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2025 Speedgoat 50k Preview and Picks · Let's Talk Trail Running

0:01
SPEAKER_00: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to Let's Talk Trail Running.
0:05
SPEAKER_00: This is your host,
0:06
SPEAKER_00: Robert Crosser,
0:07
and it's been a month since we recorded one of these and put it
0:10
back up on the big
0:11
SPEAKER_00: week that was Marathon de Mont Blanc,
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SPEAKER_00: Western States,
0:15
SPEAKER_00: and a couple other races.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: A lot has happened in that month.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: We've had Western States happen,
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SPEAKER_00: we've had Hard Rock happen,
0:23
SPEAKER_00: and also,
0:24
SPEAKER_00: importantly,
0:24
I returned from being deployed and came back to the States
0:27
about two weeks ago.
0:28
So I've really just been kind of enjoying my R&R downtime and
0:32
getting some playing
0:33
SPEAKER_00: out in the mountains in Montana,
0:35
SPEAKER_00: in Colorado,
0:36
and I'll be going up to New England this weekend and hopefully
0:38
doing some stuff in
0:39
SPEAKER_00: the White Mountains here.
0:41
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, it's been exciting and it's crazy to think it's been so long.
0:45
I almost tried to get out a podcast for Hard Rock,
0:47
but I just wasn't quite...
0:49
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
0:49
SPEAKER_00: I just wasn't quite as excited to talk about it.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: And I felt like there's a lot of good media around it.
0:55
I was actually probably more excited to talk about things like
0:58
a Western States recap.
1:00
But I also,
1:00
once again,
1:00
felt like there was a lot of really,
1:01
really good media around it.
1:02
So sometimes I feel like if it's really well covered,
1:05
it's not always the most exciting to me.
1:07
yeah it's been a good you know a couple of weeks um like i said
1:10
months since we
1:10
talked about this and since that time we've had hard rock and
1:14
then high lonesome
1:14
and we've also had races like lava rado as well um and yeah and
1:20
just it's been fun
1:21
to get back go play in the mountains some and just kind of
1:26
relax and wind to see
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green things outside because i just got so used to the color
1:32
brown when i first got
1:33
SPEAKER_00: back to colorado
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It was amazing to see how green and vibrant of a summer it is
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with all this rain
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SPEAKER_00: we've been getting.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: It's been awesome to see the alpine wildflowers.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: It's been awesome to do some 14ers.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: It was awesome.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: I think I had probably my coolest run ever in Glacier National Park.
1:47
SPEAKER_00: The other day I went and ran from Pagan Pass to Sia Pass,
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came down Sia Pass and then kind of bushwhacked up Goat
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Mountain and then kind of
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SPEAKER_00: bushwhacked down,
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SPEAKER_00: not really bushwhacked,
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but kind of just dropped in on a scree field down Goat Mountain
2:00
to Otokomi Lake.
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And then down to the trailhead at Otakomi and then just head
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stride back to my car.
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SPEAKER_00: Probably the most beautiful run I've ever done in my life.
2:09
SPEAKER_00: And then 14 years wise, I did Chavano.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: and Tabaguache the other day.
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And then I'm looking to do Long's Peak here shortly and maybe
2:17
Huron Peak via Lulu Gulch.
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SPEAKER_00: But I'm kind of just looking at some scenic aesthetic routes,
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SPEAKER_00: ideally ones that are in the Sawatch.
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SPEAKER_00: So if you guys have any suggestions, I'm all ears.
2:27
But really just like a good day out in the mountains with some
2:29
scenic routes,
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SPEAKER_00: maybe a little bit of ridge scrambling or ridge navigation.
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SPEAKER_00: Also looking at Blanca Peak,
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basically just trying to find stuff within like a two or three
2:37
hour range of
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Colorado Springs where I can just go out and then do it on the
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same day and return
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SPEAKER_00: home.
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just to be back with my girlfriend and my dog by the time they
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get off work.
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SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of where we're at.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm also looking at doing something up in New England.
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I've already done the Pemi Traverse,
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or excuse me,
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the Pemi Loop and the Prezi Traverse.
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SPEAKER_00: And two years ago, I did the Mahusik Traverse as well.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm considering repeating one of either the Pemi or Prezi,
3:02
SPEAKER_00: but I'm also all ears for other options as well.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: I've considered things like the Devil's Path and the Catskills before.
3:09
SPEAKER_00: And there's also...
3:12
SPEAKER_00: I'm blanking on it.
3:13
The great range traverse that I've started,
3:16
but then bailed on because of bad weather.
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SPEAKER_00: So those are all options,
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but I think I'm probably going to do something the whites more
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than likely maybe
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SPEAKER_00: thinking like the hut to hut,
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SPEAKER_00: but not the entirety of it.
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SPEAKER_00: I think there's a way you can break it down to like,
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SPEAKER_00: 28 miles and like 10 or 12 K ever.
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SPEAKER_00: Um, not obviously the whole thing.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: The whole thing is like 46 miles and 16 K ever.
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SPEAKER_00: I want to say,
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SPEAKER_00: I don't think I'm up for quite that big of a day,
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SPEAKER_00: but I would like to have a big day in the whites.
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SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to go,
3:40
SPEAKER_00: uh,
3:41
SPEAKER_00: on my way up to the,
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to a family member has a condo and Sunday river where I'm going
3:45
to go stay.
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SPEAKER_00: And on the way up,
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SPEAKER_00: I'm going to try to stop in the run the white shop and see Mr.
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SPEAKER_00: Andrew Drummond and get some advice and Intel from him.
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Cause very few people in the world know the whites quite as
3:57
well as he does.
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SPEAKER_00: Um,
3:58
SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of my plan.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I've been boring you guys with details.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: We're going to talk about Speedgo 50K today here in a second.
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SPEAKER_00: But I kind of just wanted to catch up because it's been,
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SPEAKER_00: you know,
4:06
SPEAKER_00: like I said,
4:06
SPEAKER_00: it's been a month since we've talked.
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SPEAKER_00: And I'm just excited to be back.
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And I'm really excited to get to experience summer in the
4:16
States because it's my
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SPEAKER_00: favorite time of year.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: The endless days,
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SPEAKER_00: beautiful sunsets,
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SPEAKER_00: beautiful sunrises,
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SPEAKER_00: perfect temps all day,
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SPEAKER_00: tons of water in the Alpine if you're running in places like I do,
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SPEAKER_00: Colorado,
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SPEAKER_00: Montana,
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SPEAKER_00: New England.
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SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, it's just been really grateful, really happy to be home.
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SPEAKER_00: And I'm very excited to be talking about trail running again.
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SPEAKER_00: So other things that have happened in the meantime,
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SPEAKER_00: since we last spoke,
4:45
SPEAKER_00: the US officially announced their trail team.
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for the um because essentially it announced the resume spots
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for the remaining
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members of the trail team so i'm going to pull those up on
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atras instagram page so
5:01
on the women's short trail team we've got helen mino faulkner
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tabor hemming jane
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moss ruby lindquist grayson murphy and lindsey allison on the
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men's short team
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we've got eli hemming david sinclair ryan becker noah williams
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seth ruling
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SPEAKER_00: michelino sanceri
5:17
And some of these people we're going to talk about in Spigo
5:19
here in a second.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: Men's Long Trail,
5:21
SPEAKER_00: Adam Peterman,
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SPEAKER_00: Tyler Green,
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SPEAKER_00: Jim Walmsley,
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SPEAKER_00: Zach Miller,
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SPEAKER_00: Caleb Olson,
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SPEAKER_00: and Trayson Knopp.
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SPEAKER_00: That one was already announced.
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SPEAKER_00: And same thing with the women's team.
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SPEAKER_00: Women's Long Trail,
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SPEAKER_00: Shayak Olano,
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SPEAKER_00: Allison Baca,
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SPEAKER_00: Jennifer Lichter,
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SPEAKER_00: Claire Rhodes,
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SPEAKER_00: Katie Scheid,
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SPEAKER_00: and Emily Schmitz.
