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Broken Arrow Vertical/23K/46K Preview and Picks · Let's Talk Trail Running

0:01
SPEAKER_01: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to Let's Talk Trailrunning.
0:04
SPEAKER_01: This is your host, Robert Prosser.
0:07
SPEAKER_01: And we've got a really exciting day today.
0:09
SPEAKER_01: We're going to talk about all the vertical,
0:10
SPEAKER_01: excuse me,
0:12
SPEAKER_01: all the Broken Arrow races,
0:14
SPEAKER_01: both the vertical ascent,
0:16
SPEAKER_01: 23K and the 46K.
0:17
This is probably going to be the most competitive weekend of
0:20
races on U.S.
0:21
SPEAKER_01: soil.
0:23
SPEAKER_01: Almost definitely, I would say, actually.
0:24
SPEAKER_01: Between the three events,
0:25
SPEAKER_01: we've got the vertical ascent,
0:26
SPEAKER_01: which is going to be the vertical race basically to select the U.S.
0:31
SPEAKER_01: team.
0:34
SPEAKER_01: So it's going to be some of the best U.S.
0:35
SPEAKER_01: trail athletes competing in the vertical.
0:38
SPEAKER_01: The 23K, we've got a Golden Trail World Series event in the 23K.
0:41
So that's going to be some of the most competitive sub-ultra
0:44
athletes on the world
0:45
SPEAKER_01: competing there.
0:46
And then the 46K is the short trail team selection for TMUSA,
0:50
the world's team as well.
0:51
So basically all three distances are going to be jam-packed
0:54
with tons of really
0:55
SPEAKER_01: awesome athletes and things like that.
0:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we've got an exciting episode ahead of us.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: I want to apologize in advance today.
1:01
SPEAKER_01: It's taken me a lot longer to get this out than I wanted to.
1:03
It's been a really stressful week in light of all the things
1:07
going on based off
1:08
SPEAKER_01: where I'm located for military service.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: And so I've been trying to get this out for multiple days now,
1:13
SPEAKER_01: but it's just been tough,
1:14
either a combination of lack of sleep due to things going on or
1:17
interruptions also
1:19
SPEAKER_01: based on just things going on.
1:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm still really excited to do this.
1:23
And bear with me if I don't seem quite as prepared or in the
1:26
same cadence that I usually am.
1:28
I didn't really get to take the notes and make the notes that I
1:30
usually do.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: So a lot of this will just be going off of memory.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: And I'll be kind of clicking here and there.
1:34
SPEAKER_01: So give me some grace.
1:35
SPEAKER_01: Give me some patience.
1:36
I will try to be as efficient as possible and use as little
1:41
space fillers as possible.
1:42
But keep in mind that I haven't done quite the preparation that
1:46
I usually have.
1:46
So a lot of it is just going to be off notes from last week's
1:49
race and then also
1:50
SPEAKER_01: just from memory,
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SPEAKER_01: quite frankly.
1:52
With that being said,
1:53
I think we'll start off with the Broken Arrow Ascent.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: We'll go in order.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm looking at Fantasy Free Trail starting in about 18 hours.
2:02
SPEAKER_01: So still a little bit of time.
2:02
Hopefully this gets out to some people before they make their
2:05
picks for Fantasy Free Trail.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: But for the Broken Arrow Ascent, super exciting day.
2:11
SPEAKER_01: We got the best vertical racer in the world, Patrick Kepenjano.
2:17
two-time world champion uh he's won like pretty much every
2:20
vertical race there is i
2:21
think he's been undefeated in vertical races for like two or
2:24
three years going on
2:25
at this point and then we've got the goat killian journey um
2:28
coming to race a vk
2:30
and killian has some really really amazing vk chops uh he i
2:35
think he has or had a
2:36
world record for a vk in like 28 50 um and then recently to his
2:40
training for
2:42
SPEAKER_01: for Western States has been immaculate.
2:44
He has like eight weeks in a row of basically doing the Western
2:47
States course,
2:48
SPEAKER_01: um,
2:49
SPEAKER_01: all pretty much course record pace or below,
2:51
SPEAKER_01: obviously.
2:51
SPEAKER_01: So this is like a week's worth of training.
2:53
SPEAKER_01: So 12 to 14 hours and about 14 to 18,000 feet of hurt.
2:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, but his training runs have been looking amazing.
3:00
Uh,
3:00
he had the 50 miler was the big one,
3:02
but he's done a ton of marathon distance training runs.
3:05
SPEAKER_01: Um, and you're going to say, well, obviously nobody's down in Killian.
3:08
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's, let's be real here.
3:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, but you might say, well,
3:12
SPEAKER_01: Why does that really matter?
3:13
SPEAKER_01: You know,
3:13
SPEAKER_01: he's racing a VK,
3:14
SPEAKER_01: but he,
3:15
SPEAKER_01: uh,
3:15
SPEAKER_01: also just recently,
3:18
SPEAKER_01: um,
3:19
SPEAKER_01: went and set a PB on his personal best on his local hill next solo,
3:24
SPEAKER_01: which doesn't have a Strava segment.
3:25
SPEAKER_01: There's like segments within it,
3:27
but he basically just kind of posts his own time and his time
3:32
at Nick saw,
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SPEAKER_01: I think he took two or three or four seconds.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: He ran it like 1919.
3:36
SPEAKER_01: I think his previous was like 1921 or something.
3:37
SPEAKER_01: Um,
3:40
So not only is Killian,
3:41
you know,
3:41
100 miles fit,
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he is also a vertical kilometer fit.
3:45
SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, I think...
3:47
SPEAKER_01: Without saying it, Patrick and Killian are the two big dogs.
3:51
SPEAKER_01: Patrick is probably the favorite along with Killian,
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SPEAKER_01: and it'd be hard for us to find somebody that doesn't pick them,
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SPEAKER_01: probably one and two,
3:57
SPEAKER_01: if I had to guess.
3:59
SPEAKER_01: Another interesting thing,
4:00
SPEAKER_01: too,
4:00
SPEAKER_01: I think,
4:00
SPEAKER_01: is that last year,
4:02
SPEAKER_01: the eventual Western States champion,
4:04
SPEAKER_01: Jim Walmsley,
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SPEAKER_01: raced the VK.
4:06
SPEAKER_01: And I knew that Jim was extremely fast,
4:08
SPEAKER_01: and I know he's an extremely talented athlete,
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but I just thought with how many young dudes coming straight
4:12
out of college,
4:13
SPEAKER_01: like your Christian Allen or Micah Bedouin-Rousseau or all these studs,
4:18
SPEAKER_01: I was like, you know, Jim's going to do well.
4:19
SPEAKER_01: He'll probably go top 10.
4:20
But I did not see him coming second behind Patrick and in front
4:23
of all these fast college kids.
4:25
SPEAKER_01: And he did.
4:26
SPEAKER_01: And so interestingly enough,
4:27
SPEAKER_01: he lost to Patrick by like a minute and a half,
4:29
SPEAKER_01: I want to say,
4:29
SPEAKER_01: trying to load the result.
4:31
SPEAKER_01: But I'd be curious to see as just a test piece,
4:33
SPEAKER_01: you know,
4:34
SPEAKER_01: if Patrick and Killian race,
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SPEAKER_01: if either Killian beats Patrick or...
4:38
If what the gap is between the two are probably more
4:40
interesting because I imagine
4:41
SPEAKER_01: the conditions are a little bit different than last year.
4:43
Doing these races on ski courses early in the summer can often
4:47
lead to different conditions.
4:48
But I'd be curious to see what the gap between Killian and
4:50
Patrick is compared to
4:51
the gap between Jim and Patrick and then how that bodes for
4:55
Killian going into
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SPEAKER_01: Western next week.
4:57
SPEAKER_01: It could be no correlation,
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but it's just something that I think is interesting and that I
5:00
want to look at.
5:02
So that's a lot of time spent on Killian and Patrick,
5:06
but I mean,
5:06
it's hard not to.
5:07
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
5:07
SPEAKER_01: Patrick is,
5:08
SPEAKER_01: he's already won both of his Golden Trail World Series events,
5:11
SPEAKER_01: so he's two for two on winning.
5:13
SPEAKER_01: Killian hasn't raced at all this year,
5:14
SPEAKER_01: but any race that Killian comes into,
5:16
SPEAKER_01: he's going to be extremely prepared for,
5:17
SPEAKER_01: and he's not somebody who races when he's not in good shape,
5:22
SPEAKER_01: at least not anymore.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: Maybe previously in his career,
5:24
SPEAKER_01: he just used racing as training,
5:26
SPEAKER_01: but now he becomes very focused.
5:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
5:28
yeah and I guess we're already on the men's side so I'm just
5:30
going to keep going
5:31
with the men's side preview with this VK we've got a ton of
5:34
goats we've also got
5:35
Joe Gray the United States athlete lives in Colorado Springs
5:39
Hoka athlete he's made
5:41
20 I think 20 plus US teams at this point for mountain and
5:45
trail running you know
5:46
he's 41 if I'm not mistaken and yeah I mean he's just like an
5:51
all-time goat so I
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SPEAKER_01: think you'd be hard-pressed to not find him in the top
5:55
SPEAKER_01: or at least top 10, but I'm going to say top five.
5:58
He did just race Mount Washington Road Races past weekend or
6:02
two weeks ago.
6:03
SPEAKER_01: Broke his streak.
6:03
He had eight straight wins going into it,
6:05
and he finally lost a close one to...
6:09
SPEAKER_01: I don't think it was Remy LaRue,
6:10
SPEAKER_01: but it was another Canadian athlete that does a lot of VK stuff.
6:15
SPEAKER_01: I can't think of his name right now.
6:16
SPEAKER_01: But Joe Gray, yeah.
6:18
SPEAKER_01: I mean, just one of the all-time greats.
6:20
SPEAKER_01: I think he will definitely be up there.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: He has won the Broken Arrow.
6:23
They've bounced back and forth between calling it the Vertical
6:25
Ascent and Vertical
6:26
SPEAKER_01: Kilometer,
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SPEAKER_01: VK for short.
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So if you hear me kind of using them interchangeably,
6:31
just know it's the same thing.
6:32
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's not technically quite a Vertical Kilometer.
6:34
SPEAKER_01: I think that's why they changed it to Vertical Ascent.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: But it's basically...
6:40
SPEAKER_01: It's basically, that's what it's supposed to be.
6:42
SPEAKER_01: It's just not technically, if you want to go by the European standards.
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um so yeah with that being said uh joe gray another favorite um
6:51
going down this
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list we just got some really big heavy hitters david sinclair
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uh going back to that
6:55
mount washington uh road race david sinclair was third place
6:59
behind joe and the
7:01
canadian that won it um and he was up there with him ran a
7:04
really awesome time he
7:05
had been hurt i think but uphill running doesn't bother him um
7:09
so he's still doing
7:10
a lot of biking and then uphill running seems to be okay so i
7:13
think he just decided
7:14
He wasn't going to go,
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I don't believe,
7:17
no,
7:17
he is actually racing the 46K,
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so maybe he's back.
7:20
But that's one thing,
7:21
I guess,
7:21
to keep in mind is that he might be coming off an injury.
7:24
SPEAKER_01: But the Mount Washington road race, he looks fit as a fiddle.
7:26
He wasn't able to compete at Sunapee,
7:28
unfortunately,
7:28
just because he tweaked his knee.
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SPEAKER_01: So David Sinclair, I think, is also another favorite who's up there.
7:33
SPEAKER_01: I think he went top 10 of this race last year, if I'm not mistaken.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: I'll pull it up.
7:39
SPEAKER_01: David Sinclair is just a really impressive athlete.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: You know, he's going out for that U.S.
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SPEAKER_01: Schemo team for next year's Winter Olympics in Cortina.
7:46
But I remember the first time I encountered David Sinclair was
7:49
at Spigot in 2022,
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SPEAKER_01: the year he won it.
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He didn't set the course record that year,
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but he beat guys like Michelino Sanceri and
7:57
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, Adam Loomis and Caleb Olson and all these guys.
7:59
SPEAKER_01: And I remember seeing him in the finish line and he was wearing,
8:02
SPEAKER_01: don't quote me,
8:04
SPEAKER_01: it was either like cargo shorts or jean shorts,
8:06
SPEAKER_01: just something that wasn't particularly fashionable.
8:08
SPEAKER_01: He had like a plaid
8:11
shirt cut off shirt on and then a trucker hat and he just
8:15
looked so plain i mean
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just looking at him and being like that's the guy that won this
8:18
race like no no
8:19
offense to him but he just he's like the people's racer i
8:22
really like how down to
8:23
earth he is and he's just such an amazing athlete it's crazy
8:27
but he's also just
8:28
seems so humble and like is really not full of himself and uh
8:33
he's just a really
8:33
impressive dude he also ran 216 in the marathon it's pretty
8:37
super true in like 2017
8:38
SPEAKER_01: 18 19 um so
8:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's a talented guy.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: He has...
8:45
I don't think he's won the Broken Arrow ascent before,
8:49
but he has won the 46K for sure.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: He did last year.
8:51
SPEAKER_01: I think he's won the 46K multiple times at this point.
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He's kind of the goat of 50K mountain races,
8:56
but he's also a really good vertical ascender.
8:58
SPEAKER_01: I also saw him that year in 2022, that first year I had encountered him.
9:02
SPEAKER_01: He also ran the rut.
9:03
SPEAKER_01: He broke Kellyanne's course record, and he did the VK.
9:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't think he won it.
9:08
I think he got beat by Cam Smith or Eli Hemming,
9:11
but he was top three in the VK.
9:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that's David DeClaire going down the list.
9:16
Chris Myers,
9:17
curious to see,
9:17
probably just a little tune-up for Western States.
9:19
SPEAKER_01: I would be impressed if he gets in the top 10.
9:20
SPEAKER_01: I know he's a speedy dude, but this is like a different type of speed.
9:23
SPEAKER_01: I imagine he's just kind of trying his hand at it.
9:26
SPEAKER_01: Zachary Erickson, I think he's somebody to look out for.
9:28
This is a guy coming straight off of BYU track and field and
9:31
cross country as of like last year.
9:33
SPEAKER_01: He did go sixth at Sun and Peace Cramble.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: He was just out of the bunny behind the top four males who got to go.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: And then fifth place was...
9:43
SPEAKER_01: was Andy Wacker.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: So Zachary Erickson, I think I could easily see him in the top 10.
9:48
SPEAKER_01: He's kind of in that class of guys of like your Micah Bedouin-Rousseau,
9:52
SPEAKER_01: your Christian Allen,
9:53
SPEAKER_01: who's coming straight out of college,
9:54
straight into the trail scene and has some really impressive
9:56
track and field times.
9:57
I think I looked up his results and I think he was like low 14
10:00
to high 13 for the 5K.
10:03
SPEAKER_01: And I think he was also a steeplechase guy.
10:05
SPEAKER_01: And we know, if anything, that guys that do good
10:08
not steeple do good at trail running so definitely somebody
10:12
keep an eye out for um
10:15
yeah let me double check so last year uh david sinclair was
10:18
12th in the vk so not
10:20
his best day but he has won and then he was 12th actually here
10:24
before that too so
10:25
he seems to be kind of consistent with the 12th uh he got
10:27
second in the vk in 2021
10:29
SPEAKER_01: though to joe gray so he has done pretty good at this event in the past
10:34
SPEAKER_01: Another person to look out for, Casey Campbell.
10:35
SPEAKER_01: I think he was also in the back half of the top 10.
10:38
SPEAKER_01: He's an Adidas Terex guy, like 29 years old, I want to say.
10:41
SPEAKER_01: Oh, no, no, I'm confusing him with Casey Campbell.
10:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so Casey Campbell's a speedy dude.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: Not the same guy I'm thinking of.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking of Cole Campbell, excuse me.
10:51
SPEAKER_01: So Casey Campbell went 11th at Sunapee,
10:54
SPEAKER_01: so just outside the top 10,
10:55
SPEAKER_01: and then was 10th at Sunapee...
10:58
SPEAKER_01: has him 10th and 11th.
10:59
So one of the two,
11:00
he's either just outside the top center or right at the top 10.
11:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, but he's a speedy dude from Oregon.
11:04
SPEAKER_01: Could be somebody to look out for.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
11:07
SPEAKER_01: I've seen him more in the backup, the top 10.
11:09
SPEAKER_01: Some other names, Andy Wacker, disappointing.
11:12
I'm sure he's going to want a really good spot because he just
11:15
missed out on that U.S.
11:16
SPEAKER_01: spot.
11:16
SPEAKER_01: He was the fifth place, so the first man out on the centerpiece scramble.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: I know he wants to make at least one of these teams,
11:21
SPEAKER_01: so I imagine he's going to be gunning for a spot on this U.S.
11:23
SPEAKER_01: vertical team.
11:24
SPEAKER_01: It would be probably, I don't know, I imagine he's got around 10 U.S.
11:26
SPEAKER_01: spots.
11:27
SPEAKER_01: He's probably had almost 10.
11:29
SPEAKER_01: So I think he's definitely going to be looking for some redemption.
11:32
I think he'd be a strong pick for the top five trying to get on
11:34
the US team.
11:35
SPEAKER_01: Tyler McCandless,
11:35
SPEAKER_01: same thing,
11:36
SPEAKER_01: had a really disappointing for him race at Sunapee,
11:38
SPEAKER_01: but he seems to not be the best at really technical stuff.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: So I think that kind of harmed him.
11:43
I think he bounced back and had a pretty good day at GoPro
11:48
games a week later.
11:49
SPEAKER_01: And then Ryan Becker, he also was in the top 10.
11:53
SPEAKER_01: He got ninth last year.
11:55
He does a lot of these VK-type races,
11:57
things like the VK at the rut or VK at Broken Arrow.
12:02
SPEAKER_01: So I think he could be in the back half of the top 10.
12:04
SPEAKER_01: I don't see him in the top five,
12:06
SPEAKER_01: though,
12:07
SPEAKER_01: but I could easily see him in the 7th or 10th spot somewhere in there.
12:11
SPEAKER_01: Christian Allen and Cam Smith are two guys that I think –
12:16
But kind of coming into this race on like kind of opposite ends
12:18
of the spectrum,
12:19
SPEAKER_01: Cam Smith just had an amazing day at Sunapee.
12:21
SPEAKER_01: He made the U.S.
12:21
SPEAKER_01: team.
12:22
SPEAKER_01: And I also think he's very, very fit.
12:25
Last year,
12:25
Cam Smith was kind of coming off of,
12:27
I think,
12:27
some knee issues.
12:28
SPEAKER_01: He did the trifecta for the Broken Arrow,
12:31
SPEAKER_01: and he still ended up,
12:32
SPEAKER_01: I think,
12:32
SPEAKER_01: top 10 in all the races that he did.
12:35
SPEAKER_01: So he had a really good outcome in the trifecta,
12:39
SPEAKER_01: despite having to race it,
12:40
SPEAKER_01: which is where you race all three events in three days.
12:44
SPEAKER_01: I think Cam Smith is a really strong pick.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: I'm kind of oscillating between him and Joe Gray for my top five.
12:50
But Cam Smith showed that he's always one of the best climbers
12:52
in America,
12:54
SPEAKER_01: just based off his vertical speed from all of his ski fitness.
12:57
But it's just a question of whether he has the likes to keep up
13:00
with the flats and
13:01
SPEAKER_01: the downhills.
13:01
But since this vertical,
13:03
it does have a flat section,
13:04
so that will kind of play into this race.
13:08
SPEAKER_01: But since...
13:10
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
13:10
he really proved that he's got the like speed last week with
13:12
Sunapee and having ups
13:13
SPEAKER_01: and downs,
13:15
SPEAKER_01: that he has the like speed to hang with these guys.
13:18
SPEAKER_01: So I think that Cam Smith is a more fit Cam Smith than last year.
13:23
SPEAKER_01: And even last year, Cam Smith was still, let's see, ninth place.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: So even last year, Cam Smith was still in the top 10.
13:31
SPEAKER_01: with regards to this super stacked BK.
13:34
SPEAKER_01: So I think he'll just continue to do well and we'll have a good day.
13:39
SPEAKER_01: He's also won this race before in 2022.
13:41
SPEAKER_01: So he knows the course is super well.
13:43
SPEAKER_01: So I think that definitely bodes well.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I think he's a really strong pick for the top five.
13:49
I think you'd be unwise to not pick Cam Smith somewhere in your
13:54
fantasy top five.
13:55
SPEAKER_01: One big question mark that I have is going to be Christian Allen.
13:58
SPEAKER_01: He's coming off an injury.
13:59
SPEAKER_01: He DNF did not finish with regards to Sunapee.
14:03
But he did finish fourth at this race last year,
14:06
just behind Patrick,
14:08
Jim,
14:09
and then...
14:11
Patrick Jim uh Micah and then Christian Allen and Christian
14:15
Allen was just behind
14:16
Micah uh when they kind of had like a sprint finish more or
14:20
less as much as you can
14:21
have a sprint finish I guess on the on a vertical kilometer so
14:27
um yeah I think
14:28
SPEAKER_01: that's
14:31
I'm not going to be surprised to see Christian Allen in the top
14:35
five at all.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: I know he's going to want to make this U.S.
14:37
SPEAKER_01: team.
14:37
SPEAKER_01: I just don't know.
14:38
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
14:39
SPEAKER_01: he's been running back for a couple weeks now,
14:41
SPEAKER_01: but the Sunny P DNF just has me a little bit nervous.
14:43
So that's the only thing I'd be a little bit worried about is
14:47
whether or not that affects him.
14:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
14:51
that's another thing to consider and then let's see who else do
14:55
we have darren
14:56
thomas darren thomas has i'm pretty sure he's won this event
14:59
before and then he's
15:01
had multiple top tens he always races at broken arrow i'd be
15:04
curious to see where
15:05
his fitness is he's had some decent results at broken or excuse
15:08
me at uh at black
15:09
canyon i think he was just outside the top 10 either 12th or
15:12
13th place and then in
15:14
SPEAKER_01: uh
15:16
SPEAKER_01: Big Alta, he was second at the 28K behind a very, very fit Andy Wacker.
15:20
SPEAKER_01: So,
15:21
SPEAKER_01: and just something to keep in mind too,
15:22
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to read the top 10 results from men's race last year.
15:24
SPEAKER_01: We've got them pulled up now.
15:25
SPEAKER_01: So Patrick was first, Patrick Kippenjano, Jim Walmsley second,
15:29
SPEAKER_01: Third, Michael Bedouin-Rousseau.
15:31
SPEAKER_01: Fourth, Christian Allen.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: Fifth, Eli Hemming.
15:33
SPEAKER_01: Sixth, Remy LaRue.
15:34
SPEAKER_01: Seventh, Philemon Carriago.
15:36
SPEAKER_01: Eighth, Ryan Becker.
15:37
SPEAKER_01: Ninth, Cam Smith.
15:38
SPEAKER_01: Tenth, Darren Thomas.
15:39
SPEAKER_01: And then just outside the top 10, David Sinclair was 12.
15:42
SPEAKER_01: Taylor Stack was 13.
15:44
SPEAKER_01: Brian Imestead was 14.
15:46
SPEAKER_01: And that's most of the people are going to be racing so far.
15:50
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, so that's the men's...
15:55
side other people i haven't even mentioned philemon i think
15:58
philemon is a even more
15:59
fit philemon than last year and i think he also had a
16:01
disappointing result last
16:02
year with his seventh place i would be hard-pressed to not have
16:06
philemon in the top
16:07
three of this race he's already won noli um and then he's had a
16:11
couple second
16:11
places behind patrick he's very fit i think he's only getting
16:14
better and better at
16:15
racing and so i'd be hard-pressed to find him outside the top
16:18
five i think he's a
16:19
SPEAKER_01: very very strong pick
16:21
SPEAKER_01: Some other names I think are worth looking out for.
16:22
SPEAKER_01: Remy LaRue is going to be putting up a good race.
16:26
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he got sixth here last year.
16:28
SPEAKER_01: He seems to be even fitter this year.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: He did just come off ninth place at Sunapee a couple weeks ago.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: But I think this is an even more fit Remy LaRue.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: So I'd be hard-pressed to find him outside the top ten.
16:39
SPEAKER_01: I think he's a very strong pick for some points.
16:42
SPEAKER_01: And then one thing I want to point out,
16:43
SPEAKER_01: we got three different Italian dudes,
16:45
SPEAKER_01: and I think there's going to be at least one Italian dude in the top 10.
16:49
SPEAKER_01: First one of mine is Henry Imanod.
16:51
SPEAKER_01: He has gotten third at the vertical ascent before.
16:55
SPEAKER_01: He is a North Face athlete from Italy who had a really killer VK,
16:59
SPEAKER_01: I think it's at La Fule,
17:01
SPEAKER_01: last year and went sub 30,
17:03
SPEAKER_01: and they do that in the fall.
17:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
17:05
SPEAKER_01: But he's kind of a vertical or like short course specialist.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: So he has raced the 23K in the VK two years ago.
17:11
SPEAKER_01: He got fifth in the 23K and he got third in the vertical kilometer.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: I think him or if we go towards the bottom of this list,
17:18
SPEAKER_01: Andrea Aaliyah or...
17:22
SPEAKER_01: Who's the last one?
17:23
SPEAKER_01: Let me double check and scroll.
17:25
SPEAKER_01: Andrea Aaliyah or...
17:29
SPEAKER_01: Luca Merrile.
17:30
SPEAKER_01: Those are,
17:30
SPEAKER_01: they all are Italian guys who do really good in these mountain races,
17:33
SPEAKER_01: race like these World Mountain Running Association races,
17:35
SPEAKER_01: which I think this is one of them.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: So that's probably why they're here partially.
17:39
SPEAKER_01: And so I would be hard pressed to find either,
17:41
SPEAKER_01: probably either Henry or Andrea Alia outside of the top 10.
17:44
SPEAKER_01: I think one of them is going to get a top 10 spot.
17:46
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure which one.
17:48
um they both raced to vertical in the sego and i think they
17:52
went back and forth i
17:53
think henry did better at trophy on the sego which is like more
17:56
like 23 like a
17:57
shorter trail race and then the vk uh i think andrea alia did
18:01
better at so
18:03
SPEAKER_01: Other names, Kieran Ney might be somebody to look out for.
18:07
SPEAKER_01: He was just outside the top 10 last year.
18:09
SPEAKER_01: And then scrolling down to the bottom of this list,
18:12
SPEAKER_01: the only other ones I have,
18:14
SPEAKER_01: Jarrett Gillingham.
