Latest / Let's Talk Trail Running / 2026 Tenerife 47k and Chianti by UTMB 120k Race Previews

Transcript

2026 Tenerife 47k and Chianti by UTMB 120k Race Previews · Let's Talk Trail Running

0:00
SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome back to Let's Talk Trail Running.
0:03
This is your host,
0:05
Robert Prosser,
0:06
and today we've got another exciting episode.
0:08
It's going to be a double preview where we're going to talk
0:12
about two different
0:13
races out of the five races that are going to take place on
0:16
Fantasy Free Trail this
0:18
SPEAKER_01: weekend,
0:18
SPEAKER_01: three of them being the Big Alta races,
0:21
SPEAKER_01: actually six races,
0:22
SPEAKER_01: I think,
0:22
SPEAKER_01: three being Big Alta,
0:23
SPEAKER_01: two at Tender Reef,
0:25
SPEAKER_01: and then one at the...
0:28
SPEAKER_01: Chianti 120K by UTMB.
0:31
SPEAKER_01: So for today's podcast, I was a little confusing.
0:33
The two races we're going to talk about are the Tenerife Blue
0:35
Trail 47K preview,
0:37
SPEAKER_01: because I find that to be one of the most exciting fields.
0:40
SPEAKER_01: And then also the...
0:42
UTMB Chianti 120k which is going to be a golden ticket race so
0:47
out of all the
0:48
fields I know free trail is going to be doing a very good job
0:51
of covering the big
0:52
Alta races I will probably try to get out some previews on them
0:57
but TBD it seems
0:59
unlikely and I think free trail is going to do an amazing job
1:01
of doing that and I'm
1:02
kind of limited because I should be flying home to Colorado
1:05
here soon so I'm kind
1:06
of picking and choosing the ones that I don't think will get as
1:08
much coverage and
1:09
SPEAKER_01: that I'm very excited to talk about so that would be
1:11
SPEAKER_01: Tenerife Blue Trail 47K,
1:13
which is going to have a lot of sub ultra and short distance
1:16
ultra crushers.
1:17
SPEAKER_01: And then also the Chianti 120K because it is a golden ticket race.
1:21
So we have a lot of exciting things to talk about there and
1:23
some exciting storylines going on.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of what's on the docket for today.
1:28
SPEAKER_01: Housekeeping stuff still in the States, which is awesome.
1:32
SPEAKER_01: Might get to go home to Colorado for a few days,
1:34
SPEAKER_01: which is awesome,
1:34
SPEAKER_01: but also makes recording these podcasts a little bit tougher,
1:37
SPEAKER_01: but I'm not complaining.
1:38
And then I also will not be racing the big Alta 28K,
1:43
which my name is on the list of.
1:45
SPEAKER_01: I was very excited to run.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: I had a very good race there last year,
1:48
SPEAKER_01: snuck inside the top 10 in like two hours and nine minutes,
1:52
and was very much looking forward to racing it and hopefully
1:54
going top 10 again
1:54
SPEAKER_01: this year.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: Fitness is there,
1:56
SPEAKER_01: but just the ability to travel opened up last minute,
1:59
SPEAKER_01: and I think it'd be very exciting.
2:01
tough to get out to california and expensive to get a last
2:04
minute ticket on spring
2:06
break so instead i think i'm going to fly out to colorado and
2:09
then try to drive my
2:09
car back to boise idaho where i'm based right now so that's uh
2:15
kind of the latest
2:17
let's see so 2026 tenerife blue trail 47k preview that's the
2:21
first one we're going
2:22
to talk about i'm really excited about this race the start list
2:24
is really dynamic
2:25
and i'm really really excited about the women's fields on both
2:29
of the races we're
2:29
SPEAKER_01: talking about today um
2:31
SPEAKER_01: Before we jump into the Tenerife Blue Trail 47K preview,
2:34
one thing I want to talk about is last time we talked about
2:37
Killian Jornet
2:38
SPEAKER_01: announcing his race schedule.
2:39
And he kind of put a little teaser in one of his videos that he
2:41
might race one other thing.
2:43
He has officially announced his last race or his fourth race of
2:46
the season.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: It's going to be the first one in order.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: And that's going to be Zagama.
2:49
So he is officially racing and returning to Zagama for his 12th
2:55
win at Zagama,
2:56
which is nuts.
2:57
SPEAKER_01: He is death taxes and Killian Jornet at Zagama did.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: He is...
3:01
SPEAKER_01: So good at that race.
3:02
And so he'll be kicking off the season with Zagama Classic in
3:06
usually the end of
3:07
SPEAKER_01: May or first week of June.
3:08
I want to say the past is usually the last week of May,
3:10
right around Memorial Day.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: So Killing Journey is racing Zagama.
3:14
SPEAKER_01: That's very, very exciting.
3:16
uh with regards to the tender reef blue trail 47k preview let's
3:21
we're going to talk
3:22
about the course first and then we're going to jump into the
3:24
fields and storylines
3:25
behind uh some of the athletes that are racing and we're going
3:28
to start with the
3:28
women's field because like i said i think it's a really really
3:30
good women's field
3:31
with a lot of really good uh really good runners and no clear
3:36
favorite quite
3:36
SPEAKER_01: frankly so the course itself this is uh
3:41
SPEAKER_01: based off a Strava file from Roberto de Lorenzi's race last year.
3:45
So I have that linked in the show notes if you guys want to go
3:46
click at the course.
3:47
SPEAKER_01: It's about a 27-mile race, 27.5-ish, with around 7,400 feet of climbing.
3:53
SPEAKER_01: And it's a point-to-point course with net downhill.
3:55
So I imagine that it favors really good descenders to an extent
3:58
because you do
3:59
SPEAKER_01: start higher than you finish.
4:00
SPEAKER_01: And I think there's essentially one climb to start the race,
4:03
SPEAKER_01: a big,
4:03
SPEAKER_01: long climb in the middle,
4:05
followed by an 8-ish-mile downhill and a punchy 2-mile climb
4:08
around miles 17 to 19.
4:10
SPEAKER_01: followed by descent for pretty much the remainder of the race,
4:12
SPEAKER_01: minus a few little bumps here and there.
4:14
SPEAKER_01: The course peaks out at around 6,000 feet of elevation.
4:17
SPEAKER_01: So that's what, like 1,800 meters above sea level.
4:21
SPEAKER_01: So it's really not too high in elevation should be too much of a factor.
4:26
One thing that I am a little bit worried about as I'm
4:29
previewing this and just
4:30
SPEAKER_01: finished taking notes on this race is that one of friends of the podcast,
4:35
SPEAKER_01: Josh Holman,
4:36
SPEAKER_01: just messaged me.
4:37
SPEAKER_01: And it does appear that there is a tropical storm,
4:40
SPEAKER_01: some kind of weather system that's going through.
4:42
And he told me that the long race,
4:43
the 110K,
4:44
has been canceled and TBD on the other events.
4:46
SPEAKER_01: So we'll keep an eye out.
4:47
i hope i didn't do all this note-taking for nothing but do keep
4:50
in mind that while
4:51
there's going to be a factor it probably is going to be a very
4:53
sloppy course and if
4:54
they erase it they might take out some high points or they
4:56
might cancel the race
4:57
altogether i'm really hopeful they don't cancel this sub ultra
4:59
one and uh if they
5:01
SPEAKER_01: didn't cancel the 110k
5:03
SPEAKER_01: So a little bit of a long intro on that part.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: Let's get into the women's field for the Tenerife 47K.
5:10
SPEAKER_01: So storylines identified.
5:11
SPEAKER_01: I put there are so many Spanish and Italian crushers in this field.
5:15
You're probably going to have almost exclusively Spanish and or
5:18
Italian athletes,
5:19
uh,
5:19
SPEAKER_01: in your top five.
5:21
And you can honestly make a list of just Spanish and almost
5:23
just Italian athletes as well.
5:25
But we have some people that have both been in the game for a
5:28
long time and some
5:29
SPEAKER_01: that are both very up and coming,
5:31
SPEAKER_01: exciting athletes.
5:32
SPEAKER_01: So in my mind, there's no real favorite.
5:34
I know Rosa Laura Filu has the highest UTMB index by a good
5:38
margin and rightfully so.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: She had some amazing results.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: But she doesn't win a lot of races outright.
5:42
She basically finishes high on podiums like third through
5:47
seventh in a lot of
5:48
SPEAKER_01: really deep fields.
5:48
SPEAKER_01: But we don't see her win a lot of races outright.
5:50
SPEAKER_01: So I'm curious if she can kind of take that to the next level this year.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: And then, yeah, up and coming athletes.
5:57
SPEAKER_01: So Rosa Laura Filou and Maria Fuentes come to mind,
5:59
along with established athletes in this woman's field who have
6:02
been on the scene
6:03
SPEAKER_01: for a long time.
6:04
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking Camila Magliano and Eliza Desco,
6:07
SPEAKER_01: who's been in the sky running scene for a very,
6:10
SPEAKER_01: very long time,
6:10
SPEAKER_01: has a lot of good results under her belt.
6:12
SPEAKER_01: We have a mix of both sky running specialists,
6:14
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking like Nyara,
6:16
SPEAKER_01: Irigoyen,
6:17
and athletes that are right in that sub ultra sauce trail
6:22
marathon slash technical
6:24
SPEAKER_01: 50k mountain race range.
6:25
SPEAKER_01: So we kind of have a good mix of athletes.
6:27
That's what I really like about these like trail marathon-ish
6:29
distances is that
6:31
they bring together a lot of really good athletes from
6:34
different disciplines.
6:35
SPEAKER_01: I think the field, like I said, is very interesting.
6:37
SPEAKER_01: It's very dynamic on the women's side.
6:39
And I'm having a hard time picking out of these ladies this
6:42
early in the season
6:42
SPEAKER_01: since we haven't seen a lot of results.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: So I think there's going to be a good bit of variability.
6:46
And people could see a lot of maybe not chaos,
6:52
but just a lot of variability in the fields.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: So let me get my start list for 47K pulled up.
6:59
SPEAKER_01: So as I'm recording this,
7:00
SPEAKER_01: it is Tuesday,
7:02
SPEAKER_01: March 17th in the morning out in the Mountain West United States.
7:04
SPEAKER_01: We got three days and 16 hours till the race.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: So keep an eye out.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: Things could change.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: People could scratch and making sure that you're watching closely.
7:12
SPEAKER_01: So we're going to start off with Rosa Laura Filu,
7:15
SPEAKER_01: the young up-and-coming Spanish female,
7:18
SPEAKER_01: one of the most consistent trail crushers last year,
7:20
SPEAKER_01: basically in that Luca Del Pero,
7:23
SPEAKER_01: always top 10,
7:24
SPEAKER_01: always going to throw down,
7:25
SPEAKER_01: really good results type category.
7:27
SPEAKER_01: Like I said,
7:28
I think her and Luca basically seamlessly shifted between
7:31
Skyrunning World Series
7:32
SPEAKER_01: races,
7:32
SPEAKER_01: Golden Trail World Series,
7:34
and even Worlds events to get top 10s and top 5s in all types
7:38
of disciplines
7:38
SPEAKER_01: throughout the year.
7:40
And I would argue that Rosa Laura Filu even showed a little bit
7:43
more range than
7:44
Luca Delpero because she did race the long trail race at Worlds
7:49
and still finished
7:50
SPEAKER_01: top five,
7:50
which was incredible on top of a bunch of top fives and top
7:54
tens at short Golden
7:56
SPEAKER_01: Trail World Series races.
7:58
SPEAKER_01: So Rosalora Filou, basically the Swiss army knife of trail running.
8:02
And it's been awesome to see her rise in the sport the past few
8:04
years from sort of
8:07
back half of the top 10 in 2024 to basically a block for top
8:10
seven or really even
8:11
SPEAKER_01: top five and pretty much every race that she lines up for last year.
8:15
She did a big sponsorship change last year from her sponsor at
8:19
Scarpa over to
8:20
SPEAKER_01: Brooks Trail Running.
