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2025 Canyons 100k and 50k Race Preview and Fantasy Trail Picks · Let's Talk Trail Running

0:01
hello and welcome back to let's talk trail running this is your
0:04
host robert prosser
0:06
let's talk trail running the podcast where we talk about
0:08
upcoming trail ultra and
0:10
sub ultra races and talk about race dynamics the runners
0:14
themselves and also help
0:16
you to make uh picks for your fantasy free trail or just picks
0:19
for the race in
0:20
SPEAKER_01: general
0:21
on today's episode we've got a very exciting episode we've got
0:24
the cannons 50k and
0:26
100k episode and although i wanted to get it out a day or two
0:29
earlier in some ways
0:30
this was kind of an advantage because there's been a big
0:32
addition to the 100k field
0:34
SPEAKER_01: that i was not aware of and i also just listened to
0:38
The single track preview this morning and they did not mention
0:42
it as well.
0:42
I think it was just kind of got lost,
0:44
especially with how generic this runner's name is.
0:47
SPEAKER_01: But with that being said,
0:49
SPEAKER_01: in the 100K lineup for the Canyons 100K,
0:52
SPEAKER_01: one Mr.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: Zach Miller is running the race,
0:55
which is interesting because I do recall him talking about
0:57
running Canyons.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: excuse me,
1:00
on his interview with Finn Melanson in the Singletrack podcast
1:03
sometime earlier
1:04
SPEAKER_01: this winter.
1:04
SPEAKER_01: And I think it just kind of got lost in some of the buildup.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: And also,
1:08
SPEAKER_01: I think it just kind of got lost as well because it looked like,
1:12
SPEAKER_01: to me,
1:12
SPEAKER_01: as somebody who follows him on Strava,
1:14
SPEAKER_01: he wasn't doing huge levels of training.
1:16
But I think when you get used to seeing how insane some of his
1:19
training was last
1:19
year for Hard Rock and some of his other training for UTMB and
1:22
things like that has been...
1:23
i actually just went back through his straw but it actually
1:25
looks like he is
1:26
training very comprehensively uh not as much run volume as you
1:30
have seen from him
1:31
in the past um but when you combine it with his ski volume and
1:34
his bike volume he's
1:35
putting in tons of 20 hour weeks uh running is kind of topping
1:38
out at like 110 ish
1:39
SPEAKER_01: miles i want to say um 110 or so miles uh
1:47
SPEAKER_01: let's see,
1:48
SPEAKER_01: 114 miles on 15 hours of running,
1:50
SPEAKER_01: 111 miles on 15 hours of running,
1:52
SPEAKER_01: and most of that's coming right around 16,
1:54
SPEAKER_01: 17,
1:54
SPEAKER_01: 18k of vert.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: So he's kind of averaging about how much vert,
1:59
SPEAKER_01: maybe a little bit more than how much canyons is going to be,
2:03
SPEAKER_01: and running at faster paces too.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: So
2:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, today I'm going to preview Canyon's 100K and Canyon's 50K.
2:09
SPEAKER_01: The 100K is going to be a golden ticket race,
2:12
SPEAKER_01: the last one of the season for this year's Western States,
2:14
SPEAKER_01: and it's going to go three deep.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: The 50K is going to be a barn burner of a race,
2:19
SPEAKER_01: fast and usually attracts some really,
2:21
SPEAKER_01: really fast athletes,
2:23
and it looks no different this year on both the men's and the
2:27
women's side.
2:28
SPEAKER_01: So with that being said,
2:29
I think I want to talk about the $100K first because I'm very
2:33
excited for this
2:35
SPEAKER_01: golden ticket opportunity.
2:37
SPEAKER_01: So with that being said,
2:38
SPEAKER_01: the $100K on...
2:41
SPEAKER_01: I feel like in this particular instance,
2:44
SPEAKER_01: with the absence of a Katie Scheid like we had last year,
2:47
SPEAKER_01: or even people like MK and things like that,
2:51
SPEAKER_01: I don't feel like there's a clear favorite.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: I feel like there's a lot of people who...
2:58
SPEAKER_00: I apologize.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: If I stop talking at any point in this podcast,
3:01
SPEAKER_01: quick disclaimer,
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SPEAKER_01: it's just because there's a jet taking off in the background.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: And it'll just take like 30 seconds or so for it to take off,
3:07
SPEAKER_01: probably a minute if there's two taking off.
3:09
SPEAKER_01: So if you hear me say that, then feel free to just skip ahead.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: All right, I'm back.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: Sorry about that.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so that happens.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: And if I say,
3:33
SPEAKER_01: just taking off,
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then I'll just go away for about 30 seconds to a minute and
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then come back on.
3:39
yeah anyways uh so the 100k um super exciting uh no clear
3:44
favorites in my opinion
3:45
on the women's side whereas on the men's side um i did listen
3:49
to the single track
3:51
preview this morning usually i get out my podcast before i
3:54
listen to it um because
3:56
i feel like i want to have my own opinions and things like that
3:58
but they did bring
3:58
up the point that there is no that winning is a skill which i
4:01
totally agree with
4:02
SPEAKER_01: and when i think about these runners um
4:05
SPEAKER_01: Personally or impersonally,
4:06
I think of people that are really good at finishing top 10 and
4:09
really consistent
4:09
SPEAKER_01: finishing top 10.
4:10
And then I think about people who have the possibility to win
4:12
and that have
4:13
SPEAKER_01: consistently improve it.
4:14
And I do totally agree with Singletrack and like Finn and Brett
4:17
that winning is a skill.
4:18
SPEAKER_01: And for some people,
4:19
SPEAKER_01: you know,
4:19
SPEAKER_01: once you get one win,
4:21
SPEAKER_01: you can kind of get in that role of winning,
4:23
SPEAKER_01: winning,
4:23
SPEAKER_01: winning.
4:24
SPEAKER_01: But if you're used to finishing like,
4:25
SPEAKER_01: you know,
4:26
SPEAKER_01: three through seven,
4:26
SPEAKER_01: that's definitely a different mentality.
4:28
Still a world-class athlete,
4:29
but I think winning kind of begets more winning and
4:32
uh there's a difference between being able to win the race and
4:35
being able to finish
4:36
like top 10 in the race and so with that being said um i do
4:40
feel like there's not a
4:41
lot of clear favorites or people on the women's side who uh has
4:46
won the big the big
4:48
races a lot of really strong shows i think if i had to pick one
4:51
who is like the
4:52
SPEAKER_00: closest to that it's probably either jasmine luther or um or
5:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm blanking.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: Where is she?
5:06
SPEAKER_00: I can see her face.
5:09
SPEAKER_01: Jasmine Lathor or the Solomon runner, Marion Hogan.
5:14
SPEAKER_01: Excuse me.
5:15
SPEAKER_01: Marion Hogan.
5:16
SPEAKER_01: So I think that they're the two closest, probably.
5:18
SPEAKER_01: Jasmine had a big one at Ultra Trail Cape Town 100K last year,
5:22
as well as a one at Speedgoat in what was a pretty stacked
5:24
field and was pretty
5:25
SPEAKER_01: close to the course record.
5:26
SPEAKER_01: And Speedgoat has been run by some really good female runners.
5:29
and then marion hogan has had you know has had a very close
5:33
flirt with winning utmb
5:34
except for getting passed by katie the first year that katie
5:36
won it and then last
5:38
year she was hanging out in second the whole race until ruth
5:40
croft put on a master
5:41
class in the back half of the race so and marion hogan's not
5:44
scared to stick her
5:45
nose in it with some of the best and is a fearless racer and
5:48
then jasmine lauther i
5:49
feel like uh if she lines up for a race she's pretty
5:51
consistently healthy so um
5:55
Looking at the women's 100K,
5:56
so like I said,
5:57
golden tickets go three deep.
