Latest / Let's Talk Trail Running / 2025 Transgrancanaria Preview Part 2

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2025 Transgrancanaria Preview Part 2 · Let's Talk Trail Running

0:01
SPEAKER_00: Hello, everyone.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: Sorry about that.
0:03
SPEAKER_00: Due to my technological inabilities,
0:05
I paused the recording and I didn't realize it automatically
0:08
saves it when I hit
0:09
stop because my girlfriend needed to get her running clothes
0:12
out of the closet.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: And right now the closet is my recording studio.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: So I apologize for that.
0:18
We're just going to break these podcasts up into,
0:22
I guess,
0:22
two parts and just release two parts.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't my intent to do.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: But alas, my technological inabilities were
0:29
lead me to just essentially not want to delete the other one
0:33
and keep going so
0:34
where was i i was just finishing up making my top five picks i
0:37
had john and first
0:38
tom and second caleb and third abel and fourth and i know
0:41
christian minoli and
0:42
fifth and i know what you're thinking you're like rob that's
0:45
like five of the top
0:45
six uh five of the top six guys according to the itra index
0:50
you're not really
0:51
SPEAKER_00: providing that much insight
0:52
SPEAKER_00: With that being said, I am viable to change out.
0:56
I think that two picks that I would have in the back half of my
0:59
top five that I
1:00
SPEAKER_00: think are locks for the top 10.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: I think the two UK guys,
1:03
SPEAKER_00: Mark Derbyshire and Josh Wade,
1:05
SPEAKER_00: they don't miss a lot of races or they almost never DNF.
1:07
SPEAKER_00: They don't really miss on races and they're really consistent.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: Josh Wade getting eighth here last year.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: I could see him improving on that eighth.
1:14
So I think those are two guys that you could easily
1:17
interchangeably put either one
1:18
of them in the back half of your top five and will likely get
1:21
you points pretty
1:21
SPEAKER_00: close to that.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: I also think Miguel Jarras being the ageless wonder.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: Every time I bet against him, he proves me wrong.
1:27
SPEAKER_00: Every time I bet on him, I don't get what I want.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: So
1:30
SPEAKER_00: Maybe if I bet against him, he will also go top five.
1:34
SPEAKER_00: I could very easily see him being three through five as high as second.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: I don't quite see him winning it against this stack of the field,
1:40
SPEAKER_00: but I could also,
1:41
SPEAKER_00: uh,
1:41
SPEAKER_00: I would be more than happy to eat my words on that one.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: People I'm leaving out.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, there's definitely Zayid El-Malik I could see in that top five.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: Vignette, uh, he's been in that type of form before.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: Christian, it'll be interesting to see where he's racing at.
1:58
SPEAKER_00: Um,
1:59
SPEAKER_00: yeah, those are kind of the big names I'm looking at.
2:00
SPEAKER_00: So like I said,
2:01
SPEAKER_00: if I wanted to eat my words,
2:02
SPEAKER_00: I think those two UK guys,
2:04
I think those are both point getters and are easily somewhere
2:06
in the five through
2:07
SPEAKER_00: 10 zone.
2:08
I think with Josh Wade being a little bit higher than Mark,
2:10
but could be wrong on that one.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: And then I think that Miguel Haras could easily be in that top five.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't be surprised.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: John and Tom don't really miss, honestly.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: So
2:21
it's really hard for me to bet against them when they almost
2:23
never DNF with the
2:24
SPEAKER_00: exception of Tom,
2:25
SPEAKER_00: I guess at UTMB and then John at Marathon de Mont Blanc,
2:29
SPEAKER_00: uh,
2:29
SPEAKER_00: that one year,
2:29
SPEAKER_00: but they're just really good racers.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: So I would not bet against them on the women's side.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think it's a little bit easier.
2:38
SPEAKER_00: And in my experience,
2:40
SPEAKER_00: uh,
2:40
SPEAKER_00: picking for fantasy free trail,
2:42
SPEAKER_00: honestly,
2:42
the women's side is usually where I want to focus more
2:45
attention because usually
2:46
SPEAKER_00: there's a smaller competitive field,
2:48
SPEAKER_00: uh,
2:50
It's getting bigger and bigger and we want it to get more and
2:51
more competitive,
2:52
but usually there's more points to be gained and lost in the
2:55
women's field because
2:56
SPEAKER_00: you can pick a little bit closer,
2:58
SPEAKER_00: a few more exactos.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: And usually if you're going to get big points,
3:03
SPEAKER_00: it's going to be bigger points on the women's side because there's
3:05
not quite as much range of competition and not as much chance
3:09
of kind of blowing up
3:10
SPEAKER_00: and dropping out.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: So women's side picks, my top five.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: I've got Ingvild in first.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: Ingvild Kaspersen,
3:17
SPEAKER_00: Fiona Pascal in second,
3:18
SPEAKER_00: Claudia Tremp in third,
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SPEAKER_00: Martina Klanschnik from Slovakia in fourth,
3:25
SPEAKER_00: and Henriette in fifth.