8:21
So this will be her first year with Brooks Trail Running shoes
8:25
on her feet.
8:26
SPEAKER_01: She definitely has the highest UTB index,
8:28
SPEAKER_01: like I mentioned,
8:28
SPEAKER_01: out of all the females due to her awesome double results.
8:33
SPEAKER_01: She got fifth at World's Long Trail last year and sixth at OCC.
8:37
So basically took on two of the most competitive fields in the
8:41
world on the women's
8:42
SPEAKER_01: side last year and got top six at both of them.
8:45
That's really amazing and a lot of versatility and two
8:47
different types of races as well.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: On top of that,
8:50
she had a ton of top fives at races ranging from Golden Trail
8:53
World Series to Sky
8:54
SPEAKER_01: Running World Series circuits,
8:56
SPEAKER_01: Zagama and Marathon de Mont Blanc included.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: So she had top fives in both those as well.
9:01
SPEAKER_01: Even though her UTMB index is super high,
9:03
SPEAKER_01: like I mentioned before,
9:04
SPEAKER_01: I don't think that she's necessarily the clear favorite.
9:08
SPEAKER_01: In this field,
9:09
seeing how it's very rare that she wins races and she'll have
9:11
to learn slash hone
9:12
SPEAKER_01: that skill this year to kind of make the jump to the next level.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: There's kind of a difference between going top 10 and then winning.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: And I think it gives you a lot of confidence when you get that first win.
9:19
SPEAKER_01: So this very well could be that first win for her.
9:23
But I also think there's a couple other females who will really
9:25
give her a run for
9:26
SPEAKER_01: her money this year.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: Next athlete to talk about is Camila Magliano.
9:30
We're going to say Italian's trail crusher and Spanish trail
9:34
crusher a lot this
9:35
episode because we have a lot of really good Italians and
9:37
Spanish females that are
9:38
SPEAKER_01: racing this race.
9:39
So Camila Magliano is an Italian athlete for Keyless Fuga who
9:43
must have just
9:43
SPEAKER_01: swapped because I think she was for ultra footwear before that.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: Last year's results included 10th at a stacked OCC field,
9:50
SPEAKER_01: 3rd at UTMB Cat Marathon,
9:53
SPEAKER_01: the Austrian trail race,
9:55
SPEAKER_01: 4th at Lavarado 50K,
9:57
SPEAKER_01: and a win at UTMB St.
9:59
SPEAKER_01: Jacques 50K.
10:01
SPEAKER_01: She has the speed to go top 20 at Sears and all in both 2023 and 2024,
10:06
SPEAKER_01: and generally likes to race short and fast world mountain running type,
10:10
SPEAKER_01: so WMRA type races that range from uphill only to up and down races.
10:16
She's already raced a trail marathon at the end of February in
10:18
Italy,
10:18
and she won it.
10:19
SPEAKER_01: So she appears to be off to a good start this season.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: She puts up big amounts of training volume,
10:23
SPEAKER_01: incorporating a lot of cycling and cross training too.
10:26
SPEAKER_01: If you look at her Strava,
10:27
it's a bunch of 20 plus hour weeks or like 20 shower weeks that
10:30
include both
10:31
SPEAKER_01: running and cycling.
10:32
SPEAKER_01: So that is Camila Magliano.
10:35
SPEAKER_01: Next athlete's going to be Julia Font Gomez,
10:37
Spanish speedster who also runs for Brooks and typically sticks
10:41
to a mixture of
10:42
SPEAKER_01: Skyrunning World Series and Golden Trail World Series races.
10:44
Although last year when he saw her step up the distance a bit
10:47
to a few 50Ks and
10:48
SPEAKER_01: races around that range.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: I think Julia Font Gomez will be throwing down at the front of the race.
10:54
SPEAKER_01: Uh...
10:54
SPEAKER_01: with her new teammate, Rosalora Filou.
10:58
SPEAKER_01: Interestingly, Julia Font is 5-1.
11:02
SPEAKER_01: So to back it up a little bit,
11:04
SPEAKER_01: in Fantasy Free Trail,
11:04
SPEAKER_01: if you guys go into stats and then I want to say athletes,
11:09
SPEAKER_01: you can go to head-to-head results.
11:12
SPEAKER_01: Assuming if you go to stats, yeah, you can go to head-to-head results.
11:15
SPEAKER_01: And you can see how athletes have fared against each other historically.
11:19
So Julia Font Gomez has beat Rosalora Filou in five or six
11:23
times they've raced
11:24
SPEAKER_01: against each other.
11:25
SPEAKER_01: But her only loss was last year at OCC,
11:27
SPEAKER_01: where Rosalora Filou went top five,
11:29
SPEAKER_01: and then Julia Font Gomez didn't get left.
11:32
SPEAKER_01: Whereas, excuse me, Rosalora Filou went sixth.
11:35
SPEAKER_01: But basically,
11:36
SPEAKER_01: Julia Font Gomez,
11:36
SPEAKER_01: all of her wins against Rosalora Filou came 2024 or earlier,
11:40
SPEAKER_01: and Rosalora has really leveled up since then.
11:43
SPEAKER_01: So with that being said,
11:43
SPEAKER_01: you know,
11:44
SPEAKER_01: the margins that she's won over Rosalora have also been super tight,
11:48
ranging from less than five minutes and two different two hour
11:51
races to 33 seconds,
11:53
SPEAKER_01: 19 seconds and a minute 31.
11:55
SPEAKER_01: So they've always had really,
11:56
SPEAKER_01: really tight battles and really,
11:57
SPEAKER_01: really close races between the two.
11:59
SPEAKER_01: So that's definitely going to be something to look out for.
12:00
SPEAKER_01: I think Julia Font Gomez is going to go up hard.
12:02
SPEAKER_01: She's going to be up front.
12:03
SPEAKER_01: I definitely could see her winning this race.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: And I think it's going to be a battle between the two of them.
12:10
Julia Font Gomez,
12:11
last year,
12:11
her results were a little bit mixed compared to previous years.
12:13
SPEAKER_01: She did race the same event to a second place behind Ennis Estrain,
12:18
SPEAKER_01: who we're going to talk about in a little bit.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: She had a fourth place at Valderram 50k,
12:23
SPEAKER_01: 13th at Sears and All,
12:24
SPEAKER_01: which is a very impressive result,
12:26
and 51st at Worlds Short Trail to go with DNFs at the Kodiak
12:29
50k in Zagama.
12:31
SPEAKER_01: I think that Julia Font Gomez knows this course,
12:34
SPEAKER_01: has the speed,
12:35
SPEAKER_01: and could very well take a win here.
12:38
SPEAKER_01: or will be battling up front for the win.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: Her training looks very good coming into the race on Strava.
12:44
SPEAKER_01: Next female athlete to talk about is Andrea,
12:46
SPEAKER_01: Colbin's daughter,
12:47
SPEAKER_01: an Icelandic runner who is unsponsored from what I can tell.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: Last year's results included a win at UTMB Kosciuszko 50k in Australia,
12:56
SPEAKER_01: 13th at the world's long trail race,
12:58
SPEAKER_01: just two places behind her fellow country mate,
13:01
SPEAKER_01: I think it was her only teammate,
13:03
and wins at a handful of other Icelandic races that I am
13:07
totally unfamiliar with.
13:09
um in 2024 she raced to six flight that at european trail
13:12
champs race the 58k one and uh never
13:18
SPEAKER_01: excuse me, and also had wins from her at UTMB Istria 42K in 2024.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: She's a bit of a wild guard here,
13:26
SPEAKER_01: in my opinion,
13:27
but she could do very well and shows up to big races and shape
13:31
and races well at
13:32
SPEAKER_01: them.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: So I'm curious how she handles the heat in Tenerife,
13:35
SPEAKER_01: although if there's tropical storm coming through,
13:36
SPEAKER_01: maybe it's muddy and it favors her Icelandic training.
13:41
Definitely somebody who could fit into that top five somewhere,
13:43
and I'm not really sure where.
13:47
Next athlete is going to be Maria Fuentes,
13:49
another Spanish trail speedster on the woman's side.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: Like I said, you can fill the top five with Spaniards and not go wrong.
13:55
She is also a runner for Keyless Fuga and the one who I think
13:58
might actually be,
14:00
I might be watching the most closely because I didn't realize
14:02
how good of a year
14:03
SPEAKER_01: she had last year.
14:04
And I feel like she has tons of potential and we're only
14:06
starting to see the beginning of it.
14:08
SPEAKER_01: So results last year included a 14th at Worlds Short Trail,
14:11
SPEAKER_01: second at ETC,
14:13
SPEAKER_01: only behind Madalena Floria.
14:15
So ETC is the shorter 15K race at UTB that's getting more
14:19
competitive each year.
14:20
SPEAKER_01: And she finished in front of a ton of strong lady runners in that field,
14:24
SPEAKER_01: including Nayara Irrigoyan and Martina Kumarlato,
14:27
SPEAKER_01: both who are racing this race.
14:29
SPEAKER_01: She got fourth at KU.
14:31
SPEAKER_01: the Golden Trail World Series Pete's Alpine Glacier Austria race,
14:34
SPEAKER_01: the one that was super sloppy and muddy,
14:35
SPEAKER_01: which it sounds like this race might be that case.
14:38
And she won the Swiss Canyon Trail Marathon and second at this
14:42
race last year,
14:44
SPEAKER_01: but the 24K version of it.
14:46
So she ran the shorter,
14:47
like half marathon-esque version and finished just behind Tony
14:51
McCann.
14:52
SPEAKER_01: So that's Maria Fuentes.
14:53
SPEAKER_01: She knows the terrain well, presumably parts of the course overlap.
14:57
SPEAKER_01: And I think that she could have a really good result here.
15:01
SPEAKER_01: Next athlete I want to talk about is Eliza Desco,
15:04
SPEAKER_01: Scarpa athlete,
15:05
longtime Italian mountain sky running legend who has been
15:08
putting up amazing
15:09
SPEAKER_01: results for decades,
15:10
SPEAKER_01: including wins at tons of iconic races,
15:12
SPEAKER_01: including Sierras and all,
15:14
SPEAKER_01: Marathon of Mont Blanc,
15:15
SPEAKER_01: and then narrowly missing wins at Zagama multiple years.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: She is the partner to the Italian sky and mountains.
15:22
running the legend and three times here as an all winner,
15:24
Marco de Gascari.
15:25
SPEAKER_01: And she's a mom of two as well.
15:28
SPEAKER_01: She's had a bit of a mixed bag racing last year here where she had,
15:32
SPEAKER_01: or last year in general,
15:33
SPEAKER_01: where she had DNS at OCC and Transval Cogna.
15:36
But she also did place third at Calamara Sky Race to start off
15:39
that season more or less.
15:41
SPEAKER_01: Fifth at Valderand 50K,
15:42
SPEAKER_01: the UTMB major for Europe,
15:44
and fifth at UTMB Publia 50K to go with wins at a few other
15:49
races across Italy.
15:50
It's tough to know where she's at because every time I feel
15:52
like I bet against her,
15:53
SPEAKER_01: she proves me wrong.
15:54
And she's just been doing this for so long and at such a high
15:58
level and is a legend
15:59
SPEAKER_01: in kind of the development of the sport.
16:01
SPEAKER_01: Her and her partner, Margaret Gasperi, are like two best skyrunners.
16:05
I think they're multiple time Italian and even sometimes world
16:08
skyrunning champions.
16:09
I know Margaret Gasperi has some worlds and I think Eliza Desco
16:12
has worlds medals,
16:13
SPEAKER_01: but maybe not gold.
16:14
So just skyrunners who have been in the sport for a long time
16:17
and really helped develop it.