5:59
SPEAKER_01: And the men's and women's race are kind of two different tails.
6:02
Not a ton of females have the golden ticket,
6:07
whereas it feels like a decent number of males do.
6:10
So right now,
6:11
Emily Hall gets coming in with a top 10 last year off Western.
6:14
And then I believe Priscilla 4G as well is coming off of an
6:19
auto bid for Western,
6:21
SPEAKER_00: which means they already have tickets into Western.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking for .
6:34
SPEAKER_00: OK, yeah, she got Knight that Western last year.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: So she's got an auto-bin entry in.
6:39
And so with that being said,
6:40
yeah,
6:41
it'll be interesting to see how the race dynamic plays out.
6:43
I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of these ladies are kind of
6:45
bunched at the beginning.
6:46
SPEAKER_01: I don't see anyone going off the front.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: Or if I did see somebody going off the front,
6:50
SPEAKER_01: I would probably have to go with Marion Hogan pushing the base.
6:55
SPEAKER_01: Maybe potentially Jasmine Louther as well.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: It's tough to say.
6:59
SPEAKER_01: But with that being said, yeah, we got some big names.
7:01
We got Sarah Beal,
7:03
Marion Hogan,
7:04
Jasmine Louther,
7:05
Emily Hallgood,
7:05
Priscilla Forge.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: Katie Asmuth,
7:08
SPEAKER_01: Ailsa McDonald,
7:10
SPEAKER_01: Anna Loudon,
7:12
SPEAKER_01: Keeley Henninger,
7:13
SPEAKER_01: Aaron Clark,
7:14
SPEAKER_01: Carith Arnold,
7:15
SPEAKER_01: Arden Young,
7:16
SPEAKER_01: and Madison Lichty and Anna Fisher.
7:19
SPEAKER_01: And Nora Serres, too, who I believe is Petter Engdahl's partner.
7:23
SPEAKER_01: So that's exciting as well.
7:26
SPEAKER_01: Looking at these ladies,
7:27
SPEAKER_01: yeah,
7:27
SPEAKER_01: I don't see a clear frontrunner,
7:28
SPEAKER_01: but I do feel like the woman I mentioned earlier,
7:31
SPEAKER_01: I think if anyone goes out front,
7:32
SPEAKER_01: it's going to be Jasmine,
7:33
SPEAKER_01: Marianne.
7:36
or potentially emily but i think jasmine or marion i see kind
7:39
of pushing the base
7:40
SPEAKER_01: more than anyone um with that being said
7:44
SPEAKER_01: Looking at some of these latest results,
7:45
SPEAKER_01: so Jasmine Louther,
7:46
SPEAKER_01: I think,
7:47
SPEAKER_01: is a strong pick for the top five possibility to win it.
7:50
SPEAKER_01: I think she has the capability to win this race.
7:53
SPEAKER_01: She recently switched from North Face to Arc'teryx.
7:56
SPEAKER_01: She's a Canadian athlete, I believe, from BC.
7:59
SPEAKER_01: And big wins last year at Ultra Trail Cape Town and Speed Goat.
8:04
And she also came second at Run the Rut under the course record
8:07
set previously by
8:10
SPEAKER_01: Jennifer Lichter.
8:12
SPEAKER_01: And she also DNF'd CCC.
8:16
SPEAKER_01: That was her one DNF last year that I could see.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: Has had a history of injuries in the past,
8:22
SPEAKER_01: but typically if she tows a lot,
8:23
SPEAKER_01: she's healthy and good to go and has really,
8:25
SPEAKER_01: really good results when she does.
8:26
SPEAKER_01: So I'm excited to see what she can do at this course.
8:29
SPEAKER_01: I believe she has won this race before, if I'm not mistaken as well.
8:34
SPEAKER_01: Next one to look at Priscilla Forgy,
8:35
SPEAKER_01: she got second at Kodiak 100K last year,
8:37
SPEAKER_01: ninth at Western States as well,
8:40
SPEAKER_01: so she's in that top 10,
8:41
SPEAKER_01: so she's already got her bid into this year's Western,
8:44
SPEAKER_01: and then second at Cannons in 2023,
8:46
SPEAKER_01: which I believe got her her ticket into Western.
8:51
SPEAKER_01: Emily Hallgood next on the list,
8:53
SPEAKER_01: basically a perennial top five or top six in both UTMB and Western.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: She doesn't always race UTMB,
9:00
SPEAKER_01: sometimes it's CCC,
9:01
SPEAKER_01: but basically she'll double back,
9:03
SPEAKER_01: and she has run this double a ton of times at this point.
9:07
SPEAKER_01: Just coming off the second place at Tenerife,
9:09
SPEAKER_01: 73k the end of March,
9:11
so probably a pretty good tune-up for this race leading into
9:14
Canyons and then Western.
9:16
SPEAKER_01: She got sixth at UTMB last year and fourth at Western.
9:19
She's raced canyons before in 2021 and got fourth behind Beth
9:23
Pascal and Abbey Hall that year.
9:25
so experience on the course we know she's got some experience
9:28
on the course because
9:29
she lives in california a lot of the year um and has raced
9:33
western a ton so i'd be
9:34
curious to see if she can kind of going back to what i was
9:37
saying earlier i feel
9:37
like she's always on the cusp of winning and i think a big a
9:40
win would do her a lot
9:41
of confidence and kind of show her that she has the ability to
9:44
win i i feel like
9:45
she has the ability to win western but it's just a matter of um
9:48
racing with that
9:48
SPEAKER_01: mindset so i think
9:50
something like a win at canyons could absolutely catapult her
9:55
into like kind of a
9:55
SPEAKER_01: new mindset shift,
9:58
almost in the same way that Rod kind of got the win last year
10:00
and then went toe to
10:01
SPEAKER_01: toe with Jim.
10:02
SPEAKER_01: I really think that makes a huge,
10:03
SPEAKER_01: huge difference,
10:05
both mentality wise and just kind of like the way that you race
10:08
and how you race,
10:09
like covering moves or being the one who's making the moves and
10:12
making other people
10:13
respond to your strategy versus just kind of going along with
10:17
other people's strategies.
10:20
SPEAKER_01: Next we're here to talk about is Anna Loudon.
10:23
SPEAKER_01: She's a Brooks runner from San Francisco.
10:25
SPEAKER_01: She got 11th at TerraWare this year,
10:27
SPEAKER_01: just outside the top 10,
10:28
SPEAKER_01: and she was third at Cannons last year.
10:30
SPEAKER_01: Lots of good foot speed, definitely one of the faster type of runners.
10:34
SPEAKER_01: I could see her doing pretty well on this course,
10:38
SPEAKER_01: and I think she's probably a pretty safe lock for top 10.
10:44
SPEAKER_01: Other ones to note, Katie Asmuth is coming back for a golden ticket.
10:47
SPEAKER_01: She raced at Black Canyon but had a bad day and I think ended up being,
10:50
SPEAKER_01: I think,
10:51
she's one of those new Hoka signees along with Lottie Brinks
10:56
and who's it that just won?
10:59
SPEAKER_01: Desert Rats.
11:02
SPEAKER_01: Lottie Brinks and a handful of ours.
11:05
SPEAKER_01: There's like three ladies.
11:07
SPEAKER_01: Corinne Malcolm.
11:10
SPEAKER_01: And I'm blanking, I'm blanking, I'm blanking.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: But anyways,
11:13
SPEAKER_01: one of the recent Hoka signed E's has raced Western at least once,
11:18
SPEAKER_01: if not twice before,
11:19
SPEAKER_01: if I'm not mistaken.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: And he's coming off a big injury.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: A lot has kept her from doing much racing the past couple of years.
