Latest / Let's Talk Trail Running / 2026 Grand Trail Des Templiers Race Preview

Transcript

2026 Grand Trail Des Templiers Race Preview · Let's Talk Trail Running

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to Let's Talk Trail Running.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is your host Robert Prosser and this is the show
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: where we preview upcoming trail races both in the world of ultra trail running
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: and sub ultra trail running and we help you to figure out We'll talk
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: about what's going on in the world of trail running,
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: what races are taking place,
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: what they mean in the trail running world,
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: and then I'll also give you previews on who the athletes are that are racing
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: the races and help you even make picks for if you play Fantasy Free Trail,
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: which is free trail So it's to help you basically grow fans of trail running
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: to make you a bigger fan of the sport,
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: to make you more knowledgeable about athletes who are running,
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: and also just to get you excited about both races that you might be familiar with.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And oftentimes races that you have never heard of or know very little about.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: And this week is one of those races that I would say
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: if you're my predominantly North American audience,
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: most of you guys are pretty big trail running nerds like I am.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: So chances are you know about grandfather.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to talk about...
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to talk about different athletes that have raced it.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's got a who's who in the trail running world of elites that have raced
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: and won it throughout the years.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really left an impact on a lot of the elites that have run it.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm excited to kind of showcase that.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: This is probably one of my favorite races of the year, along with...
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: So, this is probably like...
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I do this show for a lot of reasons.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: I enjoy it.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: It helps me make my picks.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: I enjoy finding other trail running nerds out there.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: But I also think that,
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: races like this or when I pictured creating this podcast,
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: what I pictured highlighting was races that people don't necessarily know about
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: and athletes as well that people don't necessarily know about.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: So Tom Plier, super excited to do exactly that and preview that.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: I don't really have any housekeeping notes.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: I have a lot of notes on this race,
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: so I'm going to talk a lot about,
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: like I said, the history of the race, give you a lot of links.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: I have a lot of links in the show notes,
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: so anything that we talk about today,
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: whether it's Strava Files of previous winners,
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: whether it's Jim's Instagram post about Tom It should also translate over to
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: the podcast player, whether you listen to us on Apple or Spotify or whatever.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: So that is my long preamble.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I don't really have any housekeeping notes, so let's just kind of jump in.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think the first thing I want to read is from the French Wikipedia page for
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: the Festival of the Templiers.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: So French Wikipedia page says,
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: It takes place every year on the last weekend of October,
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: although that seems to have changed because we're not in the last weekend.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: But on the program,
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: 11 races are organized from Friday through Sunday with more
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: than 10,000 participants throughout the festival.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Among these races, the Grand Trail d'Autompe closes the festival So, the origin of the race.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Guil Bertrand and Odile Baudrier had the idea of creating
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: the Templar Festival thanks to reports on the Leadville Trail in Colorado in 1989
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: and on the Western States Trail Race in California in 1990.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: So basically these guys were inspired by Western States and Leadville,
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: which is really cool to hear.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: They first mounted in 1991 an endurance festival project combining mountain bike,
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: walking, and even horse races.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: But this project did not get the support of the elected officials.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thus, in 1994, they presented a project focused solely on running.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: The Great Templar Race was born the following year.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: It is often said that the trail was born with the Templars.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: However, the 6000D...
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: It existed as early as 1990, so I think that's one of the races.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: In 1995, the same year as for the Grand Course des Templiers, it was creative.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: La Saint-Leon still existed long before but is not considered a real trail.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: It just has few single track trails and many tarred portions.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about Asics Saint-Leon, which is another 50-mile race.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's very fast, very runnable, and honestly sees lots of similar athletes.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: So with that being said,
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Templier,
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: so basically it's gone off every year since 1995, which is the year that I was born.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be 31 next month.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of crazy.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: But it has gone off every year since 1995.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it's got tons of history.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: The winningest members of Templier are Thomas Laurel Blanchard and the French side
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: with four and Corrine Harry with nine on the female side.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: So that was the French Wikipedia page that I just mentioned.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then other things in the show notes,
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: there's this really awesome website that I just discovered, runraid.fr.fr.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't get my either Safari or Google Chrome to translate, but it has a ton of...
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: It
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: also mentions the nine victories for Kareem Harry on the women's side and four
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: for Thomas Lorbonchette on the men's side.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: It has the course records from the 2020 season.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: 2012 edition, but I think that's a shorter course.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: So six hours and 10 minutes on the men's side, Fabian Antolinos.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then on the women's side, Nuria Picas ran it in 7.16.58 in 2012.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: But from what I can tell, that's a shorter course.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: And really,
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: from the longer course,
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: the fastest times I've seen, on the men's side, John Albin ran 6.32.19 in 2021.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I've included that race that he ran in the show notes, his Strava file.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then Ruth Croft ran 727.31 and that was in 2017.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: I've also included that link in the show notes.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: So those are the two fastest times that I could see in what appears to be the longer course.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: When we're talking about the course, how long is Templier?
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: What does it look like?
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: What is the terrain like?
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: So Templier is right around 50 miles.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: I need to refresh this.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's not what I'm looking for.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: All right,
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: so Tambier is right around 50 miles and around 12,000 feet of vert,
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: so climbing and descending.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And looking at Ruth Croft's Strava map, basically there's no climbs that are above...
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: To the biggest climate to start the race is about 2000 feet.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's probably about another 2000 foot climb around mile 15,
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: another 1000 foot climb around mile 27.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then there is a big 2000 foot climb.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: I would say late in the race around mile 43.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: So basically it's rolling.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's not,
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: it's never really what's part of what's cool about this race is it takes a talented
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: and skilled trail runner.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of, a lot of, uh, different skills to do well here.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta be fast, but you gotta be adaptable.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta be durable.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's a tricky course to get right,
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: but it's kind of a cool mixing of fast,
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: shorter runners and grindier,
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: longer runners,
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: and they kind of meet in the middle, and that's part of why I like Templier.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: So before I go into that, let's talk about...