16:19
um always cool to see them racing so next athlete is going to
16:22
be nyara irigoyan
16:24
spanish sky running regular and very good technical trail
16:28
runner who looks like she
16:30
added a sponsorship uh with x bionic the swiss footwear company
16:34
to go with her open
16:35
team one i think her and alan santamaria blanco both got
16:38
expiring sponsorships
16:39
She finished in the top five standings overall in the
16:43
Skyrunning World Series last
16:44
SPEAKER_01: year and had tons of great races,
16:46
SPEAKER_01: including second at the Skyrunning World Series final,
16:48
wins at both Sober Sochio and Morne Skyrunning races to go with
16:54
six at ETC,
16:55
SPEAKER_01: fifth at Contalados del Norte,
16:57
If I had to pick one person who I'm very confident will get
17:00
points at this race
17:01
SPEAKER_01: along with Rosalora Thilu,
17:03
SPEAKER_01: this would probably be the other lady I'd choose.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: She doesn't miss and really doesn't DNF hardly at all.
17:08
So I think she's a very,
17:09
very strong pick to do well here if she's toeing the line.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: Next athlete, another Spanish trail runner.
17:16
SPEAKER_01: It's going to be Maria Pons or Mariah Pons.
17:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure how you say that.
17:22
SPEAKER_01: She runs for Brooks.
17:23
SPEAKER_01: I was not familiar with her until this preview,
17:25
SPEAKER_01: but she has had some good races last year,
17:27
SPEAKER_01: including a sixth at the Valderan 50k,
17:30
fifth at the same race from last year to go as a third at Pena
17:34
Colusa 60k.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: She has also got a top 10 from OCC back in 2022.
17:41
And from what I can tell,
17:41
I don't see a single DNF or result outside the top 10 for that
17:45
matter.
17:45
SPEAKER_01: So she seems to race extremely consistently if she toes the line.
17:48
I think she's one of those five through 10 super strong
17:52
candidates who's going to
17:53
SPEAKER_01: finish this race and might not race into a top five spot,
17:55
but will for certain end up somewhere in the race that will get
17:58
you points.
17:59
So for picking five deep,
18:00
that's anywhere in the top 10 and it doesn't look like she
18:02
DNFs.
18:03
SPEAKER_01: So she could be a safe pick for your top five.
18:07
SPEAKER_01: Martina Cumulato,
18:08
SPEAKER_01: our last Italian triathlete to talk about in this women's field,
18:13
young runner who I think recently swapped from ASICS to ultra
18:16
footwear from what I
18:17
SPEAKER_01: can tell.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: Last year's results included a 10th at ECC, third place at Giro de Mont,
18:23
SPEAKER_01: fourth at Rastonica 50k,
18:25
SPEAKER_01: and fourth at the Hoke Koenig Sky Race,
18:28
SPEAKER_01: and fifth at Mont Zerbion Sky Races.
18:30
So we tend to see her perform well at a good mix of Sky Races
18:34
and 50k-ish range
18:35
SPEAKER_01: events,
18:36
SPEAKER_01: including fast races like Giro de Mont.
18:38
SPEAKER_01: So she definitely is someone to keep an eye out for.
18:39
SPEAKER_01: I think there will be an Italian in the top five,
18:42
SPEAKER_01: and I'm having a hard time picking between the three women,
18:44
SPEAKER_01: Martina Kumarlato,
18:45
SPEAKER_01: Eliza Desco,
18:47
SPEAKER_01: and Camila Magaliano.
18:49
SPEAKER_01: So that is...
18:57
SPEAKER_01: Sorry, I'm scrolling and I realize I forgot to add a string to my list.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: So next athlete we will talk about is Ines Estrine.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: And so last year,
19:07
SPEAKER_01: Ines went 26th at Worlds,
19:10
SPEAKER_01: 14th at OCC,
19:12
SPEAKER_01: 8th at Valderand,
19:13
SPEAKER_01: 50K,
19:14
SPEAKER_01: and also ran to third at Transvalcania Marathon,
19:20
SPEAKER_01: and then won this event as well last year,
19:23
SPEAKER_01: the same distance.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: So she is a runner for HOMA, the Spanish athlete.
19:30
SPEAKER_01: the Spanish running company.
19:32
SPEAKER_01: And excuse me, let me go back to my places.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: That's a strain last year's winner of the race.
19:39
SPEAKER_01: Last athlete I want to talk about is Mimi Kotka,
19:42
SPEAKER_01: legend of the sport,
19:43
Swedish runner for Kraft and previous winner at CCC in 2016 and
19:47
had a UTMB podium
19:49
SPEAKER_01: in 2021.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: She has not raced much in the past four years.
19:52
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure what's been going on with her.
19:53
I think she suffered from overtraining before her UTMB podium
19:57
or in the past couple
19:58
SPEAKER_01: of years and is coming back from it.
20:00
Always excited to see the legends of the sport towing the line
20:03
in deep fields.
20:04
SPEAKER_01: So that is...
20:07
uh the women's field and with that being said this is the part
20:11
where i make some
20:12
picks for my top five with the usual caveats you want to keep a
20:16
close eye on uh
20:18
these submissions so we got three hour three days left in the
20:20
race so if anyone
20:22
drops you want to keep an eye out to make sure to pull them out
20:24
and then the other
20:25
thing is if they don't finish the race in the top 10 they don't
20:28
get points
20:29
SPEAKER_01: So if people DNF a lot, I'm less likely to pick them.
20:32
SPEAKER_01: And the last caveat I'll give is I'm giving you my picks,
20:34
but I'm 100% going to change them in the next three days based
20:37
off either new
20:37
SPEAKER_01: information or just whimsical feelings or gut intuition that I get.
20:42
So don't be surprised if these picks change,
20:45
but I'll give you what I have for right now.
20:47
SPEAKER_01: We'll go five through one, I think.
20:51
SPEAKER_01: In fifth place,
20:52
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to go with Ines Astrain,
20:55
SPEAKER_01: the returning champion of last year's race,
20:57
SPEAKER_01: knows the course,
20:58
SPEAKER_01: has good results,
20:59
SPEAKER_01: and is kind of getting better and better each race.
21:02
SPEAKER_01: Fourth place, I'm going to go with Nayara Uruguayan.
21:04
SPEAKER_01: Like I said, sky running specialist speedster.
21:08
SPEAKER_01: Basically,
21:09
SPEAKER_01: in my opinion,
21:09
SPEAKER_01: I'll walk for points,
21:10
SPEAKER_01: and I think she will very likely be somewhere in this top five.
21:13
SPEAKER_01: Fourth place,
21:14
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to go Maria Fuentes,
21:15
kind of up and coming athletes with a lot of promising results
21:19
and kind of getting
21:19
SPEAKER_01: better each race.
21:21
SPEAKER_01: Second place and first place are kind of a toss up.
21:24
I'm going to be flopping back and forth between Julia Font
21:26
Gomez and Rosa Laura Filu.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: Right now,
21:28
SPEAKER_01: I've got Julia Font Gomez in second and Rosa Laura in first,
21:31
SPEAKER_01: but I'm liable to swap those two out.
21:33
SPEAKER_01: I think Julia is going to come out really hard and I think she's going to
21:36
come out in front in Roselarfield might take a little bit more
21:39
of a conservative
21:40
SPEAKER_01: and smarter approach.
21:42
But that could lead to Julia either fading or falling off or
21:46
potentially getting the win.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: So right now I've got an all Spanish top five.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: I'm liable to swap in as a Australian last year's champion.
21:53
SPEAKER_01: For one of the Italian runners,
21:54
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure which one I'd probably go for,
21:57
SPEAKER_01: either Camila Magliano or Eliza Desco.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: But right now I've got a Spanish top five.
22:03
SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of the,
22:04
SPEAKER_01: like I said,
22:04
SPEAKER_01: the Italian women,
22:05
SPEAKER_01: I think there will be an Italian women in there somewhere.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: But right now I've got all Spanish top five.
22:09
On the men's side,
22:11
we've got some storylines for this year's men's field.
22:15
And the storylines I identified are what version of Roberto Di
22:18
Lorenzi will we see this year?
22:21
SPEAKER_01: Are we going to get the 2024 version or the 2025 version?
22:23
SPEAKER_01: The 2024 version was extremely impressive.
22:26
2025 version was a little bit disappointing compared to where
22:29
he raced at in 2024.
22:31
SPEAKER_01: I put,
22:31
how does racing last week affect some of the big names on the
22:34
start list and how
22:35
SPEAKER_01: are their likes feeling?
22:36
SPEAKER_01: So we're seeing doubling back from Manu Marias, Fred Tranchand,
22:41
SPEAKER_01: Alain Santamaria Blanco and Dimas Pereira Ovayo,
22:45
SPEAKER_01: who are doubling back from Encantel Autos del Norte last week.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: And for those males,
22:50
it took anywhere from about two and a half to close to three
22:53
hours of racing.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: And they raced on the next island over La Palma,
22:57
SPEAKER_01: I want to say,
22:58
SPEAKER_01: and now they're going over Tenerife.
22:59
SPEAKER_01: So they just had an island hop one island over, give or take.
23:02
SPEAKER_01: Don't quote me, I'm American.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: And that's...
23:04
SPEAKER_01: I'm better at geography than most Americans,
23:06
SPEAKER_01: but I know they're all in the Canary Islands,
23:08
SPEAKER_01: and I think it's just one island over.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: So those are the storylines identified.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: So let's get into the men's field for the Tenerife 47K,
23:17
SPEAKER_01: starting off with Roberto Di Lorenzi,
23:20
SPEAKER_01: the Swiss sub-ultra crusher who runs for Brooks.
23:23
Like I said,
23:24
which version of Roberto will we get this year,
23:26
the 2024 Roberto,
23:26
the 2025?
23:29
SPEAKER_01: 2024,
23:30
Roberto ran a guaranteed top 10 in just about every race he
23:33
touched and was often
23:34
SPEAKER_01: well into the top five.
23:35
SPEAKER_01: His big results were coming at third,
23:37
SPEAKER_01: with third at Marathon du Mont Blanc,
23:39
SPEAKER_01: fifth at Sears and all,
23:41
SPEAKER_01: along with a win at the European Championships up and down race,
23:44
SPEAKER_01: won the gold.
23:45
SPEAKER_01: So he,
23:47
he also won multiple sky races that year and routes to becoming
23:49
the overall series
23:51
SPEAKER_01: sky running world series champion.
23:54
SPEAKER_01: Last year was a step back for him,
23:55
having multiple DNFs in different races and just a lot of not
23:58
Roberto type days
23:59
SPEAKER_01: racing,
24:00
but finished on a bit of a higher note with a lot of plays at
24:03
Worlds Short Trail
24:03
SPEAKER_01: Race.
24:04
SPEAKER_01: Like I said, I'm curious to see which version of him we get this year.
24:07
He typically starts off the year with a half marathon in the
24:10
last three years,
24:11
SPEAKER_01: and this season was kind of no different.
24:13
SPEAKER_01: In his 2024 year where he crushed it,
24:15
SPEAKER_01: he ran a personal best 64.08 and a half to start the season.
24:20
Last year,
24:20
he slowed down to more like 66-ish minutes and change,
24:23
I want to say.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: So like an almost two minute setback.
24:26
SPEAKER_01: And this year he ran about a 65.24.
24:28
So I think that's promising that he's probably signed that he's
24:31
probably a little
24:31
SPEAKER_01: bit more fit than last year,
24:33
SPEAKER_01: but maybe not quite the same as two years ago.
24:35
SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of a big question mark for him.
24:39
For me,
24:40
with Roberto and what version of him we get,
24:42
he has been at Tenerife for a while.
24:45
SPEAKER_01: Him and some friends,
24:47
SPEAKER_01: I think including Gianluca Giano and his brother,
24:51
SPEAKER_01: usually Roberto's brother.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: usually do a training camp on Tenerife to start the season.
24:56
SPEAKER_01: And I think this season has been no different.
24:57
SPEAKER_01: They've been out there running.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: So he also ran this race last year and got seventh place.
25:01
SPEAKER_01: So he's familiar with the course.
25:03
SPEAKER_01: I think he's well positioned to do well,
25:05
SPEAKER_01: and I will be rooting for him to return to his 2024 form.
