Latest / Let's Talk Trail Running / 2025 Sierre Zinal Preview and Fantasy Picks

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2025 Sierre Zinal Preview and Fantasy Picks · Let's Talk Trail Running

0:01
SPEAKER_00: Hello, hello, and welcome back to Let's Talk Trail Running.
0:04
SPEAKER_00: This is your host,
0:05
SPEAKER_00: Robert Prosser,
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and this is the show where we talk about all of the upcoming
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trail races that are
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SPEAKER_00: Big in the trail world,
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but specifically any of the ones that are deemed worthy to be
0:18
made fantasy free
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SPEAKER_00: trail races,
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SPEAKER_00: which covers it end up being ends up being about a race a week.
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SPEAKER_00: And yeah, mostly, yeah, pretty much all trail racing.
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So if you are a fan of trail running or enjoy hearing people
0:31
talk about it or need
0:32
SPEAKER_00: help with your fantasy free topics,
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SPEAKER_00: this is the place.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: To do it, I am coming at you guys from sunny Colorado Springs.
0:39
I just got home after about three weeks of downtime after
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getting back from
0:46
SPEAKER_00: deployment,
0:47
SPEAKER_00: and I tried to make the most of it.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: It's been an exciting couple of weeks.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: I went out to Montana.
0:51
for about eight days,
0:53
seven days,
0:54
and stayed in Whitefish with my girlfriend's mom.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: And my girlfriend came out too.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: And then we went to a music festival out there.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: And then since I last talked to you guys,
1:03
SPEAKER_00: I tried to record a podcast for the last Golden Trail Series race,
1:07
SPEAKER_00: the Pete's Alpine Glacier.
1:10
and ironically i ended up winning the fantasy free trail uh
1:13
rankings for it but i
1:14
promised i'd try to record a podcast and share everything all
1:17
the notes i had for
1:18
everything for you guys um but unfortunately my uh my internet
1:23
wasn't good enough
1:23
to upload the podcast instead i just made a post on substack um
1:27
but with that being
1:28
SPEAKER_00: said uh trying to think i'm just trying to play catch up um
1:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I recorded the podcast, ironically, ended up winning.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: But I did share on Substack, like I said, my picks.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I changed them too much from what I shared.
1:40
SPEAKER_00: I might have changed a pick or two.
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SPEAKER_00: And since then,
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SPEAKER_00: in the past two weeks,
1:47
SPEAKER_00: since I last talked with you guys,
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SPEAKER_00: I went out up to New England.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: I went to my family reunion in Rhode Island,
1:53
where my family's been having essentially a family get-together
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for 55 years in the
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SPEAKER_00: same place,
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SPEAKER_00: always on the last Sunday of the
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of july and then after that i went up to new i went up and
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drove about four hours
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north to maine to see my cousins and then i got in touch with
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um somebody who's
2:11
really a phenomenal essentially a phenomenal resource uh an
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advocate and community
2:17
builder and that's uh mr andrew drummond he's the owner of run
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the whites um he's
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just really created something special up in jackson new
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hampshire he's created kind
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of there's already a community of really badass really
2:29
soft-spoken low-key people
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SPEAKER_00: in new england
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SPEAKER_00: And she kind of breeds like that quiet but low-key crusher.
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SPEAKER_00: And so there's some really good athletes up there.
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SPEAKER_00: And Andrew Drummond,
2:39
SPEAKER_00: for those of you guys who don't know,
2:40
SPEAKER_00: he owns a ski and run store called Ski the Whites or Run the Whites.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: Or White Mountain Ski Coat, technically is what it's called.
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SPEAKER_00: But he has accounts in both Ski the Whites and Run the Whites.
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And essentially,
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he just has created a really cool community around different
2:55
events.
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SPEAKER_00: He's got different races that he puts on in the community,
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SPEAKER_00: different things like last year standing.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: And more recently,
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he's been doing these really cool segment challenges where
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essentially he creates
3:05
SPEAKER_00: or picks a segment on Strava that he thinks
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is historically significant and also just very aesthetic and
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also that could go faster.
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And essentially he puts kind of his money where his mouth is
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and he offers up
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prizes essentially in the form of gift cards or store credit to
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his store for top
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SPEAKER_00: 10 times.
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SPEAKER_00: And so since I was going up there at the end of July,
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SPEAKER_00: I hit a segment that was going through the last day of July.
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SPEAKER_00: I was going up Mount Adams,
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which is a pretty steep – it's a pretty steep – one of the
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mountains in the White
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SPEAKER_00: Mountains is considered a portion of the Presidential Traverse,
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SPEAKER_00: which is – I think it's eight peaks in a row,
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SPEAKER_00: if I'm not mistaken,
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SPEAKER_00: that are all named after presidents.
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SPEAKER_00: But anyways, he picked a segment that was about –
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SPEAKER_00: four and a half miles and like 4,800, maybe 5,000 feet of elevation.
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SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to go up there and,
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SPEAKER_00: um,
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I was already going to play in the mountains up there and I
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figured it'd be cool to
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SPEAKER_00: do his segment challenge.
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SPEAKER_00: So I did got pretty thoroughly,
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SPEAKER_00: uh,
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SPEAKER_00: humbled and,
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SPEAKER_00: uh,
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SPEAKER_00: thought I might be able to make the top 10 and I was nowhere close.
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SPEAKER_00: Um, but did have some fun up in new England.
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SPEAKER_00: Uh, I got to run Mount Adams, uh, via the scar trail.
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SPEAKER_00: Um,
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SPEAKER_00: which was the segment that he did.
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SPEAKER_00: And then the next day, I did a big loop in a portion.
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It is called the Nancy Kerrigan Loop because it connects Nancy
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Pond to Kerrigan Mountain.
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And that was per his recommendation after talking to him and
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messaging him back and forth.
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SPEAKER_00: And it was an awesome, awesome, awesome loop.
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It ended up being,
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I think about 18 miles and like 5,000 feet of it,
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give or take.
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SPEAKER_00: And it just had everything.
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SPEAKER_00: It had easy climbing.
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SPEAKER_00: It had steep and technical rocky, rooty, wet climbing.
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SPEAKER_00: It had steep and technical descending.
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SPEAKER_00: It had some pretty fast road descending.
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SPEAKER_00: It had some really cool forest segments that were just really gorgeous.
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SPEAKER_00: And so anyways, it was a nice way to end my trip.
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SPEAKER_00: And then I came back to Colorado for two days before going back to work.
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and i went out to uh out to colorado and stayed with my buddy
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adam and his
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girlfriend candace she has a place in leadville colorado and
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then the next morning
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we went out and me and adam did mount huron which is one of the
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14 000 foot
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mountains in colorado and we did it the not conventional route
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which is via lulu
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gulch and it was pretty awesome even though it's sunday which
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the trails can be
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busy on 14ers especially ones that are kind of easier
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straightforward which huron
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SPEAKER_00: is
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SPEAKER_00: Because we went the alternate route,
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SPEAKER_00: Lulu Gulch,
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SPEAKER_00: which is the less traveled,
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SPEAKER_00: we didn't see anyone until the last half mile of the route,
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SPEAKER_00: which is where it links up with the traditional route.
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SPEAKER_00: So it was just a really beautiful day.
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SPEAKER_00: Like we had perfect weather,
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SPEAKER_00: not a single cloud in the sky,
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pretty much just go along this ridge and ends up being like 12
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miles and like 5,000
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SPEAKER_00: feet of her.
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SPEAKER_00: It wasn't too bad.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: And so that's what I've been up to lately.
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SPEAKER_00: And then now I just got back as I'm recording this, it's Wednesday.
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And I'm settling back into my Monday through Friday job where I
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flight instruct Air
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SPEAKER_00: Force pilots not related to my deployment.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: It's a civilian job, technically.
6:00
SPEAKER_00: And then, yeah, just living in Colorado Springs.
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SPEAKER_00: And it's freaking hot.
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And when it's hot and at elevation,
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we're at like 6,400 feet here,
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so almost 2,000 meters.
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SPEAKER_00: it just feels super hot.
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SPEAKER_00: So anyways, um, enough talk about that.
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SPEAKER_00: That's kind of what I've been up to the past couple of weeks.
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SPEAKER_00: Um, and then, like I said, so looking forward and backwards.
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SPEAKER_00: So today we're going to talk about Sears and all I'm super duper excited.
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SPEAKER_00: This is a historical race.
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SPEAKER_00: Um, it's,
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SPEAKER_00: 52 years old.
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SPEAKER_00: And it always has some of the most competitive,
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SPEAKER_00: if not the most competitive,
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SPEAKER_00: it's probably the most competitive,
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SPEAKER_00: almost definitely the most competitive trail race in the world.
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SPEAKER_00: And there's a couple of things that contribute to that.
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SPEAKER_00: So for today's episode, I'm going to kind of do it similar.
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SPEAKER_00: If anyone listened to the Zagama episode,
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I'm going to do it similar to Zagama where I kind of talk about
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the history of the
6:47
SPEAKER_00: race.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm going to talk about times.
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And then we're going to do a really in-depth dive,
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deep dive into all the people running it.
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SPEAKER_00: Because this is always...
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probably the most densely competitive field in the world when
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it comes to trail
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SPEAKER_00: racing,
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SPEAKER_00: because it's kind of a perfect course where it favors it a lot.
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It's non-technical enough that really good road runners can
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come over here and do super well.
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SPEAKER_00: But then it's also just enough steep climbing,
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steep descending that it's kind of like the meeting in the
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middle where the road
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and the trail runners can come together and essentially be on
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more even footing and
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SPEAKER_00: also footing that both of them
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will uh are willing to race and then because it's so old it has
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the history and
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tradition historically they've done an amazing job of
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supporting professional
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runners so making sure they get them accommodations travel
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there and then they also
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do prize purses not just for winners but basically based off
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time so there's
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incentive where even if you're not going to win the race if a
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bunch of people go
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sub 230 on the men's side that's stupidly fast and um used to
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be the course record
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was 229 before killian broke it then they still get paid out
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even if they don't win
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SPEAKER_00: and so this means that the
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the gaps from first through 10th place are a lot tighter and
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just the gaps even you
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know if you are 15 minutes off a leader you might be like 15 or
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20 spots back so
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the top times are really condensed um and it's just it's
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awesome so anyways sierras
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now it's a race in switzerland i'm going to kind of go through
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some of my notes on
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uh that i took uh and using this art and using these articles
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and i'm going to talk
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about the articles that i used them if i can remember i'm going
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to try to like link
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SPEAKER_00: them in the notes to the show as well so
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SPEAKER_00: So history of zeros and all is the race of 5,000 peaks or 5,
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SPEAKER_00: 4,000 peaks because there's 5,
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SPEAKER_00: 4,000 meter peaks that you can see from the race course.
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SPEAKER_00: It's in its 52nd edition this year.
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SPEAKER_00: So it started in 1973.
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SPEAKER_00: And the founder was a Swiss guy named Jean-Claude Pont in 1973.
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The five peaks that are in the name or in the nickname of the
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race are the
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SPEAKER_00: Weisshorn,
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SPEAKER_00: the Zanal Rothorn,
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SPEAKER_00: Ober
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SPEAKER_00: Oberg, Albelhorn, Matterhorn, and Dant Blanche.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm sure I'm probably butchering some of those, but forgive me.
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SPEAKER_00: So it's a mountain race.
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SPEAKER_00: It's in the Valais Alps of Switzerland,
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SPEAKER_00: which I'm pretty sure Valais is a can,
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SPEAKER_00: which is like a state.
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SPEAKER_00: And it's 31 kilometers long, so 19 miles for us Western folks.
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And it has 2,200 meters or about 7,200 feet of climbing with
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only 1,100 meters or
9:07
SPEAKER_00: about 3,600 feet of descent.
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SPEAKER_00: Because it doesn't start and finish in the same place,
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SPEAKER_00: it starts in Sierra and goes to Zanal,
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SPEAKER_00: hence the name.
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SPEAKER_00: So it's a point-to-point race.
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SPEAKER_00: It doesn't start and finish.
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SPEAKER_00: It's not a loop or anything like that.
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SPEAKER_00: And pretty much last year,
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it was part of the Golden Trail World Series and Water Mountain
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Running Association
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SPEAKER_00: races.
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SPEAKER_00: So that made it a perfect storm.
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I'm pretty sure this year,
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I know for sure it's part of a Golden Trail Series.
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SPEAKER_00: I don't know about if it's part of the WMRA.
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SPEAKER_00: But they just do an amazing job,
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SPEAKER_00: like I said,
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SPEAKER_00: of supporting elite competitive athletes from all over the world.
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SPEAKER_00: This is one of the most densely packed races.
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SPEAKER_00: We see elites from all over Europe.
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SPEAKER_00: And then most importantly,
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SPEAKER_00: we actually see lots of,
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SPEAKER_00: um,
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SPEAKER_00: Mexican and like South American runners.
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SPEAKER_00: We have a,
9:55
SPEAKER_00: we have a history of our Sears and all has a history of having some very
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SPEAKER_00: competitive Latin American,
10:00
SPEAKER_00: uh,
10:00
SPEAKER_00: runners.
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SPEAKER_00: And so, uh, in 2023, over 5,000 people ran it.
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SPEAKER_00: And then.
10:08
When I'm talking about some of the history,
10:10
there's a couple of articles that I sourced.
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SPEAKER_00: One of them,
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SPEAKER_00: Trailrunner Magazine had an article written in 2017,
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SPEAKER_00: and it's titled Sears and All,
10:19
SPEAKER_00: The Heart Before the Watch.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: It didn't have the author in the top,
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but I'm pretty sure it's Doug Meyer based off some footnotes in
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the bottom.
10:26
And that was an interview with JC Pond talking about the origin
10:29
of the race,
10:30
SPEAKER_00: talking about the origin of the race,
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SPEAKER_00: how he started it and what his thoughts were behind it.
