I could see Nishan Kipalimo if he gets nutrition right in his first race going top 10.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_00: Jess Small could be kind of a bubble pick.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't talk about him, but Robby Simpson is always a strong pick for OCC.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_00: Marcin Kubitschka, we talked about him.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_00: Damian Bogdan could even kind of be right on that bubble as well.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't talk about him too much.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah,
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think if I was most likely to swap somebody out,
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_00: it would be Andre Blanes, swap somebody in, Savan Kachard.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I do think that if I had to pick somebody who could win this race, Remy.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: Let me see.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I'm thinking too hard.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_00: Remy, Petter Engdahl, Fred Trunch Holland.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think Fran can.
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_00: I just don't know if he can this year.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I do think Daniel Patis can definitely win this race.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I think Christian Allegan as well.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_00: But those are my picks for the men's side of the UTMB field.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, that's 48 minutes just talking about the men.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_00: All right,
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_00: on the women's side,
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_00: I promise the women are equally as exciting and have equally as much to say.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_00: Storylines, Tobey versus the world.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_00: Battle of the Swiss goats.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_00: Who finishes higher or highest, I guess?
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_00: Top Spaniard, top American, or top Swiss woman?
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I think there's kind of an equal chance of all of those.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_00: How many nationalities do we see in the top 10?
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_00: How many American women do we see in the top 10?
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then we do have the entire top four from World's Short Trail Racing in this race this year.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got some studs.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_00: Dark Horse is identified on my woman's side.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_00: I got Maria LaChica.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_00: She does have a high U2Me index, but I think most of you haven't heard of her.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_00: We got Margarita Vitale, Bianca Tarbuton.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_00: And Madalena Amari.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_00: Predictions, Tobe can only beat herself this race.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_00: Excuse me, can only beat herself.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody else can beat her if she races the way she can race.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_00: But this course is long enough that Tobe could make some mistakes,
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_00: could come out too hard, could not fuel herself well.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I think this race is long enough that we could see Tobe falter,
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_00: which I'm not saying she is going to, but I think we could see her.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_00: Alright,
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_00: so looking at my categories,
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_00: I've got,
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_00: I guess I'll just read my categories first and then kind of go through the people
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_00: on them.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_00: So different categories identify legitimate contenders to Tobey.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then I've got the coming in hot and fast from Sears and All Crowd.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then I've got Serious Threats that people are overlooking for Top 10.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then I've got just kind of like a best of the rest, generally speaking.
• 51:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess first and foremost, if it's not obvious at this point, Tove is my favorite.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think that Tove is at this point where it's not a matter of if Tove wins,
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_00: it's how much does she win by, and the margins that she wins by are insane.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_00: The places that she finishes in the overall ranking
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_00: for these short trail races is insane,
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_00: and the level that she's racing at, she's basically on an untouchable level.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_00: So with that
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_00: being said, I think that Tove is the favorite if I haven't made that obvious yet.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that it's not a matter of if she wins,
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_00: it's just if she finishes, how much is she going to win by?
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_00: She's coming off course records and wins at Marathon de Mont Blanc,
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_00: where she's the first woman ever going in four hours.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_00: Course record and win at Sagama.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_00: She did win Bantu 50K.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then last year,
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_00: she demolished Worlds,
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_00: won by 34 minutes over the second place finisher,
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_00: Sara Alonzo, who is one of the best racers in the world.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just insane to think about.
• 52:20
  SPEAKER_00: So she really hasn't lost a race intro running since she got second at
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_00: the Classic Distance of Worlds in 2023.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_00: And even then, she won every other race on here except for...
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think you'd have to go back to some of the Golden Trail Finals races that she raced.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_00: So Tove is on a generational tear, and I think it's even of the likes of...
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_00: I was the one who put the question forward on...
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_00: What's it called?
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_00: On Singletrack, sorry.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_00: That basically said, is it possible?
• 52:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think that we're talking a lot about Jen Lichter's Black Canyon
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_00: and Western States double,
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_00: and rightfully so, because they're amazing, both course records.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_00: But I also think that Tove's...
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_00: Her doubles was Zagama and Marathon de Montblanc,
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_00: two races that have been around longer than Black Canyon,
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_00: not as long as Western States,
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_00: but I would say that have had more competitive density on average
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_00: or throughout their history.
• 53:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think you could compare Tove's Marathon de Montblanc and Zagama wins
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_00: in dominant course records to maybe even be...
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_00: Potentially stronger or as strong as Jen Lichter's Black Canyon and Western States doubles.
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_00: But that's just kind of food for thought.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, so first category, Legitimate Contenders to Tove.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_00: In this category,
• 53:45
  SPEAKER_00: I've got Judith Weider,
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_00: Sarah Alonzo, Eda Emily Robesem, Lauren Gregory, and Malin Osa.