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SPEAKER_00: They also announced the rest...
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SPEAKER_00: Well,
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SPEAKER_00: I think they already had the vertical and the up-down team.
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SPEAKER_00: So...
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SPEAKER_00: That's kind of where we're at.
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And like I said,
5:45
we're going to talk about some of these people in Speedgoat.
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And so I guess without further ado,
5:49
we'll kind of get into Speedgoat 50K by UTMB.
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SPEAKER_00: This is a cool race.
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SPEAKER_00: It has a lot of meaning to me.
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It was kind of the first big ultra,
5:58
first competitive ultra I ever did in 2022.
6:02
And it's history-wise,
6:05
you know,
6:05
it's named after the Speedgoat himself,
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Mr.
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Carl Meltzer.
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SPEAKER_00: one of the first ever Hoka athletes,
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SPEAKER_00: also a creator of probably the best-selling Hoka shoe in history,
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SPEAKER_00: the Speedgoat.
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SPEAKER_00: That's up to its sixth iteration now.
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SPEAKER_00: And basically,
6:18
he wanted to create a really tough mountainous 50K in his
6:20
backyard in the Wasatch,
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SPEAKER_00: which is where he worked as a bartender,
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SPEAKER_00: is my understanding,
6:26
at Snowbird in the winters and just scrounged up all his money
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so he could just go
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SPEAKER_00: race his little Speedgoat butt off in the summertime.
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And yeah,
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basically,
6:34
he just made a really gnarly course in the Wasatch area
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SPEAKER_00: It's more that it's called a 50 K,
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SPEAKER_00: but it's more like a 54,
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SPEAKER_00: 53 K.
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SPEAKER_00: It usually runs more like 32 to 33 miles,
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SPEAKER_00: usually around 11,000 feet of bird.
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SPEAKER_00: So 3,200 meters, give or take.
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SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's also all at elevation.
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SPEAKER_00: It goes from pretty much like eight to 11,000 feet.
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SPEAKER_00: I think, I don't think it dips below 8,000 here.
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SPEAKER_00: I'll just double check my phone because I had it pulled up.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: Um,
7:02
I think the high point is right around 11,000,
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and the low point is just a smidge below 8,000.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm looking at David Sinclair's course record time.
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SPEAKER_00: It's just had a lot of really great athletes.
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SPEAKER_00: Killian Jornet has raced it.
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A lot of the legends of the sport have raced at this race,
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so it has some really stout times.
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It's a really good test piece,
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and it's something that the course really doesn't change.
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SPEAKER_00: It pretty much stays the same all year's.
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SPEAKER_00: Um,
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SPEAKER_00: so it's a pretty good,
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it's a pretty good measuring piece to see where you're at
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fitness wise and also how
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SPEAKER_00: you stack up with some of the greats.
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SPEAKER_00: Um,
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one thing I noticed about Spigo is people that do it year after
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year tend to get a
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SPEAKER_00: lot faster.
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SPEAKER_00: Um, you'll see big improvements.
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I think you're at a pretty decent disadvantage of this is your
7:41
first year racing it.
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SPEAKER_00: So we're going to focus on that a lot too,
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SPEAKER_00: because we have a lot of returning people that have races race before.
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And you kind of have a huge advantage if you've raced it before
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and know the course
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SPEAKER_00: versus if it's your first year racing it.
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SPEAKER_00: You see people often improve their time like an hour year over year.
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SPEAKER_00: Even like Jim Walmsley,
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SPEAKER_00: the first year he raced,
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SPEAKER_00: I think he finished in like low seven hours or something.
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And then he ended up having the course record for a bit at
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504-ish or 505.
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SPEAKER_00: And then Adam Peterman had at 504.
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And then just recently last year,
8:07
David Sinclair broke it at 457,
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which is insane.
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SPEAKER_00: If you run this race at elevation the way he did, I mean, it's just nuts.
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SPEAKER_00: I mean, his gap was like...
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so that's his great adjusted pace 634 which doesn't sound
8:20
insane but when you're
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talking about this type of terrain which is super gnarly and
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you're talking at this
8:24
elevation eight to eleven thousand feet that's nuts so yeah
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spigo um historically
8:30
uh super good course uh carl melto ran the race and was the rd
8:34
until i think two or
8:35
three years ago he uh he still is involved he still comes out
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to the race every
8:39
year still sees spectators it's cool he high fives everyone
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that comes to the
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SPEAKER_00: finish he even is on course
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SPEAKER_00: When I ran in 2022,
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I saw him at like the right around maybe half of the way up the
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Hidden Peak climb,
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SPEAKER_00: the first climb of the day.
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But basically,
8:52
it's a race that if you're not going up,
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you're going down.
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And then it looks like there's a descent at the end and like
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the last five or six
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SPEAKER_00: miles,
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SPEAKER_00: which there is.
9:00
But then he just throws in like five or six hundred foot climb
9:03
for shits and gigs.
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And it doesn't look like much because of how much climbing and
9:05
descending you do in this course.
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SPEAKER_00: But it does add up.
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SPEAKER_00: And yeah, it's just a very rugged course.
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SPEAKER_00: It's easy to get beat up.
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SPEAKER_00: It's easy to get to the top of hidden peak,
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which usually the best athletes on the men's side take about an
9:18
hour and a half to
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SPEAKER_00: do.
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And then on the descent,
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you go all the way down 3000 feet over the next essentially
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like
9:24
SPEAKER_00: five or six miles.
9:26
And then you really got to save your legs because there's going
9:28
to be a lot more
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SPEAKER_00: climbing and descending in the back half of the course.
9:31
So in my mind,
9:33
Spigo is there's kind of like a mountain trifecta of courses in
9:37
the States.
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SPEAKER_00: And that would be Broken Arrow 46K or 48K or 52K.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: They've changed it like a bajillion times.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: But Broken Arrow, Speed Goat, and Run the Rut.
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SPEAKER_00: And all of these are kind of,
9:48
SPEAKER_00: you know,
9:48
SPEAKER_00: approximately 50Ks with around 10,000 to 11,000 feet of vert.
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And they're all at elevation too with them like Run the Rut and
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Speed Goat are both
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SPEAKER_00: like 8,000 to 11,000 feet,
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SPEAKER_00: give or take.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: And then Broken Arrow is just a little bit lower.
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SPEAKER_00: I think it starts at like 66 or 6,800 and goes up to 9,000.
10:06
But essentially,
10:07
that's kind of like the trifecta of the mountain races in the
10:11
U.S.
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SPEAKER_00: in my mind.
10:12
And people like David Sinclair have always done super well and
10:15
Michelino Sanceri.
10:16
And so we'll kind of talk about those people that are really
10:18
good at these mountain
10:19
SPEAKER_00: trifecta races that are at elevation,
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SPEAKER_00: kind of technical,
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SPEAKER_00: lots of elevation gain,
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SPEAKER_00: lots of ups and down.
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SPEAKER_00: And then we'll also talk about some speedier, flatter people as well.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: And hopefully it shapes up.
10:29
Some of these guys have done OCC before,
10:32
and hopefully some of them are doing it this year.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: A lot of them we're going to talk about have actually made the U.S.
10:37
SPEAKER_00: short trail team.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: So we'll actually talk about that as well.
10:40
SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, we got the men's and women's previews.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: I just finished my notes.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: And as I record this, I apologize.
10:47
SPEAKER_00: I think we're only like 40-ish hours out.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: It's Thursday at 1 o'clock approximately p.m.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: in the Mountain West.
10:56
So I'm going to try to get this out as soon as possible so you
10:58
guys can make your
10:59
SPEAKER_00: picks,
10:59
SPEAKER_00: and I hope it helps.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna start for the men's side.