3:27
I'm liable to put Henriette higher,
3:30
and I could see her going as high as third.
3:33
SPEAKER_00: maybe even second.
3:33
SPEAKER_00: I don't quite see her winning it.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: I think Ingvild is probably the hands-on favorite.
3:39
SPEAKER_00: Maite could be up there.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: Marilyn Nakashay could be up there.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: Claire could also be up there.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: And then I guess I'm sleeping.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: I didn't even mention Anna Fisher from the US.
3:47
SPEAKER_00: I'm curious.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: She hasn't raced in a ton of really,
3:49
SPEAKER_00: really big races,
3:50
but I could easily see her going top five in this race or being
3:55
somewhere in that
3:55
SPEAKER_00: five through 10 spot.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: Um,
4:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
4:00
so liable to maybe swap in a Marilyn McCashie or an Anna Fisher
4:05
somewhere in there
4:07
SPEAKER_00: in the back half.
4:08
But feeling pretty confident with Ingveld and Fiona being up
4:11
front and pushing the pace.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a Henrietta as high up as third.
4:15
SPEAKER_00: And then Claudia somewhere in that top five as well.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: So that's the Trans-Gran Canaria classic.
4:21
SPEAKER_00: Like we mentioned, really excited to see.
4:23
SPEAKER_00: We also got single track zone Finn Melanson racing the race.
4:25
SPEAKER_00: I'll be excited to cheer him on, see how he does.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: Bummer that he won't be racing against Mr.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: Shit in the Woods,
4:32
SPEAKER_00: Mike McMoneagle,
4:33
SPEAKER_00: because I believe he got injured.
4:35
And then I wonder if Leah Yingling also got injured or what her
4:40
reason for scratching is.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: I haven't seen anything about that yet.
4:43
SPEAKER_00: So enough about that.
4:45
SPEAKER_00: Other things looks like Mr. Travis Longcar has loaded up a lot of events.
4:50
And so we can see what is on the horizon,
4:54
which is exciting in the future.
4:57
SPEAKER_00: So we're going over to the marathon side, Trans Grand Canaria Marathon.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: Short, fast, hot, and exciting.
5:06
SPEAKER_00: Looking at the men's side to begin with,
5:11
SPEAKER_00: we got some big names like Francesco Poopy,
5:13
SPEAKER_00: we got Margell Arsenio,
5:14
SPEAKER_00: we've got Henry Iomond,
5:18
SPEAKER_00: and then...
5:20
SPEAKER_00: Those are kind of the big ones that I'm looking at.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: Patty O'Leary's in the mix.
5:27
And then looking at the women's side of this race,
5:31
we got Jen Lichter,
5:32
Crusher from U.S.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: from Montana.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: Sylvia Nordsgar, the winner of Zagama last year.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: Rosa Maria Lara.
5:40
And so we had some really good results early on in the Golden
5:43
Trail Series.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: Daniela Wiemers from Germany, always a super consistent performer.
5:49
SPEAKER_00: Eleanor Davis, Claire Rhodes, Denisa Dragomir, Sarah Kays.
5:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I got some good names.
5:55
SPEAKER_00: So looking at the men's side of the race,
5:58
SPEAKER_00: I think this is,
6:00
I feel pretty confident in saying that this is going to be a
6:02
battle up front
6:03
SPEAKER_00: between Robert and Francesco.
6:06
For those of you guys that do not know Robert Kamoy,
6:10
he is a Kenyan athlete.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: He is a straight up crusher.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: He did win this race last year.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: He raced a bunch in
6:17
SPEAKER_00: the, um, uh, what's it called?
6:21
SPEAKER_00: The Balsier Mountain World Cup.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, and he is a very, very, very consistent racer.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: Uh,
6:27
SPEAKER_00: so looking at his 2024,
6:29
SPEAKER_00: he got first at Trans Grand Canary Marathon,
6:32
SPEAKER_00: sixth at Zagama,
6:33
SPEAKER_00: sixth at Marathon in Mont Blanc.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: Uh,
6:35
SPEAKER_00: as here as an aisle,
6:36
SPEAKER_00: he ran two 45 for 29 and then he ran the final,
6:41
SPEAKER_00: uh,
6:42
SPEAKER_00: and the prologue at the golden trail series last year,
6:45
SPEAKER_00: got 11th and sixth.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: Uh, let me see.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: I know he has more results.
6:51
SPEAKER_01: That was his WMRA.
6:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I know he has more results than that.