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SPEAKER_00: And he was the race director until I think the late 20 teens,
10:37
SPEAKER_00: maybe like 2018 or 19,
10:38
SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty sure.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: So,
10:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, they do an amazing job.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: So like I said, over 5,000 runners.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: But the important thing is the leads don't start until about 11 a.m.
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SPEAKER_00: And then they have what they call a tourist category.
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SPEAKER_00: And in this article, it says they start four and a half hours before.
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It might even be a little bit more because I think the elite
10:58
race used to start at 9.30.
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SPEAKER_00: So basically,
11:01
the idea is anyone who thinks they'll take more than four and a
11:03
half hours to
11:04
SPEAKER_00: finish,
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SPEAKER_00: they can,
11:05
they can run in the tourist category and then that lets them
11:07
essentially get passed
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SPEAKER_00: by the elites and still like,
11:10
rather than just the elites running off at the beginning and
11:12
then never seeing
11:12
SPEAKER_00: them,
11:13
SPEAKER_00: essentially they,
11:13
SPEAKER_00: they can cheer on Killian and,
11:15
SPEAKER_00: Maud Mathis and all these people who are running it.
11:17
So one quote that I particularly liked from the article comes
11:22
from the founder,
11:23
SPEAKER_00: JC Pont,
11:24
SPEAKER_00: when being asked why the race developed so reliably year after year.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: And his answer was,
11:29
SPEAKER_00: the philosophy of the race is le corps avant le chrono,
11:33
SPEAKER_00: which translates to the heart before the watch.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: What's important about Sears and all is not your time.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: It's the pleasure of participating.
11:39
So volunteers are exalted and race their own volunteer race
11:43
later in September.
11:44
So essentially everyone that helps is super stoked to be there
11:46
and they get to race
11:47
SPEAKER_00: the course just,
11:48
SPEAKER_00: you know,
11:48
SPEAKER_00: a couple of weeks later in September.
11:51
Another quote from New Zealand native Jonathan Wyatt and former
11:53
course record holder.
11:55
SPEAKER_00: He said,
11:55
SPEAKER_00: it's a long,
11:56
SPEAKER_00: relentless climb and then a fast undulating section to the high point,
12:00
SPEAKER_00: followed by a flat out fast,
12:02
SPEAKER_00: mostly downhill section and culminating in a steep descent.
12:05
It's near the top of any list I would compile for my 15 years
12:08
of mountain running.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, some history, other history.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: Or just some notes on that.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
12:16
the big thing about Sears and all is it's one of those courses
12:19
that you need to
12:20
SPEAKER_00: have really good climbing ability,
12:22
SPEAKER_00: but you need to be able to transition from a climb to a really,
12:25
SPEAKER_00: really fast flat run.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: And then even then,
12:29
people say that the quote unquote flat portion in the middle
12:31
after the double VK
12:32
SPEAKER_00: start is essentially like douche grade.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: So you're always going kind of slightly uphill.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: And then the drop at the end is kind of technical and steep.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: It's not really super runnable per se.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you can run it, obviously.
12:45
But it requires some technical ability and some ability to be a
12:51
good descender.
12:52
So it's kind of this tricky field where people that have really
12:55
good leg speed like
12:56
these Kenyans and East Africans and even some elite marathoners
12:59
can do well,
13:00
SPEAKER_00: but it's hard to pace it right.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: And it's also hard to do the effort right on the first VK.
13:04
A lot of people blow up and go out too hard and then they don't
13:06
have any kind of
13:07
leg speed or any kind of turnover for that goose grade quote
13:10
unquote like flat
13:11
SPEAKER_00: portion.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: And then at the end,
13:12
SPEAKER_00: too,
13:13
SPEAKER_00: like I said,
13:13
SPEAKER_00: the steep descent is where Killian Jornet has caught many a person.
13:17
SPEAKER_00: Interestingly enough,
13:17
SPEAKER_00: last year,
13:18
Philemon Kiriago actually caught and passed him at the
13:20
beginning of the descent.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: But then in the second half of the descent,
13:23
SPEAKER_00: Killian kind of caught him and passed him on a more technical spot.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: He knows like every inch of that course, like the back of his hand.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: So we're going to talk about him more in a second.
13:33
SPEAKER_00: Some more history details.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: Some more history from the course.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: The course record on the men's side is none other than Killian Jornet.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: He broke his own course record by one second last year.
13:42
SPEAKER_00: It is 2.25.34.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: And before that, like I said, it was his own and the second slower.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: But then before that, he broke it in 2019.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: And it had stood since 2003, which was Jonathan Wyatt.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: And Jonathan Wyatt's time was 2.25.
13:59
29 12 and then on the some legends of the race to point out
14:03
jonathan wyatt's kind
14:04
of one of them he's a legendary mountain runner from new
14:06
zealand um other legends
14:08
include american pablo v hill who won early editions of the
14:11
race he won four in a
14:12
row from 1979 to 1982 and he was coming from uh living out here
14:17
in alamosa colorado
14:19
and also coached by legendary track and field coach joe v hill
14:23
no relation they
14:24
SPEAKER_00: just happen to have the same last name
14:26
And he actually,
14:27
Joe Vigil,
14:28
the coach that coached Pablo Vigil,
14:30
just passed away.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: And he was a coach of the legendary marathoner, Dina Castor.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: And I think he coached Meb Koflebski and a couple other people.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: And yeah,
14:38
SPEAKER_00: so he was a coach out of Adams State and had some legendary results,
14:41
SPEAKER_00: including a perfect cross-country sheet in the national championships.
14:44
And I think in 1992,
14:45
I was just listening to a podcast with Dina Castor about Joe
14:48
Vigil.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
14:50
SPEAKER_00: Other legendary names include Mexican runner Ricardo Mejia,
14:53
SPEAKER_00: who won five,
14:54
SPEAKER_00: between five series and all,
14:55
SPEAKER_00: between 1998 and 2005.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: And Marco de Gasparri,
14:59
SPEAKER_00: the Italian,
15:00
SPEAKER_00: I think he's now a designer for La Sportiva,
15:02
SPEAKER_00: but he won three between 2008 to 2012.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: Obviously,
15:06
Killian has the most wins because he's kind of stamped his mark
15:10
and has been very
15:11
SPEAKER_00: tough to beat here.
15:12
He is not racing this year,
15:14
unfortunately,
15:14
but he's had 13 starts,
15:15
10 of which have been wins.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: His first one came in 2009.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: His last one was last year.
15:21
His only losses in this race when he started it were in 2022
15:24
when he had COVID and
15:25
SPEAKER_00: went on to win the UTMB.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: 2013 when he lost by a minute and a half to Mark Lowenstein,
15:31
SPEAKER_00: the Swiss dentist and Pikes Peak Marathon winner.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: And then...
15:36
In 2011,
15:37
he got beat by Italian runner Marco De Gasperi by about four
15:41
minutes.
15:42
SPEAKER_00: So Kylian is no stranger to this course.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, he will not be racing.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: However,
15:45
SPEAKER_00: I still think the men's race is going to be super exciting,
15:48
SPEAKER_00: and I still think athletes will be pressing for his time,
15:51
considering the person who pushed him to break his course
15:54
record and was only two
15:55
SPEAKER_00: seconds behind him is running this year.
15:58
um some other notes about sierras and all there are some strong
16:01
east african fields
16:01
on both sides and we see east african runners do really good
16:05
here but curiously
16:06
there's only been about five years on the female side where an
16:09
east african won and
16:11
three of those came from lucy wambui merugi on the men's side
16:14
there's only been
16:15
three east african winners all from different countries um one
16:19
from kenya one i
16:20
SPEAKER_00: think ethiopia and then petromamu is from eritrea i want to say um so
16:28
SPEAKER_00: Got some interesting stats and figures.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: So like I said,
16:32
SPEAKER_00: the articles that I was referencing with some of those,
16:34
SPEAKER_00: it's trail runner article.
16:35
SPEAKER_00: And then, and then I run far has a lot of good.
16:38
They have one called tears and all a data,
16:40
data driven primer on the iconic mountain race.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: That's where I got that 5,000 figure.
16:45
And they talk about how the women's participation numbers have
16:48
been increasing and
16:48
also that women's race has been getting more and more densely
16:51
competitive.
16:52
um which we all kind of know from a like a subjective feeling
16:56
but they have some
16:57
objectivity to putting the numbers to it so anyways um that
17:03
kind of that's our
17:05
intro into sierras and all um for me this is one of the most
17:08
exciting races of the
17:09
year i don't think it yeah i mean i think it has like the heart
17:13
of zagama but then
17:14
it has the competition of utmb or i don't know any race it's
17:18
it's more competitive
17:19
SPEAKER_00: than utmb i think travis long car on on
17:22
SPEAKER_00: the uh excuse me on the free trail podcast or excuse me dylan bowman was
17:29
referencing how travis long car when he was putting together
17:31
stats for like broken
17:32
SPEAKER_00: arrow you know sears and all essentially a gold standard when it comes to
17:36
SPEAKER_00: competitive density and trail running and elite trail runners so
17:41
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of where we are at.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: And enough intro with this year.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: I'm finally going to talk about who's running it this year,
17:48
SPEAKER_00: who I think could go top 10,
17:49
SPEAKER_00: who I think could win,
17:51
SPEAKER_00: and what I think this is going to play out like.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm saving the women's field for the back half.
17:55
I think the women's field I might be more excited to talk about
17:58
and I have a lot of notes on.
17:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to start off with the men's side.
18:01
SPEAKER_00: And on the men's side of things,
18:02
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to start off by reading off last year's top 15,
18:05
SPEAKER_00: because I think on Fantasy Free Trail,
18:08
SPEAKER_00: this is one of the few races where we go 10 deep.
18:10
SPEAKER_00: So I'm pretty sure the points go 15 deep.
18:11
And this will also help you kind of keep in mind when you're
18:14
making your picks who
18:15
SPEAKER_00: did well last year.
18:16
So in 2024,
18:17
the top 15 runners,
18:18
first place was Killian Jornet with the course record.
18:21
Second place was Philemon Carriago,
18:23
two seconds slower than that course record.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: Third place, Patrick Kipangino.
18:26
SPEAKER_00: He was still sub-230.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: Sub-230 is like elite, elite, elite.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: Sub-235 is going to get you top 10 almost any year.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: Sub-240 is still very good.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: Fourth place, Josvat Kiprotich.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: Fifth place, Roberto Di Lorenze.
18:40
SPEAKER_00: Sixth place, Paul Machoca.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: Seventh place, Sylvain Cachard.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: Eighth place, Jonathan Camillo Castillo.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: Ninth place, Remy Bonet.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: Tenth, Ezekiel Ruto.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: 11th, Daniel Pettis.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: 12th, Alex Garcia Carrillo.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: 13th, Robbie Simpson.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: 14th, Christian Allen.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: And 15th, Francesco Pupi.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: The only of those top 15 that are not returning,
19:03
SPEAKER_00: I don't believe...
19:05
SPEAKER_00: So Remy is obviously not because he's hurt.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: Daniel Pettis, I haven't seen his name on the start list.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: And then Killian is three...
19:14
SPEAKER_00: And then I'm not sure about Jonathan Camillo Castillo.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: So essentially either 11 or 12 of these top 15 men are returning.
19:25
SPEAKER_00: Jonathan Camillo Castillo is returning,
19:27
SPEAKER_00: so he is going to – so that means 12 of the top 15 men are returning.
19:33
SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, on the men's side, some interesting –
19:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to kind of go in order of how they have him on free trail.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: And then I'm also going to talk about some things just big picture wise.
19:44
SPEAKER_00: But anyways, I think that this is Philemon's race to lose.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: I think he is the favorite.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: Patrick has had some incredible times.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: I could easily see Patrick winning as well.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: I think it's tough to pick either against either of those guys.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: I think for most people on most Golden Trail series,
19:57
SPEAKER_00: if they're in the race,
19:58
SPEAKER_00: people probably have them in the top three.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: And I talked about this a little bit last week.
20:02
um,
20:03
with regards to Patrick,
20:04
uh,
20:04
except for my podcast,
20:05
never made it through.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: So anyways, Patrick and Philemon, it's hard to bet against them.
20:09
Um,
20:09
Philemon has had an amazing job,
20:11
uh,
20:11
has done an amazing job in his three times.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: There's two times racing stairs and all, um, in 2020,
20:17
SPEAKER_00: No, excuse me, three times.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: So this would be his fourth time racing it.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: So he got hit a fifth in his first place.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: This is his first year in 2022.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: He won it in 2023 without KJ.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: And then last year,
20:26
SPEAKER_00: he raced Killian to the brink,
20:29
SPEAKER_00: damn near beat him,
20:30
SPEAKER_00: and took a lead on a descent,
20:31
SPEAKER_00: which nobody is without the Killian Jornet.
20:33
SPEAKER_00: So I think Philemon's a hands-on figure.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: He's run it the fastest.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: He seems to,
20:37
SPEAKER_00: even though Patrick seems to be a more consistent racer,
20:39
SPEAKER_00: Philemon seems to have this course dialed and figured out.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: With that being said, though, Patrick has had some amazing times.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: He's raced Sears and all each of the past three years.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: He's got two second places and a third place to show for it.
20:51
He's improved his time every single year he's raced and he went
20:54
sub 230 last year,
20:55
SPEAKER_00: which is,
20:56
SPEAKER_00: like I said,
20:56
an incredible mark that would have been the course record until
20:59
it pretty much will
21:00
SPEAKER_00: win the race almost every year unless Killian's in the race.
21:04
um the only thing i'm worried about with patrick and the big
21:06
question mark i have
21:06
with him is he did line up and he did from my understanding
21:09
start the golden trail
21:10
series race last year in pete's alpine excuse me last week in
21:14
pete's alpine glacier
21:15
um but he didn't finish so i haven't i don't know if he's
21:19
injured or if he decided
21:20
that wasn't his day um but that's the only thing that has me a
21:23
little bit skeptical
21:24
SPEAKER_00: about his status for this race um
21:27
If he's fine from the race last week,
21:29
he's a lock for top three,
21:30
if you ask me.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: This year, so far in the Golden Trail Series, he's been super consistent.