11:02
Um,
11:02
so we talked about the history of speed goats,
11:04
um,
11:05
and actually one other,
11:06
uh,
11:07
small thing.
11:07
SPEAKER_00: So like I said, it was my first big competitive race.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: It was exciting to see guys.
11:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Hayden Hawks didn't race it that year, but he was at the start line.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: David Sinclair won it.
11:15
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Eric Sorensen got second.
11:17
SPEAKER_00: This was 2022 and Micheline Osunceri got third on the women's side.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: Addie Bracey won it and had a really historically fast time.
11:23
SPEAKER_00: Jen Lector got second.
11:24
And that was despite going off course and adding like three
11:27
miles to her race.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: Um,
11:28
um and then I forget who it was that got third that year but
11:32
basically uh it was my
11:33
first big race and ironically it was the first time I looked up
11:36
a race preview
11:37
which I found on single track first time I ever heard of single
11:39
track podcast in
11:40
2022 they did a race preview and it was also the first time
11:43
that I ever played
11:44
fantasy free trail so that's pretty cool um this race basically
11:47
led me to fantasy
11:48
free trail uh and I actually think if I go back I'm pretty sure
11:52
I did I got top 10
11:54
SPEAKER_00: on my picks on the first fantasy free trail to be fair
11:57
SPEAKER_00: I don't think there was a lot of people playing at the time.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: I think it might've been like a hundred or 200,
12:01
SPEAKER_00: but,
12:02
SPEAKER_00: uh,
12:03
SPEAKER_00: it definitely made me feel,
12:04
SPEAKER_00: I guess you could say,
12:05
SPEAKER_00: uh,
12:06
SPEAKER_00: special or whatever.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, it was, uh, pretty cool, um, to see.
12:14
And that was,
12:15
yeah,
12:15
I'm pretty confident in my first ever,
12:17
uh,
12:18
first ever race.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: And right now I'm just outside the top 10 in overall.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: So that's pretty cool.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: Anyways, without further ado, Spigo 50k.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: On the men's side,
12:26
we kind of feel like it's the first Spigo in a while without
12:29
the course record
12:29
SPEAKER_00: holder and perennial favorite David Sinclair.
12:31
I think he took it off two years ago,
12:32
but it feels like he's in this race every year.
12:34
And I feel like we have a good mix of speedy boys from Colorado
12:37
and speedy boys
12:38
SPEAKER_00: from Salt Lake City.
12:39
So we're going to kind of talk about that and some advantages
12:42
the SLC guys might
12:43
SPEAKER_00: have,
12:44
SPEAKER_00: plus who's looking favorite on this course.
12:47
So I'm kind of going in order more or less of who they have
12:50
listed on the Fantasy Free Trail.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: And for the Fantasy Free Trail, so let's see.
13:01
SPEAKER_00: So anyways, so I got my list right here.
13:03
SPEAKER_00: We're going to start with Jeshurun Small,
13:05
SPEAKER_00: the Adidas Terex athlete who ran the trail running program in Colorado.
13:10
SPEAKER_00: I think it's Western States University, if I'm not mistaken.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Tarek's guy, younger dude.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: I think he's around my age.
13:15
SPEAKER_00: I'm 29.
13:15
SPEAKER_00: I think he's 27, 28, 29, somewhere in there.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: And he is typically a favorite of this type of course,
13:20
SPEAKER_00: but he's kind of had a mixed bag of results so far this year.
13:23
But he is coming off a very strong result with his fifth place
13:26
at Broken Air.
13:26
I'm sure he would have liked to be that top three so he could
13:28
have the U.S.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: team automatic qualifier.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: But that was kind of on the up and up.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: He had a race at Canyons as well,
13:35
SPEAKER_00: Canyons 50K this year,
13:36
SPEAKER_00: where he came out with a lead pack,
13:38
SPEAKER_00: kind of blew up and fell off,
13:40
SPEAKER_00: faded back to 10th in that race.
13:42
And then other than that,
13:45
those are the two races he's done so far this year.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: He's really good at this type of course.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: He has raced Spigo before in 2023, and it was to a fourth place finish.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: And so that's a really good first time for him.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: I expect to see him in the top five.
13:57
SPEAKER_00: I think he'll do well.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: He lives and trains out of Colorado.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty sure Boulder.
14:01
SPEAKER_00: We're outside of Boulder, maybe like Nederland or something like that.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: And I expect to see him in the top five.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: I think he'll have a good race.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: He'll race smart.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: And I think he's coming off some confidence from that Broken Arrow 46K,
14:11
SPEAKER_00: which was really,
14:12
really fast with David Sinclair and Eli Hemming pushing the
14:15
pace up front.
14:16
He ran a time that probably would have won it in most years,
14:18
if not for those two guys.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: So that's the first one, Josh Small.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: Next one is going to be Zach Garner.
14:23
He is probably one of the,
14:26
he's definitely one of the local Salt Lake City crusher crowd.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: He just graduated from BYU, if I'm not mistaken.
14:32
And he is a Strava account that's worth following if you want
14:34
to have your mind blown.
14:36
SPEAKER_00: He's toned it down a little bit recently this year.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: But I mean,
14:39
SPEAKER_00: we're talking like Zach Miller-esque,
14:41
David Hedges-esque numbers of training where he would put up
14:45
routinely 40,
14:46
SPEAKER_00: 50,
14:49
SPEAKER_00: 60,
14:46
SPEAKER_00: maybe not 60K,
14:47
SPEAKER_00: but 40 or 50K of pretty routinely.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: 100-mile weeks, 20 hours, just crazy stuff like that.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: He has toned it back a little bit this year.
14:58
SPEAKER_00: I've seen his biggest week as 28 hours,
15:01
SPEAKER_00: 38,000 feet of vert,
15:02
SPEAKER_00: and 125 miles,
15:04
SPEAKER_00: which that's still insane.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: He is no stranger to these mountains,
15:12
SPEAKER_00: knows them super well,
15:14
and also probably has the best knowledge of this course up
15:18
there with some of the
15:19
SPEAKER_00: other SLC guys like...
15:23
like uh adam loomis and grant barnett is who i'm thinking of so
15:27
yeah i mean he's
15:28
run a ton and he's also uh he's got familiarity with this race
15:31
no stranger to it at
15:32
all he has raced uh speak up multiple times and has done well
15:37
at it so um yeah he
15:40
SPEAKER_00: raced it in 2021 2022 and 2023 and
15:43
SPEAKER_00: He finished 10th the first time and then 5th back-to-back years.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: So he's definitely going to know this course like the back of his hand.
15:51
SPEAKER_00: So far this year, he's had a mixed bag.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: He hasn't had the results.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: He hasn't really raced to his potential.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: He DNF'd at Ultra Trail Snowdonia 100 miler,
15:58
which is a really insanely tough course that has a super low
16:01
finishing rate.
16:02
SPEAKER_00: And then he also had like an 18th place at Chianti 120k.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: came out pretty hard with the lead pack and then just kind of fell off.
16:09
SPEAKER_00: I think he really wasn't stoked with the course.
16:12
SPEAKER_00: If you look at his Strava recap,
16:13
I think it just said like that was a muddy road run or
16:15
something like that.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: So he,
16:19
I think he's a lock for the top 10 and I think he'll likely be
16:21
somewhere just
16:22
SPEAKER_00: outside the top five.
16:23
SPEAKER_00: It seems like he's toned back his training a little bit.
16:25
SPEAKER_00: So hopefully that helps his racing.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: He's the type of dude that'll do,
16:28
he did like 50K verts a week before OCC and then finished like
16:31
20 something,
16:33
SPEAKER_00: 24th place just behind the top female.
16:35
So he puts an insane vert and hopefully if he wants to race a
16:38
little bit better,
16:39
he's tapering.
16:40
His volume doesn't look crazy considering what he typically
16:44
does leading into a race.