11:27
um but yeah she's very familiar with the course she got ninth
11:29
at western in 2022
11:32
and then in 2023 uh she got fourth at western so she has some
11:37
very good results at
11:38
western and has been trying to get back since um last year
11:42
sideline with a big
11:43
SPEAKER_01: injury and then this year kind of coming back to it um
11:48
Another notable,
11:49
we got lots of really good Canadian runners,
11:51
is kind of what I'm noticing.
11:51
So we got Jasmine Lothar,
11:53
Marion Hogan,
11:54
Ailsa McDonald,
11:55
and Priscilla Forgy,
11:56
and Arden Young.
11:57
So kind of a strong contingent of Canadian runners coming out
12:00
here to race.
12:01
So speaking of Canadian runners,
12:03
Ailsa McDonald,
12:04
she is a runner for Saucony.
12:05
SPEAKER_01: She got second at Gorge 100K last year to Lottie.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: She was second at Western in 2022.
12:11
And then with her most recent races,
12:12
she did race Mesquite Canyon 50K this year and won it.
12:15
SPEAKER_01: And she had a second place at another Aravipa race in Arizona.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: That was a 26K earlier this year.
12:22
SPEAKER_01: So she'll kind of come back to form.
12:24
SPEAKER_01: I'm curious to see where she's at.
12:25
SPEAKER_01: I feel like there's a lot kind of Ailsa.
12:30
SPEAKER_01: Ailsa and Katie Azmuth are kind of in that boat of have recently raced.
12:38
SPEAKER_01: or have had success at Western in the past,
12:40
but are kind of coming back from different life events and
12:43
things like that.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: So I'd be curious to see how they do.
12:49
SPEAKER_01: Also in that boat,
12:50
SPEAKER_01: so of the Canadian boat,
12:51
SPEAKER_01: Arden Young,
12:52
SPEAKER_01: she won UTMB Puerto Vallarta last year,
12:54
SPEAKER_01: the 100K,
12:55
SPEAKER_01: 12th at CCC,
12:56
SPEAKER_01: and 10th at Canyon.
12:58
SPEAKER_01: So she's definitely somebody to look out for.
13:00
SPEAKER_01: Looking to get a golden ticket, it would seem.
13:04
SPEAKER_01: She's had success at...
13:07
SPEAKER_01: Let's see.
13:08
SPEAKER_01: She's raced CCC a handful of times.
13:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, 10th in 2023.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: So she does CCC pretty consistently.
13:15
And then she also had a top 10 at Bandera back when it was a
13:19
Golden Ticket race.
13:22
SPEAKER_01: So it'll be interesting to see.
13:23
SPEAKER_01: She did race Canyons, but only the 25K in 2019.
13:26
SPEAKER_01: So I'm sure it's changed a good bit since then.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: So I'll be kind of curious to see.
13:30
SPEAKER_01: It seems like she kind of flirts with going after Golden Ticket.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: She's an ORDA-sponsored athlete from Canada.
13:35
SPEAKER_01: That's Arden Young.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: And then some other people to look out for,
13:40
somebody who did end up getting a ticket from the golden ticket
13:43
from Canyons last
13:44
SPEAKER_01: year is Kareth Arnold.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: After MK Sullivan passed, Kareth was fourth at Canyons.
13:49
SPEAKER_01: She's an ultra athlete.
13:51
She and her sister-in-law,
13:53
Lottie Brinks,
13:54
took 13th and 14th,
13:56
I want to say,
13:56
at Western.
13:57
And yeah,
13:59
she kind of is a really consistent runner and always kind of
14:01
has her nose in it.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: That fourth place at Canyons last year was really, really good.
14:05
SPEAKER_01: Um,
14:06
SPEAKER_01: and then recently she has raced,
14:08
SPEAKER_01: uh,
14:08
SPEAKER_01: UTMB Thailand,
14:09
SPEAKER_01: I think the a hundred K and she got second at it,
14:11
SPEAKER_01: which was just last December.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: And then if I'm not mistaken,
14:14
SPEAKER_01: she just ran a marathon and I think she was around high two 40,
14:17
SPEAKER_01: like two 49,
14:18
SPEAKER_01: two 50,
14:19
SPEAKER_01: um,
14:19
SPEAKER_01: low two 50,
14:20
SPEAKER_01: somewhere in there.
14:20
I think it might've been Austin marathon,
14:23
um,
14:23
based off some things that Lottie posted.
14:25
SPEAKER_01: So, um,
14:27
SPEAKER_01: Also, somebody to look out for.
14:30
SPEAKER_01: Some other names that are familiar to many, Kelly Henninger.
14:33
SPEAKER_01: Kind of get back into the racing scene.
14:35
SPEAKER_01: She's had some really good shots at Western,
14:37
SPEAKER_01: where she just had really unfortunate DNFs late in Western.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: So that is...
14:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh, so that's something to look out.
14:50
SPEAKER_01: That's she's somebody to look out for, for sure.
14:52
SPEAKER_01: I'll be excited.
14:52
I think she is a really gritty racer and I think she is
14:55
probably somebody who's
14:56
SPEAKER_01: going to finish this race no matter what.
14:57
SPEAKER_01: And I think even if I don't have her in my top five,
14:59
SPEAKER_01: I would be very surprised if she doesn't go in the top 10.
15:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think she's working on MD, PhD or some combination thereof.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, so she's kind of stepped back from racing, uh, in sponsorship.
15:11
SPEAKER_01: She was formerly sponsored by ultra,
15:13
SPEAKER_01: um,
15:13
SPEAKER_01: but appears to be excited to be back racing in,
15:16
SPEAKER_01: in the sport.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: Um,
15:17
SPEAKER_01: and so I'll be kind of curious to see how she,
15:20
SPEAKER_01: uh,
15:20
what kind of energy she brings to the race and how she plays a
15:22
factor in it.
15:25
SPEAKER_01: Looking at some other athletes,
15:27
SPEAKER_01: haven't mentioned Aaron Clark at Nike trail runner,
15:29
SPEAKER_01: former,
15:30
SPEAKER_01: uh,
15:30
SPEAKER_01: CU Boulder track and field athletes.
15:34
SPEAKER_01: Um,
15:34
narrowly has missed some golden tickets uh she got seventh at
15:38
black canyon earlier
15:39
this year so not a bad day out there and then had a rough ccc
15:43
last year and got
15:44
seventh at canyons last year and then she also went after a
15:47
golden ticket at
15:47
javelina and i think got fourth or fifth um so she's always
15:51
kind of right on the
15:52
brink there and i'll be curious to see if she can bring it
15:54
around she's got it in
15:55
seventh at ccc as well um so she has some big results um but it
16:00
would be cool to
16:01
SPEAKER_01: see her get higher up there as well
16:04
a couple other names worth mentioning uh madison lichty lichty
16:08
got ninth at black
16:09
canyon just as recently as this year and it was obviously a
16:12
really fast year so um
16:13
she's coming off some really good fitness and training and then
16:17
also importantly uh
16:19
sarah beal won gorge 50k last year she did race trucking up
16:23
when we talked about
16:23
SPEAKER_01: her and unfortunately dnaft i think with
16:26
some signs of hypothermia and then she did get a fifth at
16:28
canyons in 2022 so she's
16:30
been on the course i say on the course i know the course
16:33
changes every year um
16:34
anyone that was on it last year it sounds like the course is
16:36
the same this year but
16:37
has been on some iteration of the course and knows parts of it
16:40
whether people have
16:41
raced western or black canyon so that's the woman's 100k side
16:45
um if i have to go
16:46
for my top five picks like i said i think there's categories of
16:49
women who can win
16:50
SPEAKER_01: it and then ones that will pretty solidly place like three through seven
16:54
SPEAKER_01: For my top five picks, I'll go from five to one.
16:57
SPEAKER_01: In fifth place, I've got Priscilla Forgy from Canada.
17:02
SPEAKER_01: She's already got a ticket in.