6:57
So yeah,
6:59
uh,
6:59
Solomon ultra pyramid,
7:00
the 42 K he got the win at the marathon distance there.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and then, yeah, he generally races marathon distance stuff.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: Also has a fifth of Zagama.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: He's won trans-country marathon actually two years in a row.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: No, two years in a row.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I think he's a pretty good luck.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: He has run this race really, really fast.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: Last year he went and ran it in 331.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: The year before that he ran it in 325.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: and his debut with it,
7:29
SPEAKER_00: it says three 11,
7:30
SPEAKER_00: but it must've been a different course if I had to guess.
7:33
SPEAKER_00: So,
7:33
SPEAKER_00: uh,
7:34
SPEAKER_00: speedy guy Kenyan,
7:35
SPEAKER_00: um,
7:36
SPEAKER_00: usually pretty good in the heat,
7:38
SPEAKER_00: uh,
7:38
SPEAKER_00: going up against,
7:39
SPEAKER_00: uh,
7:39
SPEAKER_00: our very own Francesco poopy recently announced,
7:42
SPEAKER_00: uh,
7:43
SPEAKER_00: signing with Hoka,
7:43
SPEAKER_00: which is very,
7:44
SPEAKER_00: very exciting.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: Um,
7:46
Yeah,
7:46
just a really outspoken,
7:49
very consistent racer,
7:50
very fun to follow.
7:51
SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite athletes in the sport.
7:53
Definitely biased towards him because I also get to interact
7:56
with him through my
7:57
SPEAKER_00: coaching on Vert Run as well because he is my coach.
8:00
So with that being said,
8:01
it'll be exciting to see him race something like this,
8:04
this marathon.
8:05
And so far as I know,
8:08
he has not raced Trans Grand Canary a marathon before.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: And I'm looking through his results and I don't see anything.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: So it'll be a debut distance for him.
8:16
I think he'll be at a little bit of a disadvantage not knowing
8:18
the course as well
8:19
SPEAKER_00: as Robert,
8:19
SPEAKER_00: who's been there three years in a row.
8:21
SPEAKER_00: But we know he is always fit early.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: He's always fast early.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: I think he'll be up front battling.
8:29
Continuing down UTMB index,
8:31
Miguel Arsenio,
8:32
really good Portuguese runner.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: Usually somebody who goes for a little bit longer distances.
8:37
SPEAKER_00: He did just race a 30K this year earlier.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Does a lot of stuff in Portugal.
8:41
He did go Ultra Trail Cape Town,
8:43
got second overall in Ultra Trail Cape Town last year.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: I believe only to,
8:49
SPEAKER_00: no to Hugo Deck,
8:50
SPEAKER_00: excuse me,
8:50
SPEAKER_00: because Dimitri did not finish,
8:53
SPEAKER_00: which was unfortunate for my fantasy results.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: He has done marathon distance stuff and some shorter stuff.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: Trans-Grant Canaria, he DNFed the Classic last year
9:04
SPEAKER_00: Uh, he's won things like Solomon ultra Pirano Valderan.
9:07
He's gotten fourth that,
9:09
uh,
9:09
he's done trans grand Canaria,
9:10
the classic distance.
9:11
And he did get second in 2023,
9:13
which caused me to pick him for,
9:15
uh,
9:16
my top five last year.
9:17
SPEAKER_00: Second only to Andrew Simone.
9:19
I marriage to be guys like talent,
9:21
Tyler Green,
9:22
Raul Butachi and Paul Capel.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: So, um, has some experience at the longer distances at this race.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: He does pretty regularly dip between 50 and 100 K and,
9:34
SPEAKER_00: but he also does have good results on sub-ultra distances.
9:39
SPEAKER_00: So I'll be pretty curious to see.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: He's a very versatile athlete.
9:42
He's a younger guy,
9:43
and I'm very curious to see how he's going to stack up.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: He does have a very high ITRA UTMB index,
9:50
SPEAKER_00: but I see him as more elite in the 50 to 100K category.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: It'll be interesting to see how he races in this marathon distance.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: So that's Miguel Arsenio, third overall, Silva Bruno.
10:03
SPEAKER_01: Portugal, Portugal, Portugal.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: And I see if I can find some results.
10:15
SPEAKER_01: All right, I'm going to have a hard time with that one.
10:17
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of Silva Brunos in Portugal.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: So another one I want to look at is Henry Imonod.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: I first came across him when he,
10:29
SPEAKER_00: I think he has a really stupidly fast time on Lafouli's VK,
10:33
SPEAKER_00: if I'm not mistaken.