18:15
He's a guy that just raced for Western Washington that I think
18:19
he transferred for
18:19
SPEAKER_01: his graduate year to Northern Arizona University,
18:22
SPEAKER_01: who's a
18:23
track and field powerhouse i'm pretty sure he's a steeplechase
18:25
guy he might be a
18:26
sleeper pick to watch out for i wouldn't be surprised if he
18:28
goes in the top 10.
18:29
a lot of us have probably never heard of him but i did come
18:32
across his name and
18:34
doing research for a different race earlier this year and i was
18:36
like i think he's
18:37
gonna be pretty good and i think he also does some stuff with
18:39
the trail team so i
18:40
would not be surprised if he kind of sneaks in there somewhere
18:42
if you're a
18:43
steeplechase guy for the best cross country program in the
18:46
nation or one of the
18:46
SPEAKER_01: best cross country programs in the nation
18:49
SPEAKER_01: Probably somebody to look out for.
18:50
SPEAKER_01: And then the other person to look out for,
18:51
SPEAKER_01: new name for me,
18:52
SPEAKER_01: but I think it's a well-known name amongst track and field fans.
18:55
SPEAKER_01: is going to be Sam Chalanga.
18:57
SPEAKER_01: He,
18:58
SPEAKER_01: I don't know who he raced for in college,
19:02
but I'm pretty sure he was a track and field superstar and a
19:04
really good U.S.
19:05
SPEAKER_01: Kenyan-born, but U.S.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: runner.
19:07
SPEAKER_01: He's in his early 40s now,
19:08
SPEAKER_01: but despite that,
19:09
SPEAKER_01: he just came off a 103 half marathon this year,
19:12
and he raced at Cherry Blossom 10-miler and ran 10 miles in 47
19:16
minutes and 29
19:17
SPEAKER_01: seconds.
19:18
So Sam Chalanga could be somebody to look out for,
19:20
kind of in that category of like...
19:23
SPEAKER_01: Tyler McCandless,
19:23
SPEAKER_01: Andy Wacker,
19:24
SPEAKER_01: older guy,
19:25
SPEAKER_01: still super fast,
19:27
SPEAKER_01: still super deadly,
19:27
SPEAKER_01: probably has a lot of racing chops.
19:29
The only thing I don't know is that I don't think he's done any
19:32
trail races from
19:32
SPEAKER_01: what I can tell.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: So I think that's important to know.
19:35
SPEAKER_01: And I think I've spent enough time on the men's side.
19:37
SPEAKER_01: So I think we're going to go over to the women's side of the race.
19:39
SPEAKER_01: The women's side is equally exciting, equally deep.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: And it is also a selection for the U.S.
19:45
SPEAKER_01: vertical team for the U.S.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: I still think...
19:49
SPEAKER_01: So looking at this,
19:49
SPEAKER_01: we don't have any Killians,
19:53
SPEAKER_01: but we do have Joyce Najeru,
19:54
SPEAKER_01: the returning champion from the Golden Trail series.
19:57
SPEAKER_01: And we do have our most recent U.S.
19:59
champion,
20:00
Anna Gibson,
20:00
who just won Santa Fe Scramble,
20:02
so she's going for the short course team.
20:03
SPEAKER_01: We do have Allie Mack, who's won, excuse me, made a bunch of U.S.
20:08
SPEAKER_01: teams as well.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: And then,
20:10
SPEAKER_01: yeah,
20:11
SPEAKER_01: that's kind of a lot of the big,
20:14
SPEAKER_01: or like the three first names that come to mind.
20:16
But I mean,
20:16
with that being said,
20:17
we got a ton of really competitive females in here.
20:19
SPEAKER_01: Brittany Charbonneau,
20:21
SPEAKER_01: Casey Einman,
20:23
SPEAKER_01: MK's Racing It,
20:24
SPEAKER_01: Haley Halfman,
20:25
SPEAKER_01: Sarah Beal,
20:26
SPEAKER_01: Lindsay McDonald,
20:27
SPEAKER_01: Addie Bracey,
20:28
SPEAKER_01: Jess Brazzo,
20:29
SPEAKER_01: Jade Billsburg,
20:29
SPEAKER_01: Allie Ostrander,
20:30
SPEAKER_01: Hilary Allen,
20:31
SPEAKER_01: Sydney Peterson,
20:32
SPEAKER_01: Amanda Basham,
20:33
SPEAKER_01: Rachel Tomajik.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: So lots of big names.
20:37
SPEAKER_01: And who I would be curious...
20:41
So looking at the results from last year's,
20:43
let me get that pulled up real quick.
20:45
SPEAKER_01: Let's go female.
20:47
SPEAKER_01: So last year's VK for Broken Arrow,
20:50
SPEAKER_01: we had Joyce in first,
20:51
SPEAKER_01: Anna Gibson in second,
20:52
SPEAKER_01: about two minutes behind.
20:54
SPEAKER_01: Allie Mack, third.
20:56
SPEAKER_01: Haley Halfman, fourth.
20:57
SPEAKER_01: Jess Brasso, fifth.
20:58
SPEAKER_01: Rachel Tomachik, sixth.
21:01
SPEAKER_01: Abby Locke, seventh.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: Tabor Hemming, eighth.
21:04
SPEAKER_01: Jade Belsberg, ninth.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: And Elise Tengelstad, tenth.
21:08
SPEAKER_01: So we see a lot of this top 10 returning this year on the female side.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
21:16
SPEAKER_01: I think I actually,
21:17
SPEAKER_01: I need to make some,
21:18
SPEAKER_01: my picks are like exactly the top five is exactly the same as last year.
21:21
So I'm definitely gonna have to mix that up because I think
21:22
it's very unlikely that
21:23
SPEAKER_01: it's exactly the same.
21:24
But with that being said,
21:26
so Joyce,
21:27
she's kind of had an up and down year.
21:29
SPEAKER_01: She is coming off of a wrong turn at Kobe,
21:33
which led her to be sixth place when she probably would have
21:34
been almost definitely
21:36
SPEAKER_01: in the top three,
21:36
SPEAKER_01: if not winning it or against Madalena Floria and Sarah Alonso,
21:40
SPEAKER_01: she would have been up there in the top three.
21:42
um and then at china she had a dnf i think she just kind of had
21:46
a rough go at her
21:48
race and wasn't where she wanted to be so she kind of pulled
21:50
the plug she bounced
21:51
back and she raced trofeo in a sego and vertical in the sego
21:53
she got third and
21:54
ninth i want to say or ninth and third i think she was ninth of
21:58
the vertical and
21:59
SPEAKER_01: third at
22:00
um trofeo so that that indicates good fitness i don't think it
22:03
was as good as she
22:04
did in those races last year um so i kind of have some question
22:07
marks um we know
22:08
she's really good at racing altitude she's insanely fit she's
22:10
one of the best
22:10
climbers in the world um but i'm kind of questioning where her
22:13
confidence is at but
22:14
with that being said i think even a kind of less than perfect
22:17
choice is good enough
22:18
SPEAKER_01: to win on u.s soil especially um
22:22
in a race like this i mean this is probably on par but or even
22:26
less like in the
22:27
competition she sees week in week out um at these golden trail
22:30
series events so and
22:32
she's won this event before too so i still think she's a
22:34
favorite i think anna
22:35
gibson is right up there with her she's already proved so anna
22:38
gibson is you know
22:39
brooks athlete both track and field and a trail runner um from
22:43
the tetons in
22:44
wyoming which is super sick raced at university of washington
22:47
just a cool person uh
22:48
SPEAKER_01: doesn't
22:49
basically does a ton of cross training and doesn't really run a
22:52
whole bunch but it
22:53
works for her and she basically seems like one of those people
22:55
who just needs to
22:57
get in volume and it doesn't really matter what it's in and she
22:59
can just do a
22:59
couple sharp workouts and she just has insane amounts of speed
23:02
and fitness
23:03
I first came across Anna Gibson in 2022 at the RUT when she ran
23:07
the 11K there.
23:08
SPEAKER_01: And I think her, she won her event.
23:11
And then the guy that won it,
23:12
I think was Liam Miro,
23:13
but I could be wrong about that.
23:15
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I mean, she just smoked it.
23:16
She also did the VK that year,
23:18
and I'm pretty sure she won and beat everyone pretty soundly.
23:21
SPEAKER_01: Just a really impressive athlete.
23:22
SPEAKER_01: I think she's up there.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't be surprised if she wins this too.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: She has won it before, I want to say.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: If she didn't win it, she got second like two years ago, I want to say.
23:33
SPEAKER_01: So yeah,
23:35
SPEAKER_01: basically just a really,
23:36
SPEAKER_01: really cool person,
23:37
SPEAKER_01: really,
23:37
SPEAKER_01: really cool athlete who is easy to root for.
23:42
SPEAKER_01: So I'm clearing some tabs so I can free up some space.
23:47
SPEAKER_01: One other thing I want to point out,
23:48
SPEAKER_01: too,
23:48
SPEAKER_01: with the men's race,
23:49
SPEAKER_01: Patrick and Killian head-to-head,
23:51
SPEAKER_01: one-and-one.
23:52
SPEAKER_01: They raced at Sears and All twice.
23:54
SPEAKER_01: One of the years was last year when Killian got his record.
23:57
And the other one was when Killian did not win Sears and All,
23:59
but won UTMB later.
24:01
SPEAKER_01: And Killian also had COVID that year, though.
24:03
SPEAKER_01: So tough to say, but they are one-and-one against each other.
24:05
SPEAKER_01: So this will be a tiebreaker for them.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: Trying to pull up Ana Gibson's results on Ultra Signup.
24:12
SPEAKER_01: And here we go.
24:14
SPEAKER_00: Ana Gibson has won...
24:17
the vk in 2023 broken arrow so um other females so britney
24:24
charbonneau she's coming
24:25
back from um recently having a kid she's a north face athletes
24:29
uh super fast she
24:30
was a really good road marathoner who kind of swapped over a
24:33
trail and has done
24:33
SPEAKER_01: good in a lot of the 50k stuff so be exciting to have her back um
24:38
SPEAKER_01: Janelle Lynx recently announced sponsorship was Satisfye,
24:42
SPEAKER_01: but I hear there's some question marks around whether she's racing.
24:44
SPEAKER_01: Casey Einman, definitely somebody to look out for.
24:47
SPEAKER_01: She raced at that Centipede race just about, what, a couple weeks ago.
24:54
SPEAKER_01: And I think she was in the top 10,
24:57
SPEAKER_01: but wasn't,
24:59
SPEAKER_01: excuse me,
25:00
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry,
25:00
SPEAKER_01: wasn't quite able to make the U.S.
25:01
SPEAKER_01: team.
25:02
SPEAKER_01: She has made many U.S.
25:03
teams,
25:04
and I think she was a 2019 world champion in the uptown,
25:06
if I'm not mistaken.
25:08
SPEAKER_01: Son of Pete last week, she was eighth place.
25:10
SPEAKER_01: So she's looking in good shape.
25:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think Casey Atman is a strong pick for a top five.
25:15
SPEAKER_01: And I could easily see her.
25:16
The only thing I didn't see was I hadn't seen her racing a lot
25:18
of vertical races.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: So I'm curious.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: But I mean,
25:21
if you're good enough to consistently get top 10 of these up
25:24
down US qualifiers,
25:25
SPEAKER_01: then you have to be
25:26
presumably at least good enough at the uphill if not really
25:29
good it's always tough
25:30
to tell who who's the best of these um one name that i think is
25:33
really worth
25:34
looking out for and uh came across my radar at this race last
25:37
year it really
25:37
impressed me but now that i've kind of seen some of her other
25:40
times uh because i
25:41
think she lives in the area um is hailey haffman uh she got
25:45
fourth place at this
25:46
SPEAKER_01: race last year i was like who the heck is this
25:49
She's pretty quiet on social media and Strava,
25:50
but I'm pretty sure that she is on the U.S.
25:52
SPEAKER_01: Schemo team or like one of the females going out for the U.S.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: Schemo team with Cam Smith and all them.
25:57
SPEAKER_01: So she has that hella good Schemo, burn, straight up sprint fitness.
26:03
SPEAKER_01: And she also...
26:06
SPEAKER_01: has one of the top times on the Manitou incline.
26:09
SPEAKER_01: I want to say she's like third or fourth ever.
26:11
SPEAKER_01: I think just behind Allie Mack.
26:14
SPEAKER_01: Or she might even be second.
26:15
SPEAKER_01: She has a really fast time on the Manitou incline.
26:17
And she's even thrown down some really good times on the
26:19
incline this year.
26:20
SPEAKER_01: And for those of you who don't know,
26:21
SPEAKER_01: the Manitou incline is like this...
26:23
SPEAKER_01: Essentially,
26:24
SPEAKER_01: it was a cog...
26:25
ride that would ride you up to a lookout for pike's peak and
26:29
then it kind of became
26:30
dilapidated and then it basically just turned into a trail and
26:33
so this this climb
26:34
is in colorado spring so it's at altitude um it starts at about
26:37
2 000 meters and it
26:39
goes up about 600 550 meters and that 550 meters is in like um
26:42
a kilometer let me
26:43
SPEAKER_01: think
26:51
like 1.3 kilometers or something like that so it's super steep
26:54
so for the u.s
26:55
audience it's like 0.82 miles where you go up almost 2 000 feet
26:58
avert um so it's
27:00
like an average 40 incline it's just a grind of a climb and
27:02
it's kind of famous
27:03
remy set the course record on it he took it from joe gray um
27:06
and joe gray had it
27:07
for a long time and ali mac has it on the female side um but
27:11
hayley haffman has
27:11
SPEAKER_01: like one of the top top three or four times on it um
27:15
SPEAKER_01: behind Allie Mack.