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to talk about...
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: The next thing I'm going to talk about is Ellie Greenwoods.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: She did...
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: So a trail running legend,
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: winner and former course record holder at Western States Endurance,
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: run for a long time until Courtney broke it,
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: and just all around, you know, ultra running go.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: She did a write-up on...
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Ultra Running Magazine that I have the link in the show notes for,
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: and I'm going to read some from it.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: So this is the way she described it.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: She said,
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: in my prime running years,
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: I was lucky enough to experience some amazing landscapes and trails,
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: and one race that has stuck with me for its scenery and local culture is
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: the Grand Trail des Templiers.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Grand Trail des Templiers is a 50-mile race in the hills around Millau, like,
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's Millau, because it's two Ls, but Millau in southwest France, or Millau.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: The terrain of Tampia is much more real,
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: France with modest climbs,
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: a subtle landscape,
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: and buildings which are far more historic than populated areas of the country.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Think aid stations in medieval homes.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Racers make their way through villages with cobbled streets
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: and irregular stone stairs,
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: while views of old castles and churches on the cliffs high above the rocky
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: but often runnable dirt trails take your breath away.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Grand Trail de Tampille truly feels like stepping back in time.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: The Grand Trail is the banner event of a three-day trail running festival.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: So while the 50-mile race has a 2,500-runner capacity without a lottery,
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: there are over 13,000 runners who take part throughout the weekend.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: And anything from a kid's 3K race to a night race to the longest race,
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: which is 67 miles with 16,000 feet of game.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: There's an event for everyone,
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: and with runners coming and going from the race headquarters all weekend,
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: there's truly a festival vibe.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: With such a large field of racers, everyone feels at home.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: While the race scenery itself is stunning with towering cliffs
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: and rivers running throughout the Running through ancient gorges, Miao,
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: a town of 22,000,
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: is famed for its viaduct,
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: the tallest cable-stayed road bridge in the world,
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: and its tannery, where leather gloves have been made for over two centuries.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Roquefort, a blue sheep's milk cheese.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's made nearby and you can visit the caves where it's produced or sample some
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: that will be offered at one of the race aid stations.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Another highlight of the area is the commune of Corvor Torad,
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: a well-preserved fortified town built by the Knights Templar in the 12th
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: and 13th centuries.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're looking for an international race that feels a little lower key
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: and less commercial, the Grand Trail de Templiers might be for you.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's held in late October every year,
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: which can mean some wonderful summer training for those of us in North America.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: And, uh...
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so Ellie J.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Greenwood at the bottom,
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: it says, you know, two-time IAU World 100K champ has also won Comrade Marathon.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: And she's a Scott-turned-Canadian who lives in trains in northern Vancouver, BC.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: And she wrote that article in July of 2022.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: So if anything's changed with capacity or anything since then,
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: it might be a little bit outdated.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, that's Ellie Greenwood's write-up.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then looking,
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: one last article I want to read just to kind of get the point across for how cool
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: a race it is.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: None other than Mr.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Jim Walmsley recently made an Instagram post about Tom Plier,
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: and he said,
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: This race checks all the boxes for an October race,
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: one of France's oldest trail races, a massive festival of races all week.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: The grand course of 80 kilometers is a sweet spot for a short ultra.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Fast, yet progressively challenging, and technical at times, and always good competition.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Past champions include such grades as,
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Thomas Lorbonchett,
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Ellie Greenwood,
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Miguel Haras,
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Sebastian Spieler, Ruth Croft, John Alvin, Tomá Cardín, and Caitlin Fielder.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: There's an alumni of champions worth being a part of and just some of the champions
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: who go back to 1995.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: For me,
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: this race represents a more familiar style of trail running that is more akin
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: to American ultras,
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: but towards the end of the year,
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: it takes place in Europe and seems to have more bite to it than expected,
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: with the back half of the race chewing people up.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think Europeans who excel at this style can get underappreciated around the Alps,
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: where the big mountain races usually take the biggest spotlights.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: This race requires a balanced trail runner, good at more than just steep or just flat.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: In 2022,
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to go all-in on the French race scene and specifically give UTMB
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: a real shot without racing Western States two months before.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: For a tune-up instead, I lined up for Ultra Tour du Beaufortain.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Eventually at UTMB,
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: I ended up bonking while in the lead around 135 kilometers in the early morning
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: and eventually falling outside of the podium.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: It was close but disappointing, and I was still eager to race more in France.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I came back in October ready to tackle another French classic here at Le Templier.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: It was a welcome shift back to familiar territory after coming over specifically for
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: the big mountain trails and long days hiking.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: The race at Templier in 2022 was a special battle with multiple-time winner Sebastian Spieler.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: I really look forward to coming back to this race,
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: but this year,
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited to be watching Hoka teammates,
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: uh, Francesca Pupi, Sylvain Cajard, Judith Weider, and Martina Malarnczyk.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then it said Bon Courage a two.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: So Courage to you or something like that.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah,
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: those are two write-ups from two of the all-time greats
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: about how much they enjoyed Templier and how much they love it.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I think we have a pretty good view of the course.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: 50 miles, about 12,000 feet of vert.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: So what, 85K and maybe 3,000 meters, maybe 3,500 meters of vert.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then we've talked about the fastest course records, officially recognized records.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Are Nuria Picas and Fabian Antolinos.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: However,
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: the fastest course records I can find on the newest course are from John Albin