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_00: So these are all women with the exception of Lauren Gregory.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_00: These are all women that we've seen finish second to Tove on her dominant resurgence.
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I kind of take it back.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_00: Judith hasn't finished second to her, but Judith has finished behind her.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_00: But these are people that I think that have legitimate shots at giving Tove a run
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_00: for her money and that if Tove falters, they could very well take the win.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_00: So first I want to talk about is Judith Peter.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_00: Coming fresh off a win at the European Athletics Offer Championships,
• 54:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think she was on the start list for Sears and all,
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_00: but then pulled if I'm not mistaken.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_00: And originally she was signed up for CCC, but she decided to drop down to OCC.
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_00: She is the reigning OCC runner-up finisher.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_00: She's coming off sixth place at Sagama this year, second place at Chianti.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_00: Ultra Trail, the medium distance race.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then last year, Judith had a lot of second places, but very good second places.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_00: OCC, Marathon of Montblanc, Swiss National Championships, and Zagama.
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then she also had a Waynes.
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, Judith is one of those people who is just an insanely smart racer,
• 55:11
  SPEAKER_00: an insanely talented racer.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_00: Her only hiccup last year was the DNF at Worlds, and that's because she got stung by a loss.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_00: Pretty confident she would have been in the 2-4 range as a lock, pretty much.
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_00: We have seen her race at OCC,
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_00: and she has gotten second each of the last two years,
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_00: so she'll be eager to change that to 201.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_00: But that's Judith Weider,
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_00: Swiss runner for Hoka, one of the GOATs to do it in the sub-ultra space.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete,
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_00: Sara Alonso,
• 55:41
  SPEAKER_00: the person who finished second to Tove at Worlds,
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_00: 34 minutes behind her but still had an amazing race.
• 55:48
  SPEAKER_00: Sara's coming fresh off 11th place at Sears and All in a 3.03.38,
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_00: which would have got her top 10 in pretty much any other iteration of the Sears
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_00: and All race, which is kind of nuts to think about.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_00: If she ran 3.03, what did I say, 3.03.08?
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, or excuse me, 303.38.
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_00: So if she ran 303.38 last year in Sierra's and all,
• 56:16
  SPEAKER_00: let's see, that would have got her, I want to say, like sixth place.
• 56:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it would have got her seventh place, I want to say.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_00: So Sara Alonzo just outside the top ten at Sierra's and all this year.
• 56:37
  SPEAKER_00: And other results include, let's see, she went third at Zagama this year.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_00: She won Hoco Valderan 50k and then she also had wins at Calamaro Sky Race
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_00: and Encantilados del Norte.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_00: So looking at her results this year,
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_00: it's a bunch of ones,
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_00: a third place at Zagama and then a 11th place at Sears and all.
• 56:57
  SPEAKER_00: Last year,
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_00: like we said,
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_00: second at World Trail Champs,
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_00: fourth place at OCC,
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_00: so she has raced here before, and she did get that iconic win at Sagama last year.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_00: She also raced OCC in 2024 to fourth place, so that's two fourth places in a row at OCC.
• 57:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think Sara is definitely a favorite in this field.
• 57:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think that if somebody,
• 57:17
  SPEAKER_00: if Tobey does falter, then she's definitely in the running to pick up the bets.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think Sara's pretty much a lock for top five, in my opinion.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_00: She's been one of the most consistent racers,
• 57:27
  SPEAKER_00: one of the most talented racers,
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_00: one of the most impressive racers of the past three years.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_00: And she's definitely going to be a favorite.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_00: All right,
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_00: next athlete,
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_00: and that legitimate considers to Tove,
• 57:40
  SPEAKER_00: Ida Emily Robcham,
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_00: coming fresh off a second place at Marathon du Mont Blanc,
• 57:44
  SPEAKER_00: just behind Tove's course record.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_00: She ran it in 4.18.
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_00: She's also coming off fourth place at Zagama earlier in the year and a win
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_00: at Chianti Marathon in an impressive field.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_00: Ida had an amazing racing rear last year as well.
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth place at World Short Trail,
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_00: fifth at OCC, eighth at Marathon on Mont Blanc, and seventh at Zagama.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_00: So Ida's like kind of steadily making this rise to like trail superstardom.
• 58:11
  SPEAKER_00: She kind of feels like the Norwegian equivalent of Sara Alonso where she doesn't miss her races.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_00: She's racing some of the best fields in the world
• 58:19
  SPEAKER_00: and it really feels like She legitimately can give Tove a run for her money.
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_00: She legitimately could beat Sarah Alonso.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_00: She legitimately could beat Mod Mathis.
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_00: She legitimately could potentially beat Judith Weider.
• 58:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that Ida is probably as good as it gets in this field,
• 58:37
  SPEAKER_00: and I think that she's definitely somebody who we've got to look out for.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_00: All right, last two in this group, legitimate considers to Tobe, Lauren Gregory, Malin, Osa.