21:35
He's got one win,
21:36
a second place,
21:36
and a third place at Golden Trail Series races.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: So he'll obviously be looking for another win,
21:41
SPEAKER_00: but maybe a fourth place will make a nice one,
21:43
SPEAKER_00: two,
21:43
SPEAKER_00: three,
21:43
SPEAKER_00: four.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: But I think Patrick,
21:45
SPEAKER_00: assuming that he is healthy,
21:46
which I don't know that we'll hear anything because the Canyons
21:49
don't really tend
21:50
SPEAKER_00: to post on social media from what I can tell.
21:52
SPEAKER_00: So Patrick of Helmand, strong picks, very strong for the top two.
21:56
SPEAKER_00: Third person to talk about who is the favorite in pretty much every race,
21:59
SPEAKER_00: but I have big question marks around this particular race.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: And that's going to be Elozina Hozawi,
22:03
SPEAKER_00: who currently leads the point standing with his perfect score,
22:06
SPEAKER_00: three wins.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: This is the one race he hasn't really done well at.
22:11
SPEAKER_00: So I'm curious to see if he can break that curse.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: He has really good like speed.
22:16
I mean,
22:16
he races a 10K like each year in Switzerland at the beginning
22:19
of the year.
22:19
And I'm pretty sure he's run sub 29 minutes,
22:21
which is a very,
22:22
very fast time.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: And it puts you,
22:25
SPEAKER_00: you know,
22:25
SPEAKER_00: some of the Kenny guys I'm sure run faster,
22:27
SPEAKER_00: but I mean,
22:28
I don't really know that you need that much faster of a 10 K
22:31
with how good
22:32
SPEAKER_00: technical descending and climbing abilities he has,
22:36
SPEAKER_00: but he hasn't raced Sierras at all.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: He didn't race it last year.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: He hasn't raced it since 2023 in which he got 40th place with a two 51.
22:44
And then he raced it the year before in 2022,
22:46
he ran three Oh six,
22:46
which was 115th place.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:51
And then he raced it in 2019 where he ran 244,
22:54
which was good enough for 31st place.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: To be fair, I think this is a more fit and more dialed Elozine.
23:01
SPEAKER_00: Even in 2023, he wasn't quite at the level that he is now.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: But I just don't know that it's a course that suits him super well.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: I think the more technical the race gets, the more it favors Elozine.
23:13
SPEAKER_00: I think if the race,
23:14
SPEAKER_00: if Sears and all had more of that descent that's at the end,
23:16
SPEAKER_00: then he would fare much better.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: I think a good day for Elozine is like,
23:21
SPEAKER_00: 10 through 15, maybe cracking the top 10.
23:23
SPEAKER_00: But I really don't see him winning this.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: I am a fan of his, and I hope he proves me wrong.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: But I just don't see him going much higher than that.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: So I'd be skeptical.
23:35
SPEAKER_00: I'm leaning towards...
23:37
You'll notice we're going to talk a lot about Kenyan runners
23:39
and East African.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: There's not only Kenyans.
23:42
SPEAKER_00: But I would be very surprised if we don't see...
23:45
Kenyans,
23:45
you know,
23:46
last week in Golden Trail,
23:47
we had four of the top fives.
23:48
And I wouldn't be surprised if we have on the men's side at
23:50
least six Kenyans in the top 10.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: But I'm going to say there's going to be a minimum of four.
23:55
SPEAKER_00: And on the women's side,
23:56
SPEAKER_00: I think I would expect to see at least three,
23:59
SPEAKER_00: if not four,
23:59
SPEAKER_00: Kenyans on the top 10.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: I think the women's is a little bit more diverse.
24:03
It doesn't quite have the density of Kenyan women that it does
24:06
Kenyan men.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: So that's Elozine.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: So next on the list, so...
24:13
Two of those three,
24:13
I think,
24:14
have the possibility to win,
24:15
Patrick and Philmont.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: And the next two people, I think, very much have the possibility to win.
24:19
SPEAKER_00: One of them, I imagine, you've never heard of.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: And the other one,
24:21
SPEAKER_00: if they hadn't raced Zagama earlier this year,
24:24
SPEAKER_00: I imagine you would also have never heard of or mostly forgotten.
24:28
SPEAKER_00: And those two people are Leonard Chimitay and Andre Blanese-Rigue.
24:32
Andre Blanese-Rigue is the one who I was alluding to who got
24:35
second at Zagama.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: And in my opinion,
24:37
the reason why you'd never heard of him is because he
24:40
technically won Sierras and
24:41
SPEAKER_00: all.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: He didn't win it at the finishing of the race.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: He won it retroactively after the Kenyan that won it that year,
24:50
SPEAKER_00: Mark Kangogo,
24:51
SPEAKER_00: got popped for substances.
24:53
SPEAKER_00: And then he essentially was retroactively awarded the win.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: Both the male and the female winners in 2022 were Kenyans,
24:59
SPEAKER_00: and they both got popped as their cheesing.
25:03
So then the win for the women's side went to Mon Mathis,
25:06
I think,
25:06
technically.
25:07
SPEAKER_00: And so...
25:10
SPEAKER_00: So basically, yeah, Andre Blanes, he's already won this race.
25:13
SPEAKER_00: He beat Killian the year that he raced it, although Killian had COVID.
25:18
But either way,
25:19
he reminded everyone how good he was this year with his second
25:20
place at Zagama.
25:21
He led much of the race until Elozin made a really strategic
25:25
move on him in the back half.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: But he still held on.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: It looks like he was coming out super hard and he might blow up.
25:30
SPEAKER_00: He faded, he battled, and then he held on to second.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: So I think that Andre Blanes is going to be in really good shape.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: He's an Olympian steeplechaser.
25:38
he's definitely a steeplechaser I don't know if he made the
25:40
Spanish Olympic team
25:42
but he's a super fast like 3000 meter steeplechase guy and he
25:46
has really good trail
25:47
chops so I think Andre Banas has the strength and the
25:50
durability and the course
25:51
experience to win this course and he's proved it the year that
25:54
he raced it was his
25:55
only excuse me it was the only year that he had runs here and
25:59
all and you know
26:00
essentially he won it having never having never raced it before
26:05
don't quote me on
26:07
SPEAKER_00: that
26:08
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: Do quote me on that.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: That's the only year I've erased it.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: So that's super impressive.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: Um, he,
26:14
SPEAKER_00: Just raced a 50k and didn't do as well,
26:16
SPEAKER_00: but his Zagama results have me encouraged,
26:20
SPEAKER_00: and I think he could do super well.
26:21
SPEAKER_00: The other name I mentioned,
26:23
SPEAKER_00: Leonard Chimutai,
26:23
SPEAKER_00: he's a Ugandan runner,
26:25
and if anyone followed the world mountain running champs in
26:31
Austria closely,
26:32
SPEAKER_00: you would recognize his name because he won the up-down,
26:34
SPEAKER_00: and he won it pretty convincingly.
26:36
SPEAKER_00: They have him on his Wikipedia,
26:37
SPEAKER_00: it says he's only 22 years old,
26:39
SPEAKER_00: so that means he was only 20 years old when he won the mountain champs,
26:42
SPEAKER_00: the up-down,
26:43
SPEAKER_00: and the
26:44
The Ugandans,
26:45
I think,
26:45
had almost a clean sweep of the top five the year that he raced
26:50
it.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: This is someone we haven't seen him.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
26:54
he's probably the fastest guy you've never heard of in the
26:56
field and somebody you
26:57
SPEAKER_00: should really have on your radar.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: I think he has a legitimate chance to win.
27:00
The only thing I'm hesitant about is he hasn't raced too much
27:03
that's longer.
27:05
SPEAKER_00: So does nutrition catch up with him?
27:07
SPEAKER_00: You know,
27:07
there's a little bit of a learning curve and a lot of times
27:08
these Kenyans come in
27:10
and they run and they run super hard and then they kind of take
27:11
it in the back half
27:12
because they're not as good at crewing and taking in nutrition
27:14
and things like
27:15
SPEAKER_00: that.
27:15
SPEAKER_00: And Sierra's and all is going to be hot.
27:17
I'm not worried about the heat for the Kenyans per se,
27:19
but it's more just the length of it.
27:21
You know,
27:21
it's just long enough that you need to have your nutrition in
27:24
order.
27:25
SPEAKER_00: So he was the world up down trail champion in 2023.
27:28
SPEAKER_00: And then he was also the African champion in steeplechase in 2023.
27:32
We didn't see him race the trails at all because he's a legit
27:34
steeplechaser.
27:35
He raced in the 2024 Olympics last year and was the 15th place
27:39
in the steeplechase.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, he's a young dude, tons of talent, tons of speed.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: He's probably got some of the best light speed in this field.
27:46
And then he's,
27:47
we've seen steeple chasers do really,
27:49
really good in trail races.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, just cause they're durable and tough and can change pace a lot.
27:53
SPEAKER_00: So I, I think he's a legit shot at winning the race.
27:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm hesitant.
27:58
SPEAKER_00: Uh,
27:58
SPEAKER_00: I don't know that I'm gutsy enough to pick them as a win,
28:01
SPEAKER_00: but I,
28:01
SPEAKER_00: he will find a spot in my top 10 and we'll talk about that later.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, and,
28:06
So that's kind of the five people that I think legitimately
28:09
have a shot at winning.
28:10
I think plenty of Kenyans that we're going to talk about have a
28:13
chance to go top
28:14
SPEAKER_00: five and even some of them as high as second place,
28:16
SPEAKER_00: which we've seen some of these other Kenyans do.
28:20
but i think also that if we're talking about the experience and
28:25
has run the fast
28:26
time on sierras and all and has raced it super smart um i think
28:30
that those how many
28:32
one two three four i think those four people no five excuse me
28:38
those five people
28:38
SPEAKER_00: have the most legit chance of winning the uh of winning the race
28:45
SPEAKER_00: when it comes to Sierras and all.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: So those are my top five picks for in contention with the win.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: And then going down the list, some other names I want to talk about.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: Francesco Pupi.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: So he is on an undefeated tear so far this year.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: He is looking super good.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: He's got a streak going back to last year,
29:02
SPEAKER_00: I think,
29:02
SPEAKER_00: when he got second at OCC,
29:04
SPEAKER_00: if I'm not mistaken.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: He's also raced and beat a Kenyan.
29:08
He beat,
29:09
I want to say Robert Kamoy,
29:10
who's on this list,
29:12
earlier in the season.
29:17
yeah he was uh he beat robert camoy earlier this year in
29:19
transparent canary
29:20
american um he's raced serious and all eight times he loves his
29:24
race he talks about
29:25
it a lot he's got the experience but he's kind of been up and
29:28
down uh with his
29:30
results with the race he's got two top fives but they came in
29:33
2017 and in 2018
29:35
and he hasn't been in the top 10 since uh here since then last
29:39
year he finished
29:39
15th place i think a great day for him would be a top five but
29:43
i think a more
29:43
likely day somewhere in the 8 to 14 range so with that being
29:46
said i mean i think
29:47
francesco um he notoriously he knows he doesn't do well in
29:50
technical stuff but i
29:51
think it's gonna be a hot dry day as long as he handles the
29:54
heat well i think he's
29:54
a pretty strong pick for points and i think a really good day
29:58
for him is top five
29:59
SPEAKER_00: and i think a realistic day like i said is eight through 14.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: But he will be hungry.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: Him and Robbie Simpson,
30:06
SPEAKER_00: I think,
30:07
SPEAKER_00: are very eager to get back and do better than they did last year.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: So they'll be hungry and looking.
30:11
SPEAKER_00: So we'll talk about Robbie in a bit.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: Next person on the list is a Kenny athlete, Paul Machoca.
30:16
He's a regular runner on the world mountain running circuit
30:18
with a lot of good results.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: His only Sierra's in all was last year, and it was in sixth place.
30:23
In 2025 so far,
30:24
he's run into a win at World Mountain Running Association race
30:28
in Romania.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: He got third at the Golden Trail Series Noli race,
30:32
SPEAKER_00: second at Trofeo Nisego,
30:34
SPEAKER_00: second at World Mountain Running Updown in Chongli.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: And he...
30:41
uh,
30:42
a fourth and a sixth at the vertical,
30:44
uh,
30:44
at a vertical and up down race in France.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: I think he's a really strong pick for the top 10.
30:51
SPEAKER_00: And I think he'll race here as an all.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: Well, uh, given how he, how well he raised it last year.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: Next person on the list I have is Michael Salelo Saoli.
31:00
SPEAKER_00: He was fourth last week at last week's Golden Trail Series in Austria,
31:04
SPEAKER_00: and he has not raced Sierras in all before.
31:07
SPEAKER_00: He ran into a fifth place at Golden Trail Series Noli this year,
31:10
SPEAKER_00: and he's also won Giro de Mont in Italy last year,
31:13
SPEAKER_00: along with a third at Trofeo Nostego.
31:15
So Giro de Mont in Italy is a race that takes around three
31:18
hours and 15 minutes,
31:19
SPEAKER_00: has lots of climbing,
31:20
SPEAKER_00: lots of descending.
