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2026 Speedgoat 50k Race Preview · Let's Talk Trail Running

0:01
SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to Let's Talk Trail Running.
0:03
SPEAKER_00: This is your host, Robert Prosser, coming to you live from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
0:09
SPEAKER_00: And today we've got a 2026 Speedgoat 50K preview in the works.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: This is, like I said, Let's Talk Trail Running.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: This is a show where we talk about upcoming trail running races that are happening
0:25
SPEAKER_00: and that are featured on Fantasy Free Trail,
0:27
SPEAKER_00: which is the fantasy trail running picking app through Free Trail,
0:35
SPEAKER_00: as the name would apply, so fantasy.freetrail.com.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: And that is where you can pick five deep on races,
0:40
SPEAKER_00: basically pick your top five for any upcoming trail races that are
0:44
SPEAKER_00: of competitive significance,
0:45
SPEAKER_00: anything from Trail uphill races that take less than an hour to trail 100 milers
0:51
SPEAKER_00: that take over 24 hours.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: So the goal of this podcast is to give you information on the upcoming races
0:58
SPEAKER_00: that are featured in FreeTrails Fantasy Picks and also let you know about
1:03
SPEAKER_00: the courses,
1:05
SPEAKER_00: the racers themselves and who's running it,
1:07
SPEAKER_00: and then just additional facts and figures and things like that.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: And the goal of this podcast is to build the sport of trail running
1:12
SPEAKER_00: to make you guys more of a fan of trail running.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: And to also help you make your picks for upcoming fantasy free trail races.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of my long-winded introduction of letting people who are new to
1:25
SPEAKER_00: the podcast know what we do here.
1:27
SPEAKER_00: For those of you that have been tuning in for a while,
1:30
SPEAKER_00: you know what this is about, so you know why you're tuning in.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: And hopefully it's to get you excited about upcoming races.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: In this case, like I said, Speedgoat50K.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: Before we jump into the preview, just some housekeeping notes and some updates.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: We haven't talked in a while.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: It's been a month since the last podcast.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: I want to say Western States.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was the last podcast I did and I think I dropped it about exactly a month ago.
1:53
SPEAKER_00: So we are basically more than halfway through the trail running season or halfway
1:57
SPEAKER_00: through the trail running season.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: We've just had Western States and Hard Rock happen,
2:04
SPEAKER_00: which are two major circles on the ultra running calendar,
2:08
SPEAKER_00: especially for North America and US trail runners.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: And we still have UTMB left in the dock.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: But it feels like we're kind of basically at the halfway point for
2:19
SPEAKER_00: the trail running season,
2:21
SPEAKER_00: which is kind of crazy to think about how quickly the trail running season has gone
2:25
SPEAKER_00: by.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: So Western was the last time that we talked.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: I feel pretty good about picks for Western.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: I think I got like, I don't know, top 10%.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: I want to say like 300 and something out of 3,000 picks or 270 something.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:37
SPEAKER_00: Western was a crazy, crazy race.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: So enjoyable.
2:40
SPEAKER_00: I thought about doing a takeaways podcast from Western and just didn't quite have the time.
2:45
SPEAKER_00: But I was really, really happy with Western and how it turned out.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: It was a compelling and captivating race.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: It was amazing to see the times that were thrown out on both the men's
2:54
SPEAKER_00: and women's side with both course records going down.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: It was crazy to see how tight the women's field was.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Hannah getting 10th in the time that would have been
3:02
SPEAKER_00: the course record three years ago is insane.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: So the woman came out to ball at Western.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: The men's field was super exciting.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: Some super big names dropped.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: And I thought the field was really, really compelling how it finished.
3:14
SPEAKER_00: I was stoked to see Zach Miller with his 1420 debut for fifth place.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: I love that guy so much.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: And I was happy he proved me wrong.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: But I don't know.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: I felt like I knew he was going to end up somewhere in that top center
3:28
SPEAKER_00: and I wanted him to, but I feel like not picking him was the perfect thing.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: I can't explain it, but I was so stoked.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: Nobody's more stoked than me and Zach Miller as well.
3:38
SPEAKER_00: Since then as well,
3:41
SPEAKER_00: So Marathon of Mont Blanc,
3:42
SPEAKER_00: I really wanted to get a preview out,
3:43
SPEAKER_00: but I want to say the start list wasn't released.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: It just was too much with Western.
3:47
SPEAKER_00: I had to kind of pick and choose my priorities.
3:49
SPEAKER_00: I ended up getting second place overall on the picks for that, so I was pretty happy with that.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm sitting right at the back half of the top ten for the leaderboard.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: And basically,
3:58
SPEAKER_00: for those of you guys that don't know me,
4:00
SPEAKER_00: I am a trailrunner myself, but I'm also just a really big trailrunning fan.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: And so I started this because I just felt like there was kind of a lack of good previews.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: You know,
4:10
SPEAKER_00: single track and free trail both do a handful of previews on the bigger races,
4:14
SPEAKER_00: but there's a lot of races that don't get previewed, especially cool European ones.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: And so I kind of thought this was an opportunity to basically talk about races
4:23
SPEAKER_00: that people in North America or the US don't talk about as much and to try
4:26
SPEAKER_00: to educate listeners on really good European and other nationality trail racers
4:33
SPEAKER_00: from around the world and kind of help you make your picks.
4:40
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I'm looking at my notes.
4:42
SPEAKER_00: And then, all right, other updates.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, Hard Rock happened.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: I didn't think the field was deep enough that I really wanted to preview it.
4:49
SPEAKER_00: Courtney won her fourth race, which was awesome.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: Lowered her course record by, I think, eight minutes, if I want to say, seven or eight minutes.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: It was less than 10.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: And then it was amazing to see Ludo win yet again.
4:57
SPEAKER_00: I had him pick to win.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: Another course record, 51 years old, aging backwards, just Ludo killing it.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: But Hard Rock was good,
5:06
SPEAKER_00: but just not a deep and compelling field, which is kind of always the case.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: And it kind of grinds my gears that Hard Rock does the consideration picks,
5:14
SPEAKER_00: but not enough to make it I don't know.
5:18
SPEAKER_00: It's tough to me that the ultra-running world and contracts emphasize Hard Rock
5:23
SPEAKER_00: so much when it's basically a near-impossible race to get into,
5:26
SPEAKER_00: and it's just not a very compelling field.
5:28
SPEAKER_00: So stoked for Ludo, stoked for Courtney, but just kind of like, meh, on Hard Rock.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think it's tough because the course is amazing,
5:36
SPEAKER_00: but I don't think that the fields are ever really that compelling in Hard Rock.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: Alright, other updates.
5:43
SPEAKER_00: I am racing this weekend, July 26th.
5:46
SPEAKER_00: I am racing Never Summer 100K, so I'm pretty stoked.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: I'm in the middle of my tapering, which is going good so far.
5:55
SPEAKER_00: And I'm just super excited to run what I've...
5:58
SPEAKER_00: A race that I've heard amazing things about,
5:59
SPEAKER_00: a classic Colorado Midsummer Ultra put on by Gnar Runners,
6:04
SPEAKER_00: the same group,
6:05
SPEAKER_00: Nick Clark,
6:06
SPEAKER_00: who puts on Quad Rock 50K,
6:08
SPEAKER_00: which is also a pretty well-known race, and Blue Sky Marathon.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: So I am stoked to be racing that.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to be driving up there Friday, camping out, and getting crewed by my buddy Josh Park.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: So that's an exciting update.
6:19
SPEAKER_00: And then I also got into Run Rabbit Run, the 50-miler, and I'm on the wait list for the 100.
6:24
SPEAKER_00: So we'll see how that goes.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: But I also tentatively plan to be in Steamboat Springs for that weekend in September.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: I think it's the 18th, if I'm not mistaken.
6:33
SPEAKER_00: Other things I want to talk about.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: I actually want to talk about Speedgoat.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: Well, I want to preview it because I like the race,
6:39
SPEAKER_00: but I also want to preview it because I've raced it myself in 2022.
6:43
SPEAKER_00: And I also thought it was kind of funny because the first time I ever listened to
6:46
SPEAKER_00: a single-track podcast,
6:47
SPEAKER_00: I actually found a preview for Speedgoat in 2022 when I was racing it.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: And I think it also might have been one of the first races that I made picks for
6:55
SPEAKER_00: for Fantasy Free Trail.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: If I remember correctly,
6:57
SPEAKER_00: which I could be misremembering,
6:59
SPEAKER_00: I want to say I either got second or third for picking...
7:03
SPEAKER_00: So it's probably just a little bit of beginner's luck and dumb luck, quite frankly.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, Spigo was the first time that I picked for Fantasy Free Trail.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that I found rather a single track podcast.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: And then I pretty confident I did well in Fantasy Free Trail.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: And that might have been around the time I started picking for Fantasy Free Trail as well.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: So anyways...
7:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that's all the updates that I wanted to get across the table.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: Now we can jump into the preview for Spigo.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about the course a little bit first.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about the course records on both the men's and women's side.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: And then we'll get into the storylines,
7:53
SPEAKER_00: favorite star courses,
7:54
SPEAKER_00: and also if we're on course record watch for the men's and women's fields.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: Talking about the Speedgo course,
8:00
SPEAKER_00: it takes place at Snowbird Ski Resort,
8:03
SPEAKER_00: which is in Little Cottonwood Canyon,
8:05
SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty sure, just outside of Salt Lake City.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: It's known to be one of the,
8:09
SPEAKER_00: per UTMB's description,
8:10
SPEAKER_00: they describe it as, known to be the toughest 50K in the USA.
8:13
SPEAKER_00: I would say that's debatable.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: I think Run the Rudd is about as tough, if not a little bit tougher.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: This course has a total of 11,400 feet of elevation gain.
8:21
SPEAKER_00: A series of climbs brings runners to breathtaking views of the summit of Snowbird,
8:26
SPEAKER_00: Baldy, and Hidden Peak.
8:27
SPEAKER_00: So essentially...
8:29
SPEAKER_00: Three big climbs, I want to say.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: Let me pull David Sinclair's Strava File real quick.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I want to say it's got three big climbs.
8:41
SPEAKER_00: I know it starts off with a 4,400-foot climb over like eight or nine miles.
8:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so one...
8:51
SPEAKER_00: Two, three, yeah, kind of four big climbs, I would say.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's really more of a 53 or 54K.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: It's about 33 miles, and it's got about 11,000 feet overt, so 33, 50 meters.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to include in the show notes both David Sinclair's course record
9:12
SPEAKER_00: and Jen Lecter's course record.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: So David Sinclair has won this race multiple times.
9:16
SPEAKER_00: He won it in 2022 when I ran it.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: He also ran it in 2024, and that's when he got the course record.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: The course record on the men's side for Spigo is 457.35.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: David Sinclair is the only person to ever go sub-five hours.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: Before that, Adam Peterman had the course record in 5.04 and change.
9:35
SPEAKER_00: Before that, it was Jim Walmsley with high 5.04.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: And then before that, I want to say it was Sage Canaday and Killian Jornet.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: So Spigo is a race that was created by the Spigo himself,
9:44
SPEAKER_00: Carl Meltzer, and I want to say it was 20%.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: 10 or 2011 was the first running.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: And it's always been a very, very competitive 50K.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: It's brought over some good European feel, European men race it.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: And it also just has a nice history where the course has more or less stayed the same.
9:59
SPEAKER_00: On the women's side, the course record was set in 2024.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 2025 last year by Jen Lichter.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: She ran 5.54.44.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: She's the first ever female to go sub six hours.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: And she had an amazing day coming into,
10:16
SPEAKER_00: it was a very positive indicator coming So,
10:18
SPEAKER_00: those are the men's and women's course records.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: We're going to start off with Spigot, and I'm going to have some more
10:34
SPEAKER_00: Substack is a race that I have done.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: I did it in 2022, and then I was also signed up for it in 2024, but I was a DNS.
10:40
SPEAKER_00: I did not start the race because I had some plantar fasciitis issues.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: When I was planning, I went out to the race.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: I spectated and watched Sinclair and Sam,
10:55
SPEAKER_00: the Canadian that I can't think of his last name right now,
10:56
SPEAKER_00: but I watched Sam Hendry.
10:58
SPEAKER_00: That's his name.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: Sam Hendry and Sinclair come through.
11:03
SPEAKER_00: They crushed it.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: Sinclair looks so, so smooth.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: I was basically making plans for if I had to drop out where I was going to drop.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: I was like, I don't need to start a race if that's what I'm planning.
11:16
SPEAKER_00: On the men's side of the Speedgo course, let's talk about some storylines that I've picked out.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: First and foremost,
11:25
SPEAKER_00: the race this weekend,
11:27
SPEAKER_00: Salt Lake,
11:27
SPEAKER_00: the high on Saturday is 100 degrees,
11:29
SPEAKER_00: I want to say,
11:30
SPEAKER_00: and the cannons It's also supposed to be super hot, a little cottonwood canyon.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: So it is going to be toasty as hell out there in the mountains.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: Even if it is at elevation,
11:41
SPEAKER_00: it'll be cooler, but obviously you're just kind of exposed and closer to the sun.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: So heat is going to be a major factor in this year's speed goat race.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: So my first question is, who is the best prepped in this field to handle the heat?
11:54
SPEAKER_00: Next question or men's storyline is does this race we got 50k mark the return of Caleb Olson?
12:00
SPEAKER_00: So he after winning Western States and kind of really impressing us all last year,
12:05
SPEAKER_00: he's kind of had a low key 2026 where he's been battling injury
12:09
SPEAKER_00: And we haven't seen him fully rip the racing bandaid off yet.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: So another observation or storyline that I identify in the men's field is there are
12:17
SPEAKER_00: a lot of sub ultra speedsters either making their ultra debuts
12:21
SPEAKER_00: or racing their longest races yet.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: Specifically in mind, Mason, Kopi, Cam Smith, Dan Kurtz, and Johan DeLeon to some extent.
12:33
SPEAKER_00: So in my opinion, another storyline is that there's not really a clear favorite.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: And this is my personal opinion.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: Despite Caleb having a much higher UTMB index than the rest of the field,
12:45
SPEAKER_00: I don't expect that Caleb, hands down, has this win and is hands down the favorite.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: I think that some people that are pretty far down on the list are going to podium,
12:54
SPEAKER_00: so we'll talk more about that.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: And then my last question for the men's storylines is just, who's going to surprise us the most?
13:00
SPEAKER_00: For me, last year, Spigo, Anthony Williams surprised me.
13:03
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk more about him and kind of his pedigree,
13:05
SPEAKER_00: but I think Spigo is kind of a race that's primed for people kind of popping up
13:10
SPEAKER_00: and having really good breakout performances.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: We've seen...
13:14
SPEAKER_00: A handful of GOATs in the sport come out and do really well in Speed Goat.
13:17
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes on their first go and sometimes it took them a couple of goes.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: Killing Jordan has won this.
13:22
SPEAKER_00: Hayden Hawks won it on his first go-round.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: Adam Peterman won it on his first go-round.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: Jim Walmsley won it in He ran the course record,
13:29
SPEAKER_00: but that was on his second go-around,
13:31
SPEAKER_00: so he had to do kind of a practice run to get it right.
13:33
SPEAKER_00: And then I want to say Christian Allen won it on his first go-around, too.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: So this has definitely been a course that's had kind of breakout performances
13:40
SPEAKER_00: or people kind of make their first signature win going on to a good career.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: So that's definitely a theme at SpeedGope.
13:49
SPEAKER_00: All right, cool.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: So men's field,
13:51
SPEAKER_00: talking about the men's field a little bit,
13:52
SPEAKER_00: let's just kind of list some of the names and we'll start talking
13:54
SPEAKER_00: about each one individually.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: Caleb Olson,
13:56
SPEAKER_00: Mason Copey,
13:58
SPEAKER_00: Cam Smith,
13:59
SPEAKER_00: Matt Daniels,
14:00
SPEAKER_00: Jordan Bramblett,
14:01
SPEAKER_00: Dan Kurtz,
14:02
SPEAKER_00: Brian Whitfield,
14:04
SPEAKER_00: Jackson Cole,
14:05
SPEAKER_00: Anthony Williams,
14:06
SPEAKER_00: Grant Barnett,
14:07
SPEAKER_00: Johan DeLeon,
14:09
SPEAKER_00: Vinny and Jacobson Schultz,
14:10
SPEAKER_00: and Tommy Sullivan are some of the big names we need to look out for in this race.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: Starting off with the big hitter, Caleb Olsen, Western States Champion for 2025.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: Like I mentioned,
14:20
SPEAKER_00: he's obviously the favorite on paper per his UTMB Index,
14:24
SPEAKER_00: and he has definitely leveled up since he last raced VGO in 2022 and got
14:28
SPEAKER_00: a ninth-place finish the year that I ran it,
14:31
SPEAKER_00: and that took him five hours and 51 minutes.
14:33
SPEAKER_00: But like I said earlier,
14:34
SPEAKER_00: it's interesting because I don't know that I consider him the hands-down favorite in
14:37
SPEAKER_00: the field, despite his index being so much higher.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: The field is a really interesting mix of super-fast and predominantly sub-ultra guys.