10:35
SPEAKER_00: And he also raced in the U.S.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: at the Pikes Peak Ascent,
10:37
SPEAKER_00: went top 10 overall,
10:39
SPEAKER_00: and got fifth at the Broken Arrow VK in 2023 is,
10:42
SPEAKER_00: I think,
10:42
SPEAKER_00: when I first came across his name.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: Last year,
10:45
SPEAKER_00: his results,
10:45
SPEAKER_00: he did Trofeo Nasego,
10:46
SPEAKER_00: got 19th,
10:47
SPEAKER_00: fifth at ETC,
10:49
SPEAKER_00: the shorter distance,
10:50
SPEAKER_00: the 15K at UTMB.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: Ceres and all, he ran a 239, which was only good enough for 17th place.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: And then he's done Sky Grand Canaria.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: So he's raced on the Canary Island last year, which was in October.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: And then he's done the VK at Trans Grand Canaria, which he got third at.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
11:10
SPEAKER_00: he's really more of a vertical and sub ultra guy,
11:14
SPEAKER_00: has some really good chops,
11:15
SPEAKER_00: really good like speed.
11:17
SPEAKER_00: It'll be interesting to see kind of how he stacks up.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: I think of him as a little bit more of a VK specialist.
11:23
SPEAKER_00: But I think he could do very, very good at this race.
11:27
SPEAKER_00: I do think it is kind of right in his wheelhouse.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: North Face guy, friends with Francesco Puby, also a fellow Italian.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: So I could see him doing pretty well in this race.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: Next one, looking at Mario Olmedo from Granada, Andalusia, Spain.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: Spanish guy.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: And he races a lot in Spain, predictably.
11:51
SPEAKER_00: Val Duran, he did the 50K there, got 7th last year.
11:55
SPEAKER_00: Calamara Scar Race got 4th.
11:57
SPEAKER_00: That was on the Skyrunner World Series.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: He did do the marathon last year at Trans-Gran Canaria, and he got 6th.
12:03
So definitely somebody who has the chops,
12:06
knows the course,
12:07
and could be getting points.
12:09
He tried the classic distance,
12:11
but DNF'd it in 2023,
12:12
the classic being more longer.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: And then he's also done the marathon and got seventh in 2021.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: So solid Spanish guys, race the course, knows the course.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: And even with that being said too,
12:26
SPEAKER_00: I guess we could look at the top five results from last year or top six.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: So Robert Kamoi, like I said, got first.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: Juho Jelenin from Finland got second.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: We're going to talk about him in a second.
12:40
tiago viera got third adil musawi from morocco got fourth and
12:45
christian jones from
12:46
the uk got fifth we also had mario almedo sancha in sixth
12:51
andrews kaverick from
12:55
norway in seventh and then fran and guita from spain in uh
13:00
eighth place so um
13:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we mentioned Mario Almedo Sanchez.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: He's already got top 10 in this race.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: Someone to look out for Juho Jelenin from Finland.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure I'm pronouncing that terribly.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm definitely looking at him for my top five.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: He went second overall here last year.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: He's a pretty good sub ultra 50k type guy.
13:22
SPEAKER_00: He did get 20th at the Golden Trail final last year.
13:25
SPEAKER_00: So
13:26
obviously 20th doesn't usually sound super good but considering
13:28
how dense uh
13:30
competition in the golden trail final attracts uh he is in good
13:33
shape 247 at
13:34
sierra's in all last year 16th overall european championships
13:37
second at the trans
13:39
gran canaria marathon third the previous year before that and
13:42
then the year before
13:43
that he went fifth so he's got some good experience good chops
13:45
in the race um
13:46
looking to kind of step it up to that next level and be racing
13:49
up there with guys
13:49
SPEAKER_00: like fran
13:51
SPEAKER_00: and Robert,
13:51
SPEAKER_00: but to get second last year,
13:52
SPEAKER_00: uh,
13:53
SPEAKER_00: other names to look out for Marcin,
13:55
SPEAKER_00: uh,
13:56
SPEAKER_00: not even going to try to butcher his last name.
13:58
Polish athlete,
13:59
younger guy had some good results in the golden trail series
14:02
early on.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: That says he's 35 to 39.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: So excuse me.
14:06
SPEAKER_00: Uh, not as young as I thought, but young at heart, I'm sure.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: Uh,
14:09
SPEAKER_00: last year he had some really good results in some of the,
14:11
SPEAKER_00: so,
14:11
SPEAKER_00: uh,
14:12
SPEAKER_00: some of the golden trail early races.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: He went, let me pull it up.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: He went, uh,
14:20
SPEAKER_00: Four Sisters, he got 14th.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: Marathon de Mont Blanc, he got 22nd.
14:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and so he's also done Trans-Grand Canaria.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: He's done the VK before, and then he's done the shortest distance before.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: So Polish guy, likes that sub-ultra distance.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: Definitely one to look out for.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: And then...
14:44
Other guys to look out for,
14:45
Fran Inguita was just in the top 10 last year.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: Thiago Vieira, Portuguese guy, also top 10.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: Andrews Kjarvik from Norway, also in the top 10.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: And I think those would be the big ones.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: On the U.S.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: side, we got some other guys.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: Johnny Luna Lima,
15:04
SPEAKER_00: partnered with Bailey Kowalczyk,
15:06
SPEAKER_00: formerly a North Face athlete,
15:07
SPEAKER_00: if he is not still a North Face athlete.