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_00: Lauren Gregory is probably,
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_00: this is the only one in the group that hasn't finished second to Tobe in a race,
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_00: but I think Lauren Gregory coming fresh off of an insanely good speed goat,
• 58:55
  SPEAKER_00: just two minutes off gym,
• 58:55
  SPEAKER_00: like there's course record,
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_00: but in a really hot year this year,
• 58:58
  SPEAKER_00: and really in her longest race ever by a good margin,
• 59:01
  SPEAKER_00: She ran Svigo at 5.56 to Jim Lichter's 5.54.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_00: And she's also coming off second place at Broken Arrow 23K,
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_00: one of the deepest fields in the year.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_00: Second place at Canyon's 50K behind McKenna Morley,
• 59:11
  SPEAKER_00: who we're talking about more in a win at Gorge Waterfalls.
• 59:14
  SPEAKER_00: Lauren has what it takes.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't listened to her pre-race interviews.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like I've heard whispers of some kind of niggle or something bugging her.
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_00: But if Lauren lines up in the form that she's been in this year, Lauren is a contender.
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know that she'll come out with Tove.
• 59:29
  SPEAKER_00: But I think Lauren could definitely waste a podium spot or a top five on her debut at OCC.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_00: All right, last one in this group, Mahlon Osa-Ansa.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_00: Finished second place at Zagama this year to Tove behind her course record.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_00: She's also coming off a win at Labrador, 50K.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I think she was like a minute off the course record or just missed if I'm not mistaken.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_00: She might have even said it honestly.
• 59:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then she also won Sky Racing Mathesine.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_00: So good mix of races, no overracing, nothing crazy.
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_00: The only thing to look out for is she will occasionally get random cramping
• 1:00:02
  SPEAKER_00: and have issues like body cramps, and that happened to her at Pete's Alpine Trail.
• 1:00:07
  SPEAKER_00: It led her to DNF,
• 1:00:08
  SPEAKER_00: and then she was DNF at Worlds Short Trail,
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_00: but I don't know if that was the cramp relating last year.
• 1:00:12
  SPEAKER_00: So she has not raced OCC before because she opted for Worlds Championships last year.
• 1:00:21
  SPEAKER_00: But with that being said, She is a very, very consistent racer, just like Sara Alonso.
• 1:00:27
  SPEAKER_00: She's still very young, still very talented.
• 1:00:29
  SPEAKER_00: But if I could see somebody in this group that I just mentioned not finishing,
• 1:00:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think either her or Lauren with a potential injury risk will be
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_00: the two most likely to not finish in that favorites group.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_00: All right,
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_00: group coming in hot from a fast Sears and All crowd,
• 1:00:45
  SPEAKER_00: which, like I said, some of the people I just mentioned also did Sears and All.
• 1:00:49
  SPEAKER_00: But...
• 1:00:50
  SPEAKER_00: This group is going to include Mod Mathis, Laura Hottenrott, Tabor Hemming as of right now.
• 1:00:56
  SPEAKER_00: So Mod Mathis,
• 1:00:57
  SPEAKER_00: Swiss queen of sub-ultra running,
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_00: queen of Sears and all,
• 1:01:02
  SPEAKER_00: queen of so many things,
• 1:01:03
  SPEAKER_00: but mainly one of the best climbers in the world and just one of
• 1:01:06
  SPEAKER_00: the most dominant sub-ultra athletes up there with you as well.
• 1:01:11
  SPEAKER_00: A6 athlete coming off Sears and all,
• 1:01:13
  SPEAKER_00: finished 12th place in 3.0407, but that would have got her top 10 last year.
• 1:01:17
  SPEAKER_00: She had a dominant win at Trail Verbier Marathon in 442.
• 1:01:21
  SPEAKER_00: It was a course record by a big margin.
• 1:01:23
  SPEAKER_00: Early in the year, she ran some WMRA races.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_00: Third place at Beijing.
• 1:01:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think the up-down and first place in the up race.
• 1:01:31
  SPEAKER_00: She did race OCC to a third place last year.
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_00: Very, very impressive.
• 1:01:35
  SPEAKER_00: Third place just behind, excuse
• 1:01:40
  SPEAKER_00: me, just behind, I want to say Yao Miao and Judith Weider.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 1:01:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, YaoMeow and Judith Weider.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_00: So with that being said to you, I mean,
• 1:01:55
  SPEAKER_00: looking at OCC,
• 1:01:55
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 1:01:56
  SPEAKER_00: returning,
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_00: we have second place,
• 1:01:58
  SPEAKER_00: Judith Weider,
• 1:01:59
  SPEAKER_00: third place,
• 1:01:59
  SPEAKER_00: Mon Mathis, fourth place, Sarah Alonzo, fifth place, Yuta, Emily, Robesam.