14:45
SPEAKER_00: So you guys like Mason Cope, Dan Kurtz, Cam Smith.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: And those guys rarely run longer than 30Ks,
14:54
SPEAKER_00: plus a handful of other guys who are quite good at trail marathons
14:57
SPEAKER_00: or less birdie 50Ks.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: In that category,
14:59
SPEAKER_00: I would include Brian Whitfield,
15:01
SPEAKER_00: Finney and Jacobson Schultz, and even Jordan Bramblitt or Matt Daniels to an extent.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: So Caleb did run the Ascent at Broken Arrow,
15:10
SPEAKER_00: and apparently he ran the 46K as well,
15:12
SPEAKER_00: but I don't recall him racing it, but it's on his results page.
15:17
SPEAKER_00: So he got like 24th and 25th in those two,
15:21
SPEAKER_00: so I'm not really sure if he was actually competing or just So it's tough to kind
15:23
SPEAKER_00: of know where Caleb's at coming into the season,
15:25
SPEAKER_00: considering he's kind of been battling, I think, a knee injury.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: After winning A50K in Moab, I want to say, or Antelope Canyon early this season.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: So like I said,
15:52
SPEAKER_00: it might come across a little controversial and people might disagree with me
15:55
SPEAKER_00: on this, but I don't know that I see him winning.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: Although he does have two strong advantages coming into this race.
16:02
SPEAKER_00: One is that he lives in Salt Lake City.
16:04
SPEAKER_00: So first of all,
16:06
SPEAKER_00: he can get lots of time on the course and knows the course super well
16:09
SPEAKER_00: and is acclimated to the heat, presumably.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: And second of all,
16:12
SPEAKER_00: A huge advantage for anyone in this field is if you've run Speedgoat before,
16:16
SPEAKER_00: that's a really important factor in my opinion.
16:18
SPEAKER_00: We often see people at Speedgoat run it one year and then kind of do mediocre and
16:23
SPEAKER_00: then run it a second year and take like an hour plus off their time.
16:26
SPEAKER_00: We saw it with Jim Walmsley.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: We've seen it with a handful of other people.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: But a lot of times you'll see people race Speedgoat not too great
16:34
SPEAKER_00: the first time around and then come back and race it a lot better.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Alright, next thing I want to talk about is Mason Copey.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: He is this year's US Trail Champion at Sunapee Scramble and he was a member
16:46
SPEAKER_00: of Team USA Classic Distance Trail Team last year at Worlds where he got 14th place.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: He's recently coming off a He announced Vibram sponsorship, so that's exciting.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: He was more or less unsponsored before that.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: Mason is the fastest guy in the field,
17:02
SPEAKER_00: if you ask me,
17:03
SPEAKER_00: even over Dan Kurtz, which he proved by beating Dan at Centipede earlier this year.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: He's just one of those guys that just kind of keeps improving slowly
17:14
SPEAKER_00: and steadily every season, which has been really fun to watch his progression.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: He's a super likable guy.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: He runs his own coaching business.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: And he's kind of just been chipping away and getting better and better coming out
17:24
SPEAKER_00: of running in college at Furman University and just kind of taking up trail running.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, getting a little bit better every year.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: Mason Kobe's last race was to sixth place at a very,
17:35
SPEAKER_00: very speedy Broken Arrow 23K, where it was a Golden Trail World Series event.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: So the field was stacked with Kenyans and all kinds of international athletes.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: And then before that, Mason won Gorge 30K in a tight battle with Liam Miro.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: This is going to be Mason's longest race by a decent margin.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: He's only raced longer than four hours twice in his trail career.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: Once was two years ago,
17:56
SPEAKER_00: where he ran to 11th place at Broken Arrow 46K in 2024,
18:01
SPEAKER_00: which is a mountainous race, but it's a good bit faster and less 40 than Spigo.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: And it's also just less long as well.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: And then he also ran to a fifth place at Breakneck Point Marathon in Florida.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: Five hours in 2022.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: So this is gonna be a pretty good step up.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: I don't see the men's winner.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: I think I forgot to mention.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: I forgot to mention.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: So my favorites for this race are Caleb Olsen, Mason Copey, and Cam Smith.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: Dark Horses on the men's side,
18:37
SPEAKER_00: Anthony Williams,
18:37
SPEAKER_00: Finian, Jacobson, Schulte, and I would say even Jackson Cole to an extent.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: And then top 10,
18:44
SPEAKER_00: Usually,
18:44
SPEAKER_00: sub-6 hours for the men's field is going to get you a top 10 unless it's
18:46
SPEAKER_00: a really fast year.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: I don't think it's going to be a super fast year because of how hot it's going to be out there.
18:53
SPEAKER_00: So I imagine, yeah, anything sub-6 or sub-550 will be good enough for top 10.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: I also don't think the course record...
18:59
SPEAKER_00: So, yeah.
19:25
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, yeah,
19:26
SPEAKER_00: the length,
19:26
SPEAKER_00: so back to Mason,
19:27
SPEAKER_00: the length and toughness of this race are a big X factor that we don't,
19:30
SPEAKER_00: I don't really know how Mason's going to do, despite him being very, very fast.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, we do sometimes see debutants win, so I think Killian was a debutant.
19:40
SPEAKER_00: I know Adam Peterman was and Hayden Hawks was.
19:43
SPEAKER_00: But people like Jim took two runnings to get this course right.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: And we often see people come back with big improvements like an hour plus
19:49
SPEAKER_00: between their first and second race at Speed Goat.
19:51
SPEAKER_00: So it's a race that kind of takes a little bit of nuance to get right.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times people get it wrong before they get it right.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete to talk about is Cam Smith,
20:00
SPEAKER_00: men's USA Schemo representative for the U.S.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: at the Winter Olympics in Cortina this spring,
20:08
SPEAKER_00: teamed up with Anna Gibson, and they had a great USA Schemo debut.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: And yeah,
20:14
SPEAKER_00: Cam's just a guy who he's sponsored by DinaFit,
20:17
SPEAKER_00: which is like an Austrian or German trail running and kind of mountain company,
20:21
SPEAKER_00: kind of like the Austrian slash German, La Sportiva or Scarpa.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: Cam has a really strong history with wins at VKs and technical trail races over
20:32
SPEAKER_00: the past five years.
20:33
SPEAKER_00: He mostly races the sub-ultra like 30K and lower,
20:36
SPEAKER_00: but he'll race some pretty gnarly ones like Run the Rut 28K.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: And he's had tons of success at races like that.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: So like I said,
20:44
SPEAKER_00: he's stepping it up in time and distance for this one compared
20:47
SPEAKER_00: to what he usually races.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: But we have seen him have lots of success at technical
20:54
SPEAKER_00: and high altitude mountain races in the summertime.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: So far this season, Cam looks to be in prime shape coming off of his Olympic bid.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: He got a very impressive second place finish.
21:05
SPEAKER_00: He finished at Broken Arrow Ascent in a stacked field given the big prize purse.
21:09
SPEAKER_00: And then he also got a seventh in the equally stacked 23K,
21:12
SPEAKER_00: which had him finishing just behind Mason Copey.
21:14
SPEAKER_00: So he appears, like I said, to be in great shape.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: He has dipped his toes into Broken Arrow I raced both the rut and Spigo in 2022.
21:21
SPEAKER_00: And even though they run similar times,
21:23
SPEAKER_00: the rut is a little bit shorter because Spigo is more like 33 miles and
21:26
SPEAKER_00: the rut is kind of right at 30 and change.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: Obviously,
21:44
SPEAKER_00: the rut is a more technical course,
21:46
SPEAKER_00: even though the times run similar,
21:47
SPEAKER_00: and the rut might have slightly less elevation gain,
21:50
SPEAKER_00: but I think it is a more technical course underfoot than Speed Goat.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: At least that was my assessment that year.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: I'll have to go back and race both of them and follow back up.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Cam Smith has also raced Audi Power for 50k in Aspen back in 2019,
22:04
SPEAKER_00: which took him 5 hours and 47 minutes,
22:06
SPEAKER_00: and it appears to be a pretty similar course on paper.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: Cam is a much fitter athlete now than he was then,
22:12
SPEAKER_00: and I would not be surprised at all if Cam,
22:14
SPEAKER_00: I think, has the ability to win Speed of the Decay.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: But more importantly,
22:18
SPEAKER_00: I don't see a world in which Cam isn't at least on the podium of this race
22:21
SPEAKER_00: because he's in fine shape,
22:23
SPEAKER_00: he's raced longer, harder,
22:24
SPEAKER_00: more technical stuff,
22:26
SPEAKER_00: and I just think very,
22:27
SPEAKER_00: very highly of him as an athlete and think that he will do very well here.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: All right.
22:35
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete, Matt Daniels, Boulder Boy, podcast craft athlete, recent dad as of the summer.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: He is one of the aforementioned wildcards who I'm really not sure where to place him in.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: In this race,
22:49
SPEAKER_00: undoubtedly Matt Daniels is one of the best shorter,
22:52
SPEAKER_00: flatter, faster 50K guys in the US.