15:09
SPEAKER_00: Says he's still a North Face athlete.
15:12
He likes the sub-ultra kind of results and has some good
15:14
results in some sky
15:15
SPEAKER_00: running type races.
15:17
SPEAKER_00: I could see him being in the back half of this top 10.
15:20
SPEAKER_00: And Patty O'Leary, also another US favorite.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: I could see him somewhere in the top 10.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: So that's on the men's side.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: On the women's side, I'm looking at...
15:32
SPEAKER_00: We got Jen Lichter, Sylvia Nordsgar.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so some big names here.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: If I had to guess, Jen Lichter is a favorite.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: She's a returning champion.
15:40
SPEAKER_00: Sylvia Nordsgar, I think, will be up there battling with her.
15:42
She's proved she's got really good early season fitness last
15:45
year in Zagama.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: She's got really good leg speed.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: I think she got second at... What's it called?
15:52
SPEAKER_00: What's it called?
15:53
SPEAKER_00: What's it called?
15:54
SPEAKER_00: Templier.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: Yep,
15:55
SPEAKER_00: she got second at Templier,
15:56
SPEAKER_00: only behind Caitlin Felder,
15:57
SPEAKER_00: and I think she was leading for a lot of it.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: She also did the Nice Quote de Zor 50K, got the dub there last year.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: And then, yeah, the big thing was the Gama.
16:05
And then a top 10 at Four Sisters Mountain Trail in China on
16:08
the Golden Trail circuit.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: So I think she will be up there racing hard and well.
16:16
SPEAKER_00: She has not raced this particular race before yet.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: so that'll be interesting to see.
16:26
SPEAKER_00: Rosa Maria Lara,
16:30
SPEAKER_00: she had some really good results,
16:30
kind of a breakout year last year with some top 10s in the
16:33
Golden Trail circuit.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: If people remember,
16:35
she was actually leading the Golden Trail series for a bit in
16:38
total points early on
16:40
SPEAKER_00: because of some top results on,
16:44
because of some top results in the early season races and back
16:49
half of the top 10
16:50
SPEAKER_00: and just having the most races.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: She kind of,
16:53
did not benefit from the change to...
17:01
It doesn't have it in the UTMB index.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of weird.
17:05
SPEAKER_01: Make sure I'm spelling it.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: Rosa, Maria, Lara.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's hard to search.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes these Spanish athletes in the UTMB index system
17:14
SPEAKER_00: uh, don't come up super well for whatever reason.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if that's how they like have multiple surnames or yeah,
17:24
SPEAKER_00: it has there as Rosa,
17:26
SPEAKER_00: Laura,
17:26
SPEAKER_00: Philu and UTMB index.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: And so yeah,
17:29
SPEAKER_00: looking at her results last year,
17:30
SPEAKER_00: she won the Mallorca,
17:32
SPEAKER_00: uh,
17:32
SPEAKER_00: by UTMB,
17:33
SPEAKER_00: the 55 K.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: Uh,
17:35
SPEAKER_00: and I think she beat out,
17:37
SPEAKER_00: she beat out,
17:39
SPEAKER_00: uh,
17:41
SPEAKER_00: She beat out Bailey Kowalczyk, Martina Valamosoy, and Therese LaBeouf.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: So some good names there.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: And then looking at her results from last year,
17:52
SPEAKER_00: yeah,
17:52
SPEAKER_00: she went,
17:54
Solomon Ultrapirino got second at the marathon distance in the
17:57
Golden Trail final.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: She got 18th.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: OCC, she got ninth.
18:01
SPEAKER_00: So top 10 at OCC, really impressive.
18:03
SPEAKER_00: Marathon to Mont Blanc, fifth place.
18:05
SPEAKER_00: That's probably her best result of the year last year.
18:07
SPEAKER_00: Zagama, she got eighth.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: Four sisters, she got 10th.
18:10
SPEAKER_00: And
18:11
Uh,
18:11
and then she did do Trans-Garren Canary Marathon last year and
18:14
got third.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: So I think she's a pretty good lock for this top five.
18:17
SPEAKER_00: I think her fitness,
18:19
SPEAKER_00: uh,
18:19
is in really good shape and she's trending on the up and up and
18:22
I could see her
18:23
SPEAKER_00: going as high as three.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: Uh,
18:26
SPEAKER_00: and then Daniela,
18:27
SPEAKER_00: uh,
18:27
SPEAKER_00: we miss a German athlete,
18:29
SPEAKER_00: always really,
18:29
SPEAKER_00: really consistent races a lot on the golden trail circuit,
18:33
SPEAKER_00: uh,
18:33
SPEAKER_00: Nike athlete as well.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: Uh,
18:36
SPEAKER_00: she DNF'd OCC last year,
18:37
SPEAKER_00: but then,
18:38
SPEAKER_00: uh,
18:38
SPEAKER_00: so she raced Corbya,
18:39
SPEAKER_00: Susan sky race got second overall.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: Zagama asked Corey, she got seven.