• 1:02:03
  SPEAKER_00: So basically, four of the top five returning in this field.
• 1:02:10
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, what else to say about Maud?
• 1:02:13
  SPEAKER_00: I do think Maud is a very strong pick for top five.
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think even though Sierra's in all,
• 1:02:16
  SPEAKER_00: 12th place doesn't sound as good on paper as her time would indicate.
• 1:02:21
  SPEAKER_00: That time is really, really impressive.
• 1:02:23
  SPEAKER_00: It was only, let's see, last year she finished 258.
• 1:02:26
  SPEAKER_00: So it was only about six minutes off her time last year.
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think that Maud does really well at races like this.
• 1:02:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think the only thing working against her is that there's not enough climbing late
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_00: in the race and then that flat stuff at the end of the race.
• 1:02:39
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't play to her strength.
• 1:02:40
  SPEAKER_00: She's not as strong of a flat runner as some of the people in this field,
• 1:02:43
  SPEAKER_00: and I think that might work to her disadvantage.
• 1:02:46
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so that's Mod Mathis.
• 1:02:50
  SPEAKER_00: Next one I want to talk about is coming off a fast series.
• 1:02:54
  SPEAKER_00: Laura Hottenrott, German athlete.
• 1:02:57
  SPEAKER_00: She ran for the German Marathon team.
• 1:02:59
  SPEAKER_00: She's an A6 runner.
• 1:03:00
  SPEAKER_00: She's coming off 10th place at Sears and all.
• 1:03:03
  SPEAKER_00: 3.03.32.
• 1:03:04
  SPEAKER_00: Very, very fast.
• 1:03:05
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, just three minutes off of her fifth-place finish time last year in three hours.
• 1:03:11
  SPEAKER_00: She's had a really, really good year of running.
• 1:03:13
  SPEAKER_00: She ran the European Champs up-down race.
• 1:03:19
  SPEAKER_00: Excuse me, uphill race and got second place.
• 1:03:22
  SPEAKER_00: Only behind Morvin Goodrum.
• 1:03:24
  SPEAKER_00: So really, really impressive result there.
• 1:03:26
  SPEAKER_00: Top 10 at Sears and All.
• 1:03:28
  SPEAKER_00: She won Davos 23K.
• 1:03:30
  SPEAKER_00: She ran Innsbruck Alpine Trailfest Vertical third place.
• 1:03:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then she was ninth place in the World's Vertical last year.
• 1:03:39
  SPEAKER_00: Just a really good athlete.
• 1:03:40
  SPEAKER_00: The only thing I'm worried about Laura is she did race
• 1:03:41
  SPEAKER_00: the European Championships track marathon.
• 1:03:46
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't on a track, but basically the marathon that just went on for European Championships.
• 1:03:51
  SPEAKER_00: She represented Team Germany.
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_00: That was only eight days or a week after Sears and all, and she ran like 231, I want to say.
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not super confident that her legs are super fresh,
• 1:04:01
  SPEAKER_00: and that's kind of a big red flag for me.
• 1:04:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's not impossible to pull off,
• 1:04:04
  SPEAKER_00: but it just feels like a lot of racing in a three-week time, basically doing...
• 1:04:08
  SPEAKER_00: Two marathon distance and time efforts in some ways,
• 1:04:12
  SPEAKER_00: even harder than a marathon with Sears and all, and then trying to race OCC.
• 1:04:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the only thing.
• 1:04:16
  SPEAKER_00: I had her in my top 10,
• 1:04:17
  SPEAKER_00: and I remember that she raced at European Champs,
• 1:04:20
  SPEAKER_00: and I was like, that could be a red flag.
• 1:04:23
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete coming hot off of a very good Sears in all is Tabor Hemming,
• 1:04:27
  SPEAKER_00: who also got just outside of the top 15.
• 1:04:29
  SPEAKER_00: She got 16th place in 307.32.
• 1:04:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's the time that would have got her top 10 last year,
• 1:04:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think any year in Sears in all history.
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_00: She also had probably her best race yet,
• 1:04:38
  SPEAKER_00: Broken Arrow 23K,
• 1:04:39
  SPEAKER_00: third place on a very stacked field, and also went third place at the Ascent.
• 1:04:43
  SPEAKER_00: So won some bucks on Broken Arrow weekend and got into this race with her Rothrock result.
• 1:04:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think Tabor's kind of like a sleeper pick for top five.
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think that she's going to take what she learned in 2024
• 1:04:58
  SPEAKER_00: when she very narrowly missed winning this race.
• 1:05:01
  SPEAKER_00: She was leaning it for, I want to say, 20 miles to probably like, what, 40-ish Ks.
• 1:05:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then her back cramped up, and then she just ended up doing nothing.
