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2025 OCC Preview & Fantasy Picks · Let's Talk Trail Running

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, and welcome back to Let's Talk Trail Running.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: This is your host, Robert Prosser.
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  And this is the show where we talk about all upcoming trail
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  races that are going to
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  SPEAKER_00: be on the Fantasy Free Trail pick list.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's fantasy.freetrail.com.
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  SPEAKER_00: And this is a very, very exciting week.
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  SPEAKER_00: We have all of the UTMB events.
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  Most people that are listening to this show know exactly what
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  UTMB is and what
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  SPEAKER_00: those events consist of.
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  SPEAKER_00: But long story short,
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  SPEAKER_00: if you don't,
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  SPEAKER_00: basically there's the grandfather of them all,
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  SPEAKER_00: kind of the Super Bowl of trail running.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Ultra Tour du Mont Blanc, which is a big loop around Mont Blanc.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's anywhere from like 106 to 109 miles, depending on the year.
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  And then there's two other races that are also equally as
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  competitive and becoming,
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  SPEAKER_00: as we'll talk about today,
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  SPEAKER_00: possibly even more competitive than UTMB.
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  SPEAKER_00: And those distances are CCC, which is approximately 100-ish KK.
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  SPEAKER_00: And OCC.
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  SPEAKER_00: And in today's preview,
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  SPEAKER_00: we're going to talk about OCC,
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  SPEAKER_00: which I'm sure I'm going to butcher the names,
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  SPEAKER_00: but Orsier and Champe and Chamonix.
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  SPEAKER_00: So essentially, OCC is going to be really exciting.
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  SPEAKER_00: And in my opinion, it looks, to me, just passing the eyeball test,
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  to be the most competitive of these uh fantasy free trail in
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  the time that i have
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  been doing the research on this race has added some really
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  really cool metrics if
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  you go in uh to the website and go under stats and then go
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  under analytics travis
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  long car uploaded some really cool bar graphs to kind of show
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  the mean and median
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  SPEAKER_00: indexes and also the spread of the top 50 racers in
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  SPEAKER_00: each field, both men's side and women's side.
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  SPEAKER_00: And looking at those,
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  OCC and CCC are equally as competitive with regards to the mean
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  when it comes to
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  SPEAKER_00: the women's race.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then on the men's side,
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  OCC actually is the most competitive race with regards to the
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  mean on the men's
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  SPEAKER_00: side.
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  SPEAKER_00: And also the range of top 25 ranked runners as well.
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  So like I said,
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  just based off the eye test,
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  I feel like OCC is the most competitive
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  SPEAKER_00: Deep field and then based off some of the analytics that Travis has,
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  SPEAKER_00: at least for the top 25 runners,
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  OCC has the deepest field and OCC still has the deepest field
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  for the top 50 in the
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  SPEAKER_00: men's,
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  SPEAKER_00: although CCC is a little bit deeper per the mean and the women's top 50.
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  uh mean as well so uh yeah so that's what we have today OCC and
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  to do research
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  other than the usual fantasy free trail stuff um I'm going to
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  be talking about the
• 2:36
  specs and some of the details and most of that came from the I
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  run far article
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  SPEAKER_00: from last year's OCC recap, basically.
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  And I'll have that article linked in the show notes if anyone
• 2:48
  wants to pull that up.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I'm also just giving any credit for most of the race specs I have.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to talk about what I got from Iron Farr's article.
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  SPEAKER_00: So kudos to them for putting together comprehensive recaps.
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  SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, OCC, there's a lot of themes this year.
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  And one thing that has been talked about already and that I
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  will also talk about is
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  the fact that a lot of people that typically race longer races
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  seem to be dropping
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  SPEAKER_00: down.