16:45
And even if I look at him this week,
16:47
he's already done 45 miles and 11k of vert as of Thursday.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: So that might seem like a lot for some people that makes them nervous,
16:54
SPEAKER_00: but that's kind of what he does.
16:56
He's already got 700,000,
16:58
680,000 feet of vert,
16:59
which is kind of a lower vert year for him.
17:01
SPEAKER_00: I think he had like 1.2 million or 1.4 million last year.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, that's that corner.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: Next on the list is going to be Michelino Sanceri.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: I've heard people call Mike Michelino.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: North face athlete record hold on the Grand Teton,
17:15
SPEAKER_00: quote unquote,
17:16
SPEAKER_00: controversially,
17:17
SPEAKER_00: but has the fastest round trip up and down,
17:20
regardless of whether or not you consider cutting the
17:24
switchbacks to be unfair,
17:25
SPEAKER_00: I guess.
17:26
um and he has been in the salt lake city uh area for the past
17:30
month or two and it
17:31
looks like he's scouting out uh the whirl which is the wasatch
17:34
ultimate ridge link
17:35
up a technical mountainous um basically link up in the wasatch
17:42
that kind of links
17:42
up all the all the coolest peaks out there fkt was recently
17:46
broken last year by
17:46
SPEAKER_00: david hedges in around 14 hours
17:49
SPEAKER_00: He looks like he's scouting out parts of the world,
17:50
SPEAKER_00: and I wouldn't be surprised if he goes for that FKT.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: He is really, when we're talking about those U.S.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: trifecta mountain races,
17:57
SPEAKER_00: he is probably one of the best,
17:59
SPEAKER_00: maybe even the second best,
18:00
SPEAKER_00: only behind David Sinclair at doing those.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: He's won Run the Rutt multiple times.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: He's had a top three finish at Speedgoat,
18:06
SPEAKER_00: and he's had top three finishes at Broken Arrow 46K as well,
18:10
SPEAKER_00: and has even won it,
18:11
SPEAKER_00: if I'm not mistaken.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: Um,
18:15
SPEAKER_00: so I would not be surprised at all,
18:18
SPEAKER_00: uh,
18:18
SPEAKER_00: to see Michelino in that top five,
18:20
SPEAKER_00: but even really the top three,
18:23
he also is one of those athletes who I just read their name
18:25
recently announced to
18:26
SPEAKER_00: the,
18:28
SPEAKER_00: uh,
18:28
SPEAKER_00: us mountain trail running team,
18:31
SPEAKER_00: the short course.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: So he's somebody to look out for.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, he has one broken arrow.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I got distracted.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: So definitely somebody to look out for on that front.
18:45
SPEAKER_00: And let me see.
18:47
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I was reorganizing my picks just a little bit.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: So okay.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: So that is Mr. Michelino Sanceri.
19:04
Yeah,
19:04
I think he's a lock for the top five,
19:05
probably even the top three,
19:07
if I'm not mistaken.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: And I think he could do really good in this race.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: So...
19:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and his previous Spigo, it's 2021 and 2022.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: He had a DNF in his 21 year.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: And then the year that I raced it in 2022,
19:21
he got a third place with a historically fast time that would
19:25
have won the race
19:26
SPEAKER_00: most years if one Mr.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: David Sinclair was not in front of him,
19:29
SPEAKER_00: along with Eric Sorensen.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: So that's Michelino Sanceri.
19:33
SPEAKER_00: Next up is Ryan Becker.
19:35
also on the u.s short trail team because of his top three at
19:37
broken arrow 46k he's
19:39
from telluride colorado so he's no stranger elevation he's also
19:42
a guy that races
19:43
really good at these mountain trifectas he does broken arrow
19:45
and run the rut a lot
19:46
but he has not done a speed goat uh or no last year was his
19:51
first speed go excuse
19:52
me so yeah he does a lot of those types of races uh last year
19:55
was his first speed
19:56
go he got seventh place but he was only 10 minutes from fourth
19:58
place he's in really
19:59
good form this year he got a seventh at big alta despite coming
20:02
off of having the
20:03
SPEAKER_00: flu the
20:04
second at lake sonoma marathon under the course record pace
20:07
just behind bit dan
20:08
jones and then he was third at broken arrow 46k to get that u.s
20:12
uh selection i
20:13
think ryan becker is in good form i think he's a strong pick
20:16
for the top five um
20:19
and has the possible a win would be really big here i think he
20:22
could go as high as
20:22
like top three um i don't know if i see him winning it but it
20:26
would be a really
20:27
SPEAKER_00: good showing for him
20:28
SPEAKER_00: Next one on the list is Cole Campbell.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: He's a young and 29 year old for Adidas Terex.
20:33
Another one of those guys that kind of came through the college
20:35
trail running
20:36
SPEAKER_00: program in Western Colorado.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: So far this year,
20:39
he's got a ninth at Broken Arrow 46K and a fourth at Lake
20:42
Sonoma Marathon in a very
20:43
SPEAKER_00: speedy time.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: And then he got 12th at Back Canyon 100K as well.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: He has never raced Spigo before,
20:49
SPEAKER_00: but he has a fourth,
20:50
SPEAKER_00: a sixth,
20:50
SPEAKER_00: and a ninth at Broken Arrow 46K,
20:52
SPEAKER_00: an increasingly faster time.
20:54
So he's no stranger to a mountainous at elevation,
20:57
longer,
20:58
more technical trail race.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: And he even did I'm Tough 100 miler last year.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: So I have no issues with him.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: I think he's definitely going to finish.
21:06
SPEAKER_00: I think a good day for him is probably back half of the top 10.
21:09
SPEAKER_00: I can see him as high as maybe 6, 7, 8.
21:11
SPEAKER_00: I don't know that I see him in the top five.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: Next one on the list is a possible sleeper pick.
21:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm curious to see how he does.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be the Canadian Joshua Potvin.
21:20
He kind of opened my eyes up this year when he won the Gorge
21:25
50K and beat Liam Miro
21:26
SPEAKER_00: and Adam Loomis.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: So that's a pretty good showing.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: Most mountainous runs that he's done,
21:32
SPEAKER_00: or at least from what I could see,
21:33
SPEAKER_00: was Mammoth Trail Fest,
21:35
which he hasn't really had great showings at most of the places
21:37
in the 20s.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: But with that being said, I guess,
21:41
Now that I think about it,
21:42
that has been a Golden Trail series race the last two years.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: So racing into the 20s,
21:46
SPEAKER_00: 20 places like doesn't sound that great,
21:49
but it's a little bit better when you see the caliber of
21:51
athletes and the density
21:52
SPEAKER_00: of athletes in Golden Trail races.
21:54
And then he has gotten second at Swamish 50K in 2022 in like
21:57
five-ish hours,
21:58
which I'm pretty sure is a decently technical and mountainous
22:01
or like vert-heavy
22:02
SPEAKER_00: trail.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: I'm just curious to see how he'll do at elevation.
22:05
That's the big question that I have because I imagine he's
22:08
coming from sea level in BC.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: Next one on the list is Adam Mary,
22:14
SPEAKER_00: the Boulder Boy extraordinaire and recent father to a second child.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: He trains at Elevation in Boulder, so that shouldn't be an issue.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: And he's coming off in 19th place at Broken Arrow, 46K.
22:23
Most similar race he's done from what I could see in his race
22:25
history was OCC in
22:27
SPEAKER_00: 2021,
22:27
SPEAKER_00: where he got 37th place.
22:29
SPEAKER_00: I think a good day for him would be top 10,
22:31
SPEAKER_00: but I see him finishing similar to Broken Arrow,
22:34
SPEAKER_00: maybe somewhere around that 10th through 15th mark in my mind.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: Next on the list,
22:41
SPEAKER_00: Zach Perrin,
22:42
SPEAKER_00: also another sleeper pick number two in my mind,
22:45
and a guy who could be flying under the radar or a lot of
22:48
people's radars.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: He ran into a top 10 at Black Canyon,
22:50
SPEAKER_00: 100K this year,
22:51
SPEAKER_00: really surprising and impressive result,
22:53
and recently set a course record on the River of No Return 30K
22:56
that some speedy
22:57
SPEAKER_00: dudes like Jordan Fields have run.