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: in 6.32.19 in 2021.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And Ruth Croft in 2017 ran 7.27.31.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure how much the course has changed,
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: but I think that is the longer version of the race that is more similar
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: to today's course.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: So, like I said, show notes or links are all in the show notes.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully that gives you a little feel for Grand Trail to Templier.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: And now let's start talking about the fields.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to start off with the men's side storylines for the men's field in this race.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: We've got Francesco Pupi trying to upgrade from second place to a first place finish.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: And to finish out his epic season,
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: he's looking potentially at,
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: I would say,
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: another top five trail runner of the year finish,
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: maybe even a podium or a win for trail runner of the year
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: because it doesn't seem clear-cut on the men's side.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: I guess mine is maybe Ben Damon.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: Other storylines, Francesco versus Benjamin Rubial is a world's long trail rematch.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: You'll be curious to see that.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think Sylvain Cashard might be the sleeper pick for the win that not
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: a lot of people are going to choose.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: Other storylines, does Tracen break his spell of not racing so well abroad?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: He hasn't had a lot of good results in Europe compared to what he's done in the States.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Favorites for the race,
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Francesco is by far the biggest,
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: I would say followed by Sylvain Kachard and Benjamin Rubal are probably about equal
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: with me favoring Sylvain slightly.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: Dark horses for this men's race, I put Hugh Chatfield, David Molina, and Leonard Matryka.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: So on the men's side of the race,
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: we've got none other than Francesco Pupi starting off the preview,
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: the Italian stallion himself,
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: Hoka Runner,
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: involved member of the Pro Trail Runners Association,
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: and now budding YouTube content creator among his many titles.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: He has raced here before and only narrowly lost
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: to multiple-time winner Jonathan Albin,
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: but he did beat Ben Demon in 2023,
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: so he got a second place behind Jon Albin in the 2023 edition of the race.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Francesco, like I mentioned, is having a banner season, including wins at Chianti Marathon.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: He had his second place at a debut 100-mile Western States Endurance run and
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: the second fastest time ever.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Went well under Jim Walmsley's course record.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then he also has recently raced to a seventh place at OCC,
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: despite a three-minute time penalty that would have moved him up a few spots.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: So...
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Francesco did recently post on Instagram about having a nagging injury
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: in his left glute and being timid about starting.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: So it seems like he's a little bit up in the air.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: One thing to say is that he does this frequently and often pops off a good result or a win.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not really sure how much to read into it.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: And when I say he does this frequently,
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: what I mean is he kind of like he'll post stuff that he doesn't feel super confident
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: or training hasn't gone well or whatever.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying he's sandbagging it,
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: but sometimes I feel like he posts stuff that Lazy Oblavy shouldn't be confident
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: in him, and he still pops off a good result.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know how much to read into that.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: But in this field,
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: he's got to be the favorite,
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: both having podiumed here with the second place before,
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: being one of the speediest,
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: best 50-mile to 100K racers,
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: and then also just coming off an amazing season where he's obviously very fit.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete, talk about Benjamin Ruval.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: French athlete for A6 and a star ultra runner.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: Not as well known to Americans for his lack of U.S. races.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to see that as a common theme with a lot
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: of these French athletes running here at Templier because it is a big point
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: of French national pride.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's very...
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: So we're hoping to change that and make it a little more popular race on this podcast.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so Benjamin Rubel, he's a former World's Long Trail champion in 2023.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: He was also the runner-up in the World's Long Trail last year,
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: tying with Louis-Anne Colfette, only behind Jim Walmsley.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: He is looking to redeem his DNF at CCC most recently with a good race here.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Benjamin started off his season strong in a slew of competitive but shorter and faster races.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: He got second at French Champs Short Trail in Vantu.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and then, and he was only behind Pierre Galborden, who we'll talk about in a second.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, he finished fifth at a deep Sky Running World Series field at Sky Race Day Mathazine.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then he also finished eighth in a super stacked Zagama field.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: So he proved he can throw down in shorter, steeper, faster races.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then Benjamin followed that up with a win at UTMB Rastonica 100K.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: And not that deep of a field,
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: but he was looking prime going into CCC only to have a disappointing day
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: in DMF there.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Benjamin Robal's training is public on Strava.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: It looks fine leading up to the race,
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: so I don't see any reason not to pick him other than his DNF at CCC.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't really explain that on social media,
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: and if he explained it in some kind of French-speaking media,
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't see it,
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: but I'm not So I think Benjamin's likely to bounce back, race into the top 10.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: He's proved he has the speed in shorter races where he can be plenty competitive in
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: a fast course like this.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: The only red flag working against him is that he did race here once in 2024
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: and he finished 66, so didn't have a great day for whatever reason.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: Even though he had raced to 11th place at OCC earlier that year.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: So that's Benjamin Arubal.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete, Sylvain Couchard.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: Another French star,
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: maybe slightly better known to Americans simply because he has raced in America.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: He's raced at the Pikes Peak Ascent.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think he went top 10 there before when he was on the Golden Trail Circuit.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: He is not one to be slept on at all in this field.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that Sylvain could be a sleeper pick.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: I know you're kind of saying,
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: like, how is he a sleeper pick for the one if he's so high up with his rankings?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't think a lot of people are going to pick him.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: People are going to pick Francesco or Benjamin, more than likely, and kind of overlook Sylvain.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like I said,
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think he could easily,
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think he very well could run this race and it suits him well.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: He's a very smart and effective racer who doesn't over race.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: And when he lines up, he's going to be super fit and ready to win whatever he lines up to.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: So this will be his longest race for him by at least an hour in terms