31:20
SPEAKER_00: I think it's decently technical,
31:22
SPEAKER_00: so I think that's promising,
31:23
SPEAKER_00: and I think even though he hasn't raced
31:26
uh sierras and all i think a good result at giardamont which
31:30
was a hot race last
31:31
year um and had some pretty hot conditions i think that bodes
31:35
him well i don't
31:36
necessarily have him in my top 10 but i'm not against picking
31:38
in the top 10 like i
31:39
said i think you know we have probably let me see one two three
31:45
four five six seven
31:48
SPEAKER_00: eight,
31:49
SPEAKER_00: nine,
31:49
SPEAKER_00: 10 Kenyans,
31:51
SPEAKER_00: 11 Kenyans,
31:53
SPEAKER_00: and I,
31:54
SPEAKER_00: 12 Kenyans,
31:55
SPEAKER_00: there's a lot of Kenyans showing up this year,
31:57
SPEAKER_00: and then one Ugandan,
31:58
and I think that you're going to see at least five or six East
32:01
African runners on
32:01
SPEAKER_00: the men's side,
32:02
SPEAKER_00: maybe even seven,
32:03
SPEAKER_00: quite frankly.
32:05
SPEAKER_00: So,
32:06
SPEAKER_00: Uh, next we're going to talk about Richard Omaya.
32:09
He got six at golden trail series and only fourth at trophy and
32:11
a Sega was outside
32:12
SPEAKER_00: top 10 at last week's golden trail series race.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: Uh, he's only got one race this year as an all and went 18th.
32:17
I don't think he's going to be in my pick as one of those seven
32:20
canyons in the top 10.
32:21
SPEAKER_00: Um,
32:23
SPEAKER_00: Next one on the list is Josvat Kiporotic.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: He is another fast Indian runner.
32:27
SPEAKER_00: He hasn't raced as much this year compared to the others,
32:29
SPEAKER_00: but he got fourth at zeros in all last year in a very,
32:32
SPEAKER_00: very fast 231,
32:34
SPEAKER_00: which would win you the race most years.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: So that's a really promising showing.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: I think that he will be up there and could have another really good day.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: The only question mark I have is why hasn't he run as much this year?
32:48
SPEAKER_00: Next on the list is Robert Kamoy,
32:49
and he's actually one of these canyons that tends to race more
32:52
technical and sloppy
32:53
SPEAKER_00: races and do well versus the flat and fast stuff.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: We've seen him do well at Zagama before multiple years.
32:58
I think he's got two top fives at Zagama,
33:00
including on some really bad weather years.
33:02
SPEAKER_00: And his best years in all was his sixth place in 2022.
33:05
SPEAKER_00: He didn't race it as well last year with the 29th place.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: Uh,
33:09
only race I've seen from him this year was the second place in
33:11
Transparent Canaria
33:12
SPEAKER_00: Marathon way back in February against Francesco Cupi.
33:16
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not sure if he's been injured.
33:17
That leaves some question marks and has me a little bit
33:19
hesitant to pick him.
33:22
Scrolling down the list,
33:24
Switzerland's very own orienteering champion and athlete for
33:27
Salomon.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about Joey Hadorn.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: He had a really good opening two this year.
33:33
He was battling up front with the Kenyans at the Golden Trail
33:37
Series China.
33:38
SPEAKER_00: And he has raced years in all three times before.
33:42
He has two second place finishes or two seventh place finishes,
33:45
excuse me,
33:46
in 2019 and 2020.
33:46
SPEAKER_00: And the last time he raced it was in 2023 where he got 16th place.
33:51
he hasn't raced since the golden trail series race in china
33:54
which i think was in
33:54
april and he got third um not sure if he'll be racing based off
33:59
uh off of a post he
34:00
made on his instagram a month ago that he had to end his
34:02
orienteering season due to
34:04
knee injury if healthy he could be deadly i think having some
34:07
of that swiss home
34:08
field advantage is also helpful and i'm sure he knows the
34:10
course super well but the
34:11
only question mark i have is his last post about a month ago on
34:14
instagram had it
34:15
SPEAKER_00: questionable if he was going to be racing it so i would uh do some
34:18
SPEAKER_00: snooping.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: Maybe if he has a Strava, go look at that too.
34:23
SPEAKER_00: Next runner to talk about is Cesare Maestri,
34:26
SPEAKER_00: the Nike trail athlete,
34:27
super speedy guy who started off this season really strong with
34:31
two top fives in
34:32
SPEAKER_00: Golden Trail Series events.
34:34
SPEAKER_00: He got fifth in China and then he got...
34:37
SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
34:37
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think he got fourth at Noli.
34:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh, so that's really my history.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: He's had a good day at series and all before he finished,
34:45
SPEAKER_00: uh,
34:46
SPEAKER_00: in third place in his first ever series and all in 2021.
34:50
But since then he hasn't been as consistent or hasn't had as
34:52
good of a race.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: He went 21st overall in 2022, 10th in 2023 and 26 last year.
34:59
Um,
34:59
also looking at his Instagram,
35:01
it looks like he got into a mountain bike crash,
35:04
uh,
35:04
that took him out for a bit and so that's why he hasn't raced
35:06
super recently but it
35:08
seems like he's coming back so question mark on that um he
35:12
started off the season
35:12
really in really really good shape i would not be surprised at
35:15
all to see him in
35:15
the top 10 um only question mark is you know how much is he
35:18
back from that mountain
35:19
SPEAKER_00: bike race in the same way that we're talking about joey hadorn
35:22
SPEAKER_00: Next athlete to talk about is Kevin Kibet.
35:24
He had a third at Sears and All in 2023,
35:28
a fourth at Marathon de Montblanc in 2024.
35:30
SPEAKER_00: But he's been very up and down this year,
35:32
so I'm not counting on him with the same confidence as some of
35:35
these other Kenyan
35:35
SPEAKER_00: runners I'm talking about.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: He obviously could do very well, though.
35:39
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he got third here, only behind Phil Amon and Patrick in 2023.
35:41
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, kind of a mixed bag.
35:46
SPEAKER_00: Based off his results this year,
35:47
SPEAKER_00: I don't have him as one of my Kenyans in the top 10 or East Africans.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: But I think, I know he has the possibility to do well here.
35:55
I'm not confident based off his form so far that he showed in
35:57
his race results this year.
36:00
SPEAKER_00: Another exciting person,
36:02
somebody who I think is coming back to their form and somebody
36:05
who has not been
36:06
SPEAKER_00: racing this year for 16 or 18 months.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: And that is Mr.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: Stian Ongermund coming from Norway,
36:14
SPEAKER_00: former world champion,
36:16
SPEAKER_00: former OCC champion,
36:18
SPEAKER_00: two-time world champion,
36:19
SPEAKER_00: excuse me,
36:19
SPEAKER_00: and OCC champion.
36:21
He kind of had his rust buster race at Zagama where he still
36:24
got ninth place and
36:25
SPEAKER_00: had a really good day.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: And then he got second place as Giro de Montt,
36:29
SPEAKER_00: which,
36:29
SPEAKER_00: like I mentioned earlier,
36:30
SPEAKER_00: is a competitive Italian trail race.
36:33
Winners usually go about 314,
36:35
315,
36:35
who's only a minute behind Davide Magnini.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: who also won Marathon au Blanc this year.
36:40
SPEAKER_00: So we're back to the Davide Magnini we're used to.
36:43
The only series in all that Stian ran was in 2015,
36:46
where he placed eighth.
36:47
SPEAKER_00: He tends to be like El Zin,
36:49
SPEAKER_00: where he does a little bit better in races with more up and downs,
36:51
SPEAKER_00: like steep climbs in a sense and less flats.
36:54
SPEAKER_00: But I honestly am kind of convinced.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: I think that he is in really good shape.
36:57
SPEAKER_00: And I think he's almost back to old Stian form.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: Kind of quietly.
37:01
SPEAKER_00: And I don't think there's any pressure on him to do this race.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: So I think he might be setting himself up for a really good result.
37:07
I could see him going somewhere in the top 10 if he's as fit as
37:12
I think he is.
37:13
SPEAKER_00: And I think he's back to old Steele.
37:15
Next person on the list is somebody who I'd be talking about
37:18
even more and that I
37:21
SPEAKER_00: would happily pick for a top 10,
37:22
SPEAKER_00: if not a top five,
37:23
SPEAKER_00: if they were in last year's shape.
37:24
SPEAKER_00: They just haven't really quite put it together yet this year.
37:27
SPEAKER_00: And that person I'm talking about is Brooks athlete Roberto Di Lorenzi.
37:30
SPEAKER_00: He is a Swiss runner from the Canton of Ticino,
37:33
SPEAKER_00: where they speak Italian in the south of Switzerland.
37:36
SPEAKER_00: Um,
37:36
SPEAKER_00: he just hasn't,
37:37
he hasn't found that shape or he hasn't been a sharp quite race
37:40
wise as he was last
37:41
SPEAKER_00: year.
37:42
SPEAKER_00: So I think for him a good day, you know, is top 20.
37:46
SPEAKER_00: I don't know that I see him going much higher than 10th.
37:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, but last year he really focused and prioritized Sierras and all.
37:51
And he said it was one of his A races in his very long calendar
37:54
of races last year.
37:55
SPEAKER_00: Um,
37:56
and he really did step up when it mattered and got fifth
37:59
overall in a historically
38:00
SPEAKER_00: very,
38:00
SPEAKER_00: very fast time.
38:02
SPEAKER_00: So, um,
38:03
SPEAKER_00: Next person to talk about, Ezekiel Ruto, another Kenyan runner.
38:07
SPEAKER_00: He's got top fives in Marathon to Mont Blanc each of the past two years,
38:10
SPEAKER_00: and he's got a 10th place in his debut series in all last year.
38:13
He's one of the Kenyans who went out super hard and fell off to
38:16
8th place in the
38:17
SPEAKER_00: Golden Trail Series China this year.
38:19
SPEAKER_00: I don't expect him to do any different for this.
38:21
I think he'll be somebody who's racing up front and wouldn't be
38:23
surprised if he
38:25
SPEAKER_00: fades a bit,
38:25
SPEAKER_00: but I think he could do well at this race.
38:29
Next person on the list is somebody who keeps improving at this
38:34
race and is kind of
38:35
SPEAKER_00: a serious low-key threat,
38:38
SPEAKER_00: and that is Sylvain Kachard.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: He is a French athlete, I believe, for Hoka, if I'm not mistaken.
38:44
SPEAKER_00: He can be a bit up and down in his results,
38:46
SPEAKER_00: but he always finds a way to show up in prime form at Sears and all,
38:49
SPEAKER_00: and he's been doing this race.
38:51
for multiple years and he even did the junior edition of it
38:53
when he was below I
38:54
think 17 is what it is maybe 18 he's improved his time and his
38:58
place every year he
38:59
has raced moving up from 40th to 12th to 7th to 4th place last
39:04
year and he dropped
39:05
SPEAKER_00: his time from 249 down to 234 last year
39:09
SPEAKER_00: I think he's a strong pick for the top 10.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: I think he has some good results this year, but nothing crazy.
39:14
But I think if there's one thing he's proved,
39:15
it's that he really loves Sears and all.
39:17
SPEAKER_00: He knows this race super well.
39:18
SPEAKER_00: I think he's got probably some of the most course familiarity.
39:21
SPEAKER_00: And I think that he always finds a way to show a fit to it.
39:26
SPEAKER_00: So I think he's a really strong pick for top 10.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I see him in the top five again,
39:29
SPEAKER_00: but I definitely could see him somewhere in that top 10.
39:32
SPEAKER_00: And if not, at least the top 15 getting points.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: Next person to talk about,
39:37
SPEAKER_00: and somebody who I have question marks around,
39:40
SPEAKER_00: but I think could have a really good day here,
39:43
SPEAKER_00: probably competing for the spot as the top American,
39:45
SPEAKER_00: which on the men's side doesn't always mean a ton.
39:47
SPEAKER_00: Our ladies tend to do better.
39:48
SPEAKER_00: We have more lady course winners.
39:50
SPEAKER_00: And other than Pablo Vigil,
39:53
SPEAKER_00: who I talked about,
39:53
SPEAKER_00: we really haven't had a ton of American men win the race.
39:58
SPEAKER_00: As a matter of fact, I don't even know...
40:01
SPEAKER_00: Pablo Vigil, Chuck Smead in 1977.
40:03
SPEAKER_00: And then the U.S.
40:06
SPEAKER_00: has not had a winner on the men's side since Pablo Vigil.
40:11
SPEAKER_00: Whereas on the women's side,
40:13
SPEAKER_00: on the women's side,
40:15
SPEAKER_00: Sophia Lockley just won it a couple of years ago.
40:16
And we also have other greats such as Stevie Kramer,
40:21
Megan Lund,
40:23
who have won the race as well.
40:25
SPEAKER_00: So...
40:27
SPEAKER_00: Kristen Allen is who I was talking about.
40:28
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I got distracted.
40:29
SPEAKER_00: I think Kristen Allen's inevitably, he's going to come out hot.
40:33
SPEAKER_00: He's going to come out with a lead pack.
40:35
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't race well in sloppy conditions.
40:37
SPEAKER_00: And we saw that last week with the Pete's Alpine Glacier.
40:40
He had a kind of disappointing finish coming off a really good
40:42
broken arrow.
40:43
SPEAKER_00: He attributed it to a tight back.
40:45
SPEAKER_00: And then I think he's had some ankle issues too.
40:46
SPEAKER_00: So that's a question mark around him.
40:48
SPEAKER_00: He does race a lot,
40:49
and I'm sure he'll be looking to bounce back and show he
40:51
belongs with the Kenyans
40:52
SPEAKER_00: here.
40:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm not as confident.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm between him and Taylor Stack, who will be the top men.
40:58
SPEAKER_00: Taylor Stack looked really, really good last week.
41:00
SPEAKER_00: He hung with the Kenyans.
41:01
SPEAKER_00: He battled with them.
41:02
He really only got passed at the end for second place on this
41:06
flat bike path,
41:07
SPEAKER_00: tow path,
41:08
SPEAKER_00: where he dropped a 455 mile or 450 mile,
41:12
SPEAKER_00: and the Kenyan runner who got second ran faster than him.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: So,
41:16
SPEAKER_00: you know,
41:16
SPEAKER_00: if this was fresh off a broken era,
41:18
SPEAKER_00: I'd say Christian Allen,
41:19
SPEAKER_00: hands down,
41:20
SPEAKER_00: top pick for American men over Taylor Stack.