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  to OCC uh because they're gonna do worlds here soon because
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  worlds is coming up in
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  can Frank and it's only like three and a half ish weeks away I
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  want to say it's
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  around September 18th and as I record this it is August 25th so
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  it's about two days
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  out from OCC I apologize I meant to get this out earlier but I
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  am currently in
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  Europe which is cool from the European side of racing and
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  getting to stay up with
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  SPEAKER_00: UTMB and wake up and watch the finish and
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  SPEAKER_00: But it's making,
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm on vacation,
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  SPEAKER_00: so I can't complain,
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  but it's making recording these episodes a little bit more
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  difficult logistically
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  SPEAKER_00: and stressful.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I know I'm getting out OCC, CCC and UTMB.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to try my best to get them out tomorrow night,
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  SPEAKER_00: but it's going to be tough and I can't make any promises.
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  SPEAKER_00: It might be kind of haphazard.
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  SPEAKER_00: But anyways, so yeah, today's preview is going to be OCC.
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  SPEAKER_00: Right now I am recording this in a hotel room in Krakow, Poland.
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  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, it just flew in last week.
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  yesterday afternoon in european time but then i was pretty jet
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  lagged so it's gonna
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  be tough to talk and then today we just kind of hit the ground
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  running we've been
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  busy all day so it's like 10 30 and night and i'm recording
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  this in a hotel room so
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  SPEAKER_00: hopefully my neighbors don't hate me too much um
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  SPEAKER_00: All right.
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  SPEAKER_00: So OCC,
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  SPEAKER_00: like we said,
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  there's going to be a lot of people dropping down that
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  typically race UTMB or
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  SPEAKER_00: longer that are going to do Worlds.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then on top of that, too, there's a lot of people.
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  Mile and Stone is a really good trail running newsletter for
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  anyone that doesn't
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  SPEAKER_00: get it's French,
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  SPEAKER_00: but they also have it in English as well.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it's just really comprehensive stuff.
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  But anyways,
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  from their article,
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  their most recent one,
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  issue number 54,
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  I think it was,
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  or 55.
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  SPEAKER_00: they kind of talked about the French trail long team.
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  And why I want to say that is just because there's a lot of
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  really good trail
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  SPEAKER_00: racers,
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  SPEAKER_00: especially on this OCC type distance,
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  SPEAKER_00: OCC,
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  SPEAKER_00: CCC,
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  SPEAKER_00: they're going to be missing.
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  SPEAKER_00: So on the women's side for French trail runners,
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  SPEAKER_00: we're missing people like Clementine Joffrey,
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  SPEAKER_00: who's won Worlds and is competing Worlds again,
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  SPEAKER_00: and has also had a top five at OCC last year,
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  SPEAKER_00: if I'm not mistaken.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yep, she went third overall last year.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lucy Germain, who's running for normal now.
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  SPEAKER_00: She hasn't run OCC,
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  SPEAKER_00: but she's been killing this guy running,
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  SPEAKER_00: so she's not going to be able to run.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then some other names I'm not quite as familiar with.
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  SPEAKER_00: Cicely Geruso, Olivia Magnone, Adeline Martin.
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  SPEAKER_00: She had a medal at Worlds, I'm pretty sure, as well.
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  SPEAKER_00: and Emily Minway.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then on the long trail side,
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  SPEAKER_00: uh,
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  SPEAKER_00: some of the biggest names are probably Hillary Girardi and,
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  SPEAKER_00: uh,
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  SPEAKER_00: who is running for the French team and Anne-Lise Rousset.
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  SPEAKER_00: On the men's side,
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  SPEAKER_00: we're missing guys,
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  SPEAKER_00: uh,
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  that would potentially be racing and throwing down and even
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  have some potential to
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  SPEAKER_00: podium,
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  SPEAKER_00: if not win.
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  SPEAKER_00: Uh,
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  SPEAKER_00: on the men's side,
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  SPEAKER_00: we're missing guys like,
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  SPEAKER_00: uh,
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  SPEAKER_00: Sylvain Couchard,
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  SPEAKER_00: uh,
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  SPEAKER_00: uh,
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  SPEAKER_00: Thomas Cardin and,
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  SPEAKER_00: uh,
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  SPEAKER_00: P.L.