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: of finishing time or around an hour.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: His previous longest race was Ultra Trail Snowdonia 50K in five hours and 57 minutes.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: So presumably this is going to be at least 40 minutes longer,
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: even if he has a really good day out there.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that was in 2025.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: He raced Ultra Trail Snowdonium.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: And his longest distance race ever was last year at A6 St. Leon, which we just talked about.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's a 50-miler that's very flat and more runnable
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: that we've seen people have success at both these races before.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: So he won it last year.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: It usually goes in like mid to low five-hour range.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: Other people that have had success at both include Tomah Cardin,
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: who's won both, and Ben Zeman, I believe, won A6 St. Leon previously.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: So Savon is coming off a very impressive double where he finished 12th at Sierras
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: and All in a blazing fast 2 hours and 34 minutes.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then he finished 4th in a stacked field at OCC.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it feels like Savon has the momentum on his side.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: He has raced at Templier multiple times, but in the shorter distance races.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: So he knows parts of the course in the area well,
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: presumably, but hasn't done the longer course at Templier.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete,
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Raul Rules,
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Belgian athlete for New Balance,
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: who first came across my radar with a great race to a second place at Marathon
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: of Mont Blanc last year.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: This year has not been a sharp of a season for him with DNFs at Zagama and
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: a 21st place finish at Marathon of Mont Blanc,
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: along with 133rd place at Sears and all.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: One promising result from his year is third at Nerevu Mollison,
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: the Swiss uphill race that Remy Benet always wins.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: And he did finish it in basically an hour,
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: one hour flat in 56 seconds, which is a very fast time.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: Remy's fastest winning times around 55, 56 minutes.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: If I was a betting man,
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think that this seems a little bit long for Raul
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: to do well given his race history,
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: but he definitely can match the speed of many in this field.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think he's a great pick with it being a debut in this distance and time
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: on feet and just given his year.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete, Pierre Agabourdain, another sub-ultra speedster on the Brooks team.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: French athlete,
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: similar to Savon Couchard in many ways,
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: and I still think Pierre is quite young as well, if I'm not mistaken.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: So far this season,
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: he's raced to a win at the French Short Trail Championships over Benjamin Roubault.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: 16th place at Zeres and All in a very speedy 2 hours and 37 minutes.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: And he ran to 16th place in OCC as well.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then he had a win at Nice 50K.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: The last weekend in September,
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: so only about three weeks before this race,
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: so that might be something to watch out for.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said,
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: only hesitation is the recency of that 50K race,
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: and this being his longest race by at least an hour,
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: currently over his previous longest race, which is OCC just two months ago.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: So he's stepping up in distance, but he definitely has the speed to do well in this field.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete,
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: Tracen Knopp,
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: American runner for the North Face,
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: coming over from Alaska to try his hand at a fall French Classic and add his name to
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: the list of Americans who have raced here,
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: including people like Jen Lichter, Jim Walmsley, Alex Nichols, among many others.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Tracen started off the season strong with a third place at Black Canyon 100K
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: to punch his golden ticket to his first ever Western States
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: after multiple golden ticket attempts.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: He followed that up with a win at Mount Fuji-Kai 70K in Japan,
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: and then a disappointing day at Western States due to some lung issues.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: I want to say he had pulmonary edema or he was coughing up stuff,
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: and I think that was due to the altitude, if I'm not mistaken.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: Tracen has not raced since Western, so presumably he's fresh and good to go here.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete and someone who I'm excited to see race here and just talk about
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: in general is Leonard Mitrica,
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: one of the many Romanian athletes that is quietly
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: and consistently putting up great races without much fanfare.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Romania is really kind of on the rise as like a really
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: So Leonard is a sponsored Spanish,
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: excuse me,
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: sponsored runner by the Spanish shoe brand HOMA
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: and is coming off two quite impressive races.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: The first being OCC where he finished 10th place in a super stacked field and
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: that was not his first top 10 at OCC either.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then the second Race being Seoul, Korea.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm trying to say.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Seoul, Korea.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: 50K, which doesn't sound that impressive and I've never known to have a deep field,
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: except when I tell you that he beat Petr Engdahl by two seconds of the race,
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: so he was not going to do a handhold finish,
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: and he beat out Petr, who's had a great season this year.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: And he also beat Steven Kirsch in that race as well.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: So Leonard is looking good.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: Other results this year include a fifth place at the UTMB European Major Valderan PDA 50K.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: He had a 12th at Eurochamps, the 52K race.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't do long and short trail.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: They just have the 52K.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: It was like The one off-road race.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then he also had second at Trans-Grand Canary Advanced,
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: which is not the premier Trans-Grand Canary Classic race,
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: but still can have some good competition.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: Leonard has got range,
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: and he's got speed,
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: and I think he could certainly do very well here and go on to crack the top 10.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: In my mind,
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: I don't see a race without either him or David Molina in the top 10,
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: possibly both of them.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: David Molina results this year include a fourth at Chianti Marathon,
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: where he was only six minutes behind Francesco Pupi in about a three-hour
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: and ten-minute race.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: He got second at Tatra Sky Marathon, and most recently, ninth place at OCC.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Only blip on David's resume this year was a DNF at the Eurochamps 52K race.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's got a good shot at going top 10 along with Leonard,
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: as I previously stated,
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: but I do think this will be his longest trail race by at least an hour
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: from his recently OCC finish.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: So that's only...