25:09
Next athlete we're going to talk about is somebody who we just
25:11
talked about last
25:12
SPEAKER_01: week,
25:12
SPEAKER_01: Frederic Tranchand,
25:14
SPEAKER_01: French Orienteer,
25:15
SPEAKER_01: technical trail crusher,
25:17
SPEAKER_01: returning short trail world champion from last year.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: He's, like I said, a Merrill athlete swapped over from Scott.
25:24
And we saw him in a battle with Manu Maria's last week at the
25:27
Contalados del Norte,
25:29
SPEAKER_01: really tight battle.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: They were going back and forth the whole race,
25:32
SPEAKER_01: ultimately for Fred to finish second,
25:34
SPEAKER_01: just about 13 seconds off Manu.
25:36
SPEAKER_01: So they both seem like they're in really good form this year.
25:43
SPEAKER_01: Next runner is going to be Manu Marias and, uh, excuse me.
25:50
SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
25:50
SPEAKER_01: I'm flirting with some picks.
25:52
SPEAKER_01: Um,
25:54
SPEAKER_01: Next runner is going to be Manu Marias.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: My,
25:56
SPEAKER_01: one of my personal favorite trail runners,
25:58
SPEAKER_01: a runner for New Balance based in the mountains of Spain,
26:03
SPEAKER_01: long time sky running and basically just technical trail running.
26:08
SPEAKER_01: Savant,
26:08
SPEAKER_01: super good downhiller,
26:10
SPEAKER_01: makes his own homemade bamboo,
26:11
SPEAKER_01: bamboo poles and just is really fun to follow along.
26:15
I'm really a big fan of Manu Marias as I've made abundantly
26:18
clear of multiple episodes.
26:19
SPEAKER_01: So yeah,
26:21
SPEAKER_01: Like we said,
26:22
he won the Skyrunning World Series final last year in a handful
26:24
of other Skyrunning
26:25
SPEAKER_01: World Series races,
26:26
SPEAKER_01: but didn't ultimately win the series overall.
26:28
SPEAKER_01: That was Luca del Perro.
26:31
Manu ended up finishing third overall in the series despite
26:33
winning the final.
26:34
He did just get that victory at the Contalados del Norte in a
26:38
stacked field and
26:39
SPEAKER_01: beat out Manu,
26:40
SPEAKER_01: excuse me,
26:41
SPEAKER_01: beat out Fred Tranchon like we just mentioned.
26:43
SPEAKER_01: I think he's in really good shape this year.
26:44
He posted something on his Instagram coming into the race that
26:46
he felt really good
26:47
SPEAKER_01: and really fit and
26:48
felt like he was coming into the year differently than he did
26:50
last year which was a
26:51
promising sign he did ultimately take the win and then he
26:55
basically posted another
26:55
thing after he won the race and said the goal is to work with
26:58
uh the spanish doctor
26:59
to stay healthy throughout the year and really learn take what
27:02
he learned last year
27:03
which was a little bit of a slow start to the year and then
27:06
finish strong and just
27:07
keep a good good effort throughout the year more or less so
27:10
that's manu maria's uh
27:11
SPEAKER_01: question is how do fred manu
27:14
and uh elaine and dimas bounce back after racing last week next
27:19
athlete we're going
27:19
to talk about who we have not talked about yet this year is
27:22
gianluca gianno italian
27:24
trail runner for books probably one of the runners i'm most
27:26
excited about uh seeing
27:29
race this year he's more of a sky running specialist but
27:32
hopefully switching over
27:32
to longer events like this one he had some really promising
27:35
results and a few wins
27:36
SPEAKER_01: at sky running world series events last year
27:38
SPEAKER_01: So I get the feeling he's still figuring out the longer stuff,
27:41
SPEAKER_01: but he's a very talented climber and a very good on technical terrain.
28:01
SPEAKER_01: uh right in this distance range so i feel like this is pretty much in his
28:04
wheelhouse i feel like he kind of is setting himself up to be
28:07
the next like roberto
28:08
di lorenzi luco del perro rosa laura filo type athlete who
28:11
brings kind of their
28:12
skills and versatility from sky running across different
28:15
distances and race
28:16
circuits with a lot of success so i'm excited to see where gene
28:20
lugo gian uh gene
28:22
SPEAKER_01: lugo gianna slots in this
28:24
SPEAKER_01: Next athlete's going to be Elaine Santamaría Blanco,
28:27
SPEAKER_01: fresh off third place at the Contalados del Norte,
28:29
SPEAKER_01: a few minutes behind Fred and Manu's lead pack.
28:33
SPEAKER_01: Breakout season for the Spaniard last year,
28:36
SPEAKER_01: who had some wins at Skyrunning World Series events,
28:38
SPEAKER_01: and also raced to fourth place,
28:40
SPEAKER_01: the chocolate medal at the World Trail Championships short race.
28:45
SPEAKER_01: So I think he's well positioned to do well here.
28:48
SPEAKER_01: I think we're going to see him knock out another top five.
28:51
And the real question is just out of the four guys doubling
28:55
back from a console
28:55
SPEAKER_01: autos double norte,
28:56
SPEAKER_01: do any of them suffer because their legs just are not fresh?
29:00
SPEAKER_01: And I think it probably will take at least one of the four.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm not really sure.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: I don't think it's likely Fred or Manu.
29:04
SPEAKER_01: I think it'll be either Alon or Dimas Pereira.
29:07
SPEAKER_01: So next runner who I'm always stoked to talk about is Peter Frano.
29:12
One of my favorites slash the most overlooked trail runners
29:15
because he comes from
29:16
SPEAKER_01: the small country of Slovakia.
29:19
He's sponsored by Scarpa and silently shows up at every race he
29:22
does and throws
29:23
SPEAKER_01: down some amazing results.
29:24
SPEAKER_01: Last year's races included a fifth place at the world's long trail,
29:27
SPEAKER_01: ninth at his debut,
29:28
SPEAKER_01: Western States,
29:29
SPEAKER_01: and first race in America from what I can tell.
29:31
win at transvolcania and hypothermic weather over a very
29:34
typical field that has a
29:35
lot of drops this race is a bit short compared to most of what
29:38
he races but he is a
29:39
talented skyrunner and i would not be surprised at all to see
29:42
him in the top five
29:44
uh when all is said and done i think he's very unlikely to dina
29:47
so he's definitely
29:48
going to finish this race if they if they hold it and he's
29:51
definitely a strong pick
29:52
SPEAKER_01: for you guys
29:54
SPEAKER_01: Next athlete,
29:54
SPEAKER_01: Dimas Pereira Obayo,
29:56
Spanish young speedster for A6 bouncing back from 11th at last
30:00
week's race.
30:00
SPEAKER_01: I'm pretty confident.
30:01
SPEAKER_01: I think he came out hard and fell off from the videos.
30:03
SPEAKER_01: I've seen some of the highlights.
30:05
SPEAKER_01: He was in front of the pack for a good bit at the beginning.
30:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
30:09
and we see him kind of just in that 5 through 10 range of the
30:12
last guy running
30:12
SPEAKER_01: World Series races.
30:14
SPEAKER_01: And he will be kind of on the bubble for this one as well, I'm sure.
30:18
SPEAKER_01: Next athlete, talk about Zaid Malik.
30:22
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Zaid Malik, Zaid at Malik Olkas.
30:27
Uh,
30:27
so Zaid is a longtime Berber trail runner from Morocco's Atlas
30:31
mountains.
30:32
SPEAKER_01: who has a really interesting story.
30:34
SPEAKER_01: I've linked it in my show notes.
30:35
SPEAKER_01: They did an article on BBC about him.
30:37
And basically the gist of it,
30:38
he stowed away on a ferry across the Atlantic.
30:41
So basically him and his brother smuggled themselves illegally
30:44
on a ferry across,
30:45
SPEAKER_01: excuse me,
30:45
SPEAKER_01: not across the Atlantic,
30:46
SPEAKER_01: across the Mediterranean Sea and ended up working on a farm in Spain.
30:51
SPEAKER_01: He kind of got taken in by other Moroccans who were there.
30:54
And then eventually he started running some local races and
30:56
caught the attention of
30:59
SPEAKER_01: None other than Nuria Bergato, who is Killian Jornet's mom.
31:03
SPEAKER_01: And they found a way to get him into Zagama,
31:05
SPEAKER_01: which in his debut,
31:06
SPEAKER_01: Zagama,
31:06
SPEAKER_01: he ran into fourth place his first time there at the race in 2013.
31:10
He would go on to win the Spanish mountain running
31:12
championships two years in a row
31:13
SPEAKER_01: in 2013 and 2014.
31:15
SPEAKER_01: But he couldn't technically take the spot because he wasn't a citizen.
31:18
SPEAKER_01: He almost got deported in 2018 from Spain,
31:21
but a campaign was started that got national media coverage and
31:24
got people like
31:24
SPEAKER_01: Killian Jornet behind it as well,
31:26
which led to a letter of naturalization from the Spanish
31:30
Ministry of Justice,
31:32
which is very kind of like unexpected and not something to do
31:34
very common from what
31:35
SPEAKER_01: the article makes it sound like.
31:37
um he hasn't been as competitive as competitive the past few
31:40
years as he's gotten
31:41
older but his story is definitely one of the coolest i've heard
31:43
and he definitely
31:44
seems like a character whenever he's racing he has like crazy
31:47
hairdos like afros
31:48
and i think i've seen him with like braids and stuff like that
31:51
he's always sporting
31:52
a huge smile and just seems like one of those characters who's
31:54
kind of larger than
31:54
life uh and really really likable and i'm curious if he kind of
31:57
had an impact or uh
31:59
some influence on killing ternay eventually sponsoring another
32:03
burger runner from
32:04
SPEAKER_01: the Atlas Mountains of Morocco in Elozine, Elozowie.
32:08
SPEAKER_01: So pretty cool to see.
32:10
SPEAKER_01: Next athlete's going to be Pablo Bautista-Rovera.
32:14
SPEAKER_01: Third place in this race last year, so he knows the course.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: Third at last year's Valderan 50k and 55th at Worlds Short Trail.
32:20
Don't know much about him other than those results,
32:22
but worth considering.
32:24
SPEAKER_01: And last athlete I want to talk about is Yoel Depaz Baeza.
32:28
SPEAKER_01: Last year's runner up this race, Spanish runner for Nike.
32:30
SPEAKER_01: He DNF'd his last two races of the year at OCC and Zagama.
32:34
SPEAKER_01: The year before that, he won the Mallorca 50K and finished 14th at OCC.
32:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure how Yoel will slot in here.
32:43
SPEAKER_01: I could see either a top 10 or a DNF based off his races.
32:47
SPEAKER_01: He seems like the tiny guy who goes bigger goes home.
32:49
SPEAKER_01: But I don't know that I'll have them in my top five.
32:51
SPEAKER_01: So with that being said, my top five, all the same caveats as before.
32:54
I'll give you guys some guys who I think are on the bubble and
32:57
some considerations
32:58
SPEAKER_01: or things that might make me change my picks.
33:00
SPEAKER_01: Fifth place,
33:02
SPEAKER_01: I'm on the fence,
33:02
SPEAKER_01: but I'm going to go with Alon Santamaria Blanco,
33:05
bouncing back from last week's race and maybe having a little
33:07
fatigue in his leg.
33:08
SPEAKER_01: like fourth place.
33:09
I'm going to go Gianluco Gianno,
33:11
uh,
33:12
sky running specialist,
33:14
Italian up and coming.
33:15
SPEAKER_01: I think could be a very versatile athlete.
33:17
SPEAKER_01: Third place, Fred Tranchand, second place, Manu Marias.
33:21
SPEAKER_01: And first place,
33:21
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to go with a very fit and better than last season,
33:26
SPEAKER_01: Roberto de Lorenzi.
33:27
SPEAKER_01: So I'm liable to swap up top three.
33:29
SPEAKER_01: I think Manu will still stay in front of Fred because I don't know.
33:33
SPEAKER_01: It's tough because they're both really talented downhill runners.