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  SPEAKER_00: Pierre Gabordin, who we've seen on the Golden Trail series, uh,
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  this time of year and then on the long trail side we're missing
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  guys like benjamin
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  rubio uh vincent bouillard and baptiste chassain although
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  baptiste and vincent went
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  one and two and ucb last year uh louis on kofat is another one
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  who's really good so
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  anyways all this to get at uh that's for my understanding the
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  french team has a
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  restriction on when they can race i think it's like 30 within
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  30 days of the event
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  and maybe some distance uh or some restrictions on the
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  distances they can race so
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  SPEAKER_00: anyways
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  SPEAKER_00: Enough about who's not racing.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about who is racing.
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  SPEAKER_00: And there are a lot of really good people racing.
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  So,
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  and before I even go to that,
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  actually,
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  the OCC,
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  just some of the core specs.
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  SPEAKER_00: So it's 57 kilometers, about 35 miles.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's got 3,500 meters of elevation gain, which is around 11,500 feet.
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  So in a lot of ways,
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  for the American audience,
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  it's very similar to Speedgoat.
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  It's probably a little bit shorter distance-wise,
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  but about the same amount of elevation.
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  SPEAKER_00: And essentially, there's three significant climbs.
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  SPEAKER_00: From the article I was mentioning,
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  SPEAKER_00: the I Run For article,
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  SPEAKER_00: last year's winners were paid out 13,000 euros each.
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  And then it was prizes 10 deep for a total of 76,000 euros on
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  the prize purse.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I'd assume that this year it's at least that big, if not bigger.
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  SPEAKER_00: But I would assume the winners are getting at least 13,000 euros.
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  SPEAKER_00: Last year, OCC had 1,800 runners from 90 different countries.
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  SPEAKER_00: So that's a lot and not surprising at all.
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  um so anyways on i'm gonna start with the website because i
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  legitimately think the
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  website is more exciting especially with some recent drops that
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  we've had on the
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  men's side most notably i just read that nadir uh magueh is not
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  going to be racing
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  SPEAKER_00: and then i read on hannah's
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  SPEAKER_00: Nuremberger's post that he is also not going to be racing.
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  SPEAKER_00: So we've had some drops on the men's side.
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  SPEAKER_00: But on the women's side, we have some very exciting names.
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  SPEAKER_00: We have a ton of returners racing this year.
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  And then we have a ton of exciting new people that have not
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  raced OCC that are
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  SPEAKER_00: coming in that could potentially win and definitely could podium.
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  SPEAKER_00: So anyways,
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  SPEAKER_00: to start off the women's side,
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  SPEAKER_00: I want to start off by reading last year's top 10 from 2024.
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  SPEAKER_00: So first place, Meow Yao, first woman to ever go under six hours on OCC.
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  SPEAKER_00: She broke the course record previously as 6-12 held by Sheila Aviles.
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  SPEAKER_00: Meow Yao went 5-54.
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  SPEAKER_00: Second place, Judith Weider went just five seconds over six hours.
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  SPEAKER_00: Third place, Clementine Joffrey went 6-02-10.
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  SPEAKER_00: Fourth place, Sarah Alonzo, 6.05.
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  SPEAKER_00: Fifth place, Caitlin Felder, 30 seconds behind her, also 6.05.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then another minute back was sixth place, Danny Moreno.
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  SPEAKER_00: Seventh place, Camila Maciliano in 6.07.27.
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  SPEAKER_00: Eighth place, Ikram Rarsala, 6.10.23.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I think that was still under the previous course record.
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  SPEAKER_00: So essentially we had...
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  SPEAKER_00: the top eight females last year going to the previous course record,
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  SPEAKER_00: which just shows how,
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  SPEAKER_00: A,
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  SPEAKER_00: how competitive,
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  SPEAKER_00: and B,
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  SPEAKER_00: how densely competitive this was.
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  SPEAKER_00: The top eight females were within 15 minutes of each other,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the top 10 were all within 19,
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  SPEAKER_00: just about 20 minutes of each other.
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  SPEAKER_00: And this is in a six-hour race, so that's really, really tight.
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  Anyways,
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  ninth place,
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  Rosa,
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  Laura,
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  Filu,
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  and tenth place,
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  Anna,
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  Steena,
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  Erkula.