18:43
Uh,
18:44
and then looking at other results,
18:46
she's got a top five OCC from 23 series and all.
18:49
She did not go,
18:50
she went 25th,
18:51
Marathon on one block sixth,
18:53
World Champs sixth.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: And then she won Zagama.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: That was kind of like her breakout.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: Had some good results before that,
18:59
but that was kind of like her coming onto the scene and showing
19:02
everybody what's up.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: So she's another one to look out for.
19:05
SPEAKER_00: Elsie Davis from the UK.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: I think of her as more of an ultra distance runner.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: So it'll be interesting to see her race this 50K.
19:14
SPEAKER_00: She got fourth at Solomon Ultra Pyreneur last year.
19:18
uh asic saint leon the 100k she got third so that's a good
19:21
light speed good uh fast
19:23
race and then looking at some other results uh i know she dnf'd
19:28
at western last
19:29
year archipatrician 50k that was just this year she took or
19:33
excuse me 50 miler she
19:34
took the win along with tom evans um and then historically
19:38
she's gone 11th at
19:40
marathon to mont blanc she's done the trans grand canary
19:43
marathon in 2022 and got
19:44
SPEAKER_00: fifth so she's seen this race done this race before
19:47
definitely somebody to look out for on that front i think she's
19:50
a solid like fourth
19:52
rate pick um claire roads from the states it'll be interesting
19:56
to see she kind of
19:56
went on a pretty good tear last year didn't have the day she
19:59
wanted to at occ which
20:01
was unfortunate because i think she can race really well there
20:03
is but she did have
20:04
some pretty big results with a second at broken arrow a second
20:08
at kodiak uh by utmb
20:10
SPEAKER_00: 50k and a second at well uh puerto viarta uh
20:15
She did win and set the course record on the rut,
20:18
which is not the UTP results.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: Did you know she got second place?
20:21
SPEAKER_00: Excuse me.
20:23
But she did go in the course record at the rut,
20:24
formerly of Jen Lichter's course record.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: And just somebody I'm really impressed with,
20:29
SPEAKER_00: you know,
20:30
SPEAKER_00: from Alaska,
20:31
SPEAKER_00: really a good,
20:33
SPEAKER_00: consistent racer,
20:34
SPEAKER_00: really good at these mountainous races.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: The only thing I'd be worried about,
20:36
I'm hoping that she is doing some heat training because I know
20:39
she is not coming
20:39
SPEAKER_00: across any kind of Gran Canaria heat in Alaska at this time of year.
20:44
So I imagine she's getting in her sauna reps and that could be
20:46
a big factor that
20:48
SPEAKER_00: will help her out.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: Some other names to look at, Denisa Dragomir.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: I did not see a ton from her in the past year,
20:54
but she first came across my radar when she went third overall
20:57
in the world champs.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: No, I take a lie.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: She won the short trail world champs, got first.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: Um, so she only raced a little bit last towards the end of last year.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: And then I didn't really see anything from 2023.
21:09
So that kind of leads me to believe that she is coming back
21:13
from some injury
21:16
SPEAKER_00: related stuff,
21:17
SPEAKER_00: uh,
21:17
SPEAKER_00: not having that many races.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: Um,
21:18
SPEAKER_00: but she is a very good sky runner,
21:20
SPEAKER_00: uh,
21:21
very speedy and she has a lot of wins to her name and some
21:24
pretty good looking races.
21:26
SPEAKER_00: So I think she's a little bit of wild card.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what kind of fit she's in.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: She got dubs in her last two wins.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: uh,
21:32
SPEAKER_00: assuming her last two races,
21:33
SPEAKER_00: which were right around 30 K,
21:35
SPEAKER_00: um,
21:36
SPEAKER_00: in Romania,
21:37
SPEAKER_00: uh,
21:37
SPEAKER_00: that is her native country.
21:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, but it looks like she's coming back from pretty lengthy injury.
21:42
SPEAKER_00: So she'll be kind of a wild card to look out for.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: I would not be surprised if she goes in the top five as well.
21:47
Uh,
21:47
other people will consider,
21:48
uh,
21:48
Sarah K.
21:49
She's a,
21:50
uh,
21:50
North face athlete.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: This is North face race.
21:52
SPEAKER_00: So that checks out.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: Um,
21:55
SPEAKER_00: And then Joanna Astrom is another one to look out for from,
21:59
SPEAKER_01: don't get me wrong,
22:02
SPEAKER_01: Norway,
22:02
SPEAKER_01: excuse me.