27:16
SPEAKER_01: So really good climber, definitely altitude adjusted.
27:20
SPEAKER_01: Says she lives in Golden,
27:21
SPEAKER_01: but I know she comes down and does,
27:22
SPEAKER_01: like I said,
27:22
SPEAKER_01: the incline a good bit.
27:23
And I think she's one of those,
27:25
like I said,
27:25
athletes that's gone off to the U.S.
27:26
SPEAKER_01: ski mode team.
27:27
SPEAKER_01: And it looks like now she's trying to make the U.S.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: vertical ascent team as well.
27:31
SPEAKER_01: I think she's going to be a lot for a set up dive.
27:34
I think that's a strong statement for somebody who a lot of
27:36
people don't really,
27:37
SPEAKER_01: aren't familiar with.
27:39
SPEAKER_01: But I think she's super duper fit and really impressed me last year.
27:43
SPEAKER_01: And I think she's going to impress me again this year.
27:46
SPEAKER_01: So Sarah Beal,
27:46
SPEAKER_01: always somebody to look out for a little bit more of an ultra racer,
27:50
SPEAKER_01: but one of the really fast ultra racers.
27:51
So I'm kind of curious to see how she does in a race like this
27:54
that's short and
27:54
SPEAKER_01: steep and straight uphill.
27:57
SPEAKER_01: So we'll see how that goes.
27:58
SPEAKER_01: And then let's see, what's Sarah Beal been getting into?
28:02
I thought she was mostly racing golden ticket stuff,
28:06
but it'll be exciting to see her.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: Other names, Addie Bracey and Danielle Marquette.
28:10
SPEAKER_01: Danielle Marquette, actually, so Boise Crusher, shout out to her.
28:14
SPEAKER_01: She's a mom of like four kids.
28:16
SPEAKER_01: She has won the Broken Arrow VK before, if I'm not mistaken.
28:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's really cool to see her mix it up.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: I mean, she's literally just a mom who's a really badass athlete.
28:27
SPEAKER_01: She raced the VK last year and got 13th place.
28:30
SPEAKER_01: And then in...
28:32
SPEAKER_01: Let's see, she raced the VK in 2023 and got eighth.
28:35
SPEAKER_01: And then, never mind, I'm thinking of the rut.
28:37
SPEAKER_01: She did run the rut VK, not Broken Arrow.
28:41
SPEAKER_01: But she's gone top 10 in this race before, knows it really well.
28:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I hope to see her in the top 10 again.
28:46
SPEAKER_01: We'll be rooting for her.
28:48
SPEAKER_01: She's super nice and a super awesome person.
28:50
SPEAKER_01: And like I said, a mom of four kids.
28:54
Looking at Sarah Bieler's results,
28:55
I don't see,
28:56
yeah,
28:57
mostly like 50Ks,
28:58
fast 50Ks.
28:59
SPEAKER_01: She's a previous winner of JFK.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: She did the Broken Arrow 46K in 2022, didn't have the best day.
29:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I'd be curious.
29:06
SPEAKER_01: It'd be cool to see her in the top 10.
29:08
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if this is
29:10
SPEAKER_01: perfectly in her wheelhouse, but I think she could do really well.
29:12
SPEAKER_01: Other names to look out for, Jade Bellsberg.
29:14
SPEAKER_01: She was ninth overall last year.
29:16
SPEAKER_01: I think she's very, very fit this year.
29:17
SPEAKER_01: I think she would be a strong pick for the top 10.
29:20
SPEAKER_01: I think she's a lock for points.
29:22
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if she will, if I put her quite in the top five, but she did
29:27
SPEAKER_01: make the U.S.
29:28
team,
29:29
excuse me,
29:29
the Canadian team last year,
29:32
and I think she got second in the vertical ascent.
29:35
SPEAKER_01: Jess Proud, though, is going to be exciting to see.
29:36
SPEAKER_01: That's the partner to Jim Walmsley,
29:39
SPEAKER_01: recently sponsored by Hoka earlier this year,
29:42
SPEAKER_01: and really,
29:42
really impressed a lot of people last year with her fifth place
29:44
on the VK.
29:46
SPEAKER_01: I think she's probably a pretty strong pick for points as well,
29:49
SPEAKER_01: and could easily see her in the top five as well this year.
29:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it sounds like she's crewing somebody
29:57
SPEAKER_01: I don't remember who she said she's crewing,
29:58
but I think she's crewing maybe her Hoka female teammates at
30:01
Western States this
30:02
SPEAKER_01: year.
30:02
SPEAKER_01: So I'm sure they'll be excited to be back out there.
30:06
Bummer that Jim can't race,
30:07
but it's really awesome to see how good of an athlete she is.
30:11
SPEAKER_01: And then some other names to look out for.
30:12
SPEAKER_01: I think Allie Ostrander is probably a pretty strong pick for the top 10.
30:15
SPEAKER_01: I haven't seen her in a lot of these VK events,
30:18
SPEAKER_01: but she has some pretty good results on the Golden Trail series.
30:22
some like back half of the top 10 seven eight nine type stuff
30:24
um so i think ally
30:25
would be a pretty strong pick i wouldn't be surprised if she
30:27
makes the team and i
30:27
think she's a pretty strong pick for points as well um other
30:31
names look out for
30:32
abby lock was top 10 last year i don't think she's racing based
30:35
off aSubstack post
30:36
she made recently made sydney peterson uh raced last week at
30:40
sun and p and i think
30:42
SPEAKER_00: she was just outside the top 10 if i'm not mistaken let's double check
30:50
SPEAKER_01: Yes, Cindy Peterson was 10th female.
30:52
SPEAKER_01: So also somebody to look out for, collegiate runner.
30:56
Laura Hamilton,
30:57
Australian athlete but lives in the U.S.,
30:59
is good at these VKs.
31:00
SPEAKER_01: So also somebody I could see, somebody in the back half, top 10.
31:03
SPEAKER_01: Rachel Tomachik easily could be in the top 10 here.
31:06
SPEAKER_01: Has made tons of U.S.
31:07
SPEAKER_01: teams.
31:09
SPEAKER_01: Athlete for Merrill didn't have the week she wanted last week at Sunapee.
31:12
SPEAKER_01: I think she was outside the top 10 for her race.
31:15
SPEAKER_01: And then she has a top 10 in Golden Trail earlier this year.
31:17
SPEAKER_01: Emily Schmitz has made multiple trail short.
31:21
SPEAKER_01: I want to say like the short trail team, but she's made multiple U.S.
31:24
SPEAKER_01: teams.
31:25
SPEAKER_01: Andy Cornish, Jackson athlete and a trail team athlete.
31:30
SPEAKER_01: And then I think there's a handful of other trail team athletes.
31:33
SPEAKER_01: that are also racing.
31:34
Taylor Tuttle could be somebody to look out for from Cal,
31:36
uh,
31:36
from Colorado.
31:37
SPEAKER_01: She's got some really fast marathon times.
31:39
SPEAKER_01: I would not be surprised if she sneaks in the top 10,
31:41
SPEAKER_01: uh,
31:42
SPEAKER_01: or maybe even like five,
31:43
SPEAKER_01: six,
31:43
SPEAKER_01: seven,
31:43
SPEAKER_01: eight.
31:45
SPEAKER_01: Um,
31:46
SPEAKER_01: Kylie Christopher Moody, I think, is also a trail team.
31:49
SPEAKER_01: So,
31:50
SPEAKER_01: yeah,
31:50
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
31:50
SPEAKER_01: if I had to go,
31:51
SPEAKER_01: I realized I didn't make my picks for men,
31:53
SPEAKER_01: so I guess I'll make my picks for men and women right now.
31:56
SPEAKER_01: On the women's side,
31:57
SPEAKER_01: like I said,
31:58
SPEAKER_01: right now,
31:58
SPEAKER_01: actually,
31:58
SPEAKER_01: I have the same top fives last year,
32:00
so I'm going to have to mix that up because it's really
32:01
unlikely that happens.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: But as of right now, I'm going to go fifth through one.
32:05
SPEAKER_01: So fifth place, I have Jess Brazzo.
32:07
SPEAKER_01: Fourth place, I got Haley Halfman.
32:08
SPEAKER_01: Third place, Allie McLaughlin.
32:10
SPEAKER_01: Second place, Anna Gibson.
32:11
SPEAKER_01: And first place, Joyce Najeru.
32:13
SPEAKER_01: I'm probably going to swap somebody out.
32:15
and put um and put jade bellsberg in quite frankly um i was
32:20
oscillating she didn't
32:21
do as good at this race last year but i think she's more fit
32:24
than she was last year
32:25
and i was also hesitant just because she's mostly done more
32:27
ultra and like longer
32:28
stuff but i mean i'm sure she's still plenty fast um that was
32:32
the only reason why i
32:33
was kind of on the fence so i think jade's a really good pick
32:35
for being in that top
32:35
SPEAKER_00: five um who else
32:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
32:42
SPEAKER_00: Casey Einman I think is also,
32:43
SPEAKER_01: you know,
32:44
probably a pretty strong pick for the top five and will
32:47
definitely be somewhere in
32:47
SPEAKER_01: the top 10.
32:48
SPEAKER_01: And then if there's anyone else I'm leaving off,
32:52
SPEAKER_01: Ali Ostrander I think is probably a pretty strong lock as well.
32:54
SPEAKER_01: So those are some names I'd probably sub in if I wanted to.
32:57
SPEAKER_01: But I do still think Joyce is the favorite with Ana being a close second.
33:01
And then I think Ally Mack is always really good at these
33:04
vertical events,
33:05
SPEAKER_01: especially at altitude.
33:06
So,
33:08
yeah,
33:08
that's kind of where I'm at with my female picks on the men's
33:10
side of the equation.
33:12
SPEAKER_01: I think I'm going to go,
33:13
SPEAKER_01: so five through one,
33:14
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to go Cam Smith in fifth,
33:16
SPEAKER_01: Philemon Carriago in fourth.
33:19
Somebody who I just realized I didn't even talk about because
33:22
their name's at the
33:23
SPEAKER_01: bottom of the list.
33:24
SPEAKER_01: But going back for the men's side, Lucas Early.
33:28
from germany this guy got second in the up down of the european
33:31
trail championships
33:32
last year and i think he won the vertical he's also won like
33:36
the etc and the cc
33:38
whatever the short it's etc and mcc he's won the short uh trail
33:43
races at um at
33:47
SPEAKER_01: UTMB.
33:48
SPEAKER_01: He's like a 20-year-old kid from Germany.
33:50
SPEAKER_01: I think he races D1 collegiately in the States.
33:53
SPEAKER_01: Just a stud, super fast guy.
33:55
SPEAKER_01: I think he's going to be somebody that's going to be slept on.
33:57
SPEAKER_01: I have him in my top five,
33:59
SPEAKER_01: so when I'm going for my top five,
34:01
I realize I just totally skipped over him because his name is
34:03
towards the bottom of
34:03
SPEAKER_01: the list.
34:04
SPEAKER_01: But he is somebody who's a really serious contender.
34:06
SPEAKER_01: In my opinion, he's one of the favorites for this race.
34:09
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I quite put him up there with Patrick and Killian,
34:11
SPEAKER_01: but I think he could beat somebody like Philemon and Cam.
34:14
SPEAKER_01: So in third place, I have Lucas Early without saying.
34:18
SPEAKER_01: And then second place, I got Killian.
34:19
SPEAKER_01: First place, Patrick.
34:20
SPEAKER_01: So once again, I'll go Ben's top five.
34:23
SPEAKER_01: Fifth, Cameron Smith.
34:24
SPEAKER_01: Fourth, Philemon Kiriago.
34:26
SPEAKER_01: Third, Lucas Early.
34:27
SPEAKER_01: Second, KJ.
34:29
SPEAKER_01: Kellyanne Jornet.
34:30
SPEAKER_01: And first, Patrick Kippenchena.
34:31
SPEAKER_01: So that's my men's side on the...
34:36
SPEAKER_01: on the VK.
34:37
SPEAKER_01: So now we're going to go into picks for the 23K and the 46K.
34:41
It's going to go a little bit quicker because a lot of these
34:43
athletes are kind of
34:44
SPEAKER_01: people I've already talked about.
34:45
SPEAKER_01: So if I say their name and don't say much about them,
34:47
SPEAKER_01: just know that we've kind of already talked about them.
34:49
SPEAKER_01: So 23K, this is going to be the Golden Trail World Series race.
34:54
SPEAKER_01: So that makes it super competitive.
34:55
SPEAKER_01: We've already seen Patrick take two wins.
34:58
SPEAKER_01: So he's looking for a third one.
34:59
SPEAKER_01: We've seen Philemon take one win and I think two second places.
35:02
SPEAKER_01: So he's looking for a second win.
35:04
SPEAKER_01: And then we also have
35:05
SPEAKER_01: the addition of the other golden trail, uh, goat and Elozine.
35:09
SPEAKER_01: So,
35:10
SPEAKER_01: um,
35:11
SPEAKER_01: yeah,
35:11
SPEAKER_01: with that being said,
35:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
35:12
SPEAKER_01: Elozine is going to be really exciting to see him race.