• 1:05:09
  SPEAKER_00: But she was racing this race looking really smart, really impressive.
• 1:05:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think Tabor could be a sleeper for Podium,
• 1:05:16
  SPEAKER_00: and I think it's a non-trivial chance that she ends up top American,
• 1:05:19
  SPEAKER_00: even over Lauren Gregory,
• 1:05:21
  SPEAKER_00: who's kind of making her debut
• 1:05:25
  SPEAKER_00: out here at UTMB,
• 1:05:28
  SPEAKER_00: and over McKenna Moore as well.
• 1:05:31
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, so let's see what we're having.
• 1:05:33
  SPEAKER_00: Next group, I want to talk about serious threats that people are overlooking for top 10.
• 1:05:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is going to include Haw Haw Tea, Maria LaChica, Bianca Tarburton, and Margarita Vitale.
• 1:05:53
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, so first on this list, Haw Haw Tea.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_00: Vietnamese runner for Calas Fuga.
• 1:06:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think that we're really sleeping on her a lot, more than we should be.
• 1:06:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, she is known for doing very good at long races.
• 1:06:09
  SPEAKER_00: She's known for doing very well at hot races.
• 1:06:11
  SPEAKER_00: She is coming off a fastest ninth race ever at Western States in 16 hours
• 1:06:16
  SPEAKER_00: and 40 minutes, which is insane to say.
• 1:06:19
  SPEAKER_00: She did also race the Hong Kong 100K and get a win, I think, tying with
• 1:06:28
  SPEAKER_00: the Nepalese runner.
• 1:06:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm blanking on her name right now.
• 1:06:35
  SPEAKER_00: Trying to pull it up.
• 1:06:36
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
• 1:06:38
  SPEAKER_00: she tied with Veronica Lange,
• 1:06:40
  SPEAKER_00: actually, is who she tied with for her first, but got first place at Hong Kong 100K.
• 1:06:43
  SPEAKER_00: I was thinking of Sunmaya Buddha, excuse me.
• 1:06:47
  SPEAKER_00: So anyways, Hao Ha Ti, she is really, really impressive.
• 1:06:51
  SPEAKER_00: She races really consistently, looking at her results.
• 1:06:55
  SPEAKER_00: Before Western State,
• 1:06:56
  SPEAKER_00: she had won one, two, three, four, five,
• 1:07:00
  SPEAKER_00: six races in a row,
• 1:07:01
  SPEAKER_00: and that was ranging anywhere from a four-and-a-half-hour race to
• 1:07:05
  SPEAKER_00: a 13-and-a-half-hour race.
• 1:07:06
  SPEAKER_00: She got second place at Ultra Trail Ninghai last year,
• 1:07:11
  SPEAKER_00: just a couple of minutes off Ruth Croft,
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_00: a very speedy 60K right around six hours,
• 1:07:15
  SPEAKER_00: which feels kind of comparable to this course.
• 1:07:19
  SPEAKER_00: Based off its description, 58 kilometers, a little bit less vert, so maybe not quite as much.
• 1:07:25
  SPEAKER_00: She did race to sixth place at Western States last year.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_00: She won a Sky Race on the Skyrunning World Series circuit.
• 1:07:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's a longer, harder one, six hours.
• 1:07:33
  SPEAKER_00: She also won Vietnam Ultramarathon, 75K, seven and a half hours.
• 1:07:38
  SPEAKER_00: But she also has wins at Chiang Mai by UTMB, 50K, five hours and eight minutes.
• 1:07:45
  SPEAKER_00: And...
• 1:07:48
  SPEAKER_00: Even things like we have seen her go top five at CCC.
• 1:07:51
  SPEAKER_00: We've seen her go top 30 at Sears and all in 2023 when she first started racing.
• 1:07:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think we really shouldn't be overlooking how hot she is.
• 1:08:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think that she's a much better short fast runner in this category.
• 1:08:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I would not be surprised at all to see how hot she is in the top five.
• 1:08:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think we're sleeping on her.
• 1:08:07
  SPEAKER_00: But I think she's a strong pick for points or somewhere in the top ten.
• 1:08:11
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, next athlete.
• 1:08:14
  SPEAKER_00: I put her in the dark horse category, even though she's pretty high on the rankings list.
• 1:08:18
  SPEAKER_00: Maria Teresa LaChica, and I don't know how to say the last name, but Maria LaChica, essentially.
• 1:08:23
  SPEAKER_00: Maria really caught my eye this year when she raced to a second place
• 1:08:27
  SPEAKER_00: at Chianti Marathon,
• 1:08:29
  SPEAKER_00: but then she followed that up with a second place in
• 1:08:31
  SPEAKER_00: the European Trail Running Championships, the 52K.
• 1:08:34
  SPEAKER_00: She was second only behind...
• 1:08:37
  SPEAKER_00: Who won it this year?