22:06
SPEAKER_01: Let's see.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: Let's see.
22:08
SPEAKER_01: So Joanna Astrum.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: She has got second at the marathon in 2023.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: So I think she's definitely somebody to look out for.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: Trying to see if she's raised it one more time.
22:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:23
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: So she's raised in 2023.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: All right.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: So those are some names to look out for.
22:28
So going into the picks for the top five on the men's and the
22:32
women's side,
22:33
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go with the women first this time.
22:36
uh for my picks on the top five i'm gonna have jen lector in
22:39
first with the repeat
22:40
championship i'm liable to potentially swap her with sylvia
22:43
nord square i think
22:44
either of them could get the win i'm only leaning towards jen
22:47
because of her course
22:47
familiarity but i do think uh that um sylvia has the capability
22:54
to win so jen
22:54
SPEAKER_00: lector i got first sylvia nord square i got second
22:57
rosa maria laura i got in third i really like uh which way
23:01
she's trending she uh
23:03
has been on the up and up and just kind of keeps finding new
23:05
levels of fitness and
23:07
uh keeps racing more and more competitive races and getting
23:09
better and better i
23:10
think she's a pretty solid block for this top five got daniella
23:13
uh we miss and
23:14
fourth really consistent uh had a dna for two last year but
23:19
really is it she
23:20
SPEAKER_00: doesn't miss and she's always kind of in that three through seven range
23:23
SPEAKER_00: really kind of a good competitor,
23:25
SPEAKER_00: a good racer,
23:26
somebody who doesn't really come to a race that they're not
23:27
ready to race.
23:29
SPEAKER_00: And then fifth, like I said, a little bit of wild card, Denise Adragomir.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what kind of fitness she's in.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: It looks like she's come off a long injury.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm liable to potentially swap her for Elsie Davis or Claire Rhodes.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: I try not to show too much Western bias.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: Obviously,
23:44
SPEAKER_00: being from the US,
23:45
SPEAKER_00: I'm more familiar with US athletes,
23:47
SPEAKER_00: but I really,
23:47
SPEAKER_00: really try to get to know these international athletes,
23:50
SPEAKER_00: even go so far as like
23:52
following them on social media translating their post if I can
23:55
or just kind of
23:56
following them sometimes on Strava more so on social media but
24:00
just to try to kind
24:00
of mitigate that and also try to follow European races as much
24:03
as possible because
24:05
there's a lot of really exciting athletes out there so yeah
24:07
like I said Denise of
24:08
Dragomir liable to swap her for either Elsie Davis or Claire
24:11
Rhodes can easily see
24:12
SPEAKER_00: them in that three through five Joanna Astrom also a potential and
24:17
I would be surprised if there's not at least one Portuguese
24:19
athlete in the three
24:21
SPEAKER_00: through seven range.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: So keep an eye on that.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: I don't know which one it would be though.
24:26
On the men's side,
24:27
I've got first,
24:28
I got Robert Kamoy from Kenya going for three Pete.
24:33
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: Three Pete, if I'm not mistaken.
24:35
SPEAKER_00: I think he'll be up front with Francesco.
24:37
I think that he will be a little bit more heat acclimated and
24:42
maybe just a smidge
24:43
SPEAKER_00: sharper than Francesco.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: but I would not be shocked at all if Francesco wins.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: I've got second, Francesco Pupi.
24:49
SPEAKER_00: Third,
24:49
SPEAKER_00: Henry Imonod,
24:52
SPEAKER_00: although I might swap him with my fourth base pick,
24:54
SPEAKER_00: which is Juho Jelenin from Finland,
24:57
SPEAKER_00: which I'm sure I'm saying that wrong.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: And then fifth, I got Thiago Vieira based off his...
25:02
SPEAKER_00: He was somewhere five through seven last year, I believe.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: And I just want to get a Portuguese athlete out there.
25:06
Cause I think I'd be wrong if I don't have at least one
25:08
Portuguese athlete with it
25:10
SPEAKER_00: being said,
25:10
SPEAKER_00: I think that's Miguel Arsenio might surprise me.
25:13
SPEAKER_00: He might be in that top five.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: I just think of him as more of an ultra distance specialist, Bruno Silva.
25:17
SPEAKER_00: I apologize, but there's like four, six of them on, uh,
25:21
DMV,
25:23
just based off his ITRA index,
25:25
I wouldn't be surprised if he's in the top five.
25:27
And then other guys to look out for,
25:29
Mario Almeida Sanchez,
25:31
or just Mario Almeida.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: He's got a top 10 in this race in the past year or two.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: And then Fran and Guita as well.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: And Anders Chivarek.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: So I'm liable to swap out.
25:43
SPEAKER_00: I would throw Anders up there in top five.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: And I would also consider throwing...