35:14
Um,
35:15
we know he loves racing in the States and he does plenty fine
35:17
altitude.
35:18
SPEAKER_01: We saw it last year with his back-to-back wins.
35:20
SPEAKER_01: Both of his wins were within like,
35:22
SPEAKER_01: a combined three or four seconds.
35:24
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
35:24
SPEAKER_01: you had the elbow gate with Patrick at Mammoth Trail Fest,
35:29
SPEAKER_01: which was at altitude,
35:30
SPEAKER_01: in which they kind of got real close and bunched up at the end.
35:33
SPEAKER_01: And Elozine won.
35:35
SPEAKER_01: And then you had a really,
35:40
SPEAKER_01: really tight finish at Headlands in California,
35:43
SPEAKER_01: which is more of a flat,
35:44
SPEAKER_01: fast race.
35:46
SPEAKER_01: So 23K, I mean, this one is going to be a ton of heavy hitters.
35:49
SPEAKER_01: You got guys like Elozine.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: Patrick,
35:53
SPEAKER_01: Taylor Stack,
35:54
SPEAKER_01: Andy Wacker,
35:55
SPEAKER_01: Remy Binet,
35:55
SPEAKER_01: Cam Smith,
35:56
SPEAKER_01: Christian Allen,
35:57
SPEAKER_01: Talon Hull,
35:58
SPEAKER_01: Phil Moncariago,
35:59
SPEAKER_01: Mason Copey,
36:00
SPEAKER_01: Remy LaRue,
36:02
SPEAKER_01: Henry Imanod,
36:04
SPEAKER_01: Roberto Di Lorenzi.
36:05
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you just have a ton of really, really good racers.
36:09
I even scroll down to the bottom because a lot of times people
36:11
will be hiding down here.
36:14
SPEAKER_01: Let's see.
36:15
SPEAKER_01: Lucas Erle once again.
36:17
SPEAKER_01: Got people coming from Australia.
36:24
people racing coming from mongolia that's pretty sweet luca
36:27
merrily's racing again
36:28
jerry gillingham andrea alia um charlie hamilton i'm pretty
36:34
sure is a pretty good
36:35
australian racer if i'm not mistaken and then see germany
36:40
france yeah so got some
36:44
SPEAKER_01: big names out here um so with that being said on the 23k
36:48
I think you'd be hard-pressed not to kind of be considering
36:51
your usual favorites.
36:52
So with that being said,
36:55
Remy Benet is definitely a pick for my top five if he is able
36:58
to race.
36:59
SPEAKER_01: He posted something on Instagram.
37:01
SPEAKER_01: One of the advantages of
37:02
getting this podcast out so late is that you kind of get more
37:05
information.
37:06
SPEAKER_01: He posted something on Instagram with like a wrap around his leg,
37:09
SPEAKER_01: and it makes me thinking that he might not be able to race.
37:11
SPEAKER_01: So with that being said, Remy's not my top five.
37:13
SPEAKER_01: It's not because if he's racing, he's going to be in the top five.
37:15
SPEAKER_01: But it's more than I'm worried that he's not racing.
37:18
SPEAKER_01: So keep that in mind and take that for a grain of salt.
37:21
SPEAKER_01: But we've got Eldin Alizawi, Flying Camel.
37:24
SPEAKER_01: He's looking just as good as he was last year.
37:25
SPEAKER_01: He got nearly edged out at Noli, and then he won Zagama.
37:28
SPEAKER_01: I think he's a favorite.
37:30
Him,
37:30
Patrick,
37:31
and Philmont,
37:31
any race they're in,
37:32
they're always going to be favorites.
37:33
So I think you'd be hard-pressed not to pick them,
37:35
and it's up to you what order.
37:36
SPEAKER_01: Patrick's probably the favorite because he won this last year,
37:38
SPEAKER_01: but I think Philmont is much more fit than he was,
37:40
SPEAKER_01: or is racing smarter than he was last year.
37:43
SPEAKER_01: So I think there's some new dynamics.
37:45
SPEAKER_01: I still think Patrick's the favorite.
37:46
SPEAKER_01: but I wouldn't be surprised at all.
37:48
SPEAKER_01: If film on takes the one on this one,
37:50
SPEAKER_01: um,
37:50
SPEAKER_01: and Elozine somewhere there in the mix,
37:52
SPEAKER_01: uh,
37:52
SPEAKER_01: once again,
37:53
SPEAKER_01: Zachary Erickson coming off of,
37:55
SPEAKER_01: uh,
37:55
SPEAKER_01: six place at the race,
37:58
SPEAKER_01: uh,
37:58
SPEAKER_01: race a couple of weeks ago.
37:59
SPEAKER_01: And, um,
38:01
At Sunapee Scramble,
38:02
I think he could be a floater on the back half of this top 10.
38:05
Taylor Stack kind of surprised us all with a fourth place last
38:08
year at this race,
38:09
SPEAKER_01: just behind these really good racers.
38:10
SPEAKER_01: So Taylor Stack, I think, is going to be fine-tuned and ready to go.
38:13
He's not racing the vertical kilometers,
38:15
so he's going to have fresh legs.
38:16
SPEAKER_01: And he already made that team for Sunapee.
38:19
SPEAKER_01: So I'd be curious to see maybe just...
38:22
SPEAKER_01: seeing if he could go... I don't know that he would race both.
38:25
SPEAKER_01: Oh, no, sorry.
38:26
SPEAKER_01: This is 23K for Golden Trail, so it doesn't matter.
38:28
SPEAKER_01: He's just trying to get Golden Trail points.
38:29
SPEAKER_01: So I'm really excited to see.
38:31
SPEAKER_01: I could see him in the top five.
38:33
SPEAKER_01: Andy Wacker, same thing.
38:35
SPEAKER_01: He is racing the VK, though, so that's something to consider.
38:38
SPEAKER_01: Remy Benet,
38:38
SPEAKER_01: like I said,
38:39
SPEAKER_01: I think he's a lock for the top five if he's racing,
38:41
SPEAKER_01: but I'm worried if he is racing.
38:42
SPEAKER_01: He hasn't posted on anything on Strava in three days,
38:44
and then his post on Instagram made it seem like he wasn't
38:47
going to be able to
38:48
SPEAKER_01: race.
38:48
SPEAKER_01: So...
38:49
SPEAKER_01: Keep that in mind.
38:50
SPEAKER_01: Cam Smith did races, didn't have a good day last year after the VK.
38:55
SPEAKER_01: But I think he'll have a better race this year.
38:56
SPEAKER_01: And I think his leg speed has improved.
38:58
SPEAKER_01: So I think he's going to be in good shape.
39:00
SPEAKER_01: Christian Allen, I think would be a lock for my top 10.
39:02
SPEAKER_01: But I'm worried about how he is coming off of his injury.
39:07
SPEAKER_01: And then other guys to look out for, I imagine, yeah, Roberto's racing.
39:12
So Roberto Di Lorenzi,
39:13
Swiss athlete for Brooks and perennial top 10 in these races.
39:18
SPEAKER_01: He got eighth at the Noli race in Italy, but I think he had a wrong turn.
39:21
SPEAKER_01: So he's probably looking to kind of redeem himself after that.
39:24
SPEAKER_01: He's done really good at altitude in the past.
39:27
SPEAKER_01: And I think he'll be excited to race in the US.
39:31
SPEAKER_01: So definitely somebody to look out for.
39:32
SPEAKER_01: I mean, this field is just totally stacked and it's going to be tough.
39:35
SPEAKER_01: I think...
39:36
we're kind of spoiled because we have guys like LZ and Patrick
39:38
and so I'm on that
39:39
SPEAKER_01: are easy picks.
39:39
And then it's kind of up to us to like,
39:41
figure out who the heck is going to be the other picks.
39:43
And you kind of have to gamble some too,
39:44
to have picks different than anyone else.
39:47
But I think Taylor Stack did really good at this race last year
39:50
and knows what it takes.
39:50
SPEAKER_01: So I wouldn't be surprised if he's up there.
39:52
SPEAKER_01: Cam Smith, I think is a better Cam Smith than last year.
39:55
SPEAKER_01: And I think Cam just had an off day at the 23K.
39:57
SPEAKER_01: So I think he's up there.
39:58
SPEAKER_01: Christian Allen is my big question mark.
40:00
I think if he does really good at the VK,
40:02
then I might slot him in a top five spot.
40:05
SPEAKER_01: But I still see him kind of a little bit.
40:08
SPEAKER_01: I see him a little bit further back in these Golden Trail events because
40:13
SPEAKER_01: He's still kind of figuring out pacing.
40:15
He loves to come out super hard,
40:16
but he kind of is still figuring out the pacing.
40:18
SPEAKER_01: Last year, Christian Allen got 13, so he had a rough day.
40:21
And actually,
40:23
while we're at it,
40:23
I'll read the top 10 for last year,
40:25
which is loading.
40:25
But yeah,
40:26
Christian Allen had a rough day last year after having a good
40:29
day at the VK.
40:30
SPEAKER_01: And people like Taylor Stack, I think, was fourth.
40:32
SPEAKER_01: I want to say Hot Call was fifth.
40:33
SPEAKER_01: He's racing this again.
40:35
SPEAKER_01: Hasn't had the results he's wanted to yet this year,
40:37
SPEAKER_01: so maybe he's going to kind of bring back some of that magic.
40:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
40:42
SPEAKER_01: And then Henry Imanod, like I said, he got fifth in 2023 in this event.
40:47
SPEAKER_01: So last year's 23K for Broken Arrow,
40:49
SPEAKER_01: we had Patrick Capagino,
40:51
SPEAKER_01: Eli Hemming,
40:51
SPEAKER_01: Solomon Carriago,
40:52
SPEAKER_01: Taylor Stack,
40:53
SPEAKER_01: Mika Bedouin-Rousseau,
40:55
SPEAKER_01: Hawk Hall,
40:56
SPEAKER_01: Andrew Douglas from Edinburgh,
40:59
SPEAKER_01: Remy LaRue,
41:00
SPEAKER_01: Sam Hendry,
41:01
SPEAKER_01: and Cade Michael.
41:02
SPEAKER_01: Just outside the top ten were Darren Thomas, Allen Hall, Christian Allen.
41:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so...
41:10
SPEAKER_01: With that being said, Remy is another strong pick.
41:15
The top five,
41:15
I would not be opposed to putting him in the back half of my
41:17
top five at all.
41:20
SPEAKER_01: Talon Hull could be sneaking inside the top five.
41:22
SPEAKER_01: He's a Brooks guy from Seattle.
41:25
SPEAKER_01: And then one that I think is definitely worth looking out for,
41:27
and I'm really curious to see and excited to see him race is
41:29
going to be Mason
41:30
SPEAKER_01: Copey.
41:30
SPEAKER_01: He's coming off of a stellar second-place finish, made the U.S.
41:33
SPEAKER_01: team in that Centipede race.
41:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
41:36
SPEAKER_01: I don't think he's done any Golden Trail events,
41:38
SPEAKER_01: so I'm going to be really excited to see how he races.
41:41
SPEAKER_01: Right now,
41:41
SPEAKER_01: I have him in my top five,
41:42
but the only thing that makes me nervous is him not having kind
41:45
of lined up to a
41:46
race with like this depth of competition and just kind of the
41:48
tactics around it.
41:50
SPEAKER_01: We know he's super fit.
41:50
SPEAKER_01: We know he's super fast,
41:51
but I feel like a lot of times these Golden Trail events kind
41:53
of have a learning
41:54
SPEAKER_01: curve.
41:54
in the first race or two because of how stacked the fields are,
41:59
more or less.
42:00
SPEAKER_01: So that's the only thing that has me hesitant with picking him.
42:03
SPEAKER_01: But right now, I do have him in my top five.
42:06
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I can easily see Remy LaRue up there.
42:08
SPEAKER_01: Grant Colligan was just outside of the top 10 last year.
42:10
SPEAKER_01: Roberto DiLorenze, honestly, he's like an insurance.
42:13
SPEAKER_01: The dude's always top 10 in Golden Trail events,
42:17
SPEAKER_01: although he did have a rough day at the Gama,
42:18
SPEAKER_01: so I'm sure he'll be looking to kind of re...
42:23
redeem himself that's the word i'm looking for looking to
42:26
redeem himself but he's
42:27
basically a lot for top 10 events so um not a bad choice at all
42:30
i think he would be
42:31
somebody really strong to pick um if you're gonna go with that
42:33
trio of the three
42:36
guys that i talked about earlier um other names to look out for
42:40
like i said we got
42:41
some i think in this race similarly i think at least uh one
42:45
italian will be in the
42:45
SPEAKER_01: top in the top 10 um whether it is
42:50
uh henry imanod or andrea alia one of those two i think will
42:52
also be in the top 10
42:54
and then trying to see if there's anyone else i think sam
42:59
chalanga is also racing
43:00
here don't quote me though let me find his name yeah sam
43:04
chalanga is also racing so
43:05
that'll be a big question mark i'll be curious to see how he
43:07
does in a race like
43:09
SPEAKER_01: this um but might be able to turn some heads with with how good he is
43:13
SPEAKER_01: With that being said,
43:14
SPEAKER_01: my top five in the Broken Arrow 23K,
43:17
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
43:17
SPEAKER_01: I think everyone's going to pick probably the same top three.
43:19
SPEAKER_01: Don't quote me on that, but I mean, but I'll go, yeah, top three.