17:03
I think she'll use this as kind of a tune-up and just race a
17:06
smart race with some
17:07
SPEAKER_01: good competition.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: In fourth place, I've got Anna Loudon, Brooks Athlete from San Francisco.
17:12
SPEAKER_01: Third place, I've got Emily Hallgood.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: Second place, Marion Hogan.
17:16
SPEAKER_01: And first place, Jasmine Louther.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: I could strongly see...
17:22
uh kelly henninger somewhere in the three through seven as well
17:25
as aaron clark and
17:28
yeah i don't know katie azimuth and ailsa mcdonald i think have
17:31
a strong chance and
17:32
really really want to get back into western um but i'm just
17:34
curious to see where
17:35
their fitness is at coming back off of less racing these past
17:38
year or two so um
17:41
once again one through five jasmine and first uh second place
17:45
marianne hogan third
17:46
SPEAKER_00: place in like all good fourth place and allowed in and fifth place
17:51
SPEAKER_01: All right,
17:52
SPEAKER_01: on the men's side,
17:53
SPEAKER_01: quite frankly,
17:53
SPEAKER_01: I am really excited for the men's race,
17:55
SPEAKER_01: and I do think it is more competitive,
17:57
SPEAKER_01: deeper,
17:57
SPEAKER_01: and more exciting than the female race.
17:59
We've got a lot of factors coming in,
18:02
like some unknown people at 100K,
18:04
being Francesco Pupi.
18:06
SPEAKER_01: We've got some legends of the sport in Zach Miller and Hannes Namburger.
18:11
and then we've also got the returning champion as well uh zach
18:14
miller versus me not
18:15
zach miller rod farvard and then we also have a world record
18:18
holder in the 50 miler
18:19
uh charlie lawrence coming into race as well um and i think
18:24
it's just quite frankly
18:24
a deeper field with more exciting names um so yeah just looking
18:30
through this name
18:31
SPEAKER_01: looking through this list off the top of my head
18:33
SPEAKER_01: Francesco Pupi finally stepping up in distance and racing.
18:36
He raced a couple of 50-milers last year in Lake Sonoma and an
18:39
Italian Trail Championships.
18:40
SPEAKER_01: And he also did Tom Plie.
18:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, just super excited to see him.
18:46
SPEAKER_01: Hannes Namburger.
18:47
So Hannes and Zach are kind of in that same category where
18:50
they've had some
18:50
SPEAKER_01: world-class results on some really mountainous races.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: Although in some ways,
18:54
this is a little different because Zach has done faster courses
18:56
like JFK and had
18:57
SPEAKER_01: really good results.
18:58
SPEAKER_01: Hannes is really like a mountain specialist.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: He's a guy who really does amazing at climbing and descending.
19:04
SPEAKER_01: He's won things like Madeira Island Ultra Trail.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: He just three-peated Lavarado last year.
19:08
SPEAKER_01: He's got multiple top tens at UTMB.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: And then he's also won big races such as
19:14
SPEAKER_01: I want to say Ultra Piranu and Pena Galusa, if I'm not mistaken.
19:20
SPEAKER_01: So he's probably a little bit unknown to some of the Western, like U.S.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: audiences because he mostly only races in Europe.
19:27
But he's had some amazing results,
19:29
including,
19:30
yeah,
19:30
multiple top tens at UTMB.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: He had off days at World Champs and at Transvolkania last year.
19:38
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, he's won...
19:40
SPEAKER_01: let's see, Ultra Trail Cape Town, he's won.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: He's also won, yep, Penny of the Lusa.
19:45
SPEAKER_01: He's won MIUT.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: He's won, got second at Grossglockner.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: And then, I think,
19:54
SPEAKER_01: Let's see.
19:55
SPEAKER_01: CCC, he got 12.
19:57
So he just really is a super-duper good mountain racer and
20:02
mountain specialist.
20:03
SPEAKER_01: So this is kind of an interesting crossover.
20:05
SPEAKER_01: And I know I follow him on Strava.
20:06
SPEAKER_01: He's been putting in some really specific work, specific to Canyon.
20:09
SPEAKER_01: So I'm really curious to see.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: I really want him in my top five right now.
20:12
SPEAKER_01: I don't have him there, but I really would not be surprised.
20:15
SPEAKER_01: And I'm very curious to see how he races.
20:18
SPEAKER_01: Other names we're looking at.
20:19
SPEAKER_01: Rod Favre, returning champion.
20:20
SPEAKER_01: Jeff Mogaviro.
20:21
SPEAKER_01: Already got a golden ticket for second at Javelina.
20:24
um eric lapuma perennial top top 10 in these type of races
20:29
anthony costales who
20:30
hasn't been racing a lot recently because it seems like he was
20:32
hurt last year um
20:33
and even had to defer a golden ticket last year not defer it
20:36
but just decline it
20:37
because he wasn't healthy enough but if he's racing it means
20:39
he's in good shape um
20:40
akai clemens uh came through black cane and 50k well 50k of the
20:45
100k uh in a
20:46
blazing fast speed but was sick or feeling sick and just
20:49
decided to pull the plug
20:51
SPEAKER_01: um
20:52
SPEAKER_01: Adam Mary, winner just as recently as two years ago.
20:56
SPEAKER_01: Cody Lind, one spot off a golden ticket, three minutes missed it.
21:00
SPEAKER_01: Brian Curl, Ryan Montgomery's raced Western and got in top 10 before.
21:04
SPEAKER_01: Hans Troyer, the boy wonder.
21:07
And then Hooper Carrera-Cosses,
21:08
also a previous golden ticket recipient from Black Canyon.
21:13
SPEAKER_01: And then Hiroki Kai, a really recent Black Canyon recipient from...
21:20
SPEAKER_01: from TerraWare 100K.
21:21
So we've got some really big names in here that I'm quite
21:25
frankly really excited to
21:26
SPEAKER_01: see how the race plays out and how it shakes out.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: With that being said, kind of similar instance to the female side.
21:33
I really feel like there are people who can place three through
21:38
seven in this race
21:38
SPEAKER_01: and people who will be racing for the win.
21:41
SPEAKER_01: And from the gun,
21:42
SPEAKER_01: I think racing for the win,
21:43
SPEAKER_01: I think Francesco Pupi is going to be pushing the pace.
21:45
SPEAKER_01: I think Rod Farvard is going to be pushing the pace.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: And I wouldn't be surprised if Jeff McAvro is up there with them,
21:50
SPEAKER_01: or even Hannes tries to latch on and be with them as much as possible.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: So with that being said, looking at the men's racers, Canyons 100K,
22:00
uh francesco poopy uh recently hoka athlete he's already been
22:03
on a tear this year
22:04
he's got a win at trans grand canaria marathon against robert
22:07
kamoy a very fast
22:08
canary runner and he won kianti 50k against uh rayunosuke omi
22:14
who just got a top
22:14
five at golden trail last week um he they raced up front and i
22:20
think francesco
22:21
eventually just wore him out he ended up dropping to fourth but
22:24
in the photos i saw
22:25
SPEAKER_01: they were up there together so i think he just fell off pace
22:28
um yeah but francesco i mean he is a certified uh racer he is
22:35
somebody who races to
22:36
win he's somebody who has a really good mix of insanely fast
22:40
like speed but also
22:41
SPEAKER_01: insanely smart and competitive racer um
22:45
SPEAKER_01: Back-to-back second places at OCC these past couple years,
22:48
SPEAKER_01: last year to Eli Hemming,
22:49
SPEAKER_01: the year before to Stian,
22:50
SPEAKER_01: which technically,
22:51
SPEAKER_01: I guess,
22:51
SPEAKER_01: got upgraded to a win.
22:52
SPEAKER_01: He's got plenty of top fives in world championships.
22:56
SPEAKER_01: He's won Golden Trail final race before.
22:59
SPEAKER_01: He's won
23:01
SPEAKER_01: he's gone top fives here and all.