25:51
SPEAKER_00: Mario Almeida as well.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: So that's my picks for right now.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: So sorry about the broken up recording.
25:57
They didn't really mean to make this two different podcasts,
26:00
but that's on me.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: So work with me.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully the audio is a little bit better.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: I'm continuing to tweak and play with the microphone setup.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: And this time I actually have earplugs in.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: So I'm hearing my feedback.
26:11
SPEAKER_00: So,
26:12
SPEAKER_00: but anyways,
26:14
SPEAKER_00: on the horizon,
26:15
SPEAKER_00: looking forward,
26:16
SPEAKER_00: I kind of alluded to it earlier,
26:18
SPEAKER_00: but then I realized I'd prefer to put this at the end.
26:20
It looks like Travis Longcar has uploaded a bunch of things on
26:23
the horizon so we
26:24
SPEAKER_00: can keep an eye out for it.
26:25
SPEAKER_00: So Transgrain Canary, we've got the double whammy.
26:27
It looks like there's nothing again until Chuckanut in March 15th,
26:31
but I'll keep an eye out.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: He's liable to upload other stuff that might be coming up.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's a race the first week of March that he wants.
26:37
SPEAKER_00: And then it looks like we have the big Ulta,
26:38
SPEAKER_00: March 22nd,
26:39
SPEAKER_00: double whammy,
26:40
SPEAKER_00: well,
26:40
SPEAKER_00: triple whammy,
26:41
SPEAKER_00: March 22nd.
26:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, quadruple whammy almost.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: So March 22nd, March 23rd, we've got a lot of stuff going on.
26:45
SPEAKER_00: We've got big Ulta 50K.
26:47
SPEAKER_00: We've got big Ulta 28K on that Saturday, Sunday.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: We've got a Conte Tiatos del Norte sky race.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: That's going to be the first sky running World Series race of the year.
26:58
And then we got Chianti 100K,
27:00
which supposedly Killian's going on for their golden ticket.
27:02
SPEAKER_00: So that'd be pretty dang exciting to see.
27:05
SPEAKER_00: Uh,
27:05
SPEAKER_00: and then he also uploaded,
27:06
SPEAKER_00: we got calamar scar race,
27:08
SPEAKER_00: another sky running world series circuit.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: And then we got gorge on the horizon as well, April 12th and April 13th.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: So that was some exciting stuff.
27:15
SPEAKER_00: Um,
27:15
SPEAKER_00: hopefully there's another event before chucking up,
27:17
SPEAKER_00: but if not,
27:17
SPEAKER_00: uh,
27:18
SPEAKER_00: we'll keep an eye out and,
27:20
SPEAKER_00: uh,
27:21
SPEAKER_00: and just won't record again until then.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: Uh, big Alta.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: I was hoping to race the 28 K,
27:26
but I don't know that I will be able to due to some military
27:29
obligations that might
27:29
SPEAKER_00: be coming up.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, basically just excited.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: I'm really excited that the season's kicking off.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: Really excited to see where Trans Grand Canaria goes.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: It looks like a stupidly gorgeous race.
27:40
If you guys have a chance,
27:41
follow the social media page,
27:42
watch the videos they make.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: They're pretty entertaining when they announce who's going to race.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: I think they made it like a text message type of thing this year.
27:50
But with that being said,
27:51
I expect a really,
27:52
really good race on the men's and the women's side.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: Um,
27:55
SPEAKER_00: and I'll be following the,
27:57
SPEAKER_00: the ultra distance,
27:58
SPEAKER_00: uh,
27:58
SPEAKER_00: the classic a little bit more closely than the marathon,
28:00
SPEAKER_00: but I will be rooting for my coach,
28:01
SPEAKER_00: Francesco Povey as always in,
28:03
SPEAKER_00: uh,
28:03
SPEAKER_00: the marathon,
28:05
SPEAKER_00: uh,
28:05
SPEAKER_00: as well.
28:05
SPEAKER_00: So with that being said,
28:07
SPEAKER_00: you know,
28:07
SPEAKER_00: uh,
28:08
SPEAKER_00: if you like this,
28:09
SPEAKER_00: feel free to share it,
28:11
SPEAKER_00: feel free to comment on my post in the,
28:13
SPEAKER_00: uh,
28:14
old Substack and let me know who you got for your top five or
28:17
where I went wrong or
28:18
SPEAKER_00: any names I should be looking out for.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm always down to learn.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: I'm always down to find new people.
28:22
I'm always curious and I do my best with the research that I
28:25
have to let you guys
28:27
SPEAKER_00: know who to look out for.
28:29
SPEAKER_00: So it's been another episode of Let's Talk Trail Running with Robert.
28:32
Sorry about the two episodes,
28:34
but I hope you'll bear with me and can't wait to hear.