43:24
SPEAKER_01: So right now I got Philmon in first, Elzeen in second, Patrick in third.
43:27
SPEAKER_01: I think Patrick's probably the easy favorite.
43:29
SPEAKER_01: I might swap him in there and then put Philmon second or Elzeen.
43:33
SPEAKER_01: Any top three of those guys I think is a really good choice.
43:36
SPEAKER_01: Fourth and fifth is where question marks are.
43:39
SPEAKER_01: I've got Lucas Herley in fourth also.
43:42
i really am pretty pretty bullish on this kid i think he's
43:45
gonna do really well and
43:48
um yeah so um going back mason copie raced the 46k for broken
43:54
arrow last year i
43:56
don't think mason copie last year is the same as mason copie
43:58
this year but in the
43:59
46k he got 11th last year so longer race didn't do quite as
44:02
good right now i've got
44:03
SPEAKER_01: mason copie in fifth um
44:07
SPEAKER_01: for my men's.
44:07
SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of what I was coming back to.
44:09
SPEAKER_01: So right now I've got Philemon in first,
44:10
SPEAKER_01: Elzeen second,
44:11
SPEAKER_01: Patrick third,
44:12
SPEAKER_01: Lucas fourth,
44:13
SPEAKER_01: and fifth,
44:14
SPEAKER_01: Mason Copey.
44:15
SPEAKER_01: I'm liable to swap in Roberto Di Lorenzi,
44:19
SPEAKER_01: Remy Benet if he's racing for sure,
44:20
SPEAKER_01: Roberto Di Lorenzi,
44:21
SPEAKER_01: Taylor Stack.
44:23
I could even see Andy Wacker has won this event before and had
44:27
a really good time.
44:27
SPEAKER_01: And those are probably the guys that I would trade in.
44:32
SPEAKER_01: I'd either go Roberto or
44:35
SPEAKER_01: Andy Wacker or Remy.
44:39
Honestly,
44:40
though,
44:40
Cam Smith,
44:40
I think,
44:41
is looking way more fit than he was last year.
44:43
SPEAKER_01: Christian Allen, if he does get in the VK, I'm liable to swap him in.
44:45
SPEAKER_01: Remy LaRue has done really good at this event.
44:47
SPEAKER_01: So I know there's nothing too exciting about those picks,
44:50
SPEAKER_01: but I think it's tough to count out any of the big three,
44:53
SPEAKER_01: and then it'll just be like,
44:54
SPEAKER_01: who are you thinking is going to get fourth and fifth,
44:56
SPEAKER_01: which is tough.
44:57
SPEAKER_01: But I hope I'm wrong, and I hope this year kind of changes it up.
45:00
SPEAKER_01: On the women's side of the race, the women's side is really exciting.
45:02
SPEAKER_01: We've got tons of big names.
45:04
SPEAKER_01: We've got Monica Maddalena Floria,
45:07
SPEAKER_01: Joyce Najeru,
45:08
SPEAKER_01: Anna Gibson,
45:09
SPEAKER_01: Lauren Gregory,
45:10
SPEAKER_01: Allie Max,
45:11
SPEAKER_01: a lot of the same VK people plus some extras.
45:13
Christina Mascarenas,
45:15
Taylor Nowen,
45:16
Alicia Vargo,
45:17
Danielle Marquette,
45:17
Jade Bellsberg.
45:18
SPEAKER_01: So a lot of the same females who raced it last year.
45:23
And then I think we've also got Marie Neve from France that
45:27
races Golden Trail.
45:28
SPEAKER_01: And then there was...
45:31
who else was there there's one other international athlete i
45:35
think it's alice
45:36
goodall one other one i don't remember if she was french or
45:44
where oh alex gaggy
45:46
that's what i was thinking of alex gaggy so um so on the
45:50
women's side i still think
45:53
SPEAKER_01: I actually don't think Joyce is the favorite.
45:54
I think that I would probably lean towards Monica Madalina
45:57
Floria,
45:57
the Romanian Scott athlete.
45:59
SPEAKER_01: She's having a really good year.
46:00
SPEAKER_01: I think she's got
46:01
third second and a first so um she's already got three top
46:05
threes in the golden
46:06
trail series um yeah she won the noli event that's where her
46:10
breakout year was and
46:11
then um i think you're second at japan and third at china if
46:16
i'm not mistaken so um
46:18
i think she's probably a favorite honestly in my opinion um
46:20
just based on how she's
46:21
racing versus joyce but i would still say joyce is probably the
46:24
equal favorite
46:25
SPEAKER_01: Anna Gibson, same thing.
46:26
SPEAKER_01: We got an added mix,
46:27
SPEAKER_01: Lauren Gregory,
46:28
SPEAKER_01: who was just behind Anna by like 30 seconds,
46:30
SPEAKER_01: her second place in the US team.
46:32
SPEAKER_01: I think she's also a favorite.
46:33
SPEAKER_01: She does get at these altitude events.
46:34
SPEAKER_01: She's super fast and coming off injuries.
46:36
SPEAKER_01: So I think she's only getting more fit.
46:38
SPEAKER_01: Allie Mack always races well at Broken Arrow, never count her out.
46:42
SPEAKER_01: So she's up there as well.
46:44
SPEAKER_01: Other people to look out for,
46:45
Curtin Copinger has already got two top tens and has got two
46:50
top tens with regards
46:52
SPEAKER_01: to the...
46:54
SPEAKER_01: Golden Trail Series events.
46:56
SPEAKER_01: And then I think she was top 10 at Sunapee, if I'm not mistaken, as well.
46:59
SPEAKER_01: I could easily see her in the back half of the top 10.
47:01
um for this race or maybe as high as like six or seven uh
47:05
christina mascarina she's
47:06
often just outside the top 10 of these golden trail events
47:08
color springs local
47:10
she's won i speak marathon multiple times taylor now in a north
47:14
face athlete mostly
47:15
does ultra stuff but switching to sub ultra so that'll be
47:17
exciting to see um really
47:18
curious to see if she can sneak in sneak in the top five top 10
47:21
um jade bellsberg i
47:23
SPEAKER_01: think is a really strong pick for top five uh
47:26
SPEAKER_01: I haven't seen her race as many golden trail events.
47:28
SPEAKER_01: So I'd be curious.
47:29
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then Sydney Peterson could be in the back half.
47:32
SPEAKER_01: Amanda Basham had a really good race that impressed me last year.
47:35
I think she went top five at 23 K.
47:37
So I'm curious to see where her fitness is at this year.
47:39
SPEAKER_01: Rachel Tomajic.
47:42
Looking for her to bounce back from a disappointing result at
47:44
Santa P for her.
47:45
Emily Schmitz usually does longer stuff,
47:48
so kind of curious what should be in there.
47:50
SPEAKER_01: And then three names, Alexa Aragon, Oakley, Olsen, and Laura Moore.
47:54
SPEAKER_01: You can easily see any of them in the back half of the top 10.
47:58
People that typically race these Cirque Series events or on the
48:01
trail team.
48:02
SPEAKER_01: And then Alex Gaggy, honestly.
48:04
I think Alex Gaggy will probably be somewhere in that 6,
48:07
7,
48:08
8,
48:07
along with Marina Bay.
48:08
SPEAKER_01: So keep that in mind for what it's worth.
48:11
SPEAKER_01: Other than that,
48:12
I think that's kind of everyone I want to talk about on the 23K
48:15
side of the
48:16
SPEAKER_01: equation.
48:17
SPEAKER_01: For my female, 23K going 5 through 1.
48:19
SPEAKER_01: Fifth place, I got Allie Mack.
48:21
SPEAKER_01: Fourth place, Lauren Gregory.
48:23
SPEAKER_01: Third place, Anna Gibson.
48:24
SPEAKER_01: Second place, Joyce Njeru.
48:25
SPEAKER_01: And first place, Monica Maddalena Florio.
48:29
SPEAKER_01: I could easily see,
48:31
SPEAKER_01: I don't know,
48:31
SPEAKER_01: I might swap around the order some,
48:33
SPEAKER_01: and I might swap around the picks,
48:34
SPEAKER_01: but I think that's a pretty strong top five,
48:36
SPEAKER_01: and I'm not feeling too iffy about any of them.
48:39
SPEAKER_01: I think that,
48:40
SPEAKER_01: honestly,
48:41
SPEAKER_01: all of them are going to be in the top ten,
48:42
SPEAKER_01: so I think I feel pretty confident.
48:44
SPEAKER_01: I could see Joyce just in light of her having a rough year DNFing,
48:48
SPEAKER_01: and then also,
48:49
SPEAKER_01: honestly,
48:50
SPEAKER_01: Monica Mandelina-Floria every now and then has a bad day,
48:52
SPEAKER_01: but I think that's a pretty strong top five pick.
48:56
SPEAKER_01: So, last but not least, bear with me.
48:58
SPEAKER_01: We're almost there.
49:00
SPEAKER_01: We're going to the 46K for the Broken Arrow.
49:04
SPEAKER_01: So I guess I just realized I'm not going in order, I think.
49:06
SPEAKER_00: But the 46K is loading.
49:09
SPEAKER_00: So give me one second.
49:16
So the 46K,
49:17
and from my understanding,
49:18
it's just two loops of the 23K course.
49:21
SPEAKER_01: Kind of a bummer, but basically they just looped double it back.
49:24
SPEAKER_01: Last year, David Sinclair won.
49:26
He ran perfectly even splits,
49:28
and I think he got a...
49:30
I want to say it was four hours flat.
49:33
SPEAKER_01: I think they were both right at two hours, if I'm not mistaken.
49:38
SPEAKER_01: He won it, masterclassed it,
49:40
set a course record it's always tough to tell these course
49:42
records are broken arrow
49:43
because they always be changed in the course and it changes on
49:45
snow years and it
49:46
changes on like i don't know it changes with all this arbitrary
49:49
stuff um last year
49:51
he did broken arrow 46k yeah he ran 40 108 so he ran both lips
49:55
like right at two
49:55
SPEAKER_01: hours i want to say um so he's a returning champion for this race
50:01
SPEAKER_01: Also on the men's side, let's see, who else do we have?
50:04
SPEAKER_01: On the men's side, we've got Eli Hemming.
50:07
SPEAKER_01: We've got John Aziz.
50:09
SPEAKER_01: We've got Aubrey Meijer,
50:10
SPEAKER_01: Coleman Kragen,
50:11
SPEAKER_01: Eddie Owens,
50:13
SPEAKER_01: Nick Handel,
50:14
SPEAKER_01: Leah Miro,
50:14
SPEAKER_01: Ryan Becker,
50:16
SPEAKER_01: Cole Campbell,
50:17
SPEAKER_01: Trayson Knopp,
50:18
SPEAKER_01: Brian Whitfield,
50:19
SPEAKER_01: David Norris,
50:21
SPEAKER_01: Preston Cates,
50:23
SPEAKER_01: Noah Williams.
50:25
SPEAKER_01: Who else?
50:26
SPEAKER_01: Jeff Cold, although I don't think he's recent.
50:29
Johnny Luna Lima,
50:30
Jess Small,
50:31
Garrett Corcoran,
50:32
Caden Michael,
50:33
Adam Mary,
50:34
Nick De La Rosa.
50:35
And then let me see if there's any international guys down
50:40
below on this list that I'm missing.
50:49
SPEAKER_00: Real quick check.
50:54
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
50:56
SPEAKER_00: All right, nobody from what?
51:04
SPEAKER_00: I can tell.
51:05
SPEAKER_00: We got the Mongolian guy, one of the Mongolian guys racing.
51:08
SPEAKER_01: OK, cool.
51:10
SPEAKER_01: So 46K, two loops.
51:16
SPEAKER_01: On the men's side,
51:16
SPEAKER_00: honestly,
51:17
I think the two big dogs in the house are easily David Sinclair
51:20
and Eli Hemming.
51:21
SPEAKER_01: Really excited to see them match up.
51:23
SPEAKER_01: They have raced before.
51:25
SPEAKER_01: Actually,
51:25
SPEAKER_01: let me go and use...
51:30
SPEAKER_01: If you guys haven't yet used this,
51:31
SPEAKER_01: on thefantasy.freetrail.com,
51:34
SPEAKER_01: if you go to stats,
51:34
SPEAKER_01: you can go to head-to-head,
51:36
SPEAKER_01: and you can look up racers racing each other.
51:38
SPEAKER_01: So I'm going to look up...
51:40
And you're basically looking up their head-to-head scores
51:42
against each other.
51:43
SPEAKER_01: And who's won and who's done better and what events.
51:46
SPEAKER_01: And it's a really cool feature that Mr. Travis Longcar has put in there.
51:51
So I was going to try to go pull up Eli Hemming versus David
51:56
Sinclair to get their
51:57
SPEAKER_00: head-to-head matchup.
51:58
SPEAKER_00: So give me one second while I do that.
52:05
SPEAKER_00: But yeah,
52:05
basically you just type in their names and it tells you how
52:07
much they've raced each
52:08
SPEAKER_01: other,
52:09
SPEAKER_01: who's won,
52:10
SPEAKER_01: and what their record is.
52:10
SPEAKER_01: So right now I'm looking at Eli Hemming and David Sinclair.
52:12
SPEAKER_01: I know they've raced...
52:14
SPEAKER_01: I like the rut VK because they did the year I was there.
52:17
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, and it's pretty close.
52:18
SPEAKER_01: Uh, David Sinclair has got the edge.