• 1:08:39
  SPEAKER_00: She was second only behind Judith Weider.
• 1:08:40
  SPEAKER_00: So she was four minutes off Judith Weider for the win and beat a lot
• 1:08:46
  SPEAKER_00: of really good European women.
• 1:08:50
  SPEAKER_00: So, sorry, let me see.
• 1:08:54
  SPEAKER_00: All right, Marilla Chica.
• 1:08:56
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely somebody to look out for.
• 1:08:57
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely somebody that's dangerous in this race.
• 1:09:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's kind of her three main results here.
• 1:09:02
  SPEAKER_00: Excuse me, she also got a win at Valderan, but the 32K, so shorter distance.
• 1:09:09
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't have a ton of racing history.
• 1:09:11
  SPEAKER_00: She's only really been racing for two years,
• 1:09:12
  SPEAKER_00: it looks like, but she has done very well in the two years that she races.
• 1:09:17
  SPEAKER_00: So that's Maria LaChica.
• 1:09:19
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete, Bianca Tarbatone.
• 1:09:22
  SPEAKER_00: South African,
• 1:09:24
  SPEAKER_00: not really as well known to US or probably even European athletes
• 1:09:28
  SPEAKER_00: because she mainly races in South Africa.
• 1:09:29
  SPEAKER_00: She's a multiple time winner of the Otter Trail Race in Africa.
• 1:09:33
  SPEAKER_00: She won it in 2025.
• 1:09:35
  SPEAKER_00: She won it in 2024.
• 1:09:38
  SPEAKER_00: She won it in 2023.
• 1:09:39
  SPEAKER_00: So the past three years, she has won it.
• 1:09:44
  SPEAKER_00: This year,
• 1:09:45
  SPEAKER_00: she's expanded her running a little bit and done races in Innsbruck,
• 1:09:49
  SPEAKER_00: where she did the Innsbruck Alpine Trail Festival race to a fourth place.
• 1:09:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then she also raced Marathon de Mont Blanc to a fifth place finish,
• 1:09:59
  SPEAKER_00: which I think is very, impressive.
• 1:10:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of why I'm thinking that she could do well at this race.
• 1:10:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think it could be a dark horse for somewhere in that top 10.
• 1:10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is Margarita Vitale, Italian athlete.
• 1:10:14
  SPEAKER_00: She got third at Chianti Marathon and beat many strong females,
• 1:10:17
  SPEAKER_00: including many that are in this race,
• 1:10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Julia Font Gomez, Sylvia Schwager, Kimmy Schreiber, and Andrea Colbin's daughter.
• 1:10:23
  SPEAKER_00: And she was just eight minutes off of Ida Amelie Robesam.
• 1:10:26
  SPEAKER_00: She also won Madeira Island Marathon in a less deep field.
• 1:10:34
  SPEAKER_00: All right, cool.
• 1:10:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then,
• 1:10:35
  SPEAKER_00: so it's Margarita Vitale,
• 1:10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Italian athlete that I think is kind of on the sleeper picks.
• 1:10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then, Almost Made the Contenders to Tove List and Will Be Racing Hard.
• 1:10:43
  SPEAKER_00: I got two names in this category, and I think they could both go top five.
• 1:10:47
  SPEAKER_00: McKenna Morley and Naomi Lang.
• 1:10:49
  SPEAKER_00: So McKenna Morley is an A6 athlete from the U.S.
• 1:10:54
  SPEAKER_00: She ran at Boulder, excuse me, University of Colorado Boulder.
• 1:11:01
  SPEAKER_00: And she did get 7th place at Broken Arrow,
• 1:11:03
  SPEAKER_00: 23K in a stacked field, probably the deepest field she's ever raced.
• 1:11:06
  SPEAKER_00: She did win Kanan's 50K over Lauren Gregory this year and
• 1:11:09
  SPEAKER_00: then demolished Kodiak 50K last year to get into this race.
• 1:11:15
  SPEAKER_00: This is going to be her first time racing in Europe,
• 1:11:18
  SPEAKER_00: her first time racing on this big of a stage.
• 1:11:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think she maybe has gone out to support Adam and...
• 1:11:28
  SPEAKER_00: And his partner's name that I'm blanking on, Aaron, before for the races.
• 1:11:33
  SPEAKER_00: But this is going to be her first time racing on this big of a scale.
• 1:11:35
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the only kind of question mark I have.
• 1:11:37
  SPEAKER_00: I do think she is absolutely talented enough to be the top American and to go top five.
• 1:11:42
  SPEAKER_00: But I just don't know how she's going to react to this big of a race on a not
• 1:11:46
  SPEAKER_00: as fast, flat, runnable surface that she's used to in the States.
• 1:11:50
  SPEAKER_00: So McKenna Morley, definitely a threat.