22:55
SPEAKER_00: And if he feels good, he is very, very tough to beat when he has his day.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: But the statement, if he feels good is a caveat.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: That is extremely important.
23:06
SPEAKER_00: So far, he's won for one this year with a win at KMS 50K and a course record time,
23:10
SPEAKER_00: if I'm not mistaken.
23:12
SPEAKER_00: And then he tried to follow it up and race at Transvolcania and get redemption
23:15
SPEAKER_00: for his DNF last year.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: He never made it out to Transvolcania because of travel issues with the airlines,
23:22
SPEAKER_00: which was unfortunate because it was a bantering year where a lot
23:24
SPEAKER_00: of guys ran really fast.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: And I think he could have had a really good day out there.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: One thing that Matt does have going for him is that he has raced Speedo before,
23:32
SPEAKER_00: so he knows the course, what to expect from it.
23:35
SPEAKER_00: He's made mistakes on it before and has a realistic view of what this race entails.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: He raced it back in 2020 and finished in seven hours and 16 minutes,
23:44
SPEAKER_00: which I think got him in the 10th through 20th place.
23:46
SPEAKER_00: And it's not very fast given how talented he is and how well he could run this race.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: But I do think it bodes well for him having run this race before and
23:55
SPEAKER_00: that he could have a really good day out here.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: I don't have him in my top five,
24:00
SPEAKER_00: given just his inconsistency in races and a good number of DNFs last year.
24:05
SPEAKER_00: And if it is as hot as it looks like it's going to be, I have concerns with him in the heat.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: But with that being said,
24:11
SPEAKER_00: if not finishes, he can do very, very well here, and I will be rooting for him.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: And I think a lot of you guys will be too, because we're all Boulder Boys fans, as we should be.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is Jordan Bramblitt.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: He's a runner from Arizona who runs for Aravipa Racing Team and surprised
24:29
SPEAKER_00: a good number of people when he stuck a fifth place at Black Canyon 100K and earned
24:36
SPEAKER_00: a roll-down golden ticket this spring.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: He did not have the day he won.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: I have my reservations about Jordan Bramblick coming back and racing within a month
24:49
SPEAKER_00: of Western, especially since this is a longer and tougher race.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: I expect that it will take him at least five and a half hours.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround,
24:55
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround,
24:56
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround,
24:56
SPEAKER_00: Robrunsround, Robrunsround, Robrunsround, Robrunsround, Robrunsround,
25:10
SPEAKER_00: He's only five weeks out from Western, actually I think four weeks out from Western.
25:26
SPEAKER_00: He has raced at Spigo before in 2024,
25:29
SPEAKER_00: and he got 12th place in six hours and three minutes,
25:31
SPEAKER_00: which isn't bad and bodes well for him improving on that time
25:34
SPEAKER_00: if he actually is recovered from Western.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: But I think it's a big question mark,
25:38
SPEAKER_00: and it feels like a little bit of a rush back from Western only four weeks out,
25:43
SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty sure.
25:44
SPEAKER_00: So that's Jordan Bramblitt.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is Dan Kurtz,
25:48
SPEAKER_00: Brooks athlete,
25:49
SPEAKER_00: collegiate runner at Iowa State,
25:52
SPEAKER_00: turned sub-ultra speedster and originally from Maine.
25:57
SPEAKER_00: He's got to be one of the best technical downhill runners in the U.S.
26:02
SPEAKER_00: And he's also one of the guys that I'm most excited to see toe the line at this race
26:05
SPEAKER_00: because I think this is a race that he could do very well at and have like
26:09
SPEAKER_00: a Christian Allen-type debut.
26:11
SPEAKER_00: We have not seen...
26:13
SPEAKER_00: Dan Kurtz run this long very often, so that's a bit of a wild card.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: And he's had cramping issues at longer races in the past.
26:20
SPEAKER_00: So the heat of this race coming into it worries me a bit.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: So far this season, he's gotten a second place at Sunapee Scramble to Mason.
26:28
SPEAKER_00: And then more recently,
26:29
SPEAKER_00: he had a DNF at Marathon of Mont Blanc one month before Spigo due to cramping,
26:34
SPEAKER_00: which has me worried once again because this race is going to be longer.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: Hotter and harder than Marathon du Mont Blanc.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: Dan Kurtz's longest race coming into Spigo was 4 hours and 30 minutes
26:49
SPEAKER_00: at UTMB Chiang Mai 50k back in 2024,
26:52
SPEAKER_00: which is probably,
26:53
SPEAKER_00: like I said, about an hour less than he would finish here on a good day.
26:59
SPEAKER_00: Dankers is kind of another one like Matt Daniels that on a good day,
27:02
SPEAKER_00: he's absolutely in condition for the top five, not the top three.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: But there's multiple variables,
27:08
SPEAKER_00: including heat,
27:09
SPEAKER_00: cramping issues,
27:10
SPEAKER_00: and his recent DNF that make me think there is a non-trivial chance
27:14
SPEAKER_00: that he could DNF at a race this long and this hard.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete to talk about is Brian Whitefield and yet another trail marathon
27:31
SPEAKER_00: or runnable 50K speedster who I'm not sure where I feel like placing in this field.
27:38
SPEAKER_00: Brian Whitefield, I'm pretty sure he lives out in Gunnison, Colorado.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: And he's coming off of a string of DNFs at Broken Arrow 46K this year and Kodiak 50K last year.
27:48
SPEAKER_00: But before that,
27:48
SPEAKER_00: he had a decent season last year with a win at Pikes Peak Ascent,
27:52
SPEAKER_00: sixth place at Broken Arrow 46K,
27:54
SPEAKER_00: which led him to just miss the The U.S. short trail team and a win at Deseret's 50K.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: Brian Woodfield has raced twice at Speedo before
28:04
SPEAKER_00: and both times he's had good finish times and also good place finishes.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: So in 2021, he raced to an 8th place finish in 5 hours and 48 minutes.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: And in 2022, he got 7th place in 5.45.
28:17
SPEAKER_00: So he's been consistent and he knows how to run the course well.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: And that bodes well for him as well.
28:25
SPEAKER_00: I think that Brian's ceiling is probably around fourth place in this field and
28:29
SPEAKER_00: that he is a safe pick for points.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: So finishing somewhere in the top 10 despite his recent DNFs.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: So I think that he would be somebody who's safe to pick and also has a very,
28:42
SPEAKER_00: very good chance of finishing in the top 10 slash is likely to finish.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete to talk about is Jackson Cole,
28:50
SPEAKER_00: the Kiwi Skyrunning Specialist,
28:53
SPEAKER_00: living in the U.S. after running at Adams State in college.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: He's currently based out of Missoula, Montana and running for La Sportiva.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, he mostly does Skyrunning World Series stuff.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: Most recently,
29:06
SPEAKER_00: he raced to a fourth-place That Mount Marathon,
29:09
SPEAKER_00: despite taking a gnarly fall on the descent
29:11
SPEAKER_00: where I think he might have lost his spot,
29:12
SPEAKER_00: I think he was in that third place on the podium position and then lost a spot
29:16
SPEAKER_00: to Baden-Minton when he took that tumble,
29:20
SPEAKER_00: but still finished narrowly in fourth place, I think just like 18 seconds off Baden.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: Jackson Cole has also run to an eighth place at Morin Skyline,
29:29
SPEAKER_00: which was a Skyrunning World Series race last year.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: And then he was 26th at Worlds in the Short Trail Race,
29:35
SPEAKER_00: representing Team New Zealand last summer.
29:41
SPEAKER_00: Jackson Cole has been second at Run the Rut 28K last year between two others
29:46
SPEAKER_00: who are running Speedgoat this year.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: He finished just a few minutes off of Cam Smith behind him and then nine minutes
29:51
SPEAKER_00: in front of Johan De Leon, who was racing the Triple Crown last year.
29:56
SPEAKER_00: Or Trifecta is what they call it, where you do all three races the same weekend.
30:01
SPEAKER_00: Jackson Cole has raced at Speedgoat twice before, once in 2019 to a 7-hour and 11-minute finish.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: Which got him 26th place and in 2022 to a DNF.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: So he hasn't quite figured out the race as well as he could given his pedigree.
30:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think he'll race faster this time for sure.
30:21
SPEAKER_00: And could see him as high as maybe six place in this field.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: Next runner to talk about is Anthony Williams.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: I think he's probably going to be one of the most slept on in this field,
30:31
SPEAKER_00: despite finishing third at Spigot last year.
30:33
SPEAKER_00: That was the first time he came across my radar.
30:36
SPEAKER_00: He did run at college at Notre Dame and was a steeplechase stepler.
30:41
SPEAKER_00: So...
30:43
SPEAKER_00: He, you know, he's legit.
30:45
SPEAKER_00: You know, you gotta watch out for him.