33:35
SPEAKER_01: And this has a lot of downhill.
33:37
SPEAKER_01: Um,
33:38
But I think Manu is kind of on a different trajectory and is
33:40
going to have a really
33:41
SPEAKER_01: good season based off that first race.
33:42
SPEAKER_01: I could be a little bullish,
33:44
SPEAKER_01: but I think it's,
33:45
I like what he's putting out into the universe and I think he's
33:48
going to have a
33:48
SPEAKER_01: good season.
33:49
So first place Roberto,
33:50
second place Manu,
33:51
third Fred,
33:52
fourth Gianluco and fifth Alon.
33:54
SPEAKER_01: I think Dimas,
33:55
SPEAKER_01: Pereira,
33:55
and Peter Frano are going to be right in the bubble and would
33:57
both be good picks
33:58
SPEAKER_01: for your top five.
33:59
SPEAKER_01: I think Peter,
33:59
I would for sure put in your top five as somebody who's going
34:01
to finish this race
34:02
SPEAKER_01: and going to go top 10.
34:04
SPEAKER_01: Dimas might be a little bit more of a bubble pick.
34:07
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, that's who I got for this men's race.
34:12
SPEAKER_01: So that concludes the Tenerife 47k preview.
34:16
SPEAKER_01: I'm excited about that field.
34:17
SPEAKER_01: I hope that race goes off and that the storm does not affect it,
34:20
but we're going to keep an eye out on the UCMB page because
34:23
it's entirely possible
34:24
SPEAKER_01: that course gets canceled.
34:28
SPEAKER_01: And now we're going to go into our 2026 Chianti by UTMB, a 120K preview.
34:34
SPEAKER_01: I think they call it like the Chianti 25 Castles or something like that.
34:39
SPEAKER_01: They've changed the course a little bit in the past couple of years,
34:42
but it should be the same from last year's race where we saw a
34:46
throwdown between
34:47
SPEAKER_01: Killian Jornet,
34:48
SPEAKER_01: Vincent Bouillard,
34:49
SPEAKER_01: and Jim Walmsley,
34:50
SPEAKER_01: where ultimately Jim Walmsley threw down the hammer,
34:52
SPEAKER_01: won by like 27-ish minutes.
34:55
SPEAKER_01: but, and took the golden tickets, but didn't end up racing.
34:59
SPEAKER_01: Excuse me.
34:59
SPEAKER_01: He didn't need the golden tickets.
35:00
SPEAKER_01: He was returning champion,
35:01
SPEAKER_01: but Jim and excuse me,
35:03
not Jim Killian and Vince off took the golden tickets in the
35:07
second and third
35:07
SPEAKER_01: places.
35:08
SPEAKER_01: So this year it is also a golden ticket race is 120 K race.
35:12
SPEAKER_01: So top two spots get, uh,
35:14
golden tickets and the top three also get bids to UTMB or CCC
35:18
because it is a UTMB race.
35:19
I'm going to read out the I Run Far race description and I have
35:23
the article from I
35:24
Run Far linked in the show notes for last year's race and the
35:29
article was written
35:30
SPEAKER_01: by Esther Horanyi.
35:33
SPEAKER_01: So the description from I Run Far,
35:35
SPEAKER_01: it's a 120 kilometer,
35:37
SPEAKER_01: 75-ish mile race with more than 5,200 meters or 70,000 feet of climbing.
35:42
I included Killian's Stravophile from the race last year
35:45
because Jim did not race
35:47
SPEAKER_01: his,
35:47
SPEAKER_01: or excuse me,
35:48
SPEAKER_01: did not include his.
35:49
SPEAKER_01: And Killian's Stravophile had about 70...
35:53
SPEAKER_01: Six-ish miles and 18,100 feet of vert.
35:59
The course takes you through a picturesque route through the
36:02
vineyard-covered hills
36:03
SPEAKER_01: of Chianti,
36:04
SPEAKER_01: a region known for its wine,
36:05
SPEAKER_01: located south of Florence.
36:06
SPEAKER_01: The course was backloaded with elevation change,
36:10
climbing the smaller Monteluca near the middle of the route and
36:14
the Via San Michel
36:15
SPEAKER_01: as the final climb.
36:16
SPEAKER_01: The latter, the course is high point.
36:18
The loop's profile looks like a serrated blade with incessant
36:22
climbs and descents
36:23
SPEAKER_01: that carry on until the final climb back to Rada in Chianti.
36:27
SPEAKER_01: This course had no it's all downhill to the finish moment.
36:31
SPEAKER_01: So a bunch of like random punchy climbs.
36:35
SPEAKER_01: I remember Jim or somebody talking about the race,
36:37
how just kind of you're on these rolling like vineyard hills
36:42
and then it eventually
36:43
SPEAKER_01: will just like take you off route into these like forest trails that are
36:48
SPEAKER_01: Really can be super sloppy.
36:49
I looked at the weather for Keonci and it looks like it's clear
36:51
the next few days
36:52
SPEAKER_01: and the rain comes next week.
36:54
So it looks like this trail might actually be in better
36:56
conditions than last year,
36:58
SPEAKER_01: assuming the rain doesn't get bumped up,
36:59
SPEAKER_01: but it definitely,
37:00
SPEAKER_01: people said it was sneaky tough.
37:01
SPEAKER_01: It was really muddy.
37:03
SPEAKER_01: You're always kind of like moderately climbing and yeah,
37:07
SPEAKER_01: it just seems like a sneaky tough course,
37:08
especially if you look at the finish times from last year and
37:11
both the men's and
37:11
SPEAKER_01: the women's field,
37:13
SPEAKER_01: Jim ran it right around 10 hours,
37:14
SPEAKER_01: but it was a really impressive thing.
37:15
sub 10 hours and then the women's top finishers 12 34 fiona
37:20
fiona pascal 12 53 joe
37:21
johanna and tila and the zara garcia 13 12 so really just kind
37:26
of a a tough course
37:29
SPEAKER_01: uh that was in sloppy conditions so all right um
37:36
SPEAKER_01: We're going to start off with a woman's field as well in this course.
37:39
SPEAKER_01: So the implications of the race that I identified,
37:42
SPEAKER_01: I put will golden tickets for top two females,
37:46
SPEAKER_01: There will be gold tickets for the top two females and males,
37:49
and they could potentially roll down further on the men's side
37:51
if Jeff Mugavro
37:52
SPEAKER_01: finishes top two,
37:53
SPEAKER_01: which I think there's a strong likelihood.
37:55
SPEAKER_01: So in the women's field,
37:56
we have some excitement because Rachel Intrican is finally
38:01
racing a deeper race.
38:03
SPEAKER_01: She announced her intention to race UTMB on her race calendar this year.
38:06
SPEAKER_01: And I...
38:07
I'm not sure if she has a high enough UTMB index to
38:11
automatically get N or if she
38:12
SPEAKER_01: needs this race to go top three to get N.
38:15
SPEAKER_01: So not sure if that's on the line here.
38:18
SPEAKER_01: If she goes top two, she will win a golden ticket.
38:22
So question there is,
38:23
does she take it to get into Western States as well?
38:26
SPEAKER_01: And does she try to double back?
38:27
SPEAKER_01: I think she's racing Cocodona 250.
38:28
Don't quote me on that,
38:29
but I'm pretty sure she announced she was returning.
38:32
SPEAKER_01: So does she try to double with Cocodona 250?
38:34
in Western and UTMB or does she decide to put her eggs in the
38:38
Western basket and
38:40
SPEAKER_01: not race Cocodona again?
38:42
SPEAKER_01: So those are all important questions.
38:43
I think it's very likely she encounters a golden ticket and
38:46
races her way to a
38:47
SPEAKER_01: golden ticket this year.
38:48
SPEAKER_01: So does she take it and how does that affect things as well?
38:52
SPEAKER_01: All right, so female field.
38:53
We are talking about Rachel,
38:54
but I'm going to talk about her more in a second.
38:55
SPEAKER_01: First,
38:55
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to talk about Ingveld Kaspersson,
38:58
SPEAKER_01: Norwegian ultra runner for Adidas Terex,
39:00
and cemented herself as one of the best in the game in 2023
39:03
with a dominant win at
39:04
SPEAKER_01: CCC by almost 40 minutes over second place Emily Hoggard.
39:08
She followed up that 2023 performance with a killer 2024 year
39:12
where she ran to
39:12
fifth place at her debut Western States Endurance Run in a
39:17
blazing fast 16 hours
39:19
SPEAKER_01: and 15 minute finish,
39:20
SPEAKER_01: 50-5-0 minute finish,
39:22
SPEAKER_01: and finished the season with a win at Wildstrubel.
39:24
Last season was a bit of a mixed bag with Ingveld where she
39:27
tried harder in kind of
39:28
SPEAKER_01: more technical races and had mixed results,
39:31
SPEAKER_01: slash wasn't quite on her 2023-2024 levels.
39:34
Last year,
39:35
she started off the year with a DNF at Transparent Canary
39:37
Classic Distance.
39:39
She ran to second place at Ultra Trail Snow Doney on 50K behind
39:42
Elsie Davis,
39:43
SPEAKER_01: and a second at the Labrador 80K behind Anna Tarasova.
39:47
SPEAKER_01: And then she DNFed at CCC after being top 10 for a,
39:50
SPEAKER_01: I want to say about two thirds of it,
39:52
SPEAKER_01: if I remember correctly.
39:53
I remember when I was watching the race because I was in Europe
39:55
and I remember her
39:56
SPEAKER_01: being up there for a while.
39:57
excited to see engveld uh race this race and i'm curious if her
40:02
goal is to come
40:02
back to western where she nailed it on her first drive and
40:05
improve upon that 1650
40:07
finishing time between rachel and engveld i think they're
40:11
pretty clearly the
40:12
favorites in this field if you have to guess i think lynchin
40:14
could be up there too
40:15
but i have questions about whether she's racing or if she's
40:17
even in italy but um i
40:19
SPEAKER_01: think engveld and rachel and i think if engveld finishes she
40:24
will beat rachel or could beat rachel but i think there's
40:27
questions about whether
40:28
or not she would finish this race and rachel might have the
40:31
edge and that i have no
40:32
doubts that she's going to finish this race um and if she
40:35
finishes it will
40:35
definitely finish the top five but realistically probably the
40:38
top two if i had to
40:38
SPEAKER_01: guess
40:43
SPEAKER_01: All right,
40:44
SPEAKER_01: so the next athlete we want to talk about,
40:45
SPEAKER_01: who we've already been talking about for a bit,
40:47
SPEAKER_01: is going to be Rachel Ensherkin.
40:49
SPEAKER_01: Made big, big waves last year on a bit of a heater winning streak.
40:53
She's an American ultra runner and 200-mile crusher,
40:56
recently sponsored by Norda.
40:58
SPEAKER_01: Big headline of this race,
40:59
SPEAKER_01: like I said,
41:00
SPEAKER_01: for many American fans of the sport,
41:01
SPEAKER_01: which is about two-thirds of the listeners here.
41:04
SPEAKER_01: And the question will be,
41:06
SPEAKER_01: Rachel Ensherkin,
41:06
so she's finally lining up against a field that is more than
41:09
just her and one other
41:11
SPEAKER_01: runner team.
41:12
SPEAKER_01: I know I sound critical when I say that,
41:13
but that's just kind of like the reality of the races that
41:16
she's done the past
41:16
SPEAKER_01: couple of years.
41:18
SPEAKER_01: We saw her beat Courtney at Cocodona 250 last year.
41:21
And I think that win and the win over Tara Dower at the Mammoth
41:25
200 would have both
41:26
SPEAKER_01: been more prescient or like more.
41:28
They were still plenty talked about,
41:30
but I think they would have been more.