22:59
I'm curious to see how he mixes it up in the mountains,
23:02
and I could see him in the top 10.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: Next guy, also a sleeper pick, young, up-and-coming,
23:08
coleman cragan he's a young gun 26 year old out of uh utah who
23:13
ran at southern utah
23:14
university also which also was the uh the home to one mr hayden
23:21
hawks uh aka trail
23:22
running royalty so he just finished up his career at southern
23:25
utah university and
23:27
uh he's putting together a really strong year this year so far
23:30
he's got a fourth
23:30
SPEAKER_00: place at canons 50k which was a stacked field um
23:34
SPEAKER_00: And he got an eighth at Broken Arrow, 46K just recently.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: So he's going to be one to look out for.
23:38
And I wouldn't be surprised to see him go top five if he can
23:41
pace himself well,
23:42
knowing that this is going to be his longest race by probably
23:44
an hour plus from
23:45
SPEAKER_00: what I could tell in his signup results.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: So Coleman Cregan, I think, is a strong pick.
23:51
And I think as long as he doesn't get too hot and heavy in the
23:53
first half of the
23:54
SPEAKER_00: race,
23:55
SPEAKER_00: he's poised well for a top five.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: Next on the list is going to be Tim Tollefson,
24:01
SPEAKER_00: trail running legend,
24:02
who has two previous third places at UTMB and was one of the
24:06
top finishing males.
24:07
SPEAKER_00: We had a second place in the first year, but it wasn't the same course.
24:10
So he basically was the highest finishing male until Jim
24:13
Walmsley won it a couple
24:13
SPEAKER_00: of years ago,
24:15
SPEAKER_00: on the U.S.
24:15
SPEAKER_00: men's side, at least.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: And then his only race so far this year was a DNF at Black Canyon 100K,
24:20
SPEAKER_00: so who knows where he's at speed-wise.
24:22
He has done Speedgoat,
24:23
and he's done some of the earlier editions of the race.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: It started in 2011, if I'm not mistaken.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: And he raced in 2017 and 2018 and he got second and third place.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: So he knows the course well, knows what it takes to do well there.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: And I'd be curious to see how he does.
24:37
I think a good day for him will be top 10 and kind of teaching
24:41
some of the young
24:42
SPEAKER_00: whippersnappers how to run a course like this.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: Next on the list is going to be Mr. Adam Loomis.
24:48
SPEAKER_00: He's a local Wasatch crusher, a skimo athlete and sponsored by Dinafit.
24:53
SPEAKER_00: Probably knows this course about as well as anyone in the field.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: He does really get at these mountainous longer distance races.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: He has raced Figo before,
25:01
but he's also done good at things like Tushers and Run Rabbit
25:03
Run and things like
25:04
SPEAKER_00: that.
25:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, he knows the longer the race is, the better he is.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: And then in his previous,
25:10
SPEAKER_00: um,
25:10
SPEAKER_00: races,
25:11
SPEAKER_00: so,
25:11
SPEAKER_00: so far this year,
25:12
SPEAKER_00: he's done gorge 50 K to a third place.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: And he did another local SSC race,
25:16
SPEAKER_00: uh,
25:16
SPEAKER_00: and got second to Caleb Olson about three weeks out from Western States.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: He does super well in mountainous races.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: Like I already said, he's a very good climber and a very smart racer.
25:24
He has raced speed goat to,
25:26
uh,
25:27
in 2021 and 2022,
25:28
and he got fifth and eighth place.
25:30
I think he's a strong pick for five through 10 of my mind and
25:33
could see him as high as
25:34
fifth or sixth place next on the list is grant barnett another
25:39
slc local and
25:40
similar to adam loomis he's a big schemo guy uh former dina fit
25:44
athlete but he's
25:44
now with craft he knows this course well like i said he's
25:47
probably in the top three
25:48
of knowing this course as well as uh anyone on this list as
25:51
adam loomis and zach
25:52
garner um he raced to a fifth place and speak out last year and
25:56
then his only race
25:57
SPEAKER_00: so far this year was a canyons 100k which was a dnf unfortunately
26:00
then you got to win at antelope island 50k i could see him as
26:03
high as fourth or
26:04
fifth don't see him in the top three but i'll be curious to see
26:08
how he does it
26:09
looks like uh per his ultra sign up he's getting ready for run
26:12
rabbit run this year
26:13
and that'll be his big goal so um next on the list anthony
26:16
williams don't know
26:17
anything about him other than he's 29 years old not sure where
26:20
he's from but he's
26:21
had some good results he got an eighth at gorge 100k this year
26:23
which was the us
26:24
SPEAKER_00: long trail selection
26:25
race and a deep field and he got fourth at pike's peak marathon
26:28
last year which was
26:29
a shortened course because of weather unfortunately um and also
26:33
a sixth at circ
26:34
series snowbird so he might be one to look out for a six at
26:36
circ series snowbird is
26:39
a speedy result in a speedy time um so i'll be curious to see
26:44
what he is going to
26:46
SPEAKER_00: do and what his potential might be
26:49
um so that's anthony williams two more on the men's side of the
26:52
race we got kieran
26:53
nay he's a speedy young guy for a former solomon athlete who
26:56
mostly races sub ultra
26:57
stuff but appears to be stepping it up this will be his third
27:00
ultra he raced to
27:02
24th place at broken arrow 46k earlier this year which was his
27:06
first or excuse me
27:06
his second ultra uh and this will be his third this year last
27:10
year he did saw watch
27:10
SPEAKER_00: 50k and won it
27:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, last meal I'll have on the list is Tyler Fox.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: Uh, speedy guy kind of flies under the radar out of Lander, Wyoming.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: Uh, he has run so far this year, 11th place at black in a hundred decay.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: And he got second at,
27:25
SPEAKER_00: uh,
27:25
SPEAKER_00: run the rut in as recently as 2023,
27:28
SPEAKER_00: which is a very similar type of course to speed goat.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: Um,
27:30
and he has lots of experience with run the rut and San Juan
27:32
solstice and has done
27:33
SPEAKER_00: good at both those races.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, San Juan solstice being a 50 miler at elevation.
27:38
SPEAKER_00: He has raced speed up multiple times.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: He did it three years in a row from 2018 to 2020,
27:42
SPEAKER_00: and he got sixth,
27:43
SPEAKER_00: fifth,
27:44
SPEAKER_00: and fourth place finishes.
27:46
I expect him to be in the top 10 with his speed and his
27:48
mountain specialty and
27:49
SPEAKER_00: ability to run well at altitude.
27:51
SPEAKER_00: I could see him somewhere around the fourth or sixth,
27:55
and I might even sneak him into my top five picks because I
27:58
think he'll race a
27:58
SPEAKER_00: smart race.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: So that's a men's side preview.
28:02
SPEAKER_00: On my pick side of things,
28:05
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go five through one.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: So I'll go from my bottom pick to my top pick and fifth place.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: I have Adam Loomis.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: I think he's, he's a lock for, for points of some type.
28:13
SPEAKER_00: So that means top 10.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think he's going to race this really smart, really methodically.
28:17
SPEAKER_00: And I don't see him having a bad day.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: He's a really consistent and really smart racer.
28:22
SPEAKER_00: Fourth place.
28:22
SPEAKER_00: I got Coleman Craig and the young gun, uh, coming fresh out of his, uh,
28:26
track and field at Southern Utah University he's had a really
28:30
good year the only
28:31
thing I'm a little bit questionable about or that would
28:33
potentially make me pull
28:34
him is this is his longest race but he has raced smart and has
28:38
been doing super
28:39
well and so I think he's going to race smart and kind of
28:43
hopefully take it out easy
28:44
SPEAKER_00: and get stronger as the race goes on third place
28:48
SPEAKER_00: Um, I got a toss up.