30:46
SPEAKER_00: You know,
30:46
SPEAKER_00: we have a long history in trail running of having steeplers come over
30:50
SPEAKER_00: and crush specifically Hayden Hawks, Jim Walmsley.
30:54
SPEAKER_00: Well, no, maybe Hayden wasn't steeple, but Jim definitely was.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: Max King, Grayson Murphy, just a ton of people that come from steeple in a trail and do well.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: All right,
31:06
SPEAKER_00: so Anthony Williams raced Black Canyon 100K to start off this 2026 trail season,
31:11
SPEAKER_00: and he finished 23rd place, but hasn't raced anything since then.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: It appears,
31:16
SPEAKER_00: based off his Strava,
31:16
SPEAKER_00: that he lives in Salt Lake City now,
31:18
SPEAKER_00: so you've got to imagine that he's probably used to the heat and also has had plenty
31:22
SPEAKER_00: of time to train on course.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: Last year's results for Anthony included a DNF at Kodiak 100K and an 8th
31:29
SPEAKER_00: at Corch 100K for the U.S. men's team race selection.
31:33
SPEAKER_00: I definitely could see him going top five here again.
31:45
SPEAKER_00: All right, so that was Anthony Williams.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is Grant Barnett,
31:49
SPEAKER_00: who is a Salt Lake City local runner for craft sportswear,
31:54
SPEAKER_00: craft footwear,
31:55
SPEAKER_00: and he is quite the funny content creator who, if you don't follow him, you should.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: But he will be towing the line of his fourth Speedgoat this year.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: So far, he's run well in most of the Speedgoats he's done.
32:09
SPEAKER_00: He finished fifth place each of the last two years.
32:12
SPEAKER_00: Last year,
32:12
SPEAKER_00: he ran an impressive five hours and 24 minutes,
32:15
SPEAKER_00: which usually would be the top three podium, but the top five was really tight.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: And then he also ran in 2024 to a 5.45.
32:23
SPEAKER_00: I think despite Grant being lower ranked by UTMB Index, he knows his course extremely well.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: He lives in Salt Lake City, and he has been consistent at this race.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: So I expect another top 10 from him and think that he probably is likely
32:36
SPEAKER_00: to even end up in the top five.
32:38
SPEAKER_00: So far this season,
32:39
SPEAKER_00: Grant has raced to a 10th place at Broken Arrow 46K and a 19th at Canyons 100K.
32:45
SPEAKER_00: All right, two more guys to talk about.
32:47
SPEAKER_00: First one's going to be Johan DeLeon,
32:49
SPEAKER_00: satisfied athlete from Crested Butte, Colorado, just like Cam Smith.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: First popped on the scene a few years ago with a very impressive Cirque Series race
33:00
SPEAKER_00: where I think he finished second just behind Patrick Kipignano, if I'm not mistaken.
33:04
SPEAKER_00: So far this year,
33:06
SPEAKER_00: he's raced to a second place at Big Alts at 28K,
33:08
SPEAKER_00: fourth place at Black Canyon 50K,
33:10
SPEAKER_00: and then he's had two recent DNFs coming into this race at Rothrock 50K by UTMB,
33:16
SPEAKER_00: which was in Pennsylvania, and a co-hosted
33:25
SPEAKER_00: He did race the rut trifecta last year and finished the 50K in six hours
33:29
SPEAKER_00: and seven minutes on the last day of the trifecta after racing
33:33
SPEAKER_00: the two days previously.
33:34
SPEAKER_00: And in my experience, the times of the rut and Spigot are very comparable.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: So I could see Johan racing at least 20 minutes faster
33:41
SPEAKER_00: at Spigot considering he didn't have fresh legs when he did the trifecta.
33:46
SPEAKER_00: So I think if he has a good day, he's probably in that 540 range, if I had to guess.
33:50
SPEAKER_00: The wild card for Johan is that it's a bit tougher and longer race than he typically runs.
33:54
SPEAKER_00: So that's going to be a big wild card.
33:55
SPEAKER_00: But if he did do the tripec to last year, it bodes well for him being able to handle
34:03
SPEAKER_00: All right, last athlete I want to talk about is Finian Jacobson Schultz.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: He first came across my radar with his third place at Cannes 50K in 2025,
34:17
SPEAKER_00: which made me search him.
34:18
SPEAKER_00: He's quite an interesting fellow.
34:20
SPEAKER_00: He's obviously insanely intelligent.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: He was a national merit scholar,
34:24
SPEAKER_00: high school valedictorian,
34:26
SPEAKER_00: and he's an MIT grad,
34:27
SPEAKER_00: both undergrad and graduate school,
34:29
SPEAKER_00: who I found in Googling his name, he also wrote a graduate thesis title.
34:34
SPEAKER_00: A first step towards understanding sperm whale communication and behavior,
34:38
SPEAKER_00: which is a pretty rad title for a graduate thesis, if you ask me.
34:45
SPEAKER_00: So like I said, he's a super smart dude.
34:46
SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty sure he ran collegially at MIT.
34:48
SPEAKER_00: Based off my research,
34:51
SPEAKER_00: he has now worked at both Meta, so Facebook, and now most recently Stripe.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: So obviously a super intelligent dude and also a very talented runner.
35:01
SPEAKER_00: I think he could race to a top five Here and my surprising people in the same way
35:05
SPEAKER_00: that Anthony Williams did for me last year.
35:08
SPEAKER_00: Last runner I want to mention is Tommy Sullivan,
35:10
SPEAKER_00: partner to MK Sullivan,
35:11
SPEAKER_00: craft athlete, good in mountainous and technical long ultras.
35:16
SPEAKER_00: Also potential top 10 here.
35:18
SPEAKER_00: I think he's raced once and Spigo to a 12th place finish.
35:23
SPEAKER_00: All right, so with that being said, let's get into the men's picks with all the usual caveats.
35:27
SPEAKER_00: First caveat is I'm liable to change all these picks up.
35:30
SPEAKER_00: Second caveat is I'm rooting for all these guys and I'm picking the ones
35:33
SPEAKER_00: that I think are most likely to finish and finish somewhere in the top 10.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: And third caveat is I'll give you other people that I think I might sub in
35:43
SPEAKER_00: if I do change my picks or just that I think are strong picks
35:46
SPEAKER_00: that just didn't make my cut.
35:48
SPEAKER_00: All right, so top five, five through one, I'm going to go fifth place, Grant Barnett.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: So third, fifth place in a row, I guess I'm picking him for.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: I think, like I said, despite his lower UTMB index, he's going to punch above his weight.
36:00
SPEAKER_00: He knows his course well and races as well.
36:02
SPEAKER_00: Fourth place, I've got Jackson Cole.
36:05
SPEAKER_00: Kiwi, Skyrunner, good at longer, more technical stuff.
36:08
SPEAKER_00: Hasn't nailed it yet, but has raced this race twice.
36:11
SPEAKER_00: Comes back and figures it out for a fourth place finish.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: Third place, so top three, this is where I'm having a hard time.
36:18
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, I don't think it's a clear favorite, and I've kind of scrolled these around.
36:22
SPEAKER_00: I think in no particular order,
36:26
SPEAKER_00: these top three are probably the most likely to go top three,
36:30
SPEAKER_00: but the order I'm really up in the air on.
36:32
SPEAKER_00: But third place,
36:32
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go Mason Copy,
36:34
SPEAKER_00: making a longer, more ultra-oriented, more or less debut for him.
36:40
SPEAKER_00: Second place,
36:40
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go Caleb Olsen,
36:42
SPEAKER_00: bouncing back from injury,
36:44
SPEAKER_00: having a good race on home turf, but not quite winning it.
36:47
SPEAKER_00: First place, I'm going to go Cam Smith.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: I think Cam looks like he's in prime shape this year coming off of Broken Arrow.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: I think he's got the experience in I
37:01
SPEAKER_00: think he's fast enough to win this race,
37:03
SPEAKER_00: even on a hot day.
37:05
SPEAKER_00: I think those top three I really like,
37:07
SPEAKER_00: and I might shuffle them around,
37:08
SPEAKER_00: but Cam, Caleb, and Mason, I think are somewhere in the top three.
37:11
SPEAKER_00: And then I'm liable to swap in.
37:13
SPEAKER_00: I've had Anthony Williams in my top five,
37:15
SPEAKER_00: and I keep kind of trading him and Jackson Cole on and off.
37:21
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to think.
37:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I'd be more likely to put in Dan Kurtz than I would be to put
37:26
SPEAKER_00: in Matt Daniels,
37:27
SPEAKER_00: but I think those are all good picks and people you should consider.
37:30
SPEAKER_00: All right, so that was the men's field preview.
37:33
SPEAKER_00: Now we're going to jump over to the women's field preview.
37:36
SPEAKER_00: So the storylines, well, first of all, let me read some of the women that are racing.