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: Hesitation I have,
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: Leonard has a little bit more experience in longer races,
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_00: both distance and difficulty-wise,
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: whereas David is kind of making a step up in distance and difficulty.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is Juho Ilenen,
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: a Finnish runner who I never know how to properly say his name,
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: so I apologize, and I'm likely butchering it.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: He's a runner for Hoka with some impressive sub-ultra results under his belt and
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: a couple of top 15, top 20s at Golden Trail World Series.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: He also got 11th at European Champs and most recently had a disappointing day
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: at Sierras and all.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: Juho has the chops to wind up in the back half of the top 10 and get some points,
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: but I don't see him in that top five.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: Last two males I want to talk about.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: Dylan Ribeiro,
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: French runner for Solomon in France,
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: has some decent results,
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: including a second at Verbier Marathon and sixth at the Maxi Race 58K this year.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: He has raced at Tom Plier twice, once to a DNF in 2024 and a 17th place in 2023.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: He has also previously won the marathon course here,
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: so he knows the trails well,
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: kind of working his way up in distance, could be somebody to look out for.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: Last athlete I want to talk about is none other than Hugh Chatfield,
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: UK runner for Ultra, coming off a DNF at OCC most recently.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: He raced the Chianti Ultra,
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: not the 100K one that had Ensemble Yard and all those other guys,
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: but the,
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: I guess,
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: He got 7th place this year,
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: and then he also raced World's Long Trail last year to a 12th place finish,
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: which is very impressive given how deep that field was.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: Hugh also was 2nd place at Arc of Attrition last year,
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: the 50 miler, only behind Tom Evans, and he was pretty close behind him.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then he's also raced at TomPierre before in 2024 to a 10th place finish.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think a good day for Hugh Chatfield is probably back half of the top 10.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: And other than his OCC DNF,
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: he doesn't DNF often and is a very consistent racer,
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: which is important when making these fantasy free trial picks
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: because you don't get points if they don't start or don't finish.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd rather pick somebody who's likely to finish and maybe even if they're not
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: as likely to win than to pick somebody who's 50-50 chance of win or go home.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: With that being said, now let's get into the picks part.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: So usual caveats.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: We still have got two days, three hours, and six minutes as I speak until this race happens.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's very likely or possible that I swap out people.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to let you guys know who I'm considering swapping in and out.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll give you a chance to have some flexibility.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then other caveats.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: I like all these people.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: We try to pick just based off who we think is going to finish and do the best.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: So no favoritism unless I explicitly say somebody's my favorite, which I do sometimes.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then the last thing I want to say is keep an eye out on social media and keep
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: an eye out on FreeTrail,
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: the website,
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: and just double check and maybe double check two or three hours before
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: the race closes just to see if there's any last-minute scratches.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: So those are my last caveats.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: So, right now, fifth place.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: I've got American, Tracen Knopp.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: Finally having a good Euro race.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's got the speed to do well here.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Doing good at a race like Black Cannon, although I think it's not as vertical as Tom Plie.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: I do think Tracen is a very good technical runner,
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: and I think that his Black Canyon earlier this year was very impressive,
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: and I also think that he's going to come into this race healthy and focused.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: So Tracen up fifth.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth place,
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go Pierre Galbourdain,
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: making a step up in distance, but having a good debut.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: Third place, Dawid Molina.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: Second place, Savon Kachard.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: And for the win, I'm going to go Francesco Pupi.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: With that being said, though, I have had Leonard Matricka in my...
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I just decided to mow outside, so hopefully it's not picking up too much noise.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: I did have Leonard Matricka in my top five in fourth,
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: so I'd consider replacing Pierre for Leonard Matricka.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I think, honestly, Hugh Chatfield would be a safe pick.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then obviously Benjamin Rubal,
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just worried about the DNF at CCC and it not being explained.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: But I think Benjamin Rubal would also be a safe pick.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: And if Benjamin Rubal is going to finish this race, he's going to be in the podium.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of like where the Go Big or Go Home comes from.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I think those are my picks for the men's side of the race.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I'm looking and just making sure I don't miss anyone.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: So that is the men's race.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: Women's side of the race.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: Equally stacked.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: Equally exciting.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: Probably even more stacked, I would say.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's more competitive depth than the women.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I kind of wish I'd started off with their storyline or with their previews first,
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: which we frequently do on the show.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: I typically start with whoever I think is deeper.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I probably should have started with the women in this case.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: Storylines on the women's side.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: Two past champions in the field, including one going for a three-peat this year.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's going to be Caitlin Fielder.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Other storylines,
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: where is Martina Milarnicic's health, and is this going to be her comeback race?
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: The return season of Emily Forsberg coming back from the birth of her third child,
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: which she's not the only one who's bouncing back this year from the return
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: of her third child.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to talk about Julie Ruhl,
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: a previous winner of this course,
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: who's the other previous winner at Templier coming to race.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: She is bouncing back from her third child as well.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: Other storylines.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: Does Judith Weider bounce back from a disappointing 6th place at OCC?
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I say disappointing, but that's only for her sky-high standards.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: Anyone else, OCC 6th place is amazing.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: Which German woman finishes on top between Kimmy Schreiber, Lena Lochner, and Lisa Wimmer?
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing with the battle for the top French female.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: We have a ton of French depth,
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: but just off the top between French female battle between Adeline Martin,
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: Julie Rue,
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: Audrey Tangay,
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: but we also have other elite French women like Emily Bouye and Alex Ferrier.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: So, first person we're going to talk about is Kaitlin Fielder.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: Winners get talked about first, as my favorite college football show, Josh Pate, likes to say.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, naturally,
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: we must start with the reigning back-to-back champion at Templier going
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: for her three-peat The Kiwi runner for Adidas Tarex currently living in Andorra,
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: if I'm not mistaken, Miss Caitlin Fielder.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: Caitlin is having her usual textbook consistent racer year so far.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: Started off season with a second place at Tarawera 100K,
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: only narrowly missing out edging Ruth Croft.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: Followed that up with a fourth place at Western States Endurance Run.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: Into fifth place at CCC,
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_00: both of those races in which she closed insanely hard to overtake a ton of women in
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: the back half of the race.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: I want to say Western, she was more like in the 9 through 11 range for most of the day.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: Bridge in the back half, moved all the way up to fourth.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: CCC, she was kind of like Ingviel Kasperson.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: I want to say she was like in the 30s at some point in the race and
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: then just kept moving up and moving, moving, moving.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so she is like the master of...