• 1:11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Naomi Lang,
• 1:11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Scottish runner,
• 1:11:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think going to med school,
• 1:11:56
  SPEAKER_00: often on the Golden Trail World Series circuit,
• 1:11:58
  SPEAKER_00: athlete for Solomon,
• 1:11:59
  SPEAKER_00: coming fresh off two third-place finishes at Pete's Alpine Trail and Marathon
• 1:12:03
  SPEAKER_00: to Mont Blanc.
• 1:12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Super consistent racer, had a bad day at European up-down champs, 23rd.
• 1:12:12
  SPEAKER_00: But then last year, she really likes number three, it seems like.
• 1:12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Third at ETC last year, third at World Trail Champs, only behind Tove and Sara Alonzo.
• 1:12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Went at Pete's Alpine Glacier and another third at Marathon of Mont Blanc.
• 1:12:24
  SPEAKER_00: So extremely consistent racer, extremely talented.
• 1:12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Feels like she's probably one that...
• 1:12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Would have been better suited with a descent at the end,
• 1:12:32
  SPEAKER_00: like the old OCC course, compared to this flat stuff.
• 1:12:35
  SPEAKER_00: But I think Noemi Lang is about as good as it gets,
• 1:12:39
  SPEAKER_00: and it's definitely a lock for somewhere in that top 10.
• 1:12:40
  SPEAKER_00: All right,
• 1:12:42
  SPEAKER_00: best of the rest,
• 1:12:42
  SPEAKER_00: I've got Kimi Schreiber,
• 1:12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Amanda Nielsen, Aaron Moyer, Sarah Carter, Daniella Lemus, and Bailey Kowalczyk.
• 1:12:50
  SPEAKER_00: So Kimi Schreiber...
• 1:12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Athlete for Adidas Terex, German, super good sense of style.
• 1:12:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think she finished 20th place last year at OCC.
• 1:13:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so far this year,
• 1:13:04
  SPEAKER_00: she got fourth place at Broken Arrow,
• 1:13:06
  SPEAKER_00: 46K, won at Swiss Cannon Trail, and fifth place at Transvaulconia Marathon.
• 1:13:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think her ceiling would be like 8 through 13 for this race, quite frankly.
• 1:13:19
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete, Amanda Nielsen.
• 1:13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Hoka athlete from Sweden.
• 1:13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Races mostly Swedish races,
• 1:13:28
  SPEAKER_00: but she did race at Contalados Del Norte Sky Racing at fourth place in a good field.
• 1:13:32
  SPEAKER_00: She raced Worlds last year to 28th in the marathon category.
• 1:13:36
  SPEAKER_00: It looks like it'll be her first OCC,
• 1:13:38
  SPEAKER_00: but she definitely seems like a speedy runner who could get somewhere in
• 1:13:43
  SPEAKER_00: that top 15 here.
• 1:13:45
  SPEAKER_00: U.S. athlete Aaron Moyer coming off of 21st place at Broken Arrow 23K,
• 1:13:51
  SPEAKER_00: 6th place at Broken Arrow Ascent, 3rd at Gorge 100K, And third at Big Alta at 50K.
• 1:13:57
  SPEAKER_00: She has raced SB GOAT last year to an eighth place.
• 1:14:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think she's on the up and up.
• 1:14:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think she could finish somewhere in that top 20.
• 1:14:05
  SPEAKER_00: Sarah Carter is also on the same boat.
• 1:14:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think a little bit faster than Erin Moyer.
• 1:14:10
  SPEAKER_00: And also had a very, good race at Broken Arrow, 46K second place to Danny Marino this year.
• 1:14:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's a good tune-up for OCC.
• 1:14:18
  SPEAKER_00: She did also race OCC last year to 15th place.
• 1:14:21
  SPEAKER_00: So looking to improve on that, I think that...
• 1:14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Sarah Carter is also capable of going top 15 at this race and maybe even top 10 on a good day.
• 1:14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Last two athletes talk about German athlete Danielle Wemus for Nike ACG coming off
• 1:14:33
  SPEAKER_00: of a DNF at Laboreto ADK.
• 1:14:35
  SPEAKER_00: She did race Transvalconia,
• 1:14:37
  SPEAKER_00: the Ultramarathon,
• 1:14:38
  SPEAKER_00: seventh place this year, and then hasn't raced as much this year just in general.
• 1:14:43
  SPEAKER_00: So tough to know where she's at.
• 1:14:45
  SPEAKER_00: She has raced OCC in the past, 2024 to a DNF.
• 1:14:49
  SPEAKER_00: She raced it in 2023 to a fifth place.
• 1:14:52
  SPEAKER_00: And 2022 to a 14th place.
• 1:14:55
  SPEAKER_00: So kind of a mixed bag for her, but has gone top 10 out of this race before.