41:23
SPEAKER_00: But I don't know, Taylor Stack really impressed me last week, so...
41:26
SPEAKER_00: I think they both have the capability to go top 10.
41:28
Only reason I might lean Christian Allen towards his direction
41:33
is because he did
41:34
run here and he ran to 14th place last year with a very
41:37
impressive debut time of
41:38
SPEAKER_00: 237.
41:39
SPEAKER_00: I think the course suits his like speed and his climbing ability.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: I think he's going to go out hot with the lead pack.
41:44
SPEAKER_00: I think as long as he doesn't overcook himself in the first climb,
41:47
he's going to be really good up top with the more runnable kind
41:49
of douche grade
41:50
SPEAKER_00: uphill.
41:51
SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, I don't know.
41:54
SPEAKER_00: It's a question mark.
41:54
SPEAKER_00: I think he could, on a really good day, I think he could go top five.
42:00
SPEAKER_00: But I have some question marks around,
42:01
SPEAKER_00: you know,
42:02
SPEAKER_00: his ankle,
42:03
SPEAKER_00: his back seizing up,
42:04
SPEAKER_00: him overheating,
42:05
SPEAKER_00: nutrition.
42:06
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of question marks that make me hesitant.
42:09
SPEAKER_00: And I think Taylor Stack would also have an amazing day,
42:10
but I'm also hesitant with so many really good Kenyans who have
42:13
already run really
42:14
SPEAKER_00: well here.
42:14
SPEAKER_00: So, yeah.
42:15
SPEAKER_00: Next person to talk about is another Swiss athlete, Dominique Roli.
42:19
SPEAKER_00: He got seventh at Golden Trail Series Noli race this year,
42:23
SPEAKER_00: and he raced last week but was outside the top 10.
42:25
SPEAKER_00: I think he was like 10 through 15.
42:27
SPEAKER_00: He has won top 10 in Sierras and all,
42:29
SPEAKER_00: and that was in 2022,
42:30
SPEAKER_00: and he's raced it six times,
42:32
SPEAKER_00: so he knows the course super well.
42:33
SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't be surprised to see him somewhere in that 10 through 15 range.
42:36
I think top 10 is a little bit of a stretch unless he's maybe
42:40
right at 10th like he
42:40
SPEAKER_00: has been before.
42:42
SPEAKER_00: Next person to look out for,
42:44
SPEAKER_00: somebody who's coming in with a hot hand,
42:45
SPEAKER_00: and that's going to be Timothy Kabat.
42:47
He won last week's Golden Trail Series event in Austria and got
42:50
a fourth at Golden
42:51
SPEAKER_00: Trail Series Great Wall,
42:53
SPEAKER_00: as well as last year's Golden Trail Final.
42:55
This will be his debut series and all,
42:57
but I know he will be very excited.
43:00
I'm not as concerned about the people who raced at Golden Trail
43:03
Series last week.
43:04
SPEAKER_00: For one thing,
43:05
the course was shortened and for another the men's took I think
43:08
an hour and a half
43:09
and the women took like two hours I'm not as concerned as I
43:12
might be if it was a
43:13
full course or I don't know I just I don't think unless people
43:17
are coming in we'll
43:18
talk about the female side unless people are coming in with
43:20
like sprained ankles or
43:22
some kind of injury from falling in the mud like maybe they
43:25
damaged their tailbone
43:26
SPEAKER_00: or like
43:27
damage your wrist or something i'm not too concerned about
43:29
people who raced last
43:31
week because it wasn't as long as it could have been and we see
43:34
people in golden
43:35
SPEAKER_00: trail series double back a lot so
43:37
Next person to talk about who I just talked about is Taylor
43:40
Stack,
43:40
and that's a Brooks athlete.
43:42
He had a super impressive showing being the only not Kenyan in
43:46
the top five last
43:47
SPEAKER_00: week at the Golden Trail Series Austria race.
43:51
SPEAKER_00: I think he honestly is probably,
43:54
I'm leaning more towards him being a top finishing American
43:56
because I don't know
43:56
SPEAKER_00: that Christian Allen will put together a good race.
43:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm not doubting him, but I just think there's too many question marks.
44:02
And I think Taylor Stack,
44:03
I mean,
44:03
he wasn't far behind Christian Allen or Broken Arrow.
44:05
SPEAKER_00: He's only two spots behind him.
44:07
SPEAKER_00: He's got really good light speed.
44:08
SPEAKER_00: He's a really good runner.
44:09
SPEAKER_00: He just has never raced Sears and all, so that's the only thing.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: I think that Taylor Stack can make a debut in the top 10,
44:17
SPEAKER_00: maybe somewhere in that 7-10,
44:18
SPEAKER_00: kind of similar to Eli Hemming's debut,
44:20
SPEAKER_00: I think,
44:20
SPEAKER_00: was top 10 as well.
44:22
SPEAKER_00: It is tough to get Sears and all right the first try, though.
44:25
SPEAKER_00: We're around on those men's list, I promise.
44:28
SPEAKER_00: Next person to talk about Samuel Kiparotic.
44:30
He had a very close and a very hard-fought second place last
44:33
week at the Golden
44:34
SPEAKER_00: Trail Austria,
44:35
SPEAKER_00: just behind Timothy Kibet.
44:38
SPEAKER_00: He made a move on Taylor Stack at the end in the last mile.
44:41
They pushed each other,
44:42
and he only out-kicked Taylor Stack,
44:45
I think,
44:45
by like 20 seconds.
44:47
SPEAKER_00: He came out, St.
44:48
Walker Brocic came out super hot at Golden Trail Series time
44:50
and he faded to sixth.
44:52
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be his debut Sierras and all.
44:54
SPEAKER_00: So that's probably the big question mark there.
44:59
SPEAKER_00: Next person to talk about,
45:00
SPEAKER_00: somebody who I think has the most Sears in all experience,
45:03
SPEAKER_00: at least at the elite field from what I can see.
45:05
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be Tarek's athlete, Robbie Simpson, a Scottish runner.
45:09
SPEAKER_00: He has a ton of history with this race.
45:11
SPEAKER_00: He's finished second four different times,
45:14
SPEAKER_00: 2016,
45:14
SPEAKER_00: 2017,
45:17
SPEAKER_00: 2018,
45:14
SPEAKER_00: and 2021,
45:14
SPEAKER_00: all of which were years that Killian won,
45:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm 95% sure.
45:17
SPEAKER_00: So basically, if Killian isn't here...
45:23
SPEAKER_00: He has four wins, which is kind of nuts.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: He's a staple in this race.
45:29
SPEAKER_00: He knows how to race it so well.
45:31
SPEAKER_00: He's got 12, like I said, 12 years of racing series in all.
45:35
SPEAKER_00: Eight of them were top five finishes and 10 top tens in his 12 races.
45:39
SPEAKER_00: With that being said,
45:40
SPEAKER_00: though,
45:41
SPEAKER_00: one of those two top tens was,
45:42
SPEAKER_00: or excuse me,
45:43
SPEAKER_00: not top tens was last year.
45:45
SPEAKER_00: We had an off day and ran into the 13th.
45:47
His last race that he ran this year was a DNF Quebec Megatrail
45:51
50 in Canada,
45:53
SPEAKER_00: but he did win the South Downs Way 50k this year,
45:56
SPEAKER_00: and he got eighth at Trophy in Nasego,
45:58
SPEAKER_00: which is a technical up-down on the world mountain running circuit.
46:01
I imagine he'll be super hungry to get back in the top five
46:03
with how consistent he's been here.
46:05
SPEAKER_00: I think he's a super strong pick for points.
46:07
SPEAKER_00: I don't think he's ever finished outside the top 15 when he's running.
46:10
SPEAKER_00: And I also think he'll be really,
46:11
really eager to get back to what he knows he's capable of
46:16
running at this race.
46:18
SPEAKER_00: So I think he's a really strong pick.
46:19
I could see him as high as fourth,
46:22
but I think he's a strong pick for that five through 10.
46:25
And a couple other names worth mentioning,
46:27
Jan Torreya,
46:27
Spanish Solomon runner.
46:28
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be his debut, Sierras and all.
46:31
SPEAKER_00: Could be somebody to look out for.
46:32
I think he's still a little bit young and might not quite be at
46:37
that point yet,
46:37
but he's an up-and-coming star and somebody who you want to
46:39
keep an eye on.
46:41
SPEAKER_00: And then last two names I want to talk about is Vitaly Shafar.
46:44
SPEAKER_00: He's a Ukrainian runner.
46:46
SPEAKER_00: He's a two-time winner of the Young Frown Marathon.
46:49
His only stairs in all was in 2023,
46:51
but he ran to a ninth place that year.
46:52
I think he could be somewhere in that eight through 15 and he's
46:56
somebody to look out for.
46:57
SPEAKER_00: And then the last one is Alex Garcia Carrillo,
47:00
SPEAKER_00: a speedy Spanish runner,
47:02
SPEAKER_00: Spanish trail runner for Brooks.
47:03
SPEAKER_00: He's got like a 104, 105 PB.
47:06
SPEAKER_00: in the half marathon.
47:07
SPEAKER_00: His last two series in all is he's been at 13th and 12th place.
47:10
SPEAKER_00: And this will be his fourth race here.
47:12
SPEAKER_00: So he seems like he's got the course pretty dialed.
47:14
SPEAKER_00: I think he could very well,
47:16
a good day for him would be top 10 and could easily see him
47:19
going in that 10
47:19
SPEAKER_00: through 15 spot again.
47:21
So with that being said,
47:22
that kind of wraps up a men's analysis of things.
47:26
So now I'm going to get to the part where I choose my top 10
47:29
with the caveat that I
47:30
always have in this podcast and that I'm probably going to
47:32
fiddle with it and
47:33
SPEAKER_00: change it like 20 times in the next two days.
47:35
SPEAKER_00: You know, we're about two and a half days out from the event.
47:38
And then I'll also tell you some people who I think are worthy
47:41
picks of swapping in
47:42
SPEAKER_00: that I didn't necessarily have in my top 10.
47:44
SPEAKER_00: So from...
47:47
I'm going to go first through 10th just because counting down
47:49
backwards from 10 is hard.
47:51
SPEAKER_00: First place, I got Philemon Kiriago.
47:53
SPEAKER_00: Probably not surprised by that.
47:54
SPEAKER_00: Second place, I got Patrick Hippengeno.
47:56
SPEAKER_00: You're probably not surprised by that.
47:58
SPEAKER_00: Third place, I've got Andro Blanes-Reig.
48:00
SPEAKER_00: I think he's going to do super well this race again.
48:03
SPEAKER_00: Fourth place, Paul Machoca.
48:05
SPEAKER_00: He's done raced his years in all well.
48:08
SPEAKER_00: Fifth place, Leonard Chimitai.
48:10
SPEAKER_00: Has not raced a race this long.
48:11
SPEAKER_00: I think he could be a breakout.
48:12
SPEAKER_00: I think he has the possibility to win.
48:15
SPEAKER_00: But I don't know that I'm gussy enough to pick him for the win.
48:18
SPEAKER_00: Sixth place, I've got Josvat Kiprotich.
48:21
SPEAKER_00: Seventh place, Timothy Kabet.
48:24
SPEAKER_00: Eighth place, Sylvain Kachard.
48:27
SPEAKER_00: Ninth place, Robbie Simpson.
48:29
SPEAKER_00: And 10th place, Dion Angermund.
48:31
SPEAKER_00: So essentially, I've got one, two.
48:36
SPEAKER_00: I've got six East Africans, five of which are from Kenya in my top 10.
48:41
And then I've got some other staples like Robbie Simpson,
48:43
who also always races well.
48:44
SPEAKER_00: Stian, who I think is back to Stian Fitness.
48:47
And then Sylvain Cashard,
48:48
who always finds a way to show up to Sears and all.
48:51
SPEAKER_00: Andru Blani's rig is kind of the one, the highest non-Kenyan.
48:54
racer that i have in third place i think he has the ability to
48:56
win it he's beat
48:57
kenyans here before uh the only time he raced it he raced it
49:00
flawlessly and i think
49:02
he will do well in the heat i think it's another consideration
49:04
for people to keep
49:05
in mind it's gonna be hot it's typically a pretty hot race
49:08
people need to be heat
49:08
SPEAKER_00: trained
49:09
With this being said,
49:10
I think that Francesco Pupi is a super strong pick for top 10.
49:13
SPEAKER_00: I think he's going to come back and run it better than he has.
49:17
I think that at least one or two of the other Kenyans that I
49:20
mentioned could go top 10.
49:21
SPEAKER_00: Joey Haydorn, if he's healthy, could go top 10.
49:24
SPEAKER_00: Kezri Maestri could also go top 10.
49:26
And then I think from the American side,
49:27
I think we'll see at least one person in the top 10.
49:29
I just don't know if that person is going to be Christian Allen
49:32
or Taylor Stack.
49:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
49:35
That's where I'm at right now,
49:38
and those are my top ten for the men's side.
49:40
SPEAKER_00: Now we're going to talk about the women's side.
49:41
SPEAKER_00: The course record on the women's side is from Mod Mathis in 2019.
49:45
SPEAKER_00: She ran a 2.49.20 that year.
49:51
SPEAKER_01: I'm double-checking these times, so give me one second.
49:55
SPEAKER_00: She ran a 249.20, that's correct.
49:58
SPEAKER_00: And she won four in a row from 2019 to 2022.
50:02
She's tied with Anna Picciertova,
50:05
who won four in a row from 2006 to 2009.
50:08
SPEAKER_00: And she was also the former course record holder.
50:12
SPEAKER_00: Anna's mark was 254.26 in 2008.
50:14
SPEAKER_00: And then Maude came along and broke it in 2019 at 249.20.
50:19
SPEAKER_00: And we do have Maude in this race.