41:32
i'm not gonna say legitimate they weren't illegitimate but just
41:34
the fact that
41:34
courtney and tara both dnf'd courtney was leading the race when
41:37
she dnf'd i mean i
41:39
still consider yes rachel did win she beat them head to head
41:42
but i think it says a
41:43
lot more two things one if there's more than just two athletes
41:46
in the field that
41:47
have the possibility to win like deeper fields like this where
41:49
you have multiple
41:50
people that could win but two if either of them uh didn't dnf
41:54
and kind of battle
41:55
SPEAKER_01: her or like she just beat them when they had a good day
41:58
And I know that's part of ultra running,
41:59
but I just think that takes away from her race.
42:01
And I'm excited to see her race in deep field so we don't have
42:03
to have those
42:04
SPEAKER_01: conversation topics.
42:05
SPEAKER_01: This field has legitimately multiple people that could win.
42:08
Her,
42:08
Yngville,
42:09
Lin Chen,
42:10
and then a handful of others that will give her a run for her
42:13
money.
42:13
SPEAKER_01: So it's not just two people deep and the next people are miles away.
42:17
SPEAKER_01: Honestly,
42:17
I thought her second best result behind Cocodona was actually
42:19
her win at High
42:21
SPEAKER_01: Lonesome,
42:21
SPEAKER_01: more so than her Mammoth 200,
42:22
SPEAKER_01: because Mammoth 200,
42:24
SPEAKER_01: we don't have a lot of,
42:25
SPEAKER_01: it doesn't have any history to go off of,
42:27
SPEAKER_01: so it's tough to tell how good her result was.
42:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
42:31
I think there's a very strong likelihood that Rachel races her
42:35
way to a golden
42:36
ticket and potentially even wins outright amongst the females
42:40
in this field.
42:41
SPEAKER_01: Like I said,
42:41
SPEAKER_01: I think if Ingeveld finishes,
42:42
SPEAKER_01: she beats Rachel,
42:43
but I have some doubts that Ingeveld might not finish because
42:45
she does DNF
42:46
SPEAKER_01: occasionally,
42:47
SPEAKER_01: whereas Rachel basically never DNFs.
42:49
If she wins a golden ticket,
42:50
will she take it and try to bounce back from Cocodona?
42:54
SPEAKER_01: Or will she forego coconut oil altogether to focus on Western?
42:57
SPEAKER_01: I doubt it,
42:57
but it's exciting to think about and it definitely leaves her
42:59
with a lot of
43:00
SPEAKER_01: questions and puts her in an exciting place.
43:02
SPEAKER_01: I think she said using B is the goal,
43:03
but it's pretty hard to say no to a Western States golden
43:06
ticket and you can't
43:07
SPEAKER_01: defer it.
43:09
next athlete is going to be azara garcia spanish ultra runner
43:12
for kayla's fuga only
43:14
has two gears pretty much from what i could win or dnaf she did
43:18
race the same race
43:19
last year to third place so that would contradict what i just
43:21
said she was just
43:23
behind 12 tickets winners fiona pascal and johanna antilla and
43:27
just in front of
43:28
SPEAKER_01: abby hall interestingly
43:29
SPEAKER_01: She's a great runner,
43:30
but I always have a hard time picking her for fantasy free
43:32
trail stuff because she
43:33
SPEAKER_01: DNFs a lot.
43:34
Last year's results on top of Chianti included two DNFs at CCC
43:38
and Transvolcania,
43:39
SPEAKER_01: and she had a win at a trail marathon in Spain to end her season.
43:43
SPEAKER_01: 2024 results were similar with an eighth at Transvolcania,
43:45
SPEAKER_01: a win at Chianti Castle's 100K,
43:47
SPEAKER_01: which it was 100K then,
43:49
SPEAKER_01: not 120,
43:50
SPEAKER_01: and then a DNF at Trans Grand Canary at Classic.
43:52
SPEAKER_01: So definitely somebody who could go top five here.
43:55
I could very well see,
43:56
but kind of a risky pick because she does DNF a lot.
43:59
Next,
43:59
I'm going to talk about super exciting if she is racing,
44:01
but I have questions around it.
44:03
SPEAKER_01: It's going to be Lynn Chin.
44:05
Somebody in the Fantasy Free Trail Slack made this like little
44:09
meme thing that's
44:09
SPEAKER_01: like,
44:11
SPEAKER_01: where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?
44:13
SPEAKER_01: And cross it out and put where in the world is Lynn Chin?
44:15
SPEAKER_01: And I think like Photoshopped her on there.
44:17
SPEAKER_01: So I thought that was pretty funny and very accurate.
44:19
So the question for Lynn Chin is,
44:20
will she actually make it to the start line?
44:22
SPEAKER_01: Or is this just another one of the tons of races that she signed up for,
44:25
SPEAKER_01: but maybe doesn't have intention to do?
44:28
SPEAKER_01: It's tough to tell.
44:28
It was tough the weekend that she was signed up for both Black
44:31
Canyon 100K and
44:32
SPEAKER_01: TerraWara 100K on the exact same day,
44:35
SPEAKER_01: even though they're,
44:36
SPEAKER_01: you know,
44:36
SPEAKER_01: half the world apart from each other.
44:38
SPEAKER_01: She ended up racing TerraWara,
44:40
SPEAKER_01: but DNF'd,
44:41
SPEAKER_01: and I really don't know why,
44:42
SPEAKER_01: because she hasn't posted anything on Instagram,
44:44
SPEAKER_01: and I don't think she's public on Strava.
44:47
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, she's a Chinese ultra runner for Adidas Terra.
44:50
SPEAKER_01: She does great in long,
44:51
SPEAKER_01: grindy races like this,
44:52
SPEAKER_01: but she can also race herself into issues sometimes,
44:55
SPEAKER_01: most notably with her
44:58
SPEAKER_01: her entire foot blister at Western States,
45:00
SPEAKER_01: her debut year,
45:01
SPEAKER_01: where she ran into the top five,
45:02
SPEAKER_01: but had to drop at Rocky Chucky,
45:04
SPEAKER_01: I want to say,
45:04
SPEAKER_01: like right around mile 80.
45:06
And then she also won Canaan's 100 miler last year as a tune-up
45:09
for Western,
45:10
only to not be able to race Western because she had such bad
45:13
poison oak that
45:14
SPEAKER_01: apparently got into her blood or just really had long-term implications.
45:17
SPEAKER_01: So she rarely DNFs,
45:19
SPEAKER_01: but she does,
45:20
SPEAKER_01: I say that,
45:21
but she does have DNF at two of the last three races at
45:23
Terrowire and UTMB.
45:26
SPEAKER_01: both of them being kind of challenging conditions,
45:28
SPEAKER_01: Tara Ware being hot and rainy,
45:30
SPEAKER_01: UTMB being cold and rainy.
45:31
SPEAKER_01: So hopefully something's not going on with her health-wise.
45:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm more scared of her having a DNS, so it did not start in DNFing.
45:39
SPEAKER_01: And you can't get any points if they don't race,
45:41
SPEAKER_01: so that's the only thing that's making me hesitant to pick her.
45:44
SPEAKER_01: But I'm eager if anyone knows her whereabouts.
45:46
SPEAKER_01: If she races, she's definitely a very strong contender for the win.
45:49
SPEAKER_01: She's going to take it out hot.
45:51
SPEAKER_01: excuse me,
45:51
SPEAKER_01: she races aggressively and I do want her to race this race,
45:55
SPEAKER_01: but more than anything,
45:56
SPEAKER_01: I hope she's healthy and only want her towing the line if she's
46:00
SPEAKER_01: Feeling good and feeling up for it.
46:01
SPEAKER_01: So that's Lynn Chin.
46:03
SPEAKER_01: Next up,
46:03
SPEAKER_01: it's going to be Lauren Puritz,
46:04
the top American female in last year's UTMB race after the
46:07
weather wrecked a lot of
46:08
SPEAKER_01: people.
46:09
SPEAKER_01: Lauren ended up finishing eighth in front of Courtney DeWalter.
46:13
SPEAKER_01: And she's always on the hunt for golden tickets.
46:16
She raced Javelina last year to a fourth place and no doubt
46:19
will be going after a
46:20
SPEAKER_01: golden ticket here.
46:21
SPEAKER_01: I'm curious to see how this course suits her.
46:23
I feel like it's a good bit different than her hometown in
46:26
Colorado Springs,
46:26
SPEAKER_01: which is also my hometown as well.
46:28
SPEAKER_01: So I know the trails are pretty well.
46:29
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's dry.
46:30
SPEAKER_01: It's at elevation.
46:31
SPEAKER_01: We almost never run in mud unless it's like, I guess, melting snow.
46:36
SPEAKER_01: And we haven't had a lot of snow this year.
46:37
SPEAKER_01: And I imagine Chianti to be,
46:39
SPEAKER_01: you know,
46:39
SPEAKER_01: lower,
46:39
SPEAKER_01: more humid,
46:40
SPEAKER_01: more moist,
46:40
SPEAKER_01: potentially more muddy,
46:41
SPEAKER_01: especially.
46:42
I think that Lauren is a lock for top 10,
46:45
in my opinion,
46:45
and probably even top five.
46:46
SPEAKER_01: But I don't know that I see her getting a ticket here.
46:48
I think it's going to be kind of more of the same,
46:50
just like one or two spots off the ticket.
46:52
Either,
46:52
you know,
46:54
a ticket rolls down or she's like the first one out on missing
46:58
a ticket.
46:59
SPEAKER_01: Next athlete's going to be Gemma Hillier-Moses,
47:02
SPEAKER_01: UK ultra runner for Hoka,
47:04
SPEAKER_01: who won this race last year,
47:06
SPEAKER_01: but the 73k distance,
47:07
SPEAKER_01: so not the exact same race,
47:08
SPEAKER_01: the shorter one,
47:09
SPEAKER_01: not the 120k.
47:10
She started off this year with a win at Arca Patrician 50
47:12
miler,
47:13
which is always a good sign.
47:14
SPEAKER_01: And I'm pretty sure it was pretty brutal, crappy conditions.
47:16
SPEAKER_01: Last year, she followed up Chianti with a 22nd at CCC.
47:20
SPEAKER_01: And she seems to do really well in muddy conditions.
47:23
So like I said,
47:23
last year's Chianti and this year's Arc of Trench didn't be
47:26
evidence.
47:27
SPEAKER_01: I think the sloppier the course, the higher she finishes.
47:30
SPEAKER_01: Although,
47:30
SPEAKER_01: like I said,
47:31
SPEAKER_01: looking at the weather today,
47:33
it looks like it's pretty good throughout the weekend and rain
47:35
doesn't seem to be
47:35
SPEAKER_01: coming till next week.
47:36
SPEAKER_01: So they might have a drier and less heinous course than last year.
47:41
SPEAKER_01: Next athlete is going to be Ragnar de Bott,
47:42
the Dutch long-time ultra runner with lots of great results
47:45
throughout her career.
47:46
SPEAKER_01: She was a 2019 CCC winner, 2022 Trans Grand Canary Classic winner.
47:51
SPEAKER_01: And results page for UTMB goes all the way back to 2011.
47:54
SPEAKER_01: So she's been in the game for a long time.
47:56
SPEAKER_01: She lives in Spain.
47:57
I think she's married to a Spanish trail runner,
48:00
and I'm blanking on who it is.
48:02
But she recently announced a partnership or sponsorship with
48:04
Mountain Coast as part
48:05
SPEAKER_01: of their expansion.
48:06
of their athlete roster into trail athletes so that's very
48:09
exciting she pretty much
48:10
only raced in spain last year mostly races that i'm unfamiliar
48:13
with so tough to
48:14
gauge where she's at as recently as 2023 we've seen her win a
48:17
golden ticket at
48:17
javelina and then race western states in 2024 i think around
48:20
20-ish hour finish
48:23
SPEAKER_01: In 2024, UTM beat Tenerife, 73K, she finished fourth.
48:28
SPEAKER_01: 2022,
48:28
SPEAKER_01: she,
48:29
SPEAKER_01: like I said,
48:29
SPEAKER_01: won the Transgender Canaria Classic,
48:30
SPEAKER_01: but she does DNF a lot of the harder,
48:32
SPEAKER_01: longer races.