• 1:15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Last athlete, talk about Bailey Kowalczyk, U.S. runner, I think could do really well here.
• 1:15:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is a little bit longer than she usually races,
• 1:15:07
  SPEAKER_00: but kind of making that comeback from a long road from injury,
• 1:15:11
  SPEAKER_00: but definitely talented enough to go top 10 here.
• 1:15:14
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so that is my women's side, and those are all the ones that I want to talk about.
• 1:15:18
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean there's not other ones that could do very well here.
• 1:15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, I left that one.
• 1:15:26
  SPEAKER_00: So she can do long, hard, technical, grindy races.
• 1:15:29
  SPEAKER_00: She also has lots of speed if she's going top 10 in Golden Trail World Series events.
• 1:15:53
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely think she's somebody to look out for.
• 1:15:55
  SPEAKER_00: She did race Worlds last year to a 16th place in the marathon.
• 1:15:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I think Madalena Amaria could absolutely go top 10 in this race.
• 1:16:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so...
• 1:16:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's everything that I want to talk about.
• 1:16:09
  SPEAKER_00: With that being said, let's get into the female picks for OCC.
• 1:16:14
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to go 10th through 1.
• 1:16:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'll go 10th place, Maria Lachico.
• 1:16:20
  SPEAKER_00: 9th place, McKenna Morley.
• 1:16:23
  SPEAKER_00: 8th place, Malin Osa.
• 1:16:27
  SPEAKER_00: 7th place, Naomi Lang.
• 1:16:30
  SPEAKER_00: 6th place, Maude Matisse.
• 1:16:34
  SPEAKER_00: 5th place, Ida Emily Robesham.
• 1:16:37
  SPEAKER_00: Four place, American, Lauren Gregory, Top American, both in OCC and in the women's field.
• 1:16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Third place, Judith Weider.
• 1:16:47
  SPEAKER_00: Second place, Sara Alonzo.
• 1:16:49
  SPEAKER_00: And first place, Tobey Alexanderson.
• 1:16:52
  SPEAKER_00: So not too far off of kind of a combination of worlds in OCC last year.
• 1:16:59
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I've got Ida and Finn.
• 1:17:02
  SPEAKER_00: She got fourth in Worlds and, what, fifth at OCC.
• 1:17:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of, I guess, the same.
• 1:17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Lauren didn't race either last year.
• 1:17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Or she raced Worlds, but not this distance.
• 1:17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Judith, I think, would have finished third in Worlds if she finished.
• 1:17:15
  SPEAKER_00: She ended up finishing second at OCC.
• 1:17:19
  SPEAKER_00: And Sara finished second at Worlds and fourth at OCC.
• 1:17:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:17:28
  SPEAKER_00: So, those are my picks.
• 1:17:31
  SPEAKER_00: People that I'm liable to swap in.
• 1:17:33
  SPEAKER_00: Halhati, I might put in my top ten.
• 1:17:36
  SPEAKER_00: Tabor Hemming, I get very easily seen going top ten in this race.
• 1:17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 1:17:46
  SPEAKER_00: Bianca Tarbatone, I think, could fit somewhere in there.
• 1:17:50
  SPEAKER_00: Madalena Amari, Romanian runner, I could see in there.
• 1:17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Laura Hottenrott, if she didn't race so recently, I would have her in there.
• 1:17:57
  SPEAKER_00: But I feel pretty good about those picks.
• 1:17:59
  SPEAKER_00: I probably will shuffle them around,
• 1:18:00
  SPEAKER_00: but those all feel like pretty strong picks for the women's field.
• 1:18:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I got one, two, three, four, five, six different nationalities in my top ten as of right now.
• 1:18:15
  SPEAKER_00: So three Spaniards, two Americans, two Swiss, one UK runner, one Norwegian, and one Swede.
• 1:18:24
  SPEAKER_00: So those are my picks for OCC.
• 1:18:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that is going to conclude our preview.
• 1:18:32
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that gives you lots to think about.
• 1:18:34
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that gives you some new runners to consider.
• 1:18:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope that gets you excited about the kickoff of the UTMB World Series is going
• 1:18:41
  SPEAKER_00: to be the first of three podcasts that I'll do.
• 1:18:43
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll do CCC next and then UTMB just trying to get out the podcast in order
• 1:18:48
  SPEAKER_00: that they're being run.
• 1:18:50
  SPEAKER_00: I hope this was helpful.
• 1:18:51
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoyed it.
• 1:18:51
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed it, like, subscribe, give me feedback, tell me where I went wrong.
• 1:18:56
  SPEAKER_00: I like it when people message me on Instagram or interact with me any way they see fit.
• 1:19:00
  SPEAKER_00: But I hope it was helpful.
• 1:19:01
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoyed it.
• 1:19:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope you have a lovely day wherever you're listening to this.