28:49
I,
28:49
right now I've got Michelino Sanceri,
28:51
but I might bump him up to second place.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, third place.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: I got Michelino Sanceri.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: He has gotten third place the last time he raced it in 2022.
28:57
So I might just be attached to that result because that was the
29:00
year I raced it second place.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: I've got Ryan Becker.
29:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, and he's just looking really good.
29:05
SPEAKER_00: I think he's going to have a breakout race.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think broken arrow in a way was a breakout race.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: Um,
29:10
SPEAKER_00: And to be that close to Eli and David,
29:11
SPEAKER_00: who are kind of like the royalty of running these distances,
29:14
SPEAKER_00: I think it's an awesome result.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: He's got no problems with altitude.
29:18
SPEAKER_00: He lives in Telluride, which is at like 8,000 feet.
29:20
So he runs at this and runs intensity at these elevations
29:24
pretty frequently.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: In the first place, I got Jesh who runs small.
29:27
I think he's coming off of a good promising result with his
29:30
fifth place at Broken Arrow.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: Even though guys like Ryan Becker beat him, I still think Jesh
29:36
probably has the edge at a course like speed goat he's done
29:39
better than Ryan Becker
29:40
has at this course in a faster time um so I don't know I might
29:44
mix up those top
29:44
three maybe I could also see Michelino winning this um he has
29:48
not yet one speed
29:49
goat but he has one broken arrow the only thing I'm hesitant of
29:52
is I think
29:52
Michelino is coming off a little bit of injury or rehabbing
29:54
injury and that's why
29:55
SPEAKER_00: he didn't run in Finn Melanson's race
29:59
SPEAKER_00: But that's my top five.
30:01
SPEAKER_00: If I was to sub anyone in,
30:03
I could see myself throwing Grant Barnett somewhere in that
30:06
five spot or Tyler Fox
30:08
SPEAKER_00: as well.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, that's kind of where I'm at.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: On the women's side, we do have the returning champion from last year.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: Jasmine Louther, she'll be the first one we talk about.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: And I think that it'll be interesting to see.
30:24
Even though Jasmine is the returning champion,
30:26
I think that we might have a different favorite.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: And we'll talk about her right after this.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: But
30:29
SPEAKER_00: First woman we're going to talk about is Jasmine Louther.
30:32
She's a Canadian mountain running specialist and returning
30:34
champ from last year.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: Speak out.
30:36
SPEAKER_00: She ran a super good race.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: She front ran the whole time,
30:38
SPEAKER_00: ran a historically fast time,
30:39
SPEAKER_00: I think around six hours,
30:40
SPEAKER_00: 15 minutes.
30:41
I want to see the course records around six,
30:42
10,
30:43
if I'm not mistaken on the female side.
30:45
Um,
30:45
so she was a North face athlete for a long time until this past
30:48
year.
30:48
SPEAKER_00: She switched to Arc'teryx,
30:49
SPEAKER_00: which kind of matches super well for her mountain athlete from Canada.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: It just seems like a fit if you ask me.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: And she ran a, so yeah, she ran a super smart race.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: Um, she's coming off an injury this spring.
30:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty sure.
31:00
SPEAKER_00: Don't quote me on that.
31:01
SPEAKER_00: Um,
31:01
SPEAKER_00: and the only race this year,
31:03
SPEAKER_00: she raced a DNF at cans,
31:04
SPEAKER_00: a hundred K.
31:05
SPEAKER_00: I think in her Instagram,
31:06
she talked about just not quite being in shape back and kind of
31:08
racing above her
31:09
SPEAKER_00: fitness level.
31:10
SPEAKER_00: Um,
31:11
SPEAKER_00: Last year, so yeah, last year she won Speed Goat.
31:13
SPEAKER_00: Had a really good year.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: Second at run the rut 50k and under course record time.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: And then a win at Ultra Trail Cape Town.
31:19
She definitely has the talent and ability to repeat if she's
31:23
feeling healthy.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: Her and her partner boyfriend,
31:26
SPEAKER_00: I think Michalino Senseri,
31:28
SPEAKER_00: have been in Salt Lake City for over a month.
31:30
So presumably they've been wrecking the course and appear to be
31:33
running parts of Whirl.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: So I wouldn't be surprised if they both go for the FKT on the Whirl.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: But also they've been getting a live look at kind of Spigo.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: And Michalino has already run it before.
31:43
SPEAKER_00: And so they're no strangers to the race.
31:46
SPEAKER_00: Next one on the list,
31:47
SPEAKER_00: and in my opinion,
31:48
SPEAKER_00: probably the favorite for the race despite having the returning champion.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: And in my opinion,
31:52
SPEAKER_00: that's going to be Jen Lichter,
31:53
SPEAKER_00: the North Face athlete out of Missoula,
31:56
SPEAKER_00: formerly Whitefish,
31:56
SPEAKER_00: Montana.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she, in my mind, is the favorite given her resume and her talents.
32:04
SPEAKER_00: She ran to a second place in,
32:06
SPEAKER_00: or excuse me,
32:09
SPEAKER_00: sorry,
32:10
SPEAKER_00: she ran to a second,
32:11
SPEAKER_00: sorry,
32:11
SPEAKER_00: I was trying to read my own notes.
32:12
But basically she ran to a second place finish at Spigo when I
32:15
first ran the race in 2022.
32:17
SPEAKER_00: But despite that, her time didn't look that impressive.
32:19
SPEAKER_00: It was like 640 or 650 something.
32:21
SPEAKER_00: But she took a wrong turn and added three miles to the race.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise,
32:24
SPEAKER_00: she was up in it with Addie Bracey,
32:26
SPEAKER_00: who ran a historically fast time that year,
32:28
SPEAKER_00: I think around 16,
32:28
SPEAKER_00: 17,
32:28
SPEAKER_00: 18,
32:28
SPEAKER_00: 19,
32:28
SPEAKER_00: 20.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: And so and then she's crushed it at the rut.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: Last year,
32:35
Jasmine Louther did run under a course record along with Correa
32:37
Rhodes and I think
32:38
SPEAKER_00: Hannah Olga getting in third place.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: But with that being said,
32:41
Jen Lector has like front run the rut and has never really had
32:44
anyone close to her
32:45
SPEAKER_00: in all three of her wins.
32:46
So I very much think that course record could have gone lower
32:48
if she had somebody
32:49
SPEAKER_00: actually push her.
32:50
SPEAKER_00: She's definitely a front runner.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: She's definitely going to be up top pushing the pace.
32:53
And I definitely think she'll come out pretty hard and lead
32:56
early on and then
32:57
SPEAKER_00: hopefully hold on to that lead.
33:00
SPEAKER_00: She's also gotten a fourth place at Worlds Short Trail in 2023.
33:02
SPEAKER_00: And then from her podcast on Singletrack,
33:06
I'm pretty sure it sounds like she's going to race the long
33:08
trail just to mix it up
33:09
SPEAKER_00: and do something different.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: She also has a previous winner of JFK 50 miler in 2023.
33:14
And then she also just recently this year won Broken Arrow 46K,
33:18
which was the U.S.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: short team qualifier.
33:21
SPEAKER_00: And that was a tight race up front with her and Danny Marino.
33:24
SPEAKER_00: And who else was it?
33:29
SPEAKER_00: I'm blanking.
33:30
SPEAKER_00: But yeah,
33:31
so I think this will be an awesome tune up for her if she wants
33:36
to run the long
33:37
SPEAKER_00: trail at Worlds.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: And I looked at her Strava.
33:41
SPEAKER_00: It looks like she's got a really good tune up.
33:43
SPEAKER_00: I think she had 100 mile week about two or three weeks out.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: And then she has a good taper coming in.