48:33
SPEAKER_01: And if the course is anything like it was last year,
48:34
SPEAKER_01: it sounds like the mud can suck if they get any rain.
48:38
SPEAKER_01: The last athlete to talk about is going to be Eve Moore,
48:41
SPEAKER_01: UK runner,
48:41
whose highlights last year included a win at the Ultra Trail
48:44
Australia 100K.
48:46
SPEAKER_01: The year before that,
48:46
she had a DNF at CCC and a sixth place at Ultra Trail Cape Town
48:50
100K to go with a
48:51
SPEAKER_01: fourth at Swiss Canyon 110K.
48:55
SPEAKER_01: Eve Moore did not race a ton last year,
48:57
SPEAKER_01: so a bit of a wild card,
48:58
SPEAKER_01: but it seems like she can be hit or miss at 100K events,
49:00
SPEAKER_01: either big wins or DNFs like CCC and UTMB Nice 100K.
49:05
SPEAKER_01: So that is the women's field for top five.
49:11
SPEAKER_01: Same caveats as earlier.
49:13
SPEAKER_01: Fifth place, I'm going to go Lauren Puritz.
49:15
SPEAKER_01: Fourth place, Gemma Hillier-Moses.
49:18
SPEAKER_01: Third place, Lynn Chin.
49:22
SPEAKER_01: Second, Rachel Intricant.
49:23
SPEAKER_01: And first, Yngville Kasperson.
49:25
SPEAKER_01: I'm liable to swap Rachel to the start.
49:27
SPEAKER_01: Lin Shin out of the top five if she turns out to not be there.
49:32
SPEAKER_01: And then Lauren, I probably might bump up to fourth in front of Gemma.
49:38
SPEAKER_01: I think that Zara Garcia is a good pick, albeit a risky one.
49:41
I think Rogma also could go top five here,
49:43
but also has the likelihood of DNF.
49:46
SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of up in the air.
49:48
SPEAKER_01: That's my woman's side.
49:49
SPEAKER_01: So men's field, storylines for the men's field.
49:53
We got some exciting matchups and some exciting people to
49:56
potentially make their
49:57
SPEAKER_01: way into Western.
49:58
SPEAKER_01: So that's one of the big things about this race is like,
50:00
SPEAKER_01: who are we most excited to see take a golden ticket?
50:04
into western states and how does it change the western states
50:06
field so on the
50:07
women's side i think no doubt uh any of the top three i just
50:10
mentioned ingville
50:11
kasperson rachel enterkin and lynn chen would all be extremely
50:14
exciting additions
50:15
ingville has got one of the fastest debuts of all time 1650
50:19
rachel would she forego
50:21
cocodona to focus on western and would she take it would she
50:23
not take it and then
50:25
SPEAKER_01: lynn chen can we see her get the recipe right and
50:29
SPEAKER_01: nail it at Western States and take care of her feet.
50:32
SPEAKER_01: So that's who I'd be most excited to see.
50:34
On the men's side,
50:35
we're looking at potential 2024 UTMB winner Vincent Villar
50:39
getting back in.
50:40
SPEAKER_01: We're looking at Tomal Cardin,
50:42
one of the best French speedsters in the 50k to 50 mile
50:45
distance to get in.
50:47
SPEAKER_01: And then...
50:48
Yeah,
50:49
those are kind of like the ones that I would be most excited to
50:52
see more or less.
50:53
SPEAKER_01: So like I said, storylines for the men's field.
50:56
SPEAKER_01: Who do we think is the most exciting ad?
50:58
Would Vincent accept his golden ticket if he got another one
51:02
here like last year?
51:03
SPEAKER_01: Or was last year's Western States enough for him?
51:05
SPEAKER_01: Like, does he think he could do better and he wants to rectify it?
51:07
SPEAKER_01: Or is he just coincidentally racing this?
51:10
SPEAKER_01: But does Tomas Cardin try to step up to 100 milers with his,
51:15
SPEAKER_01: you know,
51:15
SPEAKER_01: 50K,
51:15
SPEAKER_01: 50 miles crusher speed?
51:18
I feel like if I recall in an interview or one of his Instagram
51:20
posts on his page
51:21
SPEAKER_01: that he said his goal is to progress up to 100 milers eventually,
51:24
SPEAKER_01: but I don't recall if that was as early as this season or next season.
51:27
And then Jeff Magabro doesn't need a ticket because he has an
51:31
auto bid from his
51:31
SPEAKER_01: fourth place finish just behind Killian last year.
51:33
So assuming he finishes top two,
51:35
who would be most likely to benefit from a ticket roll down?
51:39
SPEAKER_01: So,
51:39
SPEAKER_01: men's side,
51:40
SPEAKER_01: we've already talked about some of these guys,
51:41
SPEAKER_01: but I want to go in depth,
51:42
SPEAKER_01: Tomas Cardin,
51:43
probably one of the most underrated French ultra runners by the
51:47
US audience,
51:48
because he's kind of like Ben Diem in that he only really races
51:51
French races or
51:52
SPEAKER_01: races in Europe,
51:53
but largely and has amazing success at runnable and fast races
51:58
ranging from 58 to
51:59
SPEAKER_01: 50 milers.
52:00
2024 he had a killer year i think i'm pretty sure i put him in
52:02
my top 10 for troy
52:03
um one euro champs 50k in 2024 to go along with uh templier 80k
52:09
in a deep field and
52:10
asics saint leon 80k as well asics and templier are two of the
52:14
biggest races in
52:15
SPEAKER_01: french
52:15
SPEAKER_01: in France.
52:16
SPEAKER_01: And then winning Euro champs, they didn't have a long trail, short trail.
52:19
SPEAKER_01: They set a 58K.
52:20
SPEAKER_01: It was a deep field.
52:21
SPEAKER_01: And he won a lot of guys that did really good at Worlds.
52:23
SPEAKER_01: So his last year's results included wins at UTMB, Vontu, 50K.
52:29
SPEAKER_01: He had a sixth place at Zagama,
52:31
which was really impressive because he was up there with the
52:33
lead pack and throwing
52:34
SPEAKER_01: down
52:34
And he fell back and I think he fell back to like as much as
52:36
12th or 13th place.
52:37
SPEAKER_01: And he worked his way back up to sixth place.
52:39
So I thought he definitely blew up and then was just going to
52:41
roll back the whole
52:42
SPEAKER_01: race,
52:43
but really kind of backed off the pedal and finished really
52:46
strong as Agama.
52:47
SPEAKER_01: So I was really impressed with that.
52:48
SPEAKER_01: He got a third at Marathon de Mont Blanc last year,
52:50
SPEAKER_01: three minutes off of David Magnini's winning time.
52:53
SPEAKER_01: And a very unfortunate DNF at Worlds.
52:56
SPEAKER_01: For what reason, I'm not really sure.
52:57
I definitely had him in my top 10 there because I think very
52:59
highly of him.
53:00
So he finished last year with a win at A6 Saint-Leon,
53:03
the marathon distance,
53:04
not the 50 miler.
53:05
SPEAKER_01: I definitely think he's a favorite here.
53:06
SPEAKER_01: I definitely think he could crush at a race like Western.
53:09
SPEAKER_01: I think that suits his strengths extremely well.
53:11
And I definitely am a huge fan of his and think his ceiling and
53:13
potential in the
53:14
SPEAKER_01: sport are extremely high,
53:15
SPEAKER_01: if you can't tell from all the things I've just said about him.
53:18
SPEAKER_01: So assuming the winnish finish in the 10-hour range,
53:20
SPEAKER_01: that will be his longest race by three plus hours,
53:22
SPEAKER_01: which is my biggest hesitation for him.
53:24
The longest race from what I could tell that he raced was his
53:29
win at Tom Plier in
53:30
SPEAKER_01: six hours and 38 minutes.
53:32
So this is going to be,
53:32
you know,
53:33
probably almost four hours longer than that.
53:35
SPEAKER_01: So that's my only kind of hesitation,
53:37
SPEAKER_01: but I think he's really well-suited to a course like this.
53:40
SPEAKER_01: I think he's kind of responsibly moving up distances,
53:43
and I think we could see success like we've seen with Francesco
53:46
Pupi coming from
53:48
SPEAKER_01: Tamal Carkeen.
53:49
Next athlete is going to be Jeff Magabro,
53:51
Missoula boy running for on running,
53:54
who had one hit.
53:55
hell of a trail running season last year he was definitely a
53:57
strong consideration
53:58
for me for troy i don't think he ultimately made it my troy uh
54:01
and just yeah
54:02
another level up in an already great career he doesn't have to
54:05
throw it on here
54:06
because he doesn't need the golden ticket but we know he will
54:09
and we know he's
54:09
seeking a good field to race before western states which is
54:12
exactly what he did
54:12
last year with with uh with canyons uh 100k because he didn't
54:17
need to take it there
54:18
he raced to fourth place and he didn't taper for the race he
54:20
just kind of kept
54:21
training through it so i'm curious if he's taking a similar
54:23
approach and kind of
54:23
SPEAKER_01: doing something
54:24
the same this year if we look at his Strava let's go on it real
54:28
quick he put up
54:28
some big uh training mileage last year like what do you have
54:33
like 160 mile week or
54:34
something like that or 20 plus hours so I'm gonna pull up his
54:37
Strava real quick
54:37
that's one thing I forgot to pull up I thought I followed him
54:45
oh he's gone Strava
54:47
dark nice Jeff nice yeah since basically the end of the year so
54:51
who knows what he's
54:52
SPEAKER_01: doing um
54:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Strava Jock for Jeff.
54:57
SPEAKER_01: So last year's highlights from his banger season,
54:59
SPEAKER_01: like I said,
55:00
SPEAKER_01: included a win at Elch Trail K-Town in a very,
55:03
SPEAKER_01: very tight battle with Dmitry Mantia.
55:05
SPEAKER_01: He won by 31 seconds in an 11-plus hour race.
55:07
SPEAKER_01: And I think he went off course in a battle at the end.
55:09
SPEAKER_01: So that's really impressive.
55:10
SPEAKER_01: No hand-holding finishes for Jeff.
55:12
SPEAKER_01: Love to see it.
55:13
SPEAKER_01: DNF at UTMB and a fourth place finish at the second fastest.
55:18
SPEAKER_01: Excuse me,
55:18
DNF at UTMB and then he finished fourth place in the fastest
55:21
debut time ever at
55:22
SPEAKER_01: Western States.
55:23
right around 14 hours and 30 minutes after being neck and neck
55:26
with Killian and
55:26
SPEAKER_01: Jordan A for hours.
55:28
SPEAKER_01: So he also got a fourth at Canis 100K.
55:30
SPEAKER_01: Like I said, he kept training through it and did taper.
55:33
And then we've seen him with better and better results
55:35
internationally each year.
55:37
SPEAKER_01: So last year, 2024, he was fifth at Madeira Island Ultra Trail at 115K.
55:42
SPEAKER_01: And he was the top American at Sierra's and All in 2023 and 14th place,
55:46
I think at Sierra's and All with a blazing fast two hours and
55:49
40 minute race.
55:50
SPEAKER_01: So Jeff, really versatile, leveling up every year.
55:53
I really think he could crush it here and could potentially
55:55
take the win.
55:56
SPEAKER_01: I think he will definitely run onto a golden ticket position.
55:59
SPEAKER_01: So one or two, but I, he doesn't need it.
56:01
So it's probably going to roll down and that's going to affect
56:03
this race a little bit.
56:04
SPEAKER_01: Next up to talk about is going to be Vincent Bouillard.
56:07
SPEAKER_01: Benny B. Hoka's very own footwear designer turned 2024 out of nowhere.
56:13
UTMB champion who also won a golden ticket at this exact same
56:17
race last year.
56:17
He finished third place,
56:18
30 seconds behind Kelly and journey and about 28 behind Jim.