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: Really, really crushing the back half of a race.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: She does absolutely have the leg speed.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: She's got the skill at long races,
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: and she has the confidence of winning here multiple times in different phases
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: of her career.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: Last year, she was one coming off a pretty big injury in the year.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: So she has to be the odds-on favorite, but it's not going to be easy with her in this field.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to be a tight battle.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: Probably one of the people battling with her up front the most is going
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_00: to be none other than Judith Weider,
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: Swiss-Orienteer turned pro trail runner for Hoka and Red Bull.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you have a Red Bull sponsorship, you know you're goaded, and Judith is definitely goaded.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: She's a mom and,
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: all-time good at sub-ultra races and also recently been stepping up in
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: the ultra distance and having equal success.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: She is a previous winner of the Golden Trail World Series,
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: the most competitive sub-ultra circuit in the world right now,
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: or one of the most competitive,
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: if not the most competitive, and she won that in 2019.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: And she's basically podium pretty much every race she's lined up at before.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: Most recently, she's coming off the earlier mentioned disappointing sixth-place finish at OCC.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: Other races this year include a Wayne at Eurochamps trail race,
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: the 52K one, and a sixth place at Zagama.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: She was intending to run CCC, but she opted to drop down to OCC instead.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: This will be her longest race in both distance and time running.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: Her previous longest was last year's OCC,
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: which took six hours, and she finished second place there.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure what to expect from...
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure what to expect from Judith here.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like she's going to end up in the top five,
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: likely even the top three,
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: but it doesn't feel like she's been at her peak form this year,
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: so I'm kind of hesitant to say she'll win.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: She is undoubtedly a favorite in this field, however, in about as safe as safe gets.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: She...
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: If she's going to toe-align, she's going to do great.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_00: Her last DNF,
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: so she DNFed Worlds last year because she freaking hit a Wasp nest,
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: and she's allergic to Wasps, which sucked.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: But before that, she had a DNF since 2024, CRs and all.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then looking back,
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: those are her only two DNFs on Fantasy Free Trial's results page,
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: going all the way back to 2019.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, Judith swings, she doesn't miss.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete,
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: also super exciting, also going to be giving Caitlin a very big run for her money.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: Martina Malarnicic,
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: Polish ballerina,
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: turned trail runner for Hoka,
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_00: coming off a breakout season last year with a huge win in a tight battle at CCC.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: And then following it up with what has been, unfortunately, an injury-plagued season this year.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: She took her golden ticket from CCC last year.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: She lined up at Western States,
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: but wasn't really fully healthy and had to drop,
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: making her only three races this year.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: Be a 50K at Trail Alsace by UTMB, which was in May, I want to say.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then she did two Polish qualifying races for Euro Champs,
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_00: which she won both of them, but she wasn't able to race.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: She did,
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: however,
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: recently post on her Instagram that she's finally feeling like herself in training
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: and is hopeful as of the end of September.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_00: So she made that post like September 20-something.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: So hopefully we get a healthy and confident Martina towing the line here.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like this is the type of race that...
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: Martina could really, really smash it out.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: She's super fast,
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: she's really good at runnable,
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: she's a good climber, and she races super aggressively.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm hoping we get a healthy Martina,
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: because I think between her, Judith, and Caitlin, that would be a battle up front.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: I will not be likely picking her based solely off her injury status,
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: but if she finishes this race,
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's very likely in the top three on the podium.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of a high-risk or high-reward pick if that's what you're into.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said,
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: if they DNF,
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_00: they don't get points,
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_00: but it feels like Martina is either not quite a win or DNF,
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: but she might very well be a winner DNF.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd say keep a lookout for any last-minute announcements about her,
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: either on her Instagram or try to check out her Strava if it is public,
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_00: which I'm not sure if it is.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete,
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: Fabiola Conti,
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: Italian racer for Carlos Fuga,
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: who can podium in anything,
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: basically,
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: ranging from a two-hour sky race to World's Long Trail last year,
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: which was, what, 11 hours, I want to say, if I'm not mistaken.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 10 hours, 35 minutes.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: So she has got range.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: And Fabiola has tons of versatility,
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: and she has the speed to race a range of races, like I said, what she often does.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: Fabiola has had a bit of a mixed bag this year between podiums and DNFs.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: She came on and started the year off with a bang,
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: including a third place at Sky Race Day Mathazine.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: Super steep, technical, short, fast.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's like an awesome Sky Race that's in France.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_00: It also looks like a bucket list race that we previewed.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_00: She was only behind Malinosa and one of their runners.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_00: Fabiola also got seventh place at Lidro Sky Trentino,
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: which seventh place doesn't sound great,
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: but that's a Golden Trail World Series race.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_00: Had Kenyans, had all these elite runners.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: That was a deep field.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so seventh place, showing off her speed and her range, that was really impressive.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then she followed those great performances with,
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: unfortunately,
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: two DNFs at European Champs and Marathon of Mont Blanc,
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_00: which she had got fifth place at Marathon of Mont Blanc last year.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: So disappointing there.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_00: She followed up those disappointments with a win at UTMB-Wolzerweig,
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_00: the pretty much marathon distance race,
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: beating out Emily Schmitz,
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: which is pretty impressive considering Emily went on to boss UTMB.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then only most recently, excuse me, only most recently, DNF at CCC.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_00: So Fabiola was racing CCC.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_00: She was in the top 10 for much of the first half, maybe even two-thirds of the race.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_00: But then ultimately DNFed.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: Similar to Martina Malarinczyk,
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think if Fabiola finishes this race, she's going to get points.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: So she's going to be somewhere in the top 10, but really realistically probably the top five.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: But the big if leads me to not want to pick her because she's a little bit more of
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: a high-risk, high-reward pick.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: So take it for what you will.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you like to gamble, put both Fabiola and Martina in your top five.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to play it a little bit more safe, we'll talk about other options for that.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete, Anastina Urkula.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: Less familiar racer for North American audience,
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_00: being both a Finnish athlete and a runner for ASICS, those are two kind of things.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_00: Americans are terrible at geography, probably don't even know where Finland is.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: But then they also,
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_00: ASICS athletes,
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_00: mostly Europeans,
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_00: we don't have I can't really think of any US trail runners that are sponsored
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: by ASICS.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's very much a Euro brand along with New Balance too,
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: which is weird because they're a US brand,
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_00: but they pretty much only sponsor Euro trail racers.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_00: So anyways, that's my aside, but less known athlete.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_00: Anastina Urkula,
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: but she has been slowly stacking up some great performances the past four years.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: Most recently,
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: she raced to a sixth-place finish at CCC,
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_00: and she's also had a 16th place at Eurochamps this year,
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_00: and a win at UTMB Istria 110K.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_00: Anastina Urkula has raced Templier before in 2024, and had a very, very deep field, including...