52:20
SPEAKER_01: He's three and two against, um, Eli with three wins.
52:24
Uh,
52:24
they raced at JFK last year and David Sinclair won,
52:27
but they were both up front.
52:28
SPEAKER_01: They did broken arrow VK last year and Eli got the win on that one.
52:32
SPEAKER_01: Spigo 50 K David won when he D when, uh,
52:36
SPEAKER_01: when Eli DNFed, and then Broken Arrow, VK, Eli won in 2022.
52:47
SPEAKER_01: But it has the Spigo double counted.
52:49
SPEAKER_01: So that actually might be dead even.
52:50
SPEAKER_01: This might be a tiebreaker.
52:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that'll be interesting to see.
52:56
SPEAKER_01: I think they're both definitely the big dogs in the room.
53:00
SPEAKER_01: Both of them are definitely the favorites when it comes to this race.
53:04
SPEAKER_01: So I'll be excited to see.
53:05
SPEAKER_01: I think Eli will come out super hot.
53:07
SPEAKER_01: I think David will come out a little bit more measured,
53:09
SPEAKER_01: but I'll be curious to see how it stacks up.
53:11
SPEAKER_01: Other people worth noting, I think somebody who's
53:16
SPEAKER_01: Not as well known.
53:17
SPEAKER_01: Honestly, he doesn't race as much of these big events in the States.
53:19
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I would say he's known, but he's a local crusher.
53:22
SPEAKER_01: He lives in Colorado Springs.
53:23
He puts crazy times up,
53:26
routinely goes like sub 20 on the,
53:29
on the Manitou incline.
53:31
SPEAKER_01: And it's just a really fast, like also marathon speed guy is John Aziz.
53:35
SPEAKER_01: I know he's a made U.S.
53:36
SPEAKER_01: teams.
53:36
SPEAKER_01: I think he's also done like the U.S.
53:37
SPEAKER_01: like flat 50K team before.
53:40
SPEAKER_01: He's the favorite in my opinion.
53:41
SPEAKER_01: He's super fit.
53:43
races really good at altitude he doesn't tend to race a lot of
53:46
these uh mountainous
53:49
50ks it from what his previous record show signs up or sign up
53:54
shows excuse me um
53:55
but i think honestly he's a really really strong competitor i
53:57
might be a little bit
53:58
too bullish but i mean uh yeah he's won the pike speak marathon
54:01
i think three times
54:02
in a row at this point um he did do loon mountain last year and
54:05
got third place and
54:07
uh what else formidable 50k won in 2023 pike speak marathon won
54:11
in 2022 audi power
54:13
of four so that's a good case point audi power for 50k is
54:16
really mountainous it's
54:17
not as competitive as this is but he has won that before in
54:20
2021 so i'm sure he's
54:22
training pretty specifically for this race um i think he's
54:25
going to be somebody
54:25
SPEAKER_01: who's going to be in the top five somewhere
54:28
SPEAKER_01: Other people to look out for.
54:29
SPEAKER_01: Eddie Owens, really excited to see.
54:31
SPEAKER_01: He does get to the U.S.
54:32
SPEAKER_01: selection events.
54:34
SPEAKER_01: So he's probably trying to make a U.S.
54:35
SPEAKER_01: team.
54:35
SPEAKER_01: I think he just missed out on the 2023 team.
54:38
SPEAKER_01: Or he might have made it.
54:39
SPEAKER_01: He might have been the fourth choice.
54:40
SPEAKER_01: Because he did really well at Sunapee that year.
54:44
SPEAKER_01: So I think that... Yeah, I think he did make it.
54:48
SPEAKER_01: So we're starting to see him race longer and longer stuff.
54:51
SPEAKER_01: And we know he did really good at the... Why am I blanking on it?
54:56
SPEAKER_01: Big Alta.
54:57
SPEAKER_01: He got second place at Big Alta 50K earlier this year.
54:59
SPEAKER_01: So that was probably a pretty good tune-up.
55:01
SPEAKER_01: I'm curious to see.
55:01
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how he does the elevation, but I think he's a strong pick.
55:05
Nick Handel hasn't had the best year compared to his results in
55:10
previous years.
55:11
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure he's kind of looking for some redemption.
55:13
SPEAKER_01: He...
55:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think he DNFed at Black Cannon, if I'm not mistaken.
55:19
SPEAKER_01: And then last year he did race the 46K and he got seventh place.
55:22
SPEAKER_01: So I think he's a strong pick.
55:24
SPEAKER_01: He's got third place in the 46K in 2023.
55:27
SPEAKER_01: And let's see if he raced it.
55:29
SPEAKER_01: He also got third place in 2021.
55:30
SPEAKER_01: So he knows the course.
55:32
SPEAKER_01: He does well here.
55:32
SPEAKER_01: I think he is a strong pick for that like three through seven spot.
55:37
SPEAKER_01: Um...
55:38
SPEAKER_01: Other names on the list, Liam Miro, excited to see.
55:40
SPEAKER_01: He's starting to step up to more of these 50K events.
55:42
SPEAKER_01: We know he's got hella leg speed.
55:44
SPEAKER_01: It's just kind of a matter of pacing and also fueling.
55:48
SPEAKER_01: Excited to see how he does in this race.
55:50
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I see him in the top fives unless he has a really,
55:52
SPEAKER_01: really good day of pacing and fueling.
55:54
SPEAKER_01: Ryan Becker, I do think he's in the top five for this race.
55:58
SPEAKER_01: This is kind of like his bread and butter type event,
56:00
SPEAKER_01: a mountainous 50K or mountainous marathon type event.
56:06
SPEAKER_01: So I think Ryan Becker's a really, really strong pick.
56:08
SPEAKER_01: I definitely foresee him being in the top 10 somewhere.
56:10
SPEAKER_01: He has not raced the 46K, if I'm not mistaken.
56:15
SPEAKER_01: I'm pulling it up.
56:17
SPEAKER_01: He's done the 23K.
56:18
SPEAKER_01: He got seven.
56:19
SPEAKER_01: 23K.
56:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so this would be kind of a step up for him.
56:22
But he has done run the route 50K,
56:24
and he's got fourth place before in 2021.
56:25
SPEAKER_01: And...
56:30
SPEAKER_01: I think with his Achilles, he just hasn't had.
56:32
SPEAKER_01: He did run the rut last year also and got second to Michelino Sanceri.
56:35
SPEAKER_01: So Michelino Sanceri, unfortunately, is not going to be racing.
56:39
SPEAKER_01: Otherwise, I'd have him in my top five.
56:40
SPEAKER_01: Some other people to look out for, Cole Campbell.
56:42
SPEAKER_01: He's the Adidas athlete I was trying to think of earlier.
56:45
SPEAKER_01: Young dude, 29 years old, runs for Adidas.
56:48
SPEAKER_01: I think I could see him in the top 10 somewhere as well.
56:50
SPEAKER_01: Trayson Knopp, I think, is a lock for the top 10.
56:53
SPEAKER_01: It's just a matter of kind of where.
56:54
He did not race run the rut last year,
56:57
I don't believe,
56:58
even though his partner won run the rut.
57:01
SPEAKER_01: Claire Rhodes did.
57:02
SPEAKER_01: And so he's already made the US team for the long trail team.
57:04
SPEAKER_01: He got fourth at Chuckanut this year,
57:06
SPEAKER_01: second at Gorge Waterfalls making the team,
57:08
SPEAKER_01: fourth at JFK last year.
57:09
SPEAKER_01: And he did do the 46K last year and got 13th place.
57:13
SPEAKER_01: So I'd be curious to see if he can improve on that result this year.
57:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
57:18
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, also, he has nothing to lose.
57:19
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't really need to make a U.S.
57:21
SPEAKER_01: team because he already made the U.S.
57:22
SPEAKER_01: team.
57:23
Same thing with his partner,
57:23
Claire Rhodes,
57:24
who we'll talk about here in a second.
57:25
SPEAKER_01: Brian Woodfield, I'll be curious to see.
57:26
SPEAKER_01: Collider Springs guy, super fast.
57:28
I was really good at those kind of like runnable,
57:30
like desert rats and things like that.
57:31
SPEAKER_01: I think he won desert rats this year.
57:33
Haven't seen as much of them out in this stuff,
57:35
but I'd be curious to see him.
57:38
He is a really talented runner,
57:39
so I'd be curious to see how he does in this field.
57:43
SPEAKER_01: David Norris is another one who I have a big curiosity to see.
57:46
SPEAKER_01: We know he just won the championship.
57:49
SPEAKER_01: for the U.S.
57:49
SPEAKER_01: qualifier at Stunapee.
57:51
SPEAKER_01: And he's really good at those type of events.
57:53
I question,
57:54
I think he's still kind of figuring out the pacing and the
57:56
fueling for 50Ks.
57:57
SPEAKER_01: That's the one thing he hasn't done quite as good at yet.
57:59
SPEAKER_01: So I'll be curious to see.
58:00
SPEAKER_01: I initially had him in my top five,
58:02
SPEAKER_01: but now I'm kind of like,
58:03
SPEAKER_01: the big question mark for me is how does he do around fueling?
58:06
SPEAKER_01: Preston Cates, we've seen him make U.S.
58:07
teams in the past,
58:08
was a Nike trail guy,
58:09
formerly ran at University of Arkansas.
58:12
SPEAKER_01: And so, yeah, another one there.
58:15
SPEAKER_01: Finian Jacobson Schultz, I think had a really good day at,
58:20
SPEAKER_01: He was top five at Canons, if I'm not mistaken.
58:22
SPEAKER_01: So I'm also curious to see how he does.
58:24
SPEAKER_01: Noah Williams, always good at these mountainous 50K type races.
58:28
And then it has Jeff Colton's start list,
58:30
but my understanding was that he wasn't starting.
58:32
SPEAKER_01: Johnny Luna Liam, I think, is a sleeper pick.
58:34
SPEAKER_01: I think he'll be in that five through seven.
58:35
He always races super smart,
58:37
doesn't really blow himself up,
58:38
won't go out too hard.
58:39
SPEAKER_01: So I definitely see Johnny Luna Liam in the top 10.
58:41
SPEAKER_01: Jeff Small, another one.
58:42
He hasn't had as good of a year as he had last year and hasn't
58:45
been quite as consistent.
58:47
um he kind of blew up by canyons but i could easily see him in
58:49
the top five here
58:51
garrett corcoran i do think is a is a favorite for top 10 he's
58:55
really good at these
58:55
competitive type of events has good results in longer races
58:58
like this has raced
59:00
spigo and other things like that had some really good results
59:02
so i see him as
59:03
somebody who's going to be up there kade michael is on the up
59:06
and up his stock is
59:07
rising um i think he could have a big result with the top five
59:10
here and that could
59:11
SPEAKER_01: be kind of a breakout race for him and then
59:15
SPEAKER_01: I think that's most of the guys I want to talk about.
59:17
SPEAKER_01: For me on the men's side, top five.
59:19
SPEAKER_01: Fifth place,
59:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to go Ryan Becker,
59:20
SPEAKER_01: fourth Garrett Corcoran,
59:21
SPEAKER_01: third John Aziz,
59:22
SPEAKER_01: second Eli Hemming,
59:24
SPEAKER_01: and first place David Sinclair.
59:26
SPEAKER_01: I could easily swap out Becker and Corcoran for guys like
59:33
let's see eddie owens i think will be up there i i want to put
59:36
david norris but i'm
59:37
hesitant with his fueling um nick handel i think is actually
59:41
the more i look at it
59:42
a really strong pick for somewhere in that top five but he's
59:44
just i think he's had
59:45
two d-naps this year if i'm not mistaken coleman cragan that's
59:48
also another name
59:49
who did really good at i think he was top five at canyons and
59:52
also was second at
59:54
SPEAKER_01: desert rats just behind eli so he might be kind of a sleeper pick um
59:58
SPEAKER_01: But yeah,
59:59
SPEAKER_01: if I was going to swap other people in,
1:00:00
SPEAKER_01: I think Eddie Owens and Nick Handel are both really,
1:00:02
SPEAKER_01: really good choices.
1:00:03
SPEAKER_01: Tracing off, I think, is more fit than last year.
1:00:05
SPEAKER_01: So I think he's going to be in the top 10 somewhere.
1:00:06
SPEAKER_01: He just had an off day last year.
1:00:08
SPEAKER_01: And Johnny Luna, Liam, I think we'll get points.
1:00:11
SPEAKER_01: So on the women's side, we also have kind of some equally goaded women.
1:00:17
We've got Grayson Murphy,
1:00:19
who is coming off of being diagnosed with IBS,
1:00:23
I want to say.
1:00:24
SPEAKER_01: And so I'll be curious to see where her fitness is at.
1:00:27
SPEAKER_01: That's the only thing I'm hesitant to pick,
1:00:28
SPEAKER_01: is I don't know what level of finish she's at right now,
1:00:32
SPEAKER_00: and if she'll start.
1:00:33
SPEAKER_00: And then, let's see.
1:00:43
Yeah,
1:00:43
so Jen Lichter,
1:00:44
Helmino Faulkner,
1:00:45
Tabor Hemming,
1:00:46
Danny Marino,
1:00:47
Claire Rhodes...