33:47
She's the type of person who even though she's like a mountain
33:49
specialist,
33:50
SPEAKER_00: she doesn't per se do a ton of vert or really need to do a ton of vert.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: She kind of keeps her turnover really good.
33:55
SPEAKER_00: It's really fast legs.
33:57
SPEAKER_00: and she just kind of is like,
33:58
SPEAKER_00: she looks like when she raced at run the rut,
34:00
SPEAKER_00: I raced 2022 and,
34:02
SPEAKER_00: uh,
34:03
SPEAKER_00: as well.
34:04
SPEAKER_00: And she just looks so fast and cool.
34:06
SPEAKER_00: She's kind of like a little mountain Pocahontas.
34:09
Um,
34:09
she'll wear like all black North face out outfits and she just
34:12
crushes a steep uphill.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: She's, she's super good.
34:15
SPEAKER_00: So in my mind, Jen, like there's probably the favorite.
34:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then next on the list, we got Robin Lesh.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: She's kind of a low key under the radar crusher.
34:23
SPEAKER_00: She's sponsored by Vibram, which I don't,
34:26
i always am curious how that works but it kind of seems like
34:28
you could just run in
34:29
any shoes uh with vibram outsole so that seems like a pretty
34:32
damn good deal to me
34:33
um because i mean some people will get sponsored by shoe
34:36
companies that they don't
34:37
really love the shoes which is seems like a conundrum but
34:40
anyway she's putting
34:41
together a super strong year this far in 2025 she already has a
34:43
third place at
34:44
black canyon 50k which was super fast went at moab red hot 33k
34:48
fourth at gorge 100k
34:49
in the u.s long trail selection race and she got eighth in the
34:52
broken arrow 46k
34:54
SPEAKER_00: Last year,
34:54
SPEAKER_00: she won this week at 28K,
34:56
SPEAKER_00: so she's run the course before,
34:58
SPEAKER_00: and I think she's poised to do well.
35:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm seeing her somewhere in the top five.
35:03
SPEAKER_00: Next on the list is Mally Noyes.
35:05
SPEAKER_00: She is a SLC crusher,
35:08
SPEAKER_00: super cool ski athlete who just finished a huge project of some sort,
35:11
SPEAKER_00: skiing.
35:12
SPEAKER_00: I don't remember exactly what she called it,
35:14
SPEAKER_00: but skiing,
35:14
SPEAKER_00: a ton of the peaks in the washout in the spring,
35:17
SPEAKER_00: like all the classic ones.
35:19
SPEAKER_00: She's a nurse.
35:21
SPEAKER_00: who lives in Salt Lake city, like I said, sponsored by Solomon.
35:23
SPEAKER_00: And she's got two second place finishes in back-to-back years,
35:27
SPEAKER_00: um,
35:27
SPEAKER_00: the previous two years and almost the exact same time.
35:30
SPEAKER_00: So she knows this course super well.
35:32
SPEAKER_00: She knows how to do very well at it.
35:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, and this is kind of like her bread and butter in her backyard.
35:38
She probably knows this course as well as,
35:40
um,
35:40
anyone,
35:40
if not better than anyone.
35:42
SPEAKER_00: Um, um,
35:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
35:45
SPEAKER_00: so going on her Instagram,
35:46
SPEAKER_00: she...
35:47
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what she called it,
35:50
SPEAKER_00: but 47 days,
35:52
SPEAKER_00: 93 shoots skied,
35:54
SPEAKER_00: 8 rest days,
35:55
SPEAKER_00: 8 bales,
35:56
SPEAKER_00: 200,000 feet avert,
35:58
SPEAKER_00: 300 hours spent skiing,
35:59
SPEAKER_00: 25 different ski partners,
36:01
SPEAKER_00: and then...
36:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
36:03
SPEAKER_00: she basically just,
36:04
SPEAKER_00: like,
36:05
SPEAKER_00: crushed it on the ski front.
36:07
SPEAKER_00: And...
36:12
SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
36:13
SPEAKER_00: So it looks like she raced Broken Arrow this year, but I don't see.
36:18
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I saw it on her.
36:23
SPEAKER_00: Ultra sign up.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, she got 24.
36:29
SPEAKER_00: So she had a rough day at Broken Arrow.
36:32
SPEAKER_00: So anyways,
36:32
SPEAKER_00: yeah,
36:32
SPEAKER_00: I think that she if she's healthy and feeling good,
36:36
SPEAKER_00: then she definitely is somewhere in the top five.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: And she doesn't really seem to miss it this race.
36:40
SPEAKER_00: So I think she's a strong pick for the top five.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: Broken air is the only thing that gives me a little bit of concern.
36:47
She talked about it in an Instagram post and just said it
36:51
wasn't her day from the
36:52
SPEAKER_00: start and ski a lot and run a lot.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: So that's Mally Noyes.
36:57
SPEAKER_00: Next on the list is Emma Cook-Clark.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: She's a lesser-known Canadian trail runner from Canmore,
37:03
which from what I hear is supposed to be like freaking mountain
37:05
wonderland out
37:06
SPEAKER_00: there.
37:06
SPEAKER_00: And she mostly races on the Skyrunning World Series circuit.
37:10
SPEAKER_00: She's an athlete for Arc'teryx.
37:12
And she won the Meet the Minotaur Sky Race last year and got
37:16
second on it in 2023.
37:19
She's also raced things like Broken Arrow 23K,
37:21
where she got seventh in 2022.
37:23
SPEAKER_00: She's a little bit of a wild card in my mind.
37:24
SPEAKER_00: I think she could do well.
37:26
It seems like Meet the Mentor is like an even more technical
37:30
version of Speedgo.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, kind of a question mark.
37:33
Don't know how she'll race at altitude,
37:35
and she doesn't race a ton either.
37:36
SPEAKER_00: But I think she could surprise some people.
37:39
SPEAKER_00: She's not as well-known,
37:40
SPEAKER_00: I guess,
37:40
to ultra fans because she mostly races in the Skyrunning World
37:44
Series circuit.
37:45
SPEAKER_00: So that's M. Cook-Clark.
37:47
SPEAKER_00: Next one that I'm excited about is going to be Grayson Murphy.
37:49
she's just coming off her first ever ultra race um this is the
37:53
previous world
37:54
champion in the up down and just a really a crusher um really
37:59
awesome uh runner and
38:01
possibly the only trail runner that i know that still runs for
38:03
salkini um she like
38:04
i said running world champ from the up down and 2023 ends broke
38:08
and also went top
38:08
five in the vertical she i think she got third she did her
38:11
first ultra at broken
38:12
SPEAKER_00: arrow 46k for the us qualifier she got fifth place
38:16
uh she was announced for the u.s short trail team as well as
38:19
having a spot on the
38:19
up down team being the reigning world champion i'm curious to
38:22
see how she races
38:23
this and imagine she's very familiar with the trails because
38:26
she is based in utah
38:27
and i think she ran at university of utah if i'm not mistaken
38:29
too um yeah so i'm
38:32
excited to see how grayson does her second ever ultra this
38:35
one's going to be a lot
38:35
SPEAKER_00: longer
38:36
SPEAKER_00: Then Broken Arrow,
38:37
SPEAKER_00: if we're looking at finishing times,
38:40
SPEAKER_00: I think the top females went like in the 440 range and the top female,
38:45
SPEAKER_00: it's going to be like an hour 20 longer.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: So that's a big consideration.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: I'm curious to see how she holds up and excited to see her race.
38:53
Other question I have is,
38:54
is she going to race both the up down and the short trail?
38:56
SPEAKER_00: I think it's very doable.
38:57
SPEAKER_00: And I think they're two days apart.
38:59
SPEAKER_00: Don't quote me on that.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: But I'm curious to see if she's going to choose one or the other,
39:02
or if maybe we're going to see her kind of transition to more
39:04
ultras this year.