37:40
SPEAKER_00: So Lauren Gregory,
37:41
SPEAKER_00: Claire Rhodes,
37:42
SPEAKER_00: Leah Yingling,
37:43
SPEAKER_00: Sophie Schunk,
37:44
SPEAKER_00: Marcella Vasanova,
37:45
SPEAKER_00: Elena Orman,
37:46
SPEAKER_00: Rachel Downey,
37:47
SPEAKER_00: Chloe Painter,
37:48
SPEAKER_00: Rachel Spaulding,
37:50
SPEAKER_00: And then Carmen Bango, Ashley Figgle, Lucinda Culpa, and Shailen Jeringer.
37:57
SPEAKER_00: So quite the mix of athletes.
38:00
SPEAKER_00: And so we'll talk about storylines on the women's side.
38:03
SPEAKER_00: I think the biggest one is...
38:06
SPEAKER_00: The two favorites that are kind of going head-to-head for the win,
38:09
SPEAKER_00: and that's going to be,
38:10
SPEAKER_00: hands down, Claire Rhodes and Lauren Gregory are going to be battling for the win.
38:16
SPEAKER_00: Lauren's UTMB index and some of her speed would suggest she might be more
38:19
SPEAKER_00: the favorite,
38:20
SPEAKER_00: but I think that just like Caleb not being the favorite in the men's field,
38:23
SPEAKER_00: I think that Claire actually has a better resume for a race like this.
38:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
38:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so one,
38:31
SPEAKER_00: you know,
38:31
SPEAKER_00: between Lauren and Claire,
38:32
SPEAKER_00: one is a speedster who this will definitely be her longest race,
38:34
SPEAKER_00: while the other is one of the queens of U.S.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: mountain running up there with the likes of Jen Lichter.
38:39
SPEAKER_00: That's how highly I think of Claire Rhodes.
38:42
SPEAKER_00: Next storyline is,
38:43
SPEAKER_00: where is Leah Yingling at after bouncing back from a Broken Arrow Triple Crown?
38:48
SPEAKER_00: And what is Leah's big goal for the season?
38:50
SPEAKER_00: I haven't heard her talk about what her big goal is for the season,
38:53
SPEAKER_00: so I'm curious if this is a tune-up for an OCC, CCC, UTMB type deal.
38:58
SPEAKER_00: And then next question is who will be the surprise of the day that might knock any
39:03
SPEAKER_00: of the three favorites off the podium?
39:05
SPEAKER_00: So I think the three favorites, hands down, are Claire, Lauren, and Leah.
39:09
SPEAKER_00: But I think it's pretty likely that somebody ends up knocking one of them off the podium.
39:14
SPEAKER_00: So could that be Sophie Shunk?
39:15
SPEAKER_00: Could that be one of these other ladies I listed?
39:18
SPEAKER_00: I think we'll see a breakout top five.
39:21
SPEAKER_00: Uh, podium, somebody on the top three, just like with Anthony Williams last year.
39:25
SPEAKER_00: And then I'm seeing lots of overlap, uh,
39:31
SPEAKER_00: in this female field with lots of experience at comparable races,
39:34
SPEAKER_00: like run the route 50K,
39:35
SPEAKER_00: uh, So lots of these females feel like they've kind of studied well for the test.
39:40
SPEAKER_00: They've run similar races and they're well tuned to do well here at Spigo.
39:45
SPEAKER_00: And then last but not least,
39:47
SPEAKER_00: just like in the men's field,
39:48
SPEAKER_00: how does the heat affect the field and who is the best suited to thrive in it?
39:53
SPEAKER_00: So from memory,
39:54
SPEAKER_00: Claire Rhodes did impressively well at a hot big Alta this year in the springtime,
39:59
SPEAKER_00: despite coming from Alaska and doing no heat training.
40:02
SPEAKER_00: So that could potentially bode well for her out here.
40:06
SPEAKER_00: Favorites for the women's field,
40:07
SPEAKER_00: hands down,
40:08
SPEAKER_00: Lauren and Claire are the biggest favorites, Lauren, Gregory, and Claire Rhodes.
40:12
SPEAKER_00: Dark Horses on the women's side, I put Chloe Painter, Elena Orman, and Sophie Schunk probably.
40:19
SPEAKER_00: Top 10, so usually Sub 7 Hours is going to get you a top 10 in the women's field,
40:24
SPEAKER_00: and I don't think it'll be any different for this field.
40:27
SPEAKER_00: And the next question is, are we on course record watch?
40:29
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to say no for the same reason as the men's field.
40:32
SPEAKER_00: One part, it's really going to be freaking hot, and that doesn't bode well.
40:35
SPEAKER_00: And the second part is,
40:37
SPEAKER_00: Lauren is that caliber of athlete that could take down a course record,
40:41
SPEAKER_00: even a Jen liked her course record,
40:42
SPEAKER_00: but I just don't think there's as much competition up front that would push it.
40:48
SPEAKER_00: I think Claire is good enough to go within 10 or 15 minutes time
40:52
SPEAKER_00: of Jen's course record,
40:54
SPEAKER_00: but I think with Lauren Gregory having her debut at this kind of length of a race,
40:59
SPEAKER_00: I think she'll be more conservative and not necessarily thinking
41:02
SPEAKER_00: about course records so much as just racing to win and racing smart.
41:07
SPEAKER_00: All right, so let's get into the women's field.
41:08
SPEAKER_00: First and foremost,
41:09
SPEAKER_00: Lauren Gregory,
41:10
SPEAKER_00: Nike ACG athlete,
41:14
SPEAKER_00: former Arkansas Razorback cross-country and track runner
41:18
SPEAKER_00: who was very accomplished running at D1 before.
41:28
SPEAKER_00: I think she's getting ready for OCC, if I'm not mistaken.
41:32
SPEAKER_00: And she started off the season with a Wayne at Gorge 30K,
41:35
SPEAKER_00: followed by second place at Cannon's 50K behind McKenna Morley,
41:38
SPEAKER_00: which was Lauren's first 50K.
41:41
SPEAKER_00: And she was just about four minutes behind McKenna Morley.
41:45
SPEAKER_00: From what I can tell,
41:47
SPEAKER_00: Canyons was both her longest race,
41:49
SPEAKER_00: distance-wise and time-on-feet-wise, and Canyons took three hours and 51 minutes.
41:54
SPEAKER_00: So, you know,
41:54
SPEAKER_00: she's essentially looking to add minimum two hours on top of this race,
41:58
SPEAKER_00: but we're probably going to say closer to 220.
42:00
SPEAKER_00: I want to say 220, maybe two and a half.
42:03
SPEAKER_00: So this is going to be the longest race for Lauren by a good margin.
42:06
SPEAKER_00: And it's going to be a decent sized jump in both time and technicality for Lauren.
42:10
SPEAKER_00: We know Lauren is good at technical downhills.
42:12
SPEAKER_00: She's one of the best downhill runners we have in the sub-ultra circuit.
42:15
SPEAKER_00: And we also know that she's speedy and talented enough to win
42:19
SPEAKER_00: the Golden Trail World Series Final and finish top three,
42:22
SPEAKER_00: I think it was, in the overall standings.
42:25
SPEAKER_00: There's no doubt in my mind that Lauren Gregory has the skills and the speed
42:29
SPEAKER_00: to win this race, but I'm hesitant to pick her as a favorite.
42:32
SPEAKER_00: I kind of think for some of the same reasons as I'm hesitant to pick some of
42:36
SPEAKER_00: the men's field,
42:36
SPEAKER_00: which is this is a good bit longer than anything else that she's raced.
42:40
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, she's a great technical runner, a great downhiller.
42:44
SPEAKER_00: So this course can play to her strengths because there's plenty of opportunities
42:47
SPEAKER_00: to take advantage on both those fronts, on technical running and downhill running.
42:51
SPEAKER_00: But if not,
42:53
SPEAKER_00: you know,
42:53
SPEAKER_00: but it's also a question of does she run her quads off too early because there is
42:57
SPEAKER_00: a good number of climbs and descents in this course, like we said.
43:02
SPEAKER_00: So let's see.
43:03
SPEAKER_00: So you go... Yeah, I mean, there's some big descents going down from...
43:09
SPEAKER_00: So essentially like a 3,000 foot descent.
43:12
SPEAKER_00: And then the end of the race is a pretty big descent as well from 10,000 down to 8,000.
43:20
SPEAKER_00: All right, so that's Lauren Gregory.
43:22
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is the other favorite that I feel like is in the field, which is Claire Rhodes.
43:28
SPEAKER_00: Easily one of the best female mountain runners in the US.
43:31
SPEAKER_00: I put her up there with the likes of Jen Lecter in terms of talent,
43:33
SPEAKER_00: especially when it comes to technical courses.