23:02
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he just has a laundry list of really amazing accomplishments.
23:05
SPEAKER_01: He's finally starting to step up in some of these bigger races.
23:08
SPEAKER_01: I definitely echo what,
23:10
SPEAKER_01: uh,
23:11
Finn Melanson said on the single track podcast that if he wins
23:14
a golden ticket,
23:15
SPEAKER_01: it would really be a shame to see him to,
23:17
SPEAKER_01: uh,
23:18
to see him not take it and race this like once in a generation
23:21
western states
23:22
regardless of what his race plans are i think his race schedule
23:25
is really exciting
23:25
and i think it suits him really well i'm really impressed by
23:28
how much he can race
23:29
he can race like every three or four weeks and do ultras and
23:31
sub-ultra stuff um and
23:33
still recover and race at a really good level but i really do
23:36
think that if you
23:37
know if you have the chance to do a kind of a once in a
23:40
generation race and this is
23:41
SPEAKER_01: like
23:42
one of the hardest things to do is get to is the dilution of
23:46
competition in ultra
23:47
running and you already know that you know a ton of these
23:50
people that you look up
23:51
to and admire and think super highly of are going to be racing
23:53
there um then it
23:55
would be a shame to pass up that golden ticket so i think fran
23:57
absolutely has the
23:58
chance to win this i think it's a pretty good like i would give
24:00
him like a 33
24:01
chance to win i think either him or rod would and i think jeff
24:04
mcgavro has a small
24:05
SPEAKER_01: chance as well
24:07
um and i think that it would be a shame to see him not take the
24:10
golden ticket but
24:12
he's got to do what's right for him and i guess we'll wait and
24:14
see because the race
24:15
hasn't happened yet so uh next one on the list we're going to
24:18
talk about hana's um
24:20
so we'll talk about rod um rod breakout year last year he won
24:24
canyons and just kind
24:25
SPEAKER_01: of like showed up and made an announcement uh
24:29
Everyone knew that he was right on the brink of something good,
24:31
but maybe not that good.
24:33
SPEAKER_01: And he just kind of mopped the floor with everybody at Canyons last year,
24:36
SPEAKER_01: made a statement,
24:37
SPEAKER_01: and said,
24:38
SPEAKER_01: hey,
24:38
SPEAKER_01: this is a different route than what we've seen before.
24:40
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to just miss out or just barely make Western.
24:42
SPEAKER_01: I'm here to win Western.
24:45
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not going to lie,
24:46
SPEAKER_01: I picked him from my top 10 at Western,
24:48
SPEAKER_01: but I think I had him 8,
24:50
SPEAKER_01: 9,
24:53
SPEAKER_01: 10,
24:50
because I just found it hard to believe that he could repeat
24:52
that level of performance.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: And I was totally wrong and happily wrong.
24:56
Cause he threw down with the big dogs and went toe to toe with
24:59
Jim for 85 miles.
25:00
SPEAKER_01: Um,
25:02
SPEAKER_01: Looking at his fitness this year,
25:03
SPEAKER_01: he already broke a Jim Walmsley course record at nine tails,
25:07
SPEAKER_01: went like 5.08 as a 35-mile race.
25:10
SPEAKER_01: Jim's record was 5.12, and then Hayden had a 5.13 time.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: So he beat a 2019 Jim Walmsley, as if Jim Walmsley was like a wine.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: 2019 Jim was a pretty fine wine.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: I think he won Western that year and just put up some crazy fast times.
25:25
SPEAKER_01: So he beat a very fit Jim Walmsley course record.
25:28
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if there's any not fit Jim Walmsley course records, but...
25:32
um and then yeah just uh and then he got let's see 15 um 15th
25:39
at ccc i want to say
25:41
uh so he's just outside the top 10 there i think he probably
25:44
was just a little bit
25:45
trained over not over trained but i mean he was at the end of a
25:48
very long season
25:49
and which he had some really good results so um looking at some
25:53
other names um we
25:55
already talked about it some but zach miller i mean if there's
25:57
somebody i'm most
25:58
SPEAKER_01: excited to see race in this it's zach miller
26:02
I have been a huge fan of Zach Miller's ever since I first got
26:04
into the sport.
26:05
I want to say one of the first videos I ever came across was
26:07
Billy Yang's video
26:09
about Zach Miller and title is something along the lines of
26:12
like trying your very
26:14
SPEAKER_01: best or something like that.
26:16
SPEAKER_01: Like 35 minute video kind of goes into Zach Miller, his approach.
26:20
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, Zach Miller to put it,
26:22
to put it simply and i i say this with like love and not like
26:25
he is a tryhard but
26:26
like he's a tryhard that you root for because you want to see
26:29
him just give
26:30
everything and so pretty much before almost every race i race i
26:34
go back and watch
26:35
that video with him and billy yang because i think it's just so
26:38
awesome i think his
26:38
philosophy on racing is amazing and i think the way that he
26:42
puts it all out there
26:42
is awesome and you know sometimes it makes for a really amazing
26:46
result and like a
26:47
SPEAKER_01: win or a second place to gym at utmb or
26:50
whatever and sometimes it's a huge blow up like getting rescued
26:53
at utmv for a
26:54
helicopter or bonking out of his mind or whatever um but i
26:58
think it's really
26:59
awesome that he anything he toes the line at he's going to give
27:02
it 100 his all and
27:03
i think that everyone could do a little better to use a little
27:07
bit more of that in
27:07
their lives myself especially included um so it's hard not for
27:11
me to root for zach
27:12
SPEAKER_01: miller
27:13
SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to be really curious to see.
27:15
SPEAKER_01: I really want him to be in this top five.
27:17
SPEAKER_01: If Zach Miller won this, I would be over the freaking moon.
27:20
SPEAKER_01: If Zach Miller is in Western States,
27:22
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
27:22
SPEAKER_01: I know that's not necessarily his specialty,
27:24
SPEAKER_01: but we know he has good leg speed.
27:25
If Zach Miller is in Western,
27:27
I mean,
27:28
that's really truly bringing the dream together.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know.
27:32
SPEAKER_01: I'll be curious to see.
27:32
My heart picks Zach 100%,
27:35
but my head says that there's other picks that I want in my top five.
27:40
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, I'm super excited to see, and I hope –
27:44
SPEAKER_01: Oh, man, I hope Zach does so well.
27:46
SPEAKER_01: I'll be rooting for him, and I might sneak him in my top five.
27:48
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
27:50
SPEAKER_01: But I'll be really curious to see.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: We haven't seen him race anything like this in quite some time.
27:55
And like this,
27:56
I mean,
27:56
more runnable,
27:57
less technical,
27:58
less vertical type of race.
27:59
SPEAKER_01: Other big question marks and people that I think could blow this open.
28:05
SPEAKER_01: Jeff McAvro, I think he absolutely has the chance to win.
28:07
SPEAKER_01: I think his Javelina was amazing.
28:09
SPEAKER_01: I think he's a really fast and fit guy with really...
28:13
he's really durable and i think similar to what they say in
28:16
single track that even
28:17
though he really loves the mountainous races um and had some
28:19
really awesome results
28:20
he got second at broken arrow just behind uh david sinclair and
28:23
in front of adam
28:24
peterman last year i think that he might be somebody who
28:27
actually is really really
28:28
good at these runnable long events um and i would be surprised
28:32
if he does not go
28:33
SPEAKER_01: top five in this race looking at some other names um eric lapuma
28:38
el puma loco he hasn't raced since his 11th at ccc last year uh
28:42
he did race canyons
28:44
but it wasn't his best day last year he got 17th um he did get
28:47
seventh at black
28:48
SPEAKER_01: canyon 100k uh last year that was
28:52
um this year he's been running a lot on the course with cody
28:54
lind his new adidas
28:56
terrace teammate i think him and cody are kind of in a similar
28:58
boat i wouldn't be
28:59
surprised if they finish very close to each other and i
29:01
wouldn't be surprised if
29:02
cody and him are somewhere in like that four through eight
29:05
category um cody is
29:06
another one who has a lot of western experience he's got two
29:09
top tens under his
29:09
belt um and then in 24 no not 24 23 um he raced just outside
29:16
the top 10 and like
29:17
SPEAKER_01: 12th or 13th
29:18
And then he just missed out on Golden Ticket at TerraWare 100K
29:23
earlier this year
29:24
SPEAKER_01: and by like three minutes to Hiroki Kai.