50:22
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about her more here in a bit.
50:25
SPEAKER_00: But I think the women's race, honestly, is going to be harder to pick.
50:28
I also think there's going to be fewer Kenyans or East Africans
50:32
in the top 10.
50:34
SPEAKER_00: And I also think that it's, yeah, I don't know.
50:36
SPEAKER_00: I'm just,
50:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm a little bit more excited about it,
50:38
SPEAKER_00: quite frankly,
50:39
SPEAKER_00: without having Killian,
50:40
SPEAKER_00: because I think it's really a toss up.
50:42
We have the returning champion,
50:44
but I don't necessarily know that she's a favorite.
50:47
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about that.
50:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
50:49
SPEAKER_00: She probably is.
50:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm not sure.
50:52
SPEAKER_00: So anyways, we're gonna talk about the women's side.
50:54
SPEAKER_00: So last year's top 15 on the women's side, just for some context.
51:00
SPEAKER_00: Last year, first place, Joylene Chepangeno.
51:02
SPEAKER_00: She's returning.
51:03
SPEAKER_00: Second place, Scout Adkin.
51:05
SPEAKER_00: Third place, Madalena Floria.
51:07
SPEAKER_00: Fourth place, Filaris Kieseng.
51:09
SPEAKER_00: Fifth place, Christina Simeone.
51:11
SPEAKER_00: Kind of a sleeper pick from Romania.
51:13
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about her later.
51:14
SPEAKER_00: Sixth place, Anna Gibson.
51:16
SPEAKER_00: Seventh place, Sofia Lockley.
51:18
SPEAKER_00: Eighth place, Uriah Liachi.
51:20
SPEAKER_00: Swiss runner, I could be butchering that.
51:23
SPEAKER_00: Ninth place, Julie Lalong.
51:24
SPEAKER_00: Tenth place, Caitlin Felder.
51:26
SPEAKER_00: Eleventh, Eliza Desco.
51:28
SPEAKER_00: Twelfth, Joyce Najeru.
51:29
SPEAKER_00: Thirteenth, Marianne Lieberreich.
51:32
SPEAKER_00: Fourteenth, Therese LaBeouf.
51:34
SPEAKER_00: And fifteenth, Selena Birch.
51:36
SPEAKER_00: So of those,
51:38
SPEAKER_00: Jolene,
51:39
SPEAKER_00: Madalena,
51:40
SPEAKER_00: Solaris,
51:40
SPEAKER_00: Christina,
51:41
SPEAKER_00: Anna,
51:42
SPEAKER_00: Araya,
51:44
SPEAKER_00: Julie,
51:46
SPEAKER_00: Joyce,
51:47
SPEAKER_00: I think about eight.
51:48
SPEAKER_00: So about half the top 15 are returning this year.
51:52
SPEAKER_00: So looking at the women's race,
51:54
I think that there are some people who have legit possibilities
51:58
to win it.
52:00
And then I think there's a lot of really strong people for the
52:03
top five,
52:03
honestly.
52:03
SPEAKER_00: So I'm having a hard time picking for the women's race.
52:06
I'm going to talk about the ladies,
52:07
and then I'll kind of talk about who I am picking.
52:10
SPEAKER_00: So first lady to talk about is Miao Yao, Chinese Solomon athlete.
52:15
SPEAKER_00: She's a very fast road runner.
52:17
SPEAKER_00: She's got a marathon, I think, in the high 220s.
52:19
SPEAKER_00: She's not, however, the fastest marathoner in the field.
52:22
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about that in a little bit.
52:24
SPEAKER_00: She did win last year's OCC,
52:25
SPEAKER_00: and she got fifth at Great Wall,
52:27
SPEAKER_00: the Golden Trail Series Great Wall,
52:28
SPEAKER_00: after coming out really hot and then kind of fading.
52:31
SPEAKER_00: Her only race here was in 2023, where she had a really good race.
52:33
SPEAKER_00: She got fourth place behind Sophia, Joyce, and Filarious Kiesing.
52:38
SPEAKER_00: I think she's a really strong pick for the top 10.
52:39
SPEAKER_00: I could see her going as high as second or third.
52:42
SPEAKER_00: I don't think that I see her winning list.
52:44
SPEAKER_00: I think probably third or fourth,
52:45
SPEAKER_00: actually,
52:45
SPEAKER_00: is probably her top best day,
52:48
SPEAKER_00: whereas a top 10 is pretty likely for her.
52:50
I don't think I see her winning list against some of the
52:52
Kenyans and just people
52:54
SPEAKER_00: who race smarter.
52:55
SPEAKER_00: I think she's going to come out really hot.
52:56
SPEAKER_00: I don't think she's going to pace the climb well.
52:59
And then she's not going to have like the super fast,
53:03
runnable kind of douche grade stuff.
53:04
SPEAKER_00: She's not going to have the likes for it.
53:05
SPEAKER_00: So next person to talk about is Joylene Chepagina.
53:07
SPEAKER_00: She's a returning champ.
53:09
SPEAKER_00: She came out of nowhere last year to win this and surprise everyone.
53:12
I remember seeing her name at the bottom of the list because I
53:14
look for Kenyan
53:15
flags or East African flags for people that maybe might be
53:18
showing up and be kind
53:19
SPEAKER_00: of ringers.
53:20
And I remember seeing her name and I don't remember,
53:22
I don't think I put her in my top center.
53:24
SPEAKER_00: If I did, I put her low because I was hesitant.
53:26
SPEAKER_00: But I was like, I feel like this person might shock us all and win.
53:30
SPEAKER_00: Certainly enough,
53:30
SPEAKER_00: she did,
53:31
and she's done nothing to make me doubt that she's just as fit
53:33
as she was last year
53:35
SPEAKER_00: through this year's racing.
53:37
SPEAKER_00: She got second place at Golden Trail Great Wall,
53:40
SPEAKER_00: and then she got a win at Marathon de Mont Blanc.
53:41
SPEAKER_00: So she can race the longer stuff.
53:43
SPEAKER_00: She can race the hotter stuff.
53:45
SPEAKER_00: Her Great Wall performance was still really, really good.
53:48
SPEAKER_00: I think she's the favorite, quite frankly.
53:51
Next person to talk about is Rosa Lara Filu,
53:53
Spanish runner for Compress Sport and Scarpa.
53:56
SPEAKER_00: She's really consistent this year and last year.
53:59
SPEAKER_00: She gets fourth place a lot.
54:01
SPEAKER_00: She's coming off a fourth at Marathon de Mont Blanc.
54:03
zagama and at noli this year the golden trail series so two
54:06
golden trail series
54:07
events in marathon of mont blanc which is always competitive
54:10
fourth seems to be her
54:10
number so maybe she'll get fourth here too the only thing going
54:13
against her she
54:14
hasn't raced this year is an all yet um so that's the only
54:16
hesitation i have in
54:17
picking her but she's a really consistent racer and seems to
54:20
pace things super well
54:21
um athletes can do well at sears in all first place or first
54:25
try but there does
54:26
SPEAKER_00: seem to be a learning curve for most people so
54:29
SPEAKER_00: That's the only hesitation I have.
54:31
SPEAKER_00: I think she's a strong pick for points.
54:32
SPEAKER_00: I think she'll for sure go top 15.
54:34
I just don't know that I see her in anything higher than fifth
54:40
place,
54:40
I would say.
54:41
Next person is a runner who's coming in with probably the most
54:44
momentum out of
54:46
SPEAKER_00: anyone in this entire field,
54:47
SPEAKER_00: and that is Naomi Lang,
54:49
SPEAKER_00: the Scottish runner who runs for Solomon Young,
54:52
SPEAKER_00: up-and-comer.
54:53
SPEAKER_00: She's coming off a win last week at Pete's Alpine Glacier,
54:56
SPEAKER_00: which is a huge confidence booster.
54:58
SPEAKER_00: She looked really smart.
54:59
SPEAKER_00: She beat a bunch of Kenyan women.
55:02
SPEAKER_00: And she also got 30 marathon to Mont Blanc this year.
55:04
SPEAKER_00: So she's coming off.
55:06
SPEAKER_00: She wasn't as sharp and noli at the beginning of the year.
55:08
SPEAKER_00: And I think she got like 10th through 14th place.
55:11
But basically it seems like she's peaking at the right time and
55:13
she's really kind
55:13
SPEAKER_00: of coming into her own and everyone,
55:15
SPEAKER_00: you know,
55:15
SPEAKER_00: it's really hard to win a golden trail series event.
55:17
SPEAKER_00: So I feel like that breeze confidence shows you that you can win it.
55:20
SPEAKER_00: And I think she'll be up there pushing the front.
55:23
SPEAKER_00: and the pace with the Kenyan females.
55:26
SPEAKER_00: I think she has the tools to do well here.
55:28
She's both got the climbing ability because she out climbed a
55:30
bunch of really good
55:31
SPEAKER_00: climbers last week and she's got the flat fast speed.
55:35
The only thing I'm worried about with Naomi is that it's going
55:38
to be a hot race.
55:39
SPEAKER_00: So has she, you know, coming from Scotland, which is not going to be hot.
55:43
SPEAKER_00: Has she been doing her heat training?
55:44
SPEAKER_00: Has she been preparing for that?
55:46
SPEAKER_00: That's the only thing that I think could get her in trouble.
55:49
she needs to be heat acclimated because I checked the temps and
55:51
I think it gets up
55:52
SPEAKER_00: to like 78 or it gets up to like 90 degrees,
55:56
SPEAKER_00: which what's that like 31 Celsius,
55:58
SPEAKER_00: 32.
55:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's, it's routinely a pretty hot race.
56:01
SPEAKER_00: And if people mess up nutrition or come out too hard,
56:05
SPEAKER_00: it's really easy to redline and never get your legs back.
56:08
SPEAKER_00: So that's the only hesitation I have.
56:09
SPEAKER_00: I still think she's got a pretty good momentum going for her.
56:12
I'm feeling pretty heavy about,
56:13
uh,
56:14
pretty positive about her doing well in this race.
56:17
uh next runner is definitely a favorite somebody with the
56:20
potential to win this
56:20
race if not go top three and that's going to be speedy romanian
56:24
madalina floria who
56:26
runs for scott she's been super consistent this year i believe
56:29
she uh she should be
56:30
leading the golden trail world series with the most points even
56:33
after last week's
56:34
SPEAKER_00: race she's run two second uh two third places a second place and a win
56:39
uh in her four golden trail series races this year she's run
56:42
sierras and all twice
56:43
before and she got a third and uh 2024 and a seventh in 2023
56:48
but in 2023 i think
56:49
she was up front leading the pack for a lot of it and she fell
56:51
off because she
56:51
couldn't take in any nutrition um i think she's got that solved
56:55
i think she's heat
56:55
acclimated the only hesitation i have with her as i know people
56:58
in the fantasy free
56:59
SPEAKER_00: trail spot uh fantasy free trail slack channel
57:02
SPEAKER_00: were saying that she posted something on social media.
57:06
SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to have to look into that.
57:08
SPEAKER_00: So caveat, maybe check her social media.
57:10
That makes it seem like she might be questionable on running or
57:12
racing well.
57:14
SPEAKER_00: So if not,
57:15
SPEAKER_00: if she's healthy and racing well,
57:16
SPEAKER_00: I think she's a lock for the top five,
57:18
SPEAKER_00: probably the top three with a chance to win it.
57:22
SPEAKER_00: The only thing is, is she going to be healthy?
57:24
SPEAKER_00: And the next person who also has the possibility of winning this,
57:27
but also has a lot of question marks around their name and has
57:29
been more up and
57:30
SPEAKER_00: down this year than Madalena,
57:32
SPEAKER_00: and that's going to be Joyce Najiru.
57:34
SPEAKER_00: She's the Kenyan runner for Normal.
57:35
SPEAKER_00: She won the Golden Trail Series overall last year.
57:38
SPEAKER_00: She's been up and down.
57:39
SPEAKER_00: I'm curious which version of her we're going to get at this race.
57:42
She's regained some momentum because she got the win at Broken
57:44
Arrow VK and the 23K.
57:46
SPEAKER_00: She's raced Ceres and All twice before with mixed bags.
57:49
SPEAKER_00: She got second in 2023, and then last year she got 12
57:53
face she faded she was in the top three uh tried to keep up
57:56
with joy lean and just
57:57
couldn't hang uh and ended up fading back to 12th place so i
58:01
feel like it's a toss
58:01
up she's either gonna be top three or you know might be top 15
58:05
i'm rooting for her
58:06
to be up front pushing i hope she's figuring out whatever has
58:08
been kind of uh
58:09
bugging her this year um and i think that she also has the
58:13
possibility of winning
58:14
SPEAKER_00: this quite frankly
58:16
Next athlete is another Kenyan athlete who has done super well
58:20
at Sears and all
58:23
SPEAKER_00: three years in a row,
58:23
SPEAKER_00: and that's Filaris Kiseng.
58:26
SPEAKER_00: In three years in a row, she's got second, third, and fourth place.
58:30
SPEAKER_00: So far this year,
58:30
SPEAKER_00: she's won Trofea Masego,
58:32
SPEAKER_00: which is a quite competitive race,
58:33
SPEAKER_00: and she got fifth at a VK in France.
58:36
She's raced a few other VKs and done well and got a third in
58:38
Grossglockner Mountain Run.
58:40
SPEAKER_00: I think Filaris is a lock for the top 10, in my opinion.
58:44
SPEAKER_00: Maybe she's already got second, third, and fourth.
58:46
SPEAKER_00: So I think I'll probably choose her fifth, because why not?
58:50
SPEAKER_00: So that's Filaris.
58:55
SPEAKER_00: Definitely a strong pick.
58:56
SPEAKER_00: Next person would be a favorite if they were healthy.
59:00
SPEAKER_00: But I have serious question marks around their health.
59:02
SPEAKER_00: This is the course record holder, four-time champion.