43:36
SPEAKER_00: And Claire even broke Jen Lecter's course record at Run the Rut two years ago
43:40
SPEAKER_00: over both Jasmine Louther and Handle Allgood.
43:43
SPEAKER_00: So she's good in competition.
43:46
SPEAKER_00: To be fair, Jen Lecter, when she set her course records, never really had anyone pushing her.
43:50
SPEAKER_00: And I think she could run faster at the rut, but Claire is of that caliber as well.
43:55
SPEAKER_00: Claire is coming off her third straight win at Mount Marathon victory on July 4th,
43:59
SPEAKER_00: and she has wins at Mount Fuji Kai 70K this year,
44:03
SPEAKER_00: along with Big Alta 50K, which she kicked off her season with.
44:07
SPEAKER_00: She's won both the RUT 28K last year and the RUT 50K in 2024,
44:12
SPEAKER_00: like I mentioned, breaking Jen Lanker's course record.
44:15
SPEAKER_00: Claire has not raced Speedo before,
44:17
SPEAKER_00: but her success at Run the RUT leaves me not to have any worries,
44:22
SPEAKER_00: and I expect her to run in the low six-hour range.
44:24
SPEAKER_00: And I think she's my favorite to win over Lauren Gregory,
44:26
SPEAKER_00: quite frankly, just because of her speed and performance.
44:30
SPEAKER_00: Or excuse me,
44:31
SPEAKER_00: to win over Lauren Gregory Speed because of her mountain-savvy
44:33
SPEAKER_00: and technical running skills.
44:35
SPEAKER_00: I want to say Claire's name was on the start list for Speedgo once in
44:38
SPEAKER_00: the last two years, but she had to scratch because of an injury or something.
44:43
SPEAKER_00: So that's Claire Rhodes, North Face athlete, Alaskan all-around crusher.
44:48
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is Leah Yingling,
44:50
SPEAKER_00: Salt Lake City-based Lululemon athlete,
44:53
SPEAKER_00: well-known in the ultra-running scene for both her podcast that she co-hosts and
44:58
SPEAKER_00: then also for being a frequent contributor on the Single Track podcast
45:02
SPEAKER_00: for their previews.
45:03
SPEAKER_00: She's honestly a very, very good fantasy free-trail picker as well.
45:06
SPEAKER_00: Just doesn't play it enough to get in the overall leaderboard,
45:09
SPEAKER_00: but when she does pick, she does very well.
45:12
SPEAKER_00: She's also a multiple-time Western States Top 10 finisher,
45:15
SPEAKER_00: and she's coming off of her impressive Broken Arrow Triple Crown,
45:18
SPEAKER_00: where she got second in the Triple Crown total time to Jasmine Lother
45:22
SPEAKER_00: by eight minutes.
45:23
SPEAKER_00: She went on to finish eighth place in the 46K, 43rd in the 23K, and 14th in the Ascent.
45:30
SPEAKER_00: She also ran in one Nine Trails 35 miler earlier this year out in Santa Barbara.
45:35
SPEAKER_00: So Leah seems to be back to her old ways after taking some time off to have her
45:39
SPEAKER_00: and Mike McMonagle's first baby.
45:42
SPEAKER_00: Despite living in Salt Lake City for quite some time,
45:45
SPEAKER_00: Leah has actually not raced Speedgoat before,
45:47
SPEAKER_00: but she definitely knows the course well and has recruited plenty of friends
45:50
SPEAKER_00: who have run it.
45:50
SPEAKER_00: So I will not be surprised by anything.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: So she won't be surprised by anything on the course and has had the opportunity to scout it.
45:58
SPEAKER_00: So it might be her debut,
46:00
SPEAKER_00: but probably not quite the same
46:02
SPEAKER_00: as other people debuting considering how much involvement she's had with friends
46:07
SPEAKER_00: and other people in her community running the race.
46:11
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete who I'm super interested to see run this race is Sophie Schunk.
46:15
SPEAKER_00: So her UTB profile says,
46:17
SPEAKER_00: and I quote, Type 1 diabetic, coach, collegiate soccer player, and engineer.
46:22
SPEAKER_00: So she is coached by Matt Daniels, who will also be a coach.
46:26
SPEAKER_00: She'll also be towing the line here, like we mentioned earlier.
46:29
SPEAKER_00: And she's had some great races already this season.
46:31
SPEAKER_00: She's gone fifth at Canes 50K and ninth at Gorge 50K.
46:35
SPEAKER_00: Last season, Sophie got third at Kodiak 50K.
46:38
SPEAKER_00: So I have to imagine she might be using Spigote as a tune-up for one of
46:42
SPEAKER_00: the UTMB finals in a month from now.
46:43
SPEAKER_00: Maybe she's doing OCC or CCC.
46:46
SPEAKER_00: So if he has not run a race as hard or as long time on feet wise as speed goes,
46:50
SPEAKER_00: but she's obviously very speedy and talented and has a good coach.
46:54
SPEAKER_00: So curious to see what she can do in this field.
47:05
SPEAKER_00: All right,
47:05
SPEAKER_00: next athlete is none other than Marcella Vastinova,
47:09
SPEAKER_00: longtime successful established Czech ultra runner who lives and trains in Austria.
47:15
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, she's got a long ultra running career under her belt.
47:18
SPEAKER_00: She's been in the scene and been able to throw down on a wide variety.
47:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
47:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
47:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
47:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
47:35
SPEAKER_00: She does have a tendency to race a lot and often close together.
47:50
SPEAKER_00: So she raced Mozart 50K in May 22nd,
47:54
SPEAKER_00: and then she raced Haute Koenig 72K two weeks later,
47:57
SPEAKER_00: which was a nine-hour and 36-minute race.
48:00
SPEAKER_00: And then she also raced Marathon of Mont Blanc 90K just three weeks after that.
48:05
SPEAKER_00: Uh, which took 13 hours and 29 minutes.
48:09
SPEAKER_00: And then only two weeks after that,
48:11
SPEAKER_00: she raced it ultra in Austria, uh, called eight summits race.
48:15
SPEAKER_00: And that, yeah, and that was only two weeks after Marathon of Malbach 90K.
48:19
SPEAKER_00: And that was a 12 hour race.
48:20
SPEAKER_00: So she did a 13 hour race, 13 and a half hour race and a 12 hour race, two weeks apart.
48:24
SPEAKER_00: So I think it's entirely possible that she plans to tow the line.
48:27
SPEAKER_00: This is actually not the craziest thing she's even done this year, honestly.
48:32
SPEAKER_00: She has not raced at Speedgoat, but she has raced at plenty longer and harder races.
48:36
SPEAKER_00: So if she lines up,
48:37
SPEAKER_00: I expect her to finish and be somewhere in the top 10,
48:40
SPEAKER_00: probably around that seven-hour range or a little bit lower.
48:44
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete to talk about is Elena Orman.
48:46
SPEAKER_00: Already a good bit of racing under her belt with some impressive results so far this year.
48:50
SPEAKER_00: She got 7th place at Cannons 100K and 5th at Beagle.
48:54
SPEAKER_00: Also 100K to go with 10th place at Black Canyon 50K.
48:58
SPEAKER_00: Elena won the UTMB Chihuahua 156K race last year and also won Desert Rats 100K in 2024.
49:06
SPEAKER_00: She did have two DNFs last year at Keonti 122K and UTMB, like the full UTMB, last year.
49:15
SPEAKER_00: But she appears to have figured out whatever was bugging her with her races so far this year.
49:19
SPEAKER_00: And I think she will definitely be a threat for a top 10 here.
49:23
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete to talk about is Rachel Downey.
49:27
SPEAKER_00: 5th place at Desert Rats,
49:28
SPEAKER_00: 50K this April,
49:29
SPEAKER_00: 5th at Leadville 100 last year,
49:31
SPEAKER_00: and 2nd at Audi Power of 4 in Aspen last year, which is a similar race on paper.
49:37
SPEAKER_00: I haven't ran that course myself, so I can't speak to it.
49:39
SPEAKER_00: But on paper, it's a similar vert in elevation profile-wise.
49:44
SPEAKER_00: Rachel also has a win at the Grand Traverse 40-mile run in Crested Butte,
49:48
SPEAKER_00: which is definitely harder and longer than this.
49:51
SPEAKER_00: So Rachel's no stranger to high altitude.
49:55
SPEAKER_00: High vert and lots of climbing and descending type races at altitude that take
50:00
SPEAKER_00: at least this long.
50:02
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is Chloe Painter,
50:04
SPEAKER_00: young 25-year-old crusher who ran to a 24th place at Broken Arrow 23K in
50:09
SPEAKER_00: a very deep field this year.
50:11
SPEAKER_00: And then she also ran second place at Swiss Alps 50K in 2024,
50:16
SPEAKER_00: only two minutes off of So she's definitely a good climber,
50:20
SPEAKER_00: definitely experienced at a high altitude technical mountain races,
50:23
SPEAKER_00: definitely somebody to look out for in that case.