29:27
SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure he'll be eager to get back on the course.
29:29
SPEAKER_01: His grandfather was formerly the medical director,
29:32
the first ever medical director of Western States and longtime
29:34
medical director.
29:36
SPEAKER_01: So he has really, really strong family ties.
29:38
SPEAKER_01: And him and Emily Hoffett are really close as well.
29:40
SPEAKER_01: His father is her coach.
29:42
SPEAKER_01: And they're kind of like brother and sister, it seems like, honestly.
29:46
SPEAKER_01: Other ones to note,
29:46
SPEAKER_01: Adam Mary,
29:47
he's been slowly kind of coming back from daddom and really
29:51
just had a good build.
29:54
SPEAKER_01: Some good top 10 results at Black Canyon 50K earlier this year.
29:57
And then also just recently raced out in Utah and I think got
30:02
third to Adam Mary
30:04
SPEAKER_01: and Anthony Costales.
30:08
SPEAKER_01: And then...
30:10
SPEAKER_01: I'd be really curious to see where he's at.
30:12
SPEAKER_01: I'm excited.
30:12
SPEAKER_01: I don't know that he's quite back to his full form,
30:14
SPEAKER_01: but I wouldn't be surprised if he goes somewhere in that 7-10 category.
30:18
I don't know if he's quite capable of top 5 right now,
30:22
but I'm curious to see.
30:23
SPEAKER_01: I'm definitely a big fan of his,
30:23
SPEAKER_01: definitely a big fan of the Boulder Boys,
30:25
SPEAKER_01: love what they're doing in the show,
30:26
SPEAKER_01: and will always be rooting for any and every single one of them.
30:31
uh justin grunwald um hasn't raced as much he had a decent year
30:34
last year he got uh
30:36
he won desert s50k and got second at tearwear last year uh to
30:40
dan jones and then he
30:41
got third at canyons in 2023 to adam marion cole watson just
30:45
missed out on the
30:45
golden ticket not sure where his fitness is at this year really
30:48
curious to see um
30:51
SPEAKER_01: what he's gonna look like what kind of justin grunwald we're gonna get
30:55
SPEAKER_01: Another one to note,
30:55
SPEAKER_01: Hans Troyer,
30:56
SPEAKER_01: the kid runner for Ultra and Hyperlite,
31:00
SPEAKER_01: putting in big training,
31:01
SPEAKER_01: and he did not start black cannon because of some flu symptoms,
31:04
SPEAKER_01: which I know I was really bummed,
31:06
SPEAKER_01: and I'm sure a lot of you guys were as well.
31:08
SPEAKER_01: But he did go and win way too cool in 319 this March,
31:13
and has been putting in a really dedicated block that he's been
31:15
documenting on his
31:16
SPEAKER_01: YouTube channel to this race.
31:18
SPEAKER_01: I would not be surprised to see him up front mixing it up.
31:21
I think Hans is one of those guys who,
31:23
if he's going to run,
31:24
he's going to stick his nose in it.
31:25
And I think he's going to be trying to keep up front with
31:28
Francesco and whoever's up there.
31:30
SPEAKER_01: I honestly think he could go top three if he finishes,
31:32
but I could also see him going out too hard and blowing up and
31:36
having a rough day.
31:37
But I really respect the way he races,
31:38
and I'm really excited to see what he's going to do.
31:41
Jupiter Carrera Casas second at UTMB Puerto Vallarta last year
31:46
don't see any races
31:47
so far from this year but he has won a gold ticket before at
31:50
Black Canyon so
31:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, tough to say.
31:54
And then other people that I think are worth mentioning,
31:58
Michael Demuontes.
32:00
SPEAKER_01: He's an Australian lad.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: I think he could be a potential dark horse.
32:03
SPEAKER_01: He won Ultra Trail Australia 100K last year,
32:06
SPEAKER_01: which seems like a very similar course profile to Canyons,
32:09
SPEAKER_01: about 4,000 meters of vert and 101K.
32:12
SPEAKER_01: He also got eighth at Terra Aura 100K in 2024.
32:15
He seems like one of the best racers over on the other side of
32:20
the pond in Australia.
32:23
um so i'd be curious to see it's always fun to have
32:26
international presence here
32:27
just to mix up especially when people don't really know how
32:30
those individuals race
32:31
so you know um most of these guys haven't raced like hana's
32:34
namburger except for
32:35
maybe like zach miller um and yeah i doubt anyone's raced uh
32:41
well actually justin
32:42
SPEAKER_01: grunewald might have raced him at terrawera but
32:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I'll be curious to see how these guys do in the States.
32:48
SPEAKER_01: Other two guys I want to note are Charlie Lawrence,
32:51
SPEAKER_01: who is the 50-mile world record holder in 4.48.21.
32:55
And he also just ran a 50K,
32:56
and I want to say 2.49 at the 50K US Championships.
33:00
SPEAKER_01: So you can bet that boy is fit.
33:02
SPEAKER_01: I don't see any trail results on trail trail races.
33:05
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't really consider Tunnel Hill a trail race.
33:07
SPEAKER_01: But we know he is stupidly fast.
33:09
SPEAKER_01: So I'm very curious to see how he will stack up.
33:12
SPEAKER_01: And then Jackson Cole, he's more of a skyrunning specialist.
33:15
He's a Kiwi,
33:16
lives in Missoula,
33:17
and typically runs with Jeff McAvro and Adam Peterman.
33:21
SPEAKER_01: So if those are your training buddies,
33:22
SPEAKER_01: you can bet that you're probably going to be in pretty good shape.
33:24
And I bet he's been in Adam's ear asking all the questions
33:27
about how to win cans.
33:30
SPEAKER_01: All right, so picking top five of the Canons 100K.
33:38
SPEAKER_01: This is where it gets tough.
33:40
I will probably change these picks at least five times before
33:43
they actually close
33:44
SPEAKER_01: here in four days.
33:46
But with my top five man from fifth to first,
33:49
fifth place I'm going to go,
33:50
Makai Clemens.
33:52
SPEAKER_01: Just missed out on a golden ticket last year.
33:53
SPEAKER_01: I think he'll be hungry.
33:54
SPEAKER_01: I think he's still in really good shape,
33:56
SPEAKER_01: and he showed that at Black Cannon,
33:57
SPEAKER_01: even though he withdrew.
33:58
SPEAKER_01: So I think Makai in fifth.
34:01
SPEAKER_01: Fourth place, I'm going to go Jeff McGaviro.
34:03
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't be surprised if he's up front mixing it up.
34:06
He really doesn't have anything to lose because he's already
34:08
got a golden ticket.
34:09
SPEAKER_01: That's the only thing that makes me a little bit hesitant to pick him.
34:11
SPEAKER_01: I've been burned many times where I pick people that have golden tickets,
34:14
SPEAKER_01: and if they don't have the best day,
34:15
SPEAKER_01: they drop and just decide to take the strain elsewhere.
34:18
SPEAKER_01: So I wouldn't be surprised.
34:19
SPEAKER_01: It's not that I don't think Jeff...
34:20
SPEAKER_01: I think if he finishes, he's definitely in the top five.
34:22
But I'm just hesitant to pick people sometimes that already
34:24
have a golden ticket
34:26
SPEAKER_01: because they don't always have to finish the race.