1:00:48
SPEAKER_01: Grayson Murphy,
1:00:49
SPEAKER_01: so yeah,
1:00:50
SPEAKER_01: Ashley Brazvan,
1:00:50
SPEAKER_01: Claire DeVoe,
1:00:51
SPEAKER_01: Kimber Maddox,
1:00:53
SPEAKER_01: Casey Einman,
1:00:54
SPEAKER_01: Sarah Beal,
1:00:54
SPEAKER_01: Jane Moss,
1:00:55
SPEAKER_01: Addy Bracey,
1:00:55
SPEAKER_01: Jess Brazzo.
1:00:56
SPEAKER_01: Lots of good names.
1:00:57
SPEAKER_01: Robin Lesch.
1:00:59
SPEAKER_01: So on the female side,
1:01:00
I think that Jen Lichter is probably the favorite in my mind
1:01:04
just with Grayson's
1:01:05
SPEAKER_01: health issues going on.
1:01:06
I think she's going to take it out super hard,
1:01:07
and I think she's going to push.
1:01:09
SPEAKER_01: I think Helen Minow-Faulkner is also up there as a favorite,
1:01:12
SPEAKER_01: but I think she'll kind of run a more measured,
1:01:14
SPEAKER_01: probably going for like that even split race,
1:01:15
SPEAKER_01: kind of like David Sinclair.
1:01:17
SPEAKER_01: I think Jen Lichter is probably the favorite,
1:01:18
SPEAKER_01: in my opinion,
1:01:19
SPEAKER_01: just with Grayson's compromised health.
1:01:20
SPEAKER_01: She's a North Face athlete.
1:01:24
SPEAKER_01: She's won Run the What a ton of times.
1:01:25
SPEAKER_01: She's made the U.S.
1:01:26
SPEAKER_01: team.
1:01:26
SPEAKER_01: She was fourth at Worlds in Innsbruck.
1:01:29
SPEAKER_01: So she's a really good racer.
1:01:30
SPEAKER_01: She likes to be up front.
1:01:30
SPEAKER_01: She likes to be in the mix with everyone.
1:01:33
And I could see her latching on to some really fast guys and
1:01:35
kind of just going after it.
1:01:37
SPEAKER_01: And then other names, Ashley Brazman.
1:01:40
I think she's won Pikes Peak Marathon a couple times or had
1:01:43
some good results there.
1:01:45
SPEAKER_01: Let's see.
1:01:46
SPEAKER_01: Pulling it up.
1:01:48
Ashley Bazman,
1:01:48
second at Desert Routes 50K this year behind Allison Bacca.
1:01:53
Last year,
1:01:53
she did the 20...
1:01:55
No,
1:01:55
2022,
1:01:55
she did the 23K at Broken Arrow and got third place.
1:01:59
SPEAKER_01: And she's won Quad Rock.
1:02:00
SPEAKER_01: She's won second at Pigs Peak Ascent in 2021.
1:02:03
So,
1:02:03
yeah,
1:02:05
not as much recent results,
1:02:06
but her 50K behind Allison Bacca was a pretty good time.
1:02:09
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:02:11
SPEAKER_01: Danny Moreno coming off an injury, injured her foot at OCC last year.
1:02:16
SPEAKER_01: She has done very well at this race multiple times.
1:02:18
SPEAKER_01: I think she's won it as well.
1:02:19
I think she's a favorite coming back and just kind of curious
1:02:22
to see where her
1:02:22
SPEAKER_01: fitness is at coming off injury.
1:02:24
SPEAKER_01: Alamino Faulkner for sure is a favorite, has won this race.
1:02:27
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of a local to the area.
1:02:30
SPEAKER_01: And like I said,
1:02:30
SPEAKER_01: I think she'll be up there with Jen Lichter,
1:02:34
SPEAKER_01: but I think she'll kind of run a totally different race.
1:02:36
SPEAKER_01: Claire DeVoe, I'd be curious to see.
1:02:37
SPEAKER_01: She has won Chuckanut last year, if I'm not mistaken.
1:02:40
And I think she ran collegiately,
1:02:42
so she's got some really good leg speed.
1:02:44
Casey Einman,
1:02:46
former world champion,
1:02:47
really good at kind of the classic distance.
1:02:49
SPEAKER_01: This is a little bit of a longer race for her,
1:02:51
SPEAKER_01: but I think she will race really smart,
1:02:52
SPEAKER_01: and I think she's a very,
1:02:53
SPEAKER_01: very strong pick for the top five.
1:02:55
Question marks around Claire Rhodes,
1:02:58
because she's kind of in the same camp as Trayson.
1:02:59
SPEAKER_01: Both her and Trayson have already made the teams,
1:03:01
so maybe they're just kind of racing this because they like to
1:03:03
race and just
1:03:05
SPEAKER_01: I doubt they're going to try to make two U.S.
1:03:07
SPEAKER_01: teams,
1:03:07
SPEAKER_01: but I think just the competition,
1:03:08
SPEAKER_01: you know,
1:03:09
SPEAKER_01: a lot of athletes,
1:03:09
SPEAKER_01: even if they've already hit a goal,
1:03:11
SPEAKER_01: like this is going to be one of the most competitive races on U.S.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_01: soil.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_01: So you get to see where you stack up versus everyone.
1:03:16
um sarah beal uh we know she's really good at the flat faster
1:03:20
50k 50 miles stuff so
1:03:21
be curious to see how she does in the mountains jane moss i
1:03:24
think could be a really
1:03:25
strong pick um we talked about her last week in the preview for
1:03:28
the twisted fork
1:03:29
but she ended up not racing unfortunately um but i think she's
1:03:32
probably a pretty
1:03:33
strong pick for the top 10 and i'm definitely am seeing her up
1:03:35
there somewhere
1:03:36
SPEAKER_01: Addie Bracey, Nike trail athlete, made tons of U.S.
1:03:39
SPEAKER_01: teams.
1:03:40
SPEAKER_01: She could be somewhere in the back half of that top 10 as well.
1:03:42
SPEAKER_01: Same list.
1:03:43
SPEAKER_01: Likewise, I think she's an on-trail athlete from Moscow, Idaho.
1:03:47
So I think she works at University of Idaho or is affiliated
1:03:49
with them somehow.
1:03:50
SPEAKER_01: She's made a couple U.S.
1:03:51
SPEAKER_01: trail teams for the up-down distance.
1:03:53
SPEAKER_01: So definitely a strong racer as well.
1:03:56
jessica i'll be really excited to see i think jess is probably
1:03:59
a strong pick for
1:03:59
the top five um yeah and i think she just gets better and
1:04:02
better at racing and now
1:04:03
she's got hoka support behind her so i would not be surprised
1:04:06
to see her up there
1:04:08
at all either robin lesh is another person who i think race is
1:04:11
really smart and is
1:04:12
super consistent somewhere in that top five mix i think she
1:04:15
would be she's a pretty
1:04:16
strong pick for the top five as well amanda bashham had a
1:04:19
really good year last
1:04:19
SPEAKER_01: year at um
1:04:22
SPEAKER_01: at Broken Arrow.
1:04:24
SPEAKER_01: And let me see.
1:04:25
SPEAKER_01: She's doing the Triple Crown, too.
1:04:26
SPEAKER_01: So that's one thing to keep in mind.
1:04:27
That's the only reason I would hesitate to pick her if she's
1:04:29
doing all three races.
1:04:31
SPEAKER_01: You know,
1:04:33
SPEAKER_01: she might be pretty spent by...
1:04:35
SPEAKER_01: Well,
1:04:35
SPEAKER_01: I guess this is the second A.
1:04:36
SPEAKER_01: I did them a little bit out of order.
1:04:37
SPEAKER_01: So she might still be fresh out of the VK doing this.
1:04:40
SPEAKER_01: Ruby Lundquist, North Pace athlete.
1:04:43
SPEAKER_01: From Alaska, yeah, somebody who I could easily see in the top 10.
1:04:48
SPEAKER_01: She's coming off of second place at the Mount Fuji 70K,
1:04:51
SPEAKER_01: and is just kind of getting better and better,
1:04:53
SPEAKER_01: learning more and more each year.
1:04:55
SPEAKER_01: Mally Noyes is somebody to look out for.
1:04:57
She's a Solomon athlete who does ski mo,
1:05:00
and I think she's a nurse from the Salt Lake City area.
1:05:03
SPEAKER_01: And she had a really good result at Speedgoat last year, two years ago.
1:05:08
SPEAKER_01: So I wouldn't be surprised to see her up there at all.
1:05:10
SPEAKER_01: Denali Strable,
1:05:11
SPEAKER_01: she's always,
1:05:12
SPEAKER_01: I think she's won Mount Marathon and is always a really,
1:05:15
SPEAKER_01: really good Mount Marathon runner.
1:05:16
SPEAKER_01: So she might be somebody who's up there, knows how to race.
1:05:19
SPEAKER_01: She's from Palmer, Alaska.
1:05:20
SPEAKER_01: Some of the most technical running in the States is definitely in Alaska.
1:05:24
SPEAKER_01: So she'll be up there holding it down.
1:05:26
SPEAKER_01: Laurel Moyer is coming off of a win at the...
1:05:31
Cirque Series race most recently and sprint finished with what
1:05:36
is her name I'm
1:05:37
blanking but she had a sprint finish to win right at the end it
1:05:39
was really epic to
1:05:40
SPEAKER_01: watch if you haven't seen it go on the Cirque Series page look at it
1:05:44
SPEAKER_01: And then Emily Schmitz, multiple U.S.
1:05:46
SPEAKER_01: teams she's made.
1:05:47
SPEAKER_01: She does really get these mountainous events.
1:05:48
SPEAKER_01: I honestly think she's a really strong pick for the top five as well.
1:05:51
I'm pretty sure she lives over in Europe,
1:05:53
even though it's a Wisconsin address.
1:05:55
SPEAKER_01: But I think she lives over in Europe and comes back in races.
1:05:58
SPEAKER_01: Megan Lacy's made multiple U.S.
1:05:59
SPEAKER_01: teams.
1:05:59
SPEAKER_01: Sarah Carter is very fit and very fast.
1:06:03
SPEAKER_01: Former runner at Colorado State.
1:06:05
SPEAKER_01: And I think she got second at Chuckanut this year.
1:06:09
SPEAKER_01: So I think Sarah is honestly a pretty strong pick and lives in Boulder.
1:06:13
SPEAKER_01: So altitude should be no issue.
1:06:14
SPEAKER_01: Lindsay Allison is definitely a strong pick.
1:06:17
SPEAKER_01: I think she's a lock for the top 10.
1:06:18
SPEAKER_01: And then...
1:06:20
SPEAKER_01: I think that's about everyone I want to talk about.
1:06:22
SPEAKER_01: So with regards to the women's race,
1:06:24
I think it's going to be generally like there's race to lose
1:06:28
and she's going to be
1:06:28
SPEAKER_01: up there with Helmina Faulkner.
1:06:30
SPEAKER_01: I have a big question mark around Grayson.
1:06:31
I won't have her in my top five right now just because I'm
1:06:33
questioning where she'll
1:06:35
be at coming off of just where she's at this year with all of
1:06:38
her health issues and
1:06:39
SPEAKER_01: things like that and not doing as much training.
1:06:41
SPEAKER_01: So my women's top five, I'm going to go fifth place, Claire Rhodes.
1:06:45
SPEAKER_01: Fourth place, Dana Moreno.
1:06:46
SPEAKER_01: Third, Tabor Hemming.
1:06:47
SPEAKER_01: Second, Helen Mino Faulkner.
1:06:49
SPEAKER_01: And first, Jennifer Leiter.
1:06:50
SPEAKER_01: I realize I didn't even talk about Tabor.
1:06:52
SPEAKER_01: Tabor's done really good racing this year.
1:06:54
I know she's got a lot of extra stress because of some family
1:06:55
health issues going on.
1:06:58
SPEAKER_01: But she is hard to bet against.
1:07:01
SPEAKER_01: If I was going to sub any females in that top five,
1:07:04
SPEAKER_01: I think Jess Brazzo and Robin Lesch are really,
1:07:07
SPEAKER_01: really strong picks.
1:07:08
SPEAKER_01: And then I also think that...
1:07:11
SPEAKER_01: Emily Schmitz will probably be up there.
1:07:13
And I think Sarah Carter or Lindsay Allison are also really
1:07:16
good picks to put in there.
1:07:17
SPEAKER_01: So with that being said,
1:07:20
I'm sorry if it got a little redundant or a little bit dragged
1:07:25
on at the end.
1:07:25
SPEAKER_01: This is the longest podcast we've ever done,
1:07:27
but it's also the first time I've talked about three races in
1:07:29
one podcast,
1:07:29
SPEAKER_01: if I'm not mistaken.
1:07:31
So those are my picks for Broken Arrow,
1:07:33
both the Vertical Ascent,
1:07:34
the 23K,
1:07:35
and the 46K.
1:07:36
SPEAKER_01: Really appreciate you guys sticking with me.
1:07:38
I really appreciate the support and everyone that listens and
1:07:40
messaged me about the podcast.
1:07:42
SPEAKER_01: Please keep it up if you can.
1:07:45
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, thanks for listening as always.
1:07:48
SPEAKER_01: And I can't wait.
1:07:49
SPEAKER_01: Next week is Western States, which is freaking crazy.
1:07:51
SPEAKER_01: And I'm so excited.
1:07:52
SPEAKER_01: I'm already working on making picks for that.
1:07:54
SPEAKER_01: And I can't wait to talk to you guys about that.
1:07:56
SPEAKER_01: In the meantime, stay safe.
1:07:57
SPEAKER_01: And thanks as always for listening.