50:35
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is Rachel Spaulding,
50:37
SPEAKER_00: formerly Rachel Lemke,
50:39
SPEAKER_00: coming off of 15th place at Big Alta 50K and 11th at Cannons 100K so far this year.
50:45
SPEAKER_00: Rachel has raced here before in 2022, the same year that I ran, and she got 13th place.
50:50
SPEAKER_00: I think she ran around 750-something,
50:53
SPEAKER_00: so she'll probably have to improve her time a good bet to get in the top 10 here.
50:59
SPEAKER_00: Rachel has raced plenty of longer and tougher races in her ultra running history,
51:05
SPEAKER_00: and she's definitely a better runner than the last time she was here.
51:08
SPEAKER_00: And like I said,
51:08
SPEAKER_00: we often see people making big jumps and big improvements from their first
51:12
SPEAKER_00: to their second speed up.
51:14
SPEAKER_00: So for Rachel Spalding,
51:15
SPEAKER_00: last year was a big bounce back year for her with a win at Scout Mountain, 50K,
51:19
SPEAKER_00: second at UTMB,
51:20
SPEAKER_00: Bariloche, 130K,
51:22
SPEAKER_00: and third at High Lonesome in a very good time,
51:24
SPEAKER_00: just nine minutes off of Kareth Arnold.
51:26
SPEAKER_00: So I'm curious to see.
51:27
SPEAKER_00: I think Rachel is definitely a strong pick for top 10,
51:30
SPEAKER_00: maybe somewhere in the 7 through 10 range.
51:33
SPEAKER_00: And it seems like she's trending in the right direction.
51:35
SPEAKER_00: And we'll take what she learned from last time she ran speak up.
51:39
SPEAKER_00: All right,
51:39
SPEAKER_00: next athlete is Carmen Bango,
51:41
SPEAKER_00: 12th at Broken Arrow 46K this year,
51:44
SPEAKER_00: 5th at the Route 50K in 6 hours and 55 minutes last year,
51:49
SPEAKER_00: 9th at Broken Arrow 46K in 2024,
51:53
SPEAKER_00: and she also got a 7th at Gorge 50K in 2024 as well.
51:58
SPEAKER_00: All right,
52:00
SPEAKER_00: so next athlete,
52:01
SPEAKER_00: Ashley Figgle,
52:04
SPEAKER_00: seventh at Gorge 100K last year,
52:06
SPEAKER_00: fourth at Gorge 50K last,
52:08
SPEAKER_00: or excuse me,
52:08
SPEAKER_00: seventh at Gorge 100K this year,
52:10
SPEAKER_00: fourth at Gorge 50K last year,
52:12
SPEAKER_00: and she set a course record at CS Law Dunes in Oregon,
52:17
SPEAKER_00: the 50K to start off the season before racing Gorge.
52:20
SPEAKER_00: All right, last two athletes on the female side to talk about.
52:22
SPEAKER_00: Lucinda Coppola is the first one.
52:24
SPEAKER_00: Fourth at last year's Run the Route 50K,
52:27
SPEAKER_00: which is,
52:28
SPEAKER_00: like I said, a very comparable race, and people often get very comparable times.
52:32
SPEAKER_00: Lucinda also had a 28th at this year's 23K,
52:34
SPEAKER_00: which was Golden And then she had another top finish,
52:38
SPEAKER_00: top 10 finish at the rut in 2024.
52:41
SPEAKER_00: So she's definitely familiar on this type of technical terrain
52:45
SPEAKER_00: and has raced both hard and deep fields before.
52:48
SPEAKER_00: And I expect to see her around the back half of the top 10.
52:52
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, rut and speak of times are usually comparable.
52:55
SPEAKER_00: And the last person to talk about is Shailen Jeringer.
52:59
SPEAKER_00: She got second at Speedgo 30K last year behind Cody Clevin by only five minutes.
53:03
SPEAKER_00: So she's making them jump up.
53:05
SPEAKER_00: Could be,
53:06
SPEAKER_00: seems like a speedy,
53:08
SPEAKER_00: anyone that's that close to Cody Clevin is a speedy and talented runner.
53:12
SPEAKER_00: So just somebody to keep an eye on.
53:14
SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, we'll jump into the women's picks for the 2026 Speed Goat.
53:20
SPEAKER_00: 50K with all the same caveats as before.
53:23
SPEAKER_00: Fifth, I'm going to go Marcella Vasanova,
53:24
SPEAKER_00: despite her racing so recently, and I don't think she'll be the freshest.
53:29
SPEAKER_00: I do think she is a very consistent racer.
53:31
SPEAKER_00: She doesn't DNF a lot.
53:32
SPEAKER_00: And even though if she doesn't come into this race the freshest,
53:36
SPEAKER_00: even on a bad day,
53:37
SPEAKER_00: or even on a day where she's beat up and traveled a ton
53:40
SPEAKER_00: and just raced three weeks ago, I still think she'll go in the top 10 somewhere.
53:44
SPEAKER_00: And we'll see her finishing around the seven-hour mark, whatever that gets her.
53:47
SPEAKER_00: So Marcella Vasinova, fourth place I'm going to go, Elena Orman.
53:52
SPEAKER_00: Seems like she's kind of on the up and up, seventh place at Cannons this year.
53:55
SPEAKER_00: Cannons 100K,
53:56
SPEAKER_00: fifth at Big Alta,
53:58
SPEAKER_00: and has also We're going to go third place,
54:01
SPEAKER_00: Aaliyah Yingling coming off her Broken Arrow trifecta or Triple Crown,
54:03
SPEAKER_00: whatever they call it, that she ran.
54:05
SPEAKER_00: I think the rut is trifecta and Triple Crown is Broken Arrow.
54:19
SPEAKER_00: Second place, I'm going to go Lauren Gregory.
54:20
SPEAKER_00: Despite having tons of speed and all the talent in the world,
54:23
SPEAKER_00: I think that the mountain and technical savvy and ultra savvy
54:27
SPEAKER_00: of Claire Rhodes is going to come in handy and that Claire is actually going
54:31
SPEAKER_00: to beat Lauren considering Lauren is stepping up in both time and distance.
54:36
SPEAKER_00: With people that I'd consider subbing in,
54:38
SPEAKER_00: I think Rachel Spaulding is a strong pick for going top five, or top ten rather.
54:43
SPEAKER_00: And I think Sophie Schunk looks really good.
54:45
SPEAKER_00: It's just the lack of kind of the more technical Verde races that has me a little bit nervous.
54:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and then like I said,
54:53
SPEAKER_00: lots of people with Broken Arrow 46K and Run the Rut 50K,
54:57
SPEAKER_00: which are very comparable races in this woman's field.
54:59
SPEAKER_00: So a lot of these women kind of know what the assignment entails.
55:03
SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, that is my 2026 Spigo 50K preview.
55:10
SPEAKER_00: Looking ahead on the calendar,
55:12
SPEAKER_00: we are going to try to get Solomon Pete's Alpine Glacier preview out.
55:19
SPEAKER_00: But if not, I'm very, very excited.
55:21
SPEAKER_00: Sears and all is always on my preview list.
55:23
SPEAKER_00: So Sears and all, I'm going to make sure we make happen.
55:25
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to be traveling out to Europe the week before that.
55:28
SPEAKER_00: So I'll actually be in Europe when that's happening.
55:30
SPEAKER_00: And the day of Sears and all is the day of my wedding in Austria,
55:33
SPEAKER_00: so that's super-duper exciting.
55:35
SPEAKER_00: But I'm going to be trying to get a preview out while I'm over there in Europe.
55:40
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to be in Innsbruck the week before Sears and all,
55:43
SPEAKER_00: and then our wedding is going to be just out.
55:44
SPEAKER_00: It's outside of Salzburg in a town called Solbach Hinterglem.
55:48
SPEAKER_00: So definitely going to focus on Sears and all.
55:51
SPEAKER_00: Solomon, Pete's Alpine, like I said, I'm going to try to get a preview out for that.
55:53
SPEAKER_00: And then looking forward, Trofeo Kima is definitely getting a preview.
55:57
SPEAKER_00: It's a super sick and historic race.
56:00
SPEAKER_00: That is what we have to look forward to.
56:05
SPEAKER_00: I hope this podcast was helpful.
56:07
SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoyed it.
56:08
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56:15
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56:16
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56:17
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56:21
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56:21
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56:25
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56:27
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56:28
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SPEAKER_00: the future.
56:32
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening as always.
56:34
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you guys.
56:35
SPEAKER_00: I hope you have a wonderful day, night,
56:37
SPEAKER_00: evening,
56:38
SPEAKER_00: wherever this finds you, and that it helps you in getting excited for Spico 50K.