59:05
mon mathis runner for a6 swiss legend um you know she has put
59:12
down some of her best
59:13
performances uh at this race um and really just races it like
59:17
nobody else um she
59:19
was on the start list last year but she scratched uh because of
59:21
injury solomon just
59:22
SPEAKER_00: put out a video about her that was good and kind of went into that um
59:27
SPEAKER_00: She's had a really long road to recovery from her injury.
59:29
SPEAKER_00: I can't remember specifically what it was.
59:32
SPEAKER_00: She's done some low-key racing this year.
59:33
She won the Transvalcania VK and Half Marathon in May,
59:39
which didn't have super deep fields.
59:41
SPEAKER_00: But looking at her Instagram,
59:42
SPEAKER_00: if Instagram's good at translating from French,
59:44
SPEAKER_00: it seems like she's racing,
59:45
SPEAKER_00: but she's not expecting to be competitive.
59:47
SPEAKER_00: So...
59:48
take that for a grain of salt when you're considering who
59:50
you're going to pick and
59:51
what your picks are going to be i don't think she's expecting
59:54
to come back to mod
59:55
form and i don't think she's expecting to be competitive but
59:58
once again there could
59:59
be some nuance lost in the translation on her instagram but it
1:00:03
seems to me like
1:00:04
even though she's running it she doesn't expect to be uh doing
1:00:08
mod things basically
1:00:11
Next person is somebody who I would say was a favorite to win
1:00:14
up until last week
1:00:15
SPEAKER_00: and still very much has the possibility to win.
1:00:17
SPEAKER_00: And that is Caroline Kimutai.
1:00:20
SPEAKER_00: She came out with a bang this year.
1:00:21
SPEAKER_00: She won the Golden Trail Series China event at the Great Wall Race.
1:00:26
I'm a little bit worried that she might have tweaked something
1:00:28
in the Austria race last year.
1:00:29
SPEAKER_00: She was up front with the lead pack hanging out with...
1:00:35
SPEAKER_00: with Naomi Lang, and then she really just kind of faded.
1:00:38
SPEAKER_00: I think she faded back into fifth place, and I'm just not sure if she
1:00:42
rolled an ankle or like took a bad fall and then just kind of
1:00:45
eased it in or what
1:00:47
um but that's the only question mark i have is you know is it
1:00:49
something that is
1:00:50
going to affect her race this week or is it something that she
1:00:52
just didn't have a
1:00:53
good day brushed it off and come back if she's good to go like
1:00:55
i said i think she
1:00:56
can win this race um but my only question mark is did she get
1:00:58
hurt i think she's a
1:00:59
lock for the top 10 even if she is a little bit banged up i
1:01:02
think she has the
1:01:03
possibility to win this i don't know that i'm guessing enough
1:01:05
to pick her for the
1:01:06
SPEAKER_00: win but i think she could beat joylene she already has once this year
1:01:09
SPEAKER_00: Actually,
1:01:09
SPEAKER_00: twice this year,
1:01:10
SPEAKER_00: she beat her at a trail race in Kenya,
1:01:11
SPEAKER_00: I think,
1:01:11
SPEAKER_00: for a team qualifier.
1:01:14
SPEAKER_00: Next woman on the list is Julia Font Gomez,
1:01:16
SPEAKER_00: Spanish Brooks runner,
1:01:17
SPEAKER_00: second at UTMB Tenerife,
1:01:19
SPEAKER_00: 47K this year.
1:01:24
for the championships she's got podiums at multiple sky running
1:01:27
world series races
1:01:28
and she got her eighth at headlands which was a really fast
1:01:30
course in california
1:01:31
last year for the golden trail series she hasn't raced years in
1:01:33
all before but she
1:01:34
is speedy she does good in hot races um i think she could be a
1:01:37
sleeper pick for
1:01:38
SPEAKER_00: that five through ten um yeah and could race as well
1:01:43
Next person who makes this field eminently exciting and that
1:01:47
we're super curious
1:01:48
SPEAKER_00: but have no idea what to expect,
1:01:49
SPEAKER_00: and that's going to be Katie Scheid,
1:01:51
SPEAKER_00: coming fresh off a Hard Rock victory,
1:01:53
SPEAKER_00: UTMB champion,
1:01:54
SPEAKER_00: Western States champion,
1:01:55
SPEAKER_00: Diagonal Day Food champion Katie Scheid.
1:02:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she's probably the most exciting person to talk about.
1:02:02
SPEAKER_00: I think a really good day for her is top 10,
1:02:08
SPEAKER_00: and I think a likely result for her is probably top 20,
1:02:10
SPEAKER_00: honestly.
1:02:13
But if she goes top five,
1:02:14
I mean,
1:02:15
it kind of feels like she's trying to one-up Courtney.
1:02:16
SPEAKER_00: You know,
1:02:17
SPEAKER_00: Courtney raced Zagama two years ago and got 10th,
1:02:19
SPEAKER_00: and that's a shorter,
1:02:20
SPEAKER_00: faster race than we're used to Courtney seeing.
1:02:22
So if Katie Schad goes ninth in Sierra's and all,
1:02:24
she's saying,
1:02:24
hey,
1:02:25
Courtney,
1:02:26
look at that.
1:02:26
SPEAKER_00: You might be able to drop down,
1:02:28
SPEAKER_00: but look what I did in a faster race that's less technical,
1:02:32
SPEAKER_00: less trail running,
1:02:32
SPEAKER_00: and really just more leg speed.
1:02:35
She just raced an uphill road race in France and she set a
1:02:37
course record on it.
1:02:39
SPEAKER_00: It was a road uphill race,
1:02:40
SPEAKER_00: like I mentioned,
1:02:41
but it was 16 miles with 5,400 feet of elevation and two hours
1:02:45
and six minutes,
1:02:46
which for my Western audience was a six minute and 19 second
1:02:50
grade adjusted pace.
1:02:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm curious.
1:02:52
I know she's fast,
1:02:53
but I'm curious to see if she's top 10 at zero and all fast.
1:02:56
So we've seen her impress everyone two years ago with a second
1:03:00
place at OCC,
1:03:02
SPEAKER_00: I think only behind...
1:03:06
SPEAKER_00: I think Judith Weider beat her, but I'm not 100% on that.
1:03:11
But it's second place at OCC coming off her second place at
1:03:13
Western States with
1:03:14
SPEAKER_00: Courtney that year.
1:03:14
SPEAKER_00: And then,
1:03:15
SPEAKER_00: yeah,
1:03:16
just a top 10 or even a win here would show true GOAT status
1:03:20
that we've really only
1:03:21
SPEAKER_00: seen from the likes of Killian Jornet,
1:03:23
SPEAKER_00: quite frankly.
1:03:25
So,
1:03:25
uh,
1:03:26
she's raced,
1:03:27
uh,
1:03:27
sky raced in math to zine to a third place in 2019.
1:03:29
SPEAKER_00: That's a fast technical sky race.
1:03:31
SPEAKER_00: She has raised years and all once before in 2021 to a 19th place.
1:03:35
SPEAKER_00: So she's familiar with the course.
1:03:37
SPEAKER_00: She's a much fitter version of herself in 2021 Katie.
1:03:39
Uh,
1:03:41
and I think that she'll be looking to improve on that placement
1:03:44
in that time,
1:03:44
no doubt.
1:03:45
SPEAKER_00: So big question mark, uh, really excited to see your race though.
1:03:49
and then uh some other names on the female side uh jeb coach
1:03:53
ruto valentine she's
1:03:55
got two races this year and that was a third place at golfa de
1:03:58
la sola golden trail
1:03:59
series race and they win at the world mountain running up and
1:04:02
down event chonley
1:04:04
against a good field i think she could have a really good day i
1:04:06
could see her going
1:04:07
SPEAKER_00: top five and uh i could see her going top five in this race quite frankly
1:04:14
SPEAKER_00: Some other names,
1:04:15
SPEAKER_00: Allie Mack made the US team at Centipede Scramble,
1:04:17
SPEAKER_00: but has been pretty up and down with her racing.
1:04:19
SPEAKER_00: So I'm curious to see where she's at.
1:04:20
I heard,
1:04:20
I feel like I even might've heard that she's injured from the
1:04:24
Subhub podcast.
1:04:25
SPEAKER_00: So she got an eighth at Broken Arrow this year.
1:04:27
SPEAKER_00: So hopefully trending back towards old Allie Mack.
1:04:30
SPEAKER_00: I don't think she's raced here as well before.
1:04:33
Susanna Sapunki is a Finnish athlete with a ton of good VK and
1:04:36
uphill racing
1:04:36
SPEAKER_00: results,
1:04:37
SPEAKER_00: including Nereve Molson,
1:04:40
SPEAKER_00: which is the one that's running races every year.
1:04:42
SPEAKER_00: I really,
1:04:44
SPEAKER_00: It's like a steep uphill race.
1:04:46
It seems like she races a lot of Italian national championships
1:04:49
and wins them,
1:04:50
SPEAKER_00: but I don't think she's an Italian citizen.
1:04:52
SPEAKER_00: She's Finnish.
1:04:53
So she's got podiums also this year at Trofeo Nessego and
1:04:56
Vertical Nessego last year.
1:04:58
SPEAKER_00: She's raced Harrison All twice with a 13th in 2023 and a DNF last year.
1:05:02
Seems like Vert's her strong thing,
1:05:04
so maybe the flat running is what gets her.
1:05:05
SPEAKER_00: I can see her getting points again this year.
1:05:08
SPEAKER_00: Somebody who I'm really excited to talk about,
1:05:09
probably the best chance for an American to finish top five in
1:05:14
either side is going
1:05:15
SPEAKER_00: to be Anna Gibson.
1:05:17
SPEAKER_00: She's the American runner for Brooks.
1:05:18
SPEAKER_00: She's had a killer year so far.
1:05:20
She got sixth place here at Zeros and All last year,
1:05:23
which was an awesome debut.
1:05:25
SPEAKER_00: And she's done great this year.
1:05:26
SPEAKER_00: She's got 11th place at Zagama, won the U.S.
1:05:29
SPEAKER_00: up-down race at Sunapee, and then got third place at Broken Arrow.
1:05:32
I think that her and Lauren Gregory are both strong picks for
1:05:35
the top 10.
1:05:36
I think Ana is more of my pick with both the race experience
1:05:39
and just her season so
1:05:40
SPEAKER_00: far this year.
1:05:41
Next person to talk about is a name that most people probably
1:05:45
haven't heard of,
1:05:45
SPEAKER_00: and that's Laura Hottenrott.
1:05:47
SPEAKER_00: She's a German roadrunner,
1:05:49
SPEAKER_00: and her UTMB profile says that she ran a 224 in the marathon,
1:05:53
SPEAKER_00: so that's probably the fastest marathoner in this field.
1:05:56
SPEAKER_00: And she was an Olympian and a two-time world championship medalist.
1:05:59
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't
1:06:00
I quite frankly didn't Google what in,
1:06:03
but I imagine something distance related.
1:06:05
She definitely could be a sleeper pick and somebody who I see
1:06:08
with a like speed to
1:06:09
SPEAKER_00: go top 10 if she can handle the climb to the sense well.
1:06:11
SPEAKER_00: She has won the Young Frowl Marathon in both 2021 and 2022.
1:06:15
And then she did the Iger 51K and won it this year over Therese
1:06:21
LaMouffe and Claire Rhodes.
1:06:22
SPEAKER_00: So that's all signs pointing in a strong direction.
1:06:25
SPEAKER_00: I could see top 10 from her if she has a good debut.
1:06:29
SPEAKER_00: Next person to talk about is former world champion,
1:06:32
SPEAKER_00: world trail champion,
1:06:33
SPEAKER_00: Denisa Dragomir from Romania.
1:06:35
SPEAKER_00: She won the short trail race in Thailand,
1:06:38
SPEAKER_00: and she raced Sierra's and Alto top 10,
1:06:40
SPEAKER_00: but it was in 2014.
1:06:41
SPEAKER_00: So she'll be coming back.
1:06:42
She has a handful of second places this year at Skyrunning
1:06:44
World Series races,
1:06:46
SPEAKER_00: and she might surprise some people who aren't as familiar with her.
1:06:50
SPEAKER_00: Next person to talk about,
1:06:50
SPEAKER_00: and I think somebody who's a very strong pick for the top 10 as well,
1:06:54
SPEAKER_00: is going to be Alice Gaggi,
1:06:56
SPEAKER_00: the Italian athlete for Brooks.
1:06:58
SPEAKER_00: She got a fifth here in 2023.
1:06:59
SPEAKER_00: She's had a very consistent year so far.
1:07:01
SPEAKER_00: She got a sixth at Golden Trail Series Noli,
1:07:03
SPEAKER_00: sixth at Trophy on the Sago,
1:07:05
SPEAKER_00: fifth at Broken Arrow at 23K.
1:07:07
SPEAKER_00: She's raced threes here in alls with two top 10 finishes.
1:07:10
SPEAKER_00: I think she's a very strong pick for points.
1:07:14
SPEAKER_00: Next on the list is the other woman in the U.S.
1:07:18
SPEAKER_00: who I think has a very strong shot at getting a top 10,
1:07:21
SPEAKER_00: and that's going to be Lauren Gregory,
1:07:22
SPEAKER_00: the U.S.
1:07:22
SPEAKER_00: Nike trail athlete, former collegiate runner at Arkansas.
1:07:25
It's going to be her first years and all,
1:07:27
but it feels like a course that's really made for her.
1:07:29
SPEAKER_00: She's very fast on flat stuff.
1:07:32
SPEAKER_00: She's a good climber and a really good ascender.
1:07:34
So I feel confident that either she or Anna Gibson will get
1:07:36
America a lady spot in the top 10.
1:07:39
I wouldn't be surprised at both of them,
1:07:40
but I'm leaning toward Anna having a higher finish.