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_00: Caitlin Felder, Silvia Nordskar, Blondine, and she finished only a minute behind Jen Lichter.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that was fifth place for her, if I'm not mistaken.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then she has also raced two top 10s.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_00: So Anastina Urkula is obviously speedy.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_00: She obviously has range.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I think she's a great pick for points as she's both safe.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: She's only got one DNF that I see in dozens of results.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: And she's very consistent as a racer.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_00: So that's Anastina Urkula, finish runner for ASICS.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete,
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: Adeline Martin,
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_00: French runner for Kiprun,
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_00: who consistently has great results in almost any races in France
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_00: unless she's running to represent the French national team at Worlds
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: or Euro competitions, which she does often or does both often and well.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_00: So what I was trying to say is she mostly only races in France,
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_00: but when she goes outside of France,
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_00: it's to race for the French national team, and she usually does great there too.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_00: So Adeline Martin,
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: her two most impressive results this year so far are 7th place at Eurochamps,
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_00: the 52K, and 8th at CCC most recently.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_00: So we're seeing a lot of doubling back from CCC and OCC in this field.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_00: Very, very common and very similar style of racing because we're going to see
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_00: a finish time somewhere between OCC and CCC's finish time more or less.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_00: In this women's field, we're going to look at, yeah, what do we say for the win?
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_00: Probably 730 to 745.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then top five probably is going to go under 810 if I had to guess on the women's side.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so back to Adeline Martin.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like we said, so 7th at Eurochamps, 8th at CCC.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_00: She is last year's winner of ASIC St. Leon.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: The flatter,
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_00: faster 50-miler that I talked about often has overlap between Templier and St. Leon.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_00: And perhaps most importantly, Adeline Martin has raced here multiple times before.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_00: She's got two podium finishes under her belt.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_00: She got 2nd place in 2023 and 3rd last year, along with an 8th place finish in 2024.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_00: Adeline Martin, consistent racer, very rarely DNFs, and knows the course well.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_00: Sign me up as a believer that she's a great pick for this field.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think you'd be foolish not to pick her.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: She did win the 2023 edition of the race over Adelina Martin and Gemma Arenas.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_00: Julie has not raced since the end of last year where she got 8th place at CCC in 2025.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_00: Her layoff was because of the birth of She's excited to race and hungry.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: But I think she had her kids sometime late spring, early summer.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_00: Julie has been one of the most consistent racers across plenty of distances.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_00: She's got second place at Marathon and Mont Block 90K multiple times.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_00: She's got second place at Skyracing Mathazine.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_00: As recently...
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_00: And both of those as recently as last year.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_00: So 2025 got second at both those races.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_00: This will be Julie Rue's third time racing Tom Plie.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_00: She had a win in 2023,
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_00: like I mentioned,
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_00: and a third place in 2021 where she was only behind Ruth Croft and Gemma Arenas.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_00: Julie Rue,
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: hasn't really posted all summer on Instagram,
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: but it seems like she may be back and motivated to return to her great racing.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_00: So keep an eye out for her.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_00: If she's back and racing like she has in the past, she's definitely a threat at this race.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete,
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: Emily Forsberg,
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: also returning from her third child,
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_00: the Swedish skyrunning legend,
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_00: coming back really strong this year after having her third child
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_00: with Killian Jornay last year.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: Her season this year has looked like a win at Corsa Tomir.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_00: Third place at Trans Volcana,
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_00: only behind two other runners, Blondine and Lucy, who both ran on the course record.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then a second place at Monta Rosa Walserweg, only behind Martina Val Masoy.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_00: So she has really,
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_00: Emily has really been having kind of a bounce back year
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_00: and it's been very impressive what she has done so far.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: She does also have experience racing at Grand Festival de Templiers.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: She raced here in 2017 where she ran the third place finish only behind Ruth Groft
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_00: in that fastest time that I've seen and Eden Nielsen.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_00: So they both duked it out.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_00: Ruth went like 727 and change and Eden Nielsen was Five or six minutes behind it,
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_00: around 7.33, I want to say.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_00: So one race and one really good result here.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then I also,
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: I really like Emily's racing so far this year,
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_00: and I think she's as smart and experienced as they come.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think she'd be a great pick, and she really doesn't D-NF hardly at all.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that's Emily Forsberg.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is Kimi Schreiber,
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_00: German runner for Adidas Terex,
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_00: slowly moving her way up the ranks of the most competitive races year by year.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_00: Kimi has had her best showing yet this year,
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_00: including 7th place at Keyanti Marathon to start the year,
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_00: followed by 5th place at Transvaal Canyon Marathon,
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_00: 4th place at Broken Arrow 46K, and most recently, a 12th place finish at OCC.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_00: Which was a big improvement on her 21st place finish there last year.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_00: Kimi has run races of similar time on feet as recently as this year at Schnallstall Trail Ultra.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's a fun word to say.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: And also has multiple 7 plus hour finishes under her belt.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_00: I like I like her improvement,
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: I like her consistency,
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_00: and I like the fact that she hasn't DNF'd a race since 2024 with many races
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_00: under her belt since then.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that Kimmy's a safe pick,
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_00: and I think she'll likely end up somewhere in the top 10 in this field.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think it's likely in the top five,
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_00: but I think she's kind of like a safe blue chip dividend earning stock when it comes
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_00: to making your picks in this field.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete,