39:06
SPEAKER_00: Next on the list is Sarah Beal.
39:08
She's flat and fast course specialist who has a lot of success
39:10
at races like JFK 50 miler.
39:12
She's raced this year to a 12th at Broken Arrow 46k and a 6th
39:15
at Canyons 100k.
39:17
She has never run at Speedgoat and the most similar race have
39:20
been a few goes at
39:21
SPEAKER_00: Broken Arrow with okay results.
39:23
SPEAKER_00: So curious to see how she does.
39:25
SPEAKER_00: I don't think this is typically her bread and butter type of course,
39:29
SPEAKER_00: but hopefully she has a good race at
39:32
speed go 50k uh next on the list is going to be elena horton
39:37
she hasn't raced since
39:37
last year where she won the 100 miler at canyons uh and then
39:41
the black canyon 60k
39:43
before that she hasn't done a mountainous ultra like speed goat
39:45
so i'm not sure
39:46
what to expect it's hard when you know how many results coming
39:48
in this year but it
39:49
could be somebody to look out for next one who has had good
39:52
results and does do
39:53
SPEAKER_00: good at mountain races is going to be lindsey allison
39:56
SPEAKER_00: uh, Ryan Becker's partner.
39:57
SPEAKER_00: She's a old ultra athlete.
39:59
SPEAKER_00: It's always hard to say that.
40:01
SPEAKER_00: Um,
40:02
SPEAKER_00: and she is coming off,
40:03
SPEAKER_00: uh,
40:03
SPEAKER_00: an exciting announcement to the U S team for worlds,
40:06
SPEAKER_00: uh,
40:06
SPEAKER_00: also on the short trail team.
40:08
SPEAKER_00: So she's coming off a DNF at broken arrow 46 K.
40:11
SPEAKER_00: But other than that,
40:12
SPEAKER_00: she's putting together a really good season.
40:13
She got a win at lakes in a marathon and a second of the big
40:16
ultra 50 K to Tabor hemming.
40:17
She has raised race speed up before,
40:19
uh,
40:20
last year,
40:20
and it was to a fifth place finish.
40:22
SPEAKER_00: I think she's a strong lock for top five in this race.
40:27
SPEAKER_00: Last two females.
40:28
Janelle Lynx is coming off 8th place at Broken Arrow VK and
40:30
raced to a 2nd at the
40:31
SPEAKER_00: Deserats 21K,
40:32
SPEAKER_00: I think,
40:33
SPEAKER_00: behind Tabor.
40:34
Curious to see how she performs and what looks to me to be her
40:36
first ever ultra
40:37
SPEAKER_00: based on her race signups.
40:39
SPEAKER_00: Speed Goat is a tough course to nail on the first try.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: So we'll see how Janelle does, but her Broken Arrow VK was impressive.
40:46
Last female is going to be Selena Langner,
40:48
AeroVipa team runner from Arizona.
40:50
She got second at Lake Sinema Marathon behind Lindsay Allison
40:53
and has raced Speed
40:54
SPEAKER_00: Goat in 2023 to an eighth place.
40:55
SPEAKER_00: So she has finished top 10 here.
40:57
SPEAKER_00: Raced Broken Arrow 46K to a 33rd place and chucking out to 14th.
41:02
place so it could be somebody to look out for has raced this
41:05
course does know it
41:06
well enough and did race it to a top 10 on the female side i'll
41:10
do the same thing
41:10
i'm gonna go fifth through first place uh fifth place i'm gonna
41:13
have lindsey
41:14
allison no stranger to elevation no stranger to mountain races
41:17
i think she'll do
41:18
well at this race and is probably hungry to get after after
41:21
having a not ideal day
41:23
SPEAKER_00: with a dnf at broken arrow
41:25
fourth place pick i've got robin lesh i think she's a low-key
41:27
crusher i think she's
41:28
getting better with every race she does she won the 28k last
41:31
year so she has
41:32
familiarity with the course and i think that she's just going
41:36
to keep getting
41:37
better and better she's kind of like i don't know every time i
41:39
see her race she's
41:40
just super consistent always in top 10 always getting a little
41:43
bit better every
41:43
race and i really like to see stuff like that especially
41:45
somebody who picks fantasy
41:46
for your trail people and you don't want to have a dnf so i
41:49
think robin lesh
41:50
fourth place looks good on her third place i got grayson murphy
41:54
um you know coming
41:56
SPEAKER_00: off of a fifth place at broken arrow 46k and
41:58
I'm liable to swap her out with Mally Noise because I think
42:01
Mally knows this race
42:02
SPEAKER_00: really well and is going to race it super smart.
42:04
So we'll see that substitution I might make just because this
42:07
will be Grayson's
42:08
SPEAKER_00: longest race by probably at least an hour and a half,
42:11
SPEAKER_00: which is a pretty big margin.
42:12
SPEAKER_00: Not impossible, but considering maybe swapping out with Mally Noise.
42:17
SPEAKER_00: And then the top two were kind of the two favorites that I talked about.
42:20
SPEAKER_00: Second place, I'm going to have Jasmine Lau there.
42:22
SPEAKER_00: First place,
42:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to have Jen Lichter for the win,
42:24
SPEAKER_00: mainly because Jasmine's kind of had some rehabbing,
42:28
SPEAKER_00: some health issues in the spring,
42:30
SPEAKER_00: and Jen Lichter's looks pretty healthy.
42:32
She did DNF at Blackhand and 50K,
42:34
but I think that's really just because her stomach went south.
42:37
So,
42:37
yeah,
42:37
there we have it for my top five on the men's and the women's
42:41
side for Speedgo.
42:44
SPEAKER_00: it's been exciting to be back.
42:45
SPEAKER_00: It's been exciting to be talking about trail running again.
42:47
Um,
42:48
preview wise,
42:50
I promise it won't take me a month to do another podcast.
42:53
SPEAKER_00: Uh, next week we have the upcoming Solomon, uh, golden trail.
42:57
SPEAKER_00: Well, I guess it's just the golden trail world series.
42:59
SPEAKER_00: Um,
43:01
SPEAKER_00: uh,
43:01
SPEAKER_00: the next race,
43:02
SPEAKER_00: but it is the Solomon Pete's out Pete's Alpine glacier trail,
43:06
SPEAKER_00: which is going to be,
43:07
SPEAKER_00: uh,
43:08
SPEAKER_00: is going to be in Austria,
43:10
SPEAKER_00: which is exciting.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: And so I plan to take my mic with me.
43:12
I'm going to be traveling up to New England and be in Rhode
43:14
Island for my family
43:15
SPEAKER_00: reunion,
43:16
SPEAKER_00: which happens every year at the end of the year,
43:17
SPEAKER_00: or excuse me,
43:18
SPEAKER_00: the end of July,
43:19
SPEAKER_00: the last Sunday in July.
43:20
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm gonna go up to Rhode Island.
43:22
SPEAKER_00: And then after the family picnic happens,
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I'm going to go up to New Hampshire and Maine and do some
43:26
playing in the white
43:27
SPEAKER_00: mountains and the Appalachian trail around that area.
43:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
43:29
SPEAKER_00: I haven't picked the route yet, but we'll figure it out.
43:31
SPEAKER_00: But I do plan to take my mic with me.
43:33
SPEAKER_00: I do plan to get out a preview podcast,
43:35
SPEAKER_00: hopefully by next Wednesday,
43:37
SPEAKER_00: so you guys have a little bit more time to listen and make your picks.
43:39
SPEAKER_00: But other than that,
43:41
SPEAKER_00: it has been exciting to be back,
43:44
SPEAKER_00: and it's exciting to talk about trail running,
43:46
SPEAKER_00: and I'm super stoked to be in the States for the summer,
43:49
SPEAKER_00: and I really appreciate you guys listening,
43:51
SPEAKER_00: and I hope this helps with your picks.
43:53
SPEAKER_00: So have a great day, and we'll talk here in soon.