1:07:43
SPEAKER_00: Lauren seems to be building throughout the year.
1:07:44
SPEAKER_00: She's coming off an injury this spring and has momentum on her side.
1:07:47
SPEAKER_00: She's got a win at Golden Trail Series Mexico race,
1:07:49
SPEAKER_00: her last race,
1:07:50
SPEAKER_00: and she got a fourth at Broken Arrow,
1:07:52
SPEAKER_00: so she's looking pretty good.
1:07:53
SPEAKER_00: The Mexico race wasn't as competitive,
1:07:55
but she's got that confidence that she can win a Golden Trail
1:07:58
Series race.
1:07:59
SPEAKER_00: Next person on the list is Jade Bellsberg, Canadian runner for Ultra.
1:08:04
SPEAKER_00: She's a super versatile athlete.
1:08:05
SPEAKER_00: She never runs here as an all,
1:08:06
SPEAKER_00: but she has some really good results at short races and fast races,
1:08:09
SPEAKER_00: and I think a good day would put her in the back half of the top 10.
1:08:13
Next person who I had to review this person,
1:08:16
and that's Christina Simeon.
1:08:18
SPEAKER_00: You don't find a lot of trail runners I haven't heard of.
1:08:20
SPEAKER_00: And this woman flew by my radar.
1:08:22
SPEAKER_00: She's a Romanian.
1:08:23
SPEAKER_00: She got fifth place last year at Sierra's and all.
1:08:26
SPEAKER_00: Seems like a breakout result for a runner from Romania,
1:08:28
which is a country that seems to be producing more and more
1:08:31
good trail runners each
1:08:31
SPEAKER_00: year.
1:08:32
SPEAKER_00: Madalina Floria, Bogdan Damian.
1:08:34
SPEAKER_00: We have some good ultra runners as well from Romania.
1:08:37
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, could be somebody to keep an eye out.
1:08:40
Fifth place at Sierra's and all last year is no joke and could
1:08:42
very well repeat it this year.
1:08:44
SPEAKER_00: Another person to look out for is going to be Faith Kipligat.
1:08:48
She won Marathon de Mont Blanc half marathon this year and ran
1:08:50
into fifth at last
1:08:52
SPEAKER_00: week's Golden Trail Series race in Austria.
1:08:54
SPEAKER_00: Could definitely be a breakout performance here,
1:08:56
SPEAKER_00: and I would not be surprised to see her in the top 10 in this field.
1:09:01
SPEAKER_01: I think I skipped.
1:09:07
SPEAKER_01: Okay, no, it's getting on.
1:09:09
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that's Faith Kiplagat.
1:09:11
SPEAKER_00: Next person is Takako Takamura, the Japanese runner.
1:09:13
SPEAKER_00: She's got multiple top 10s in the Golden Trail Series this year.
1:09:15
SPEAKER_00: Was just outside top 15 in Sierra's in all last year in the 16th place.
1:09:19
SPEAKER_00: I don't know that I see her doing much better than the top 10,
1:09:22
SPEAKER_00: but I could see her in that 10 through 15 spot.
1:09:25
SPEAKER_00: Julia Long, returning top 10 runner from France.
1:09:29
SPEAKER_00: Really good VK specialist.
1:09:31
Uh,
1:09:31
next person,
1:09:32
Oriya Liachi,
1:09:33
she raced into the top 10 last year and had multiple top 10.
1:09:37
So she got eighth place at Sierra's in all last year and had
1:09:40
multiple top 10s
1:09:41
SPEAKER_00: towards the end of the golden trail series.
1:09:44
SPEAKER_00: Um,
1:09:44
SPEAKER_00: and the U S races,
1:09:46
SPEAKER_00: she hasn't raced trail since last year,
1:09:47
SPEAKER_00: it seems like,
1:09:48
SPEAKER_00: but on her Instagram,
1:09:49
it says she's run a one 11 and a half marathon this February
1:09:51
and a 16 minute 5k in
1:09:53
SPEAKER_00: April.
1:09:54
SPEAKER_00: She definitely has the light speed.
1:09:55
SPEAKER_00: I can see her going top 10.
1:09:56
SPEAKER_00: She's Swiss.
1:09:56
SPEAKER_00: So she's got that going for her.
1:09:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, it could be somebody to look out for.
1:10:02
And then last three ladies on the list,
1:10:04
Ikram Marsala,
1:10:05
a speedy runner from Spain.
1:10:07
SPEAKER_00: She got sixth as a Gama earlier this year.
1:10:10
SPEAKER_00: She's got PBs with a 228 marathon, 111.5, and a 3249 10K.
1:10:12
She got eighth at OCC last year,
1:10:13
10th at Marathon of Mont Blanc,
1:10:15
and second at Agir de Mont.
1:10:21
SPEAKER_00: So I think that this is a course that suits her well.
1:10:25
SPEAKER_00: She didn't have a great race at it last year.
1:10:26
SPEAKER_00: She ran into 21st place.
1:10:28
SPEAKER_00: So I'm sure she's looking to improve, learn from last year's race.
1:10:30
SPEAKER_00: I could see her going top 10 as well.
1:10:33
SPEAKER_00: Then the last two females, Americans, Sarah Carter, a.k.a.
1:10:36
SPEAKER_00: at Golden Trail Series Mexico and second at Chukenot this year.
1:10:39
SPEAKER_00: She was a topo athlete, former collegiate runner at Colorado State.
1:10:43
SPEAKER_00: And then the last one is Sydney Peterson,
1:10:45
SPEAKER_00: who's coming off the 10th at Broken Arrow,
1:10:46
SPEAKER_00: also a trail runner for books and could be somebody to look out for.
1:10:50
SPEAKER_00: She has good leg speed, also ran collegiately.
1:10:52
SPEAKER_00: I don't remember where.
1:10:54
SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of the female field.
1:10:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm up in the air.
1:10:57
There's a lot of people that I'm looking – even as I'm looking
1:10:58
at my top ten,
1:10:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm like,
1:10:59
SPEAKER_00: oh,
1:10:59
SPEAKER_00: I might swap that person out,
1:11:00
SPEAKER_00: swap that person in.
1:11:02
SPEAKER_00: But tentatively, here is my top ten on the women's side of the race.
1:11:06
SPEAKER_00: First place I'm going to go, Joylene Cipagino.
1:11:08
SPEAKER_00: I think she's the favorite to repeat.
1:11:10
SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't be surprised if she wins again.
1:11:13
SPEAKER_00: I think it is tough to repeat,
1:11:14
but I don't know that she has the pressure that like a Killian
1:11:18
or somebody else
1:11:18
SPEAKER_00: that is more – like from Western Europe would have.
1:11:23
SPEAKER_00: I think she's going to race it really smart.
1:11:24
SPEAKER_00: I think she's going to win.
1:11:25
SPEAKER_00: Second place, and this is a big asterisk, is Madalena Floria.
1:11:27
SPEAKER_00: I need to go check her Instagram account, see what she's been posting.
1:11:31
If she doesn't look healthy,
1:11:33
then I probably will move her from that second place spot.
1:11:36
SPEAKER_00: Third place, Naomi Ling.
1:11:37
SPEAKER_00: I think the momentum is really on her side.
1:11:40
SPEAKER_00: I think she's got really good leg speed.
1:11:41
SPEAKER_00: I think she's kind of peaking at the right time.
1:11:43
SPEAKER_00: And I think she's just really talented young.
1:11:45
I think she's like 23-year-old Scottish runner who could be
1:11:49
somebody to look out
1:11:49
SPEAKER_00: for the next couple of years in World Trail Series.
1:11:52
Fourth place,
1:11:52
I got Anna Gibson improving on her sixth place from last year.
1:11:54
SPEAKER_00: I think she looks super sharp.
1:11:56
SPEAKER_00: I think this race suits her skill set.
1:11:58
SPEAKER_00: She's an amazing VK runner.
1:11:59
SPEAKER_00: She's got amazing leg speed.
1:12:00
So I think she could do really well in that first climb and
1:12:05
then keep the legs to
1:12:06
SPEAKER_00: hang with them really fast.
1:12:08
SPEAKER_00: Runners, fifth place, I've got Caroline Kimutai.
1:12:10
I honestly would have had her for the win until last week's
1:12:13
result at Pete's Alpine Glacier.
1:12:16
SPEAKER_00: I could easily see her winning this, though, quite frankly.
1:12:18
SPEAKER_00: So my only question mark is,
1:12:20
did she hurt her ankle or did she roll something or get tweaked
1:12:23
in last week's
1:12:23
SPEAKER_00: race?
1:12:24
But I honestly legitimately think she could be joining Chip and
1:12:26
Gino and win this race.
1:12:28
SPEAKER_00: Sixth place, I've got Falaris Keeseng.
1:12:30
SPEAKER_00: I think she's locked for the top 10.
1:12:32
SPEAKER_00: We've seen her do really well at this race.
1:12:33
SPEAKER_00: Hasn't really missed it any time that she's done it.
1:12:35
SPEAKER_00: I think she's top pick, a strong pick.
1:12:38
SPEAKER_00: Seventh place, I got Mao Yao.
1:12:40
SPEAKER_00: I think she'll come out hot with a lot of the Kenyans and the big dogs.
1:12:42
SPEAKER_00: I think she'll fade, but I still think she'll finish and run a good race.
1:12:45
SPEAKER_00: We've seen her do well here before, and I think she'll do well again.
1:12:47
SPEAKER_00: Eighth place, Joyce Najeru.
1:12:50
I'm honestly on the fence because I feel like she's going to be
1:12:53
kind of like a
1:12:54
SPEAKER_00: hit a home run or strikeout type of person.
1:12:56
So I could easily see myself subbing her with somebody who's a
1:13:00
little bit more
1:13:01
SPEAKER_00: consistent,
1:13:01
SPEAKER_00: like a Rosa Laura Filou,
1:13:03
SPEAKER_00: or maybe Julia Font Gomez,
1:13:08
SPEAKER_00: or even like a Lauren Gregory,
1:13:09
SPEAKER_00: quite frankly.
1:13:12
SPEAKER_00: Actually, Alice Gaggy, I think is a really strong pick that I don't have.
1:13:15
SPEAKER_00: So I'd say Alice Gaggy would be a strong pick.
1:13:17
SPEAKER_00: Ninth place, I got Uriah Liachi, who got eighth place last year.
1:13:20
SPEAKER_00: I think she's got really good leg speed.
1:13:21
SPEAKER_00: I think she's Swiss.
1:13:24
And I think she had a really strong finish to the Golden Trail
1:13:26
Series last year.
1:13:27
SPEAKER_00: Only hesitancy I have is her not running trails much this year,
1:13:30
SPEAKER_00: because I do think trail running is a skill set.
1:13:33
SPEAKER_00: And so I could see her tweaking an ankle or not being as good,
1:13:37
SPEAKER_00: not being as sharp since she hasn't raced on trails yet this year.
1:13:40
SPEAKER_00: And in 10th place, I've got Laura Hottenrott.
1:13:43
I think every year there's going to be a couple of new people
1:13:46
that have never raced
1:13:46
SPEAKER_00: Sears and all that get in the top 10.
1:13:48
SPEAKER_00: I think that she's poised to do really well.
1:13:49
SPEAKER_00: 224 marathoner.
1:13:51
SPEAKER_00: She's run the Young Frau Marathon.
1:13:52
SPEAKER_00: She's just coming off a win at Iger 51K.
1:13:54
So she's proved that she can do a little bit longer and more
1:13:57
technical stuff.
1:13:59
SPEAKER_00: I think she's a strong pick for top 10.
1:14:03
SPEAKER_00: So that was a lot of talking about Sears and all, but is a worthy cause.
1:14:10
SPEAKER_00: So as of right now, I'm finishing up this recording.
1:14:12
SPEAKER_00: There's two days, 10 hours left to make picks on your series and all.
1:14:17
SPEAKER_00: So I hope this helped.
1:14:18
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to keep checking and updating stuff.
1:14:20
I'm going to try to provide those links to the articles in the
1:14:24
show notes.
1:14:25
SPEAKER_00: Looking forward,
1:14:26
the next thing that Travis has listed on the Fantasy Free Trail
1:14:29
is going to be the
1:14:29
SPEAKER_00: UTMB events.
1:14:30
SPEAKER_00: So that's very, very exciting.
1:14:32
SPEAKER_00: I imagine there'll be something that's going to be added in between,
1:14:35
SPEAKER_00: maybe like a Leadville or something like that,
1:14:38
SPEAKER_00: but TBD.
1:14:39
SPEAKER_00: But if it's not till UTMB, then I'll have lots of time to prepare.
1:14:43
SPEAKER_00: And if something else does get added, then I will be ready to help out.
1:14:46
SPEAKER_00: I want to thank everyone for listening to and supporting this show.
1:14:49
I was looking at the stats and the Speedgoat episode had like
1:14:52
600 downloads,
1:14:53
SPEAKER_00: which is a lot for me.
1:14:55
So I'm not sure what caused that,
1:14:56
but I appreciate everyone that came to listen.
1:14:58
SPEAKER_00: I hope it helped with your picks.
1:15:01
SPEAKER_00: And I also hope that you're enjoying the podcast.
1:15:03
Please,
1:15:04
anyone that reaches out and talks to me,
1:15:06
I always respond as best I can.
1:15:08
SPEAKER_00: And I enjoy hearing your thoughts, opinions.
1:15:11
SPEAKER_00: Tell me what I got right.
1:15:12
SPEAKER_00: Tell me what I got wrong.
1:15:13
SPEAKER_00: Tell me hot takes.
1:15:15
SPEAKER_00: I'm always down to talk about trail running.
1:15:16
SPEAKER_00: So without further ado, that has been Let's Talk Trail Running.
1:15:20
SPEAKER_00: That's my Sierra Zanal preview.
1:15:21
SPEAKER_00: I hope it helped you.
1:15:22
SPEAKER_00: And have a beautiful day.