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_00: Audrey Tenge,
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_00: another French runner to talk about for Hoka, third to last one, I promise.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then she races conservatively, but she does well in whatever she lines up to.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_00: Audrey,
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_00: her highlights this year include a second place at Marathon of Montblanc 90K on
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_00: a very,
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_00: very hot day,
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_00: sixth place at Eurochamps,
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_00: the 52K,
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_00: and she won the French Long Trail Champs over Adeline Martin,
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_00: who's also in this field.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_00: The bad news is that she hasn't raced here before, Audrey.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_00: But the good news is that Audrey has done much, much, much harder and longer races.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_00: And she has also done extremely well at them.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_00: So finishing here should be no problem for her.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_00: She hasn't DNF since 2022 UTMB.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not sure why I see her ending up in this field.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't think that Audrey would be a bad pick at all.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_00: So that's Audrey Tenge.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, it's just hard to tell because she usually does super hard, long, grindy races.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: She's gotten second at Diagonal Day Foo,
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: which unfortunately I wasn't able to preview and is going on as I make this podcast.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then third place at Madeira.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_00: She's gone, let's see, 6th place at Western in 21, 2nd place at Madeira in 22.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_00: UTMB's really just been the only one on her side, but 6th at CCC.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_00: She's done plenty of longer, harder races, so this is not going to be a big deal for Audrey.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_00: All right,
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_00: second to last French female to talk about today, Emile, Emily,
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: excuse me, Buell,
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_00: speedy runner for Scott,
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_00: who has quietly had a very impressive season,
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_00: which I didn't realize until doing research for this preview.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_00: So Emily,
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_00: so far this year,
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_00: she's raced to a fourth place,
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_00: finishes at both Sky Racing Mathesine and Marathon of Mont Blanc to go with a win
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_00: at Rastonica Trail 50K by UTMB.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_00: Emily Buell has raced once here before last year.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_00: She DNF'd.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then this will be her longest race if she finishes, which is why I'm hesitant to pick her.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_00: But I do think she has the chops to go well into the top 10 here if she has
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_00: a good day and can figure out fueling.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_00: Last French female to talk about, Alex Casson Ferrier.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_00: Coming off second at Wilt Struval,
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_00: 70k, and a second at Valderan, 100k, only behind Meow Meow there.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_00: She doesn't have a huge race history,
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_00: so that makes me think she might have come over to trail running
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_00: from another sport later on in life, considering she's in the 35 to 39 category.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_00: And the last two shoutouts I want to say are Lisa Weimer and Lena Lochner,
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_00: German athletes, up and coming.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_00: I do think they could end up somewhere in this top 10.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_00: That is my female side of the preview.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_00: So now we're going to get into the picks,
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_00: all the same caveats,
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: check to see if anyone drops, ideally two or three hours before the race closes.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_00: This is all for funsies,
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_00: and then I'm likely to change these,
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_00: but I'm going to give you who I think I might swap in or out.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, fifth place, I've got Emily Forsberg.
• 49:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm on the fence.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think Emily is a very, very good pick.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_00: But I kind of also really liked Kimmy Schreiber because I know that Kimmy's going to finish.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that she's probably going to finish somewhere in that 5 through 10.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_00: So she feels like a safer pick.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm kind of between Emily and Kimmy.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, I'm going to lean towards Emily for that fifth pick.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth place, I'm going to go Adeline Martin.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_00: Raced here plenty of times,
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_00: two podiums,
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_00: one eighth place,
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_00: super consistent racer,
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_00: super good French runner,
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_00: but going to finish behind who ultimately beat her at CCC just recently,
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_00: which is going to be third place pick is going to go to Anastina Urkula.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_00: Finish runner, all the same reasons that I like Adeline.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_00: I like Anastina, but I think she's a little bit faster.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_00: And the only thing I might swap them,
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_00: because Adeline has the edge having the experience at this race.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_00: Although, I think I said Anastina has raced here before.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she has also raced here.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I still like Anastina more.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll have third place.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_00: Second place, I'm going to go Judith Weter.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_00: Lock for the podium.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_00: Ask consistent as it gets.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_00: Which leads us to our first place finisher.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go for the three-peat, Caitlin Filder.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_00: Noticeably absent in this field are Fabiola Conte and Martina Malaranchik.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I think if they finish, they both finish top five, with Martina likely top three.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_00: But the big question is, do they finish?
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of going with a little bit safer.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_00: Know that they're likely going to finish, but don't want to get burned type picks.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, Kimmy Schreiber, I'd consider subbing in for that fifth pick.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, I think Julie Rue and Audrey Tenge are both great picks.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_00: So that is my preview.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_00: On the women's side of the field.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_00: And this has been our preview for Grand Festival de Templier.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you learned a little bit of something about race that you maybe did or didn't know about.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_00: I hope it was enjoyable.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_00: And if you do like this podcast,
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_00: please subscribe to it on Substack,
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_00: like it, or yeah, there's also paid memberships right now.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_00: I want to make it free and everyone to enjoy it.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I hope you have a beautiful day.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_00: I hope this helps you make your picks.
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope you learned something new today.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_00: And have a great day, guys.