56:22
uh walmsley uh killian put a surge on him at the end of the
56:25
race to pull ahead so
56:27
jim had an interview if i'm not mistaken where he alluded to
56:30
vincent um being like
56:32
getting over sickness coming into this race last year along
56:34
with killian's it band
56:36
uh issues that we knew about so other results for vincent last
56:40
year included 10th
56:41
at world's uh long trail where france took the team gold after
56:45
finishing second
56:46
SPEAKER_01: third tenth and eleven so they had a really strong feel out there
56:49
SPEAKER_01: He also had a DNF and a rough day at Western States,
56:52
SPEAKER_01: and like we said,
56:53
SPEAKER_01: third place at this year's race.
56:54
SPEAKER_01: So he knows this course super well.
56:56
He's likely looking to learn from his mistakes last year to win
56:59
against a different
57:00
SPEAKER_01: field that's still a very talented field.
57:02
SPEAKER_01: He definitely has the potential to win, if not being a favorite.
57:05
Definitely going to put himself in a position to be able to
57:06
take a golden ticket.
57:07
SPEAKER_01: So the big question is, does he want the golden ticket if offered?
57:10
SPEAKER_01: I have no idea.
57:11
SPEAKER_01: He's kind of a private person.
57:13
SPEAKER_01: So I'm curious if Western States was like, damn, I missed that.
57:17
SPEAKER_01: And I want to get back in and show what I can do.
57:19
Or if he just wants to race an early season race that he
57:21
enjoyed and then set him
57:23
SPEAKER_01: up for other races throughout the year.
57:25
Next athlete is going to be Tobias Geiser,
57:27
Italian ultra trail runner for Dinafit.
57:29
SPEAKER_01: I think he lives in that German-speaking part of Italy.
57:32
He's all tatted up,
57:33
has gauges,
57:34
like the whole nine yards definitely looks like a character.
57:37
He's been slowly and steadily getting better every year and
57:40
moving up the ranks.
57:41
SPEAKER_01: Last year, he won UTMB Mallorca on 100K to finish this season.
57:45
SPEAKER_01: after a disappointing DNF at CCC,
57:46
SPEAKER_01: where he was in the mix,
57:47
SPEAKER_01: I think in the top 15 for a lot of the day before dropping.
57:50
Other impressive results for Tobias include a fourth at
57:53
Laboreto 120K last year,
57:55
SPEAKER_01: so the competitive longer race in a very speedy 12 hours and 13 minutes.
57:59
SPEAKER_01: He got third at Mozart 100K and fifth at UTMB Tenerife 73K.
58:04
SPEAKER_01: I think he can do very well here,
58:05
SPEAKER_01: potentially even podium here,
58:07
SPEAKER_01: although top seven is probably most realistic.
58:11
SPEAKER_01: He will get points.
58:12
SPEAKER_01: In my opinion,
58:13
SPEAKER_01: it's very likely he gets points and finishes the race,
58:16
SPEAKER_01: but he also might stick his nose in it,
58:18
SPEAKER_01: go up hard with the big dogs,
58:20
SPEAKER_01: and that leads to a DNF.
58:21
SPEAKER_01: I think he's very competitive,
58:22
and I think that he will be trying to push rather than just
58:26
kind of conservatively
58:27
SPEAKER_01: place.
58:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
58:29
SPEAKER_01: Next athlete is going to be Luke Grenfell Shaw,
58:30
SPEAKER_01: UK ultra runner and cancer survivor who runs her books.
58:33
Pretty sure he has a cool story where he rode his bike from UK
58:36
all the way to China
58:37
SPEAKER_01: to raise money for cancer,
58:38
SPEAKER_01: if I'm not mistaken.
58:40
Speedy dude,
58:40
good results under his belt and did race here last year to DMF.
58:44
He followed up the rest of the year with a second at Ultra
58:47
Trail Snowdonia 50K
58:48
SPEAKER_01: behind Christian Jones,
58:50
SPEAKER_01: third at Iger 51K,
58:52
SPEAKER_01: 51st at CCC and 30th at World's Long Trail doubling back from CCC.
58:56
SPEAKER_01: He's ran to his highest eighth place at CCC in 2023,
58:58
SPEAKER_01: but does DNF a non-trivial amount of times.
59:01
SPEAKER_01: So that should be considered in choosing him.
59:04
Next athlete is going to be Samuel Ponce,
59:06
runner for ultra footwear from Andorra.
59:10
SPEAKER_01: But results last year included a 13th at OCC,
59:13
SPEAKER_01: fourth at Sky Marathon,
59:15
SPEAKER_01: Centiero for Luglio in a decent field at Italy.
59:20
Second at UTMB Indoor 50k and a sixth at Hoekhoenig Skyris on
59:24
the Skyrunning World
59:24
SPEAKER_01: Series or the circuit.
59:25
SPEAKER_01: I honestly was not familiar with him before this preview,
59:28
SPEAKER_01: but those results are pretty impressive.
59:29
And I think he could very well be a dark horse who runs under
59:31
this top five.
59:33
Although I doubt most people are familiar with him if I'm not
59:36
familiar with him,
59:36
SPEAKER_01: but those are some impressive results.
59:38
SPEAKER_01: So Samuel Ponce, definitely somebody to look out for.
59:41
SPEAKER_01: Last two males I want to talk about are Francis Baptiste.
59:48
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure I'm busting that.
59:48
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, Baptiste.
59:51
SPEAKER_01: But he's a French ultra runner for Nike ACG,
59:53
whose UTMB profile leads me to believe that he may or may not
59:58
be sporting a really
59:59
SPEAKER_01: sweet mullet.
1:00:00
SPEAKER_01: And that already makes me a big fan of his.
1:00:03
SPEAKER_01: So last year's highlights included finishing 11th at UTMB,
1:00:06
winning Valderan 100k and placing fifth at Ultra Trail
1:00:09
Snowdonia behind John Alvin
1:00:10
SPEAKER_01: and Matthew Blanchard.
1:00:12
SPEAKER_01: 2024 results included 8th at Marathon du Mont Blanc 90K, the long race.
1:00:17
SPEAKER_01: His results are actually really impressive.
1:00:18
SPEAKER_01: And I also was not familiar with him until this,
1:00:20
although I do recall seeing him running with the Nike ACG guys
1:00:24
at the ACG team camp
1:00:26
SPEAKER_01: earlier this year.
1:00:27
SPEAKER_01: Definitely a possibility to run in the top five here.
1:00:29
SPEAKER_01: Curious how the ACG Ultrafly 2s fare for him,
1:00:32
SPEAKER_01: or if he opts for a different new shoe,
1:00:34
SPEAKER_01: maybe like the Zagama 2 that Nike's developing.
1:00:36
SPEAKER_01: So that's Baptiste.
1:00:38
SPEAKER_01: Last stuff that you want to talk about is Gavin Pryor, young gun.
1:00:41
ultra runner from the U.S.,
1:00:43
from Boulder,
1:00:44
who has had some good results at U.S.
1:00:45
SPEAKER_01: Golden Ticket races in the past,
1:00:47
SPEAKER_01: especially last year,
1:00:48
including a sixth place at Cannons 100K and a seventh at Black
1:00:52
Cannon 100K.
1:00:54
SPEAKER_01: So he had good results in two deep Golden Ticket races last year.
1:00:58
He's already got an ultra under his belt this year with a
1:01:00
second place at Arches
1:01:01
SPEAKER_01: 50K a minute off of Caleb Olsen,
1:01:03
SPEAKER_01: which is always a good start to the season.
1:01:05
I think this course suits him and I think he will outperform
1:01:08
how far down he is in
1:01:10
SPEAKER_01: the UTMB index.
1:01:12
SPEAKER_01: So he's definitely somebody to look out for.
1:01:13
SPEAKER_01: So now we're going to get to the point where we are making some picks.
1:01:17
SPEAKER_01: This has been a long one with the double preview.
1:01:20
SPEAKER_01: So fifth through first place, I'm going to go fifth place.
1:01:25
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to go with some potential U.S.
1:01:27
SPEAKER_01: bias,
1:01:28
SPEAKER_01: but I think it's well-founded,
1:01:29
SPEAKER_01: and that's going to be Gavin Pryor,
1:01:31
SPEAKER_01: fifth place Gavin Pryor,
1:01:33
SPEAKER_01: fourth place Tobias Geyser,
1:01:35
SPEAKER_01: and then top threes where it's going to get tricky.
1:01:37
I think these top three are pretty likely,
1:01:39
but the order could get mixed up.
1:01:41
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to go third place Tomal Karkin,
1:01:43
SPEAKER_01: but he's taking the ticket because I got second place Jeff Gavaro.
1:01:46
SPEAKER_01: In first place, returning to this race, Vincent Bouillard.
1:01:50
SPEAKER_01: So yeah,
1:01:51
SPEAKER_01: I'm liable to swap up Jeff and Vincent,
1:01:54
SPEAKER_01: but I kind of think Jeff might just be training through this race.
1:01:57
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know that he'll be the most fresh.
1:01:58
SPEAKER_01: I think Vincent knows the course.
1:02:00
SPEAKER_01: I think his time last year was really impressive.
1:02:02
And I think him having more experience at the 100k distance
1:02:05
than Tomar kind of favors him.
1:02:07
SPEAKER_01: Tomas comes out with the lead group but falls off,
1:02:10
SPEAKER_01: still finishes the race in golden ticket position.
1:02:12
SPEAKER_01: Vincent and Jeff battle up front.
1:02:14
SPEAKER_01: Maybe Vincent takes the win or maybe it's a tight battle.
1:02:16
SPEAKER_01: Jeff has really, really impressed me these past couple of years.
1:02:19
Other athletes,
1:02:20
I really think Simwell Ponce is a good choice for points as
1:02:25
well.
1:02:25
SPEAKER_01: So I would potentially swap him out for Gavin or Tobias.
1:02:28
SPEAKER_01: So that is the men's Chianti by UTMB 120K preview.
1:02:34
SPEAKER_01: Excuse me, I'm on a roll here today.
1:02:37
SPEAKER_01: So we did two previews today.
1:02:39
Like I said,
1:02:40
looking at the other races,
1:02:43
I think that the longer Tenerife course was canceled.
1:02:46
SPEAKER_01: And then I will try to get out some...
1:02:49
some big alter previews,
1:02:50
but I really think that Debo is going to do an amazing job.
1:02:53
SPEAKER_01: I was hoping to fly out and do a preview with him for this year's race.
1:02:58
SPEAKER_01: We were talking about it and me potentially coming out on Wednesday,
1:03:01
SPEAKER_01: but it's just going to be impossible given my military situation,
1:03:05
SPEAKER_01: unfortunately.
1:03:05
SPEAKER_01: And I'm really bummed because I was really excited to race that race.
1:03:08
SPEAKER_01: I think it's awesome.
1:03:09
SPEAKER_01: I love what they're doing and I'm excited for it.
1:03:11
SPEAKER_01: Like I said,
1:03:11
SPEAKER_01: I'll try to maybe get out a preview,
1:03:12
SPEAKER_01: but if not,
1:03:14
SPEAKER_01: then we can look forward to other events on the calendar,
1:03:17
SPEAKER_01: such as...
1:03:19
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I don't know.
1:03:19
SPEAKER_01: They don't have anything else coming up after this week.
1:03:22
SPEAKER_01: So we'll see what else they have posted.
1:03:24
SPEAKER_01: But for the time being, thank you for listening as always.
1:03:29
I think we're almost to a thousand listens on the Skyrunning
1:03:34
preview from last
1:03:34
SPEAKER_01: race,
1:03:34
SPEAKER_01: which Skyrunning races don't usually get that kind of number.
1:03:37
SPEAKER_01: So that's really exciting.
1:03:38
SPEAKER_01: And thank you for listening.
1:03:39
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for following.
1:03:40
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for supporting.
1:03:41
SPEAKER_01: Let me know what I got right,
1:03:42
SPEAKER_01: what I got wrong,
1:03:43
SPEAKER_01: and what you are excited about for this coming year.
1:03:46
SPEAKER_01: And cheers.
1:03:47
SPEAKER_01: Have a beautiful day.