34:29
Third place,
34:30
I have Anthony Costales coming back and getting a golden ticket.
34:33
SPEAKER_01: If he's on a start line, he's in really good shape.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: And he's really a next level runner and has amazing light speed as well.
34:38
SPEAKER_01: He's got, I think, the same or close PR in the marathon to Francesco.
34:42
SPEAKER_01: I think he's got like a 215, 216.
34:44
SPEAKER_01: And Francesco is like a 212 or 214.
34:50
SPEAKER_01: Second place I got Rod Farvard, and first place I got Francesco Poopy.
34:53
SPEAKER_01: So in the men's top five,
34:54
SPEAKER_01: I got Francesco,
34:55
SPEAKER_01: Rod,
34:56
SPEAKER_01: Anthony,
34:57
SPEAKER_01: Jeff,
34:57
SPEAKER_01: and Makai,
34:58
SPEAKER_01: and that would have the golden ticket rolling down.
35:01
SPEAKER_01: That would have the golden ticket in all the top five,
35:04
SPEAKER_01: regardless of whether Francesco takes it or not,
35:06
SPEAKER_01: because Rod already has one and Jeff already has one.
35:10
SPEAKER_01: And with that being said,
35:11
SPEAKER_01: like I said,
35:11
SPEAKER_01: I might swap out Jeff McGavro for,
35:14
SPEAKER_01: I might sneak either an Eric LaPuma in the top five,
35:18
SPEAKER_01: Han as Namburger,
35:20
SPEAKER_01: or if my heart wins over my head,
35:22
SPEAKER_01: Zach Miller,
35:22
SPEAKER_01: although I really want to see Zach Miller do well.
35:25
SPEAKER_01: But I think Eric LaPuma will race this race better than he did last year.
35:28
SPEAKER_01: He raced the exact same course and had a little bit of a blow up.
35:30
SPEAKER_01: He's been on course a lot doing a lot of training runs.
35:33
SPEAKER_01: And then I'm really curious, Hannes, I think he's really a wild card.
35:37
SPEAKER_01: I could see Cody land anywhere in that four through eight as well.
35:40
SPEAKER_01: And Hans Troyer as well.
35:43
SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of my picture right now.
35:43
SPEAKER_01: I'm definitely liable to change them, so don't quote me on that.
35:47
SPEAKER_01: But I'm super freaking stoked.
35:48
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Zach Miller is one of my favorite athletes in the sport.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: And honestly, Hannes is one of my favorite athletes on the Euro side.
35:54
SPEAKER_01: I've followed him closely for a while.
35:55
SPEAKER_01: I think he's a really interesting follow.
35:58
SPEAKER_01: Really fun to look at his training on Strava.
36:00
And then I have a lot of respect for his racing consistency and
36:03
how well he
36:03
SPEAKER_01: consistently lines up to races and does well at them.
36:06
SPEAKER_01: So that's 100K.
36:08
SPEAKER_01: And now we'll go over to the 50K.
36:10
SPEAKER_01: So 50K on the women's side,
36:16
kind of similar to last year with the notable exception of
36:18
Danny Marino not towing
36:20
SPEAKER_01: the line because I think she's not quite back healthy yet.
36:25
But we have returners and Jennifer Lichter,
36:27
Tabor Hemming,
36:29
and then let me see who else went.
36:32
SPEAKER_01: top five last year.
36:33
SPEAKER_01: Last year's top five was Danny Marino,
36:34
SPEAKER_01: Jen Lichter,
36:35
SPEAKER_01: Tabor Hemming,
36:36
SPEAKER_01: Eliza Morin,
36:37
SPEAKER_01: and Samantha Lewis.
36:39
SPEAKER_01: So this year, Jennifer Lichter, Tabor Hemming.
36:40
We got Hannah Allgood,
36:42
Heather Jackson,
36:43
and Kimmy Schreiber,
36:45
as well as Valerie Arsenault.
36:50
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, that's kind of a big one.
36:53
SPEAKER_01: I don't have too much insight.
36:55
I mean,
36:55
I honestly think this is one of the ones where probably out of
36:58
the top
36:59
SPEAKER_01: six females listed.
37:00
SPEAKER_01: Five of them are going to be in the top five.
37:02
SPEAKER_01: So I'm just going to go through my picks.
37:05
SPEAKER_01: I think Jen Lecter is probably going to take the win.
37:07
SPEAKER_01: She got second in this race last year just to Danny Marino.
37:10
SPEAKER_01: She's very fast, very fit.
37:12
She does very good on mountainous courses,
37:13
but also has tons of leg speed.
37:15
SPEAKER_01: So I would probably go Jen Lecter in first,
37:17
SPEAKER_01: Tabor in second coming off of a Boston Marathon build,
37:20
SPEAKER_01: which she bailed on to do this race instead.
37:22
SPEAKER_01: So she's probably in very good shape.
37:23
SPEAKER_01: Also just won the big Alta.
37:24
SPEAKER_01: I've got Hannah Ozowski or Hannah Allgood in third.
37:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, a friend in Colorado Springs, super dedicated athlete.
37:35
SPEAKER_01: The amount of work that she puts in is honestly flabbergasting.
37:37
I actually feel like she might be able to beat Tabor,
37:40
and I wouldn't be surprised if she does.
37:42
SPEAKER_01: I'll be rooting for her in my heart.
37:44
SPEAKER_01: I'm choosing her as number one.
37:46
But my head says two or three,
37:48
and yeah,
37:50
I'm curious to see how she'll do.
37:51
SPEAKER_01: She's not known for running shorter,
37:53
SPEAKER_01: faster stuff,
37:54
SPEAKER_01: but she has put in a lot of work on her speed and has gotten very,
37:57
SPEAKER_01: very fast this winter.
37:59
um fourth place i got heather jackson and then fifth place
38:02
kimmy schreiber uh terex
38:03
athlete from germany on the men's side i feel like there's a
38:06
little bit more uh
38:08
nuance to picking and it's a little bit deeper uh so on the
38:11
men's side we got guys
38:12
like eli hemming and hayden hawks the past two years winners um
38:16
returning so either
38:17
SPEAKER_01: i won it last year hayden won it two years ago we got
38:20
50k specialist through and through uh gesture runs small who's
38:24
got top fives at OCC
38:25
and wins basically any mountain marathon there is uh unless
38:28
he's racing Hayden in
38:29
SPEAKER_01: in the
38:30
SPEAKER_01: Canyon's 50K.
38:32
SPEAKER_01: And then who else do we have?
38:34
Seth Ruling coming hot off of a golden ticket winning course
38:38
record at Black Canyon.
38:39
Got Matt Daniels,
38:41
the wonder kid 50K specialist,
38:43
fastest dude in the West.
38:46
SPEAKER_01: We got Drew Holman,
38:48
SPEAKER_01: still some very,
38:48
SPEAKER_01: very good 50K times,
38:50
SPEAKER_01: even though we think of him as more of like 100K,
38:51
SPEAKER_01: 100 miler guy.
38:52
uh nick handel coming off of a dnf at uh gorge waterfalls but
38:57
much more of a 50k
38:59
specialist as well and we guys got like guys like darren thomas
39:02
uh who just got
39:03
second at the 28k at big alta uh sven coke uh is probably a
39:08
lesser known name to
39:09
some people but he just got third at the lake sonoma marathon
39:12
um behind dan jones
39:14
SPEAKER_01: and ryan becker who got a course record and
39:17
SPEAKER_01: And then we got some guys like Cade Michael on the trail team.
39:19
We got Eric Lagerstrom,
39:23
who I was unfamiliar with until his second place Black Canyon recently.
39:26
SPEAKER_01: And then other crushers like Johnny Luna Lima.
39:30
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, that's kind of the main people I'd probably want to focus on.
39:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
39:35
SPEAKER_01: so looking at this race,
39:38
SPEAKER_01: last year's results in the 50K,
39:39
SPEAKER_01: we had Eli Hemming in first,
39:40
SPEAKER_01: Dan Jones in second,
39:42
SPEAKER_01: Cole Watson in third,
39:43
SPEAKER_01: Seth Rowling in fourth,
39:44
SPEAKER_01: and Mario Mendoza in fifth.
39:46
SPEAKER_01: Um,
39:49
Looking at these guys,
39:49
so Eli Hemming,
39:51
I think it's pretty hard to bet against him.
39:52
SPEAKER_01: I think he is probably the favorite,
39:54
SPEAKER_01: but I'm really,
39:54
really curious to see how him and Hayden and Matt Daniels all
39:57
throw down and what
39:58
SPEAKER_01: that dynamic is like.
40:00
SPEAKER_01: I still think Eli has to be unseated before we can.
40:04
SPEAKER_01: I think he's the best 50K runner in the world right now, probably.
40:08
But I think that Hayden coming off of a really insanely fast
40:10
caroera and Matt
40:12
SPEAKER_01: Daniels just being an insanely fast guy,
40:14
I think it's going to be a really interesting dynamic with the
40:16
three of them
40:16
SPEAKER_01: pushing up front.
40:17
And I'm really curious to see,
40:18
I'd be really impressed if Hayden or Matt could unseat Eli.
40:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think I'm heavily weighing towards Eli.
40:23
And I think until he gets beaten at 50 K,
40:24
it's going to be pretty hard to bet against him.
40:28
Um,
40:28
he won big all to fourth at black Indian a hundred K.
40:31
Um,
40:31
and then he won OCC last year.
40:33
And basically he wins pretty much any 50 K he races in going
40:36
back until I think his
40:38
SPEAKER_01: like first 50 K in 2023 at way too cool.
40:40
SPEAKER_01: When Tim Dolphson beat him cause he bonked at the end.
40:42
SPEAKER_01: So, um,
40:44
pretty hard to bet against um next guy talking about uh gesture
40:48
on small so he
40:50
didn't have as good of a day at desert rats the 21k uh because
40:53
he raced eli and got
40:54
fourth um was behind like brian or excuse me eli and taylor
40:58
stack um but he did uh
41:00
win the run through time marathon against john ray and brian
41:03
curl and then he
41:04
basically just dominates these type of 50k uh 50k type
41:08
mountainous run distances
41:09
SPEAKER_01: and
41:10
SPEAKER_01: So I'm really curious to see where he goes.
41:12
SPEAKER_01: He also did win the Black Canyon 50K this year.
41:15
SPEAKER_01: Hayden Hawks did not race Desert Rats, but was originally signed up to.
41:19
His last race was in New Zealand when he ran in 318 and beat
41:23
Robbie Simpson,
41:24
SPEAKER_01: who is another world-class 50k runner.
41:27
SPEAKER_01: So I'll be really curious to see.
41:28
I'm really excited to see how this battle between Eli and
41:30
Hayden stacks out.
41:32
SPEAKER_01: And if Hayden beats him,
41:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
41:33
what kind of fitness is Hayden in to be beating Eli Hemming
41:36
before Western States?
41:37
That would be kind of like a flex by the way that Jim got
41:40
second at the BK last year,
41:41
SPEAKER_01: the week before going into Western.
41:43
SPEAKER_01: So I'm really curious to see
41:45
SPEAKER_01: I still think Eli's the hands-down favorite,
41:46
SPEAKER_01: but I think Hayden and Jess will be up there along with Matt Daniels.
41:50
Other guys to look out for is Seth Ruling coming off the
41:53
winning course record at Black Canyon.
41:54
He did get fourth in this exact same race last year,
41:56
so he's got that course familiarity.
41:58
SPEAKER_01: I would not be surprised at all if he goes top five.
42:03
and then nick handel we talked about him a little bit uh he got
42:05
fifth at canons 50k
42:07
in 2023 behind hayden and jesh and then also matt sidell and
42:10
eric lapuma so he
42:11
knows the course has raced it and is good at these 50ks uh eric
42:15
drew holman has not
42:16
raced since utmb last year so far as i can tell so it's tough
42:19
to see where his
42:20
fitness is at he did get second at canyons 100k last year and
42:23
fourth at big alta
42:24
SPEAKER_01: 50k and then he was fifth at worlds in 2023
42:28
um he's also boulder boy and one to root for he's just not on
42:31
the podcast quite as
42:32
much and so is seth ruling obviously um and then other guys to
42:36
look out for darren
42:37
thomas um he's always a threat for top 10 in any of these races
42:40
uh sven coke uh
42:41
terex athlete from germany who just came off like i said a
42:44
really good lake sonoma
42:45
kade michael is a trail athlete or the trail team athlete uh
42:49
who's worth looking
42:49
out for he trains with andy wacker he is one of the two that
42:52
took down david
42:53
SPEAKER_01: roach's uh gold hill time
42:56
And he got 10th at Headlands Golden Trail World Series last
42:58
year and won UTMB Whistler 50K.
43:00
SPEAKER_01: He beat David Norris.
43:02
SPEAKER_01: To anyone who knows that name,
43:03
SPEAKER_01: he's a course record holder at Mount Marathon,
43:06
SPEAKER_01: and he's a very world-class runner as well.
43:08
SPEAKER_01: I think he finally raced OCC last year.
43:10
SPEAKER_01: I don't remember how he did.
43:13
And then two other people I want to look out for are going to
43:15
be Eric Lagerstrom.
43:16
I was not familiar with him and missed him on the Black Canyon
43:19
50K preview.
43:20
But he is a former professional triathlete,
43:22
maybe current professional triathlete.
43:24
SPEAKER_01: And he threw down at Black Canyon 50K.
43:25
SPEAKER_01: He got second only to Jesh and beat some other big names.
43:28
SPEAKER_01: And then Johnny Luna Lima,
43:30
SPEAKER_01: who's coming off of fourth at Big Alta,
43:32
SPEAKER_01: raced really smart in the 50K.
43:34
And I think he will race really smart in this race and probably
43:36
move up all race
43:38
SPEAKER_01: somewhere in that six through eight spot,
43:41
SPEAKER_01: if I had to guess.
43:42
SPEAKER_01: With that being said,
43:44
SPEAKER_01: on my men's side of picks,
43:45
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to go Eli in first,
43:47
SPEAKER_01: Hayden in second,
43:49
SPEAKER_01: Matt Daniels in third,
43:52
SPEAKER_01: Jeshu Runsmall in fourth,
43:53
SPEAKER_01: and Eric Lagerstrom in fifth.
43:55
SPEAKER_01: I'm liable to swap out Seth Roling for a top five spot.
43:59
SPEAKER_01: But I could also see some carnage taking place, and I could see...
44:04
at least two of the top four blowing up so maybe matt and jesh
44:08
or maybe even hayden
44:10
and eli although i find that a little bit less likely but i
44:13
could see those four
44:14
guys going out up front and pushing the pace and then there
44:16
being some mayhem in
44:17
the back that some people like your seth ruling or drew holman
44:23
or johnny luna lima
44:24
will pick up um so it'll be curious to see i'm very excited to
44:29
see that that race
44:29
SPEAKER_01: play out and i think it's gonna be stupidly stupidly fast so
44:34
with that being said yeah that kind of concludes our previews
44:37
for the black cannon
44:38
or excuse me not black and in cannons uh 100k and 50k i think
44:42
it's so silly that we
44:43
have two golden ticket races that have almost the exact same
44:45
name but uh yeah that
44:47
concludes the cannons 100k and 50k um let me know what you
44:50
think about the episode
44:51
let me know what you like and don't like let me know if zach
44:54
miller is in your top
44:55
SPEAKER_01: five and i will talk to you guys here shortly and wishing you the best