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  So I think it's about six of the top 10 that are returning,
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  if my counting is good.
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  SPEAKER_00: So anyways, this field is super deep.
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  SPEAKER_00: We have the returning champion,
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  SPEAKER_00: returning second place,
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  SPEAKER_00: returning fourth place,
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  SPEAKER_00: and then also returning seventh,
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  SPEAKER_00: eighth,
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  SPEAKER_00: and ninth.
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  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I think that's six people.
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  SPEAKER_00: But anyways,
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  SPEAKER_00: and then on top of that,
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  SPEAKER_00: we have,
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  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
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  SPEAKER_00: I mentioned people that have never raced OCC that have
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  Definitely the skill and the speed to win it and would not be
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  surprised to have won it at all.
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  So anyways,
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  jumping into the women's field,
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  kind of just going in order of UTMB index.
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  SPEAKER_00: First person to talk about is Judith Weider.
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  SPEAKER_00: She is essentially the Swiss queen of sub ultra racing.
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  She was the 2019 Golden Trail World Series winner after winning
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  the final in Nepal.
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  And she was also the 2023 Golden Trail World Series runner up
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  in the closest second
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  SPEAKER_00: place possible to Sophia Lockley.
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  SPEAKER_00: She beat Sophia Lockley in both of the races at the end of the year,
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  SPEAKER_00: the prologue and the final when it was at Noli.
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  And the only reason she didn't win was because she lost a
• 9:52
  tiebreaker because the
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: person who actually won the race outright was Madalena Floria.
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  And I think it came down to who had more head-to-head wins than
• 9:58
  Sophia Lockley did,
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: or she had more overall wins.
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  SPEAKER_00: But basically,
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  She would have won the points total if Madalena Floria didn't
• 10:06
  have her breakout
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  SPEAKER_00: races that she did.
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  So anyways,
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  Judith made her jump up to 55k and did OCC for her first time
• 10:13
  last year.
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  SPEAKER_00: And she did not disappoint at all.
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  SPEAKER_00: She was second place, six minutes behind Meow Meow.
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  SPEAKER_00: This year, she is back to her usual goaded level of racing.
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  She's got a second place at Zagama to a extremely fit and very
• 10:26
  speedy Sarah Alonzo,
• 10:28
  who also knows the course better than her and had to run at
• 10:30
  Zagama when it was
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  SPEAKER_00: Yuta's first time running at Zagama.
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  And then she also got a second place at Marathon de Mont Blanc
• 10:37
  behind a very
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: stellar performance by Joylene Chepin-Jano.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I think she still holds the course record at Marathon de Mont Blanc,
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  SPEAKER_00: so she didn't run as fast as she did last year.
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  Yuta's other races include a win at UTMB Chianti Marathon and
• 10:51
  at Trans Grand
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  SPEAKER_00: Camari,
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  SPEAKER_00: a half marathon.
• 10:53
  It's hard to see Yuta outside of the top five and probably even
• 10:56
  the top three.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: She's definitely got to be a favorite.
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  SPEAKER_00: She's definitely got to be up there.
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  SPEAKER_00: She almost never DNFs races.
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  SPEAKER_00: She...
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  she's super fit and she races super smart i would not be
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  surprised if you see her i
• 11:08
  don't necessarily think she'll go out with the lead pack i
• 11:10
  think some of the people
• 11:12
  like sarah alonso and joining chip and gino and maybe a handful
• 11:14
  of others will take
• 11:15
  it out super hot meow yeah i was definitely gonna take it out
• 11:17
  hot i think we could
• 11:18
  very well see you to be as far back as like fifth or sixth and
• 11:21
  make your way up to
• 11:22
  the top three if not even maybe pull like a john alvin type of
• 11:25
  thing and kind of
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: come back from way behind uh like he did in ccc last year
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that's Judith, hard to bet against her, queen of sub-ultra.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Second place is going,
• 11:35
  or second person we're going to talk about is going to be the
• 11:36
  returning champion,
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Meow Yao,
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  SPEAKER_00: Chinese runner for Solomon.
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  She's a course record holder with that 554 from last year and
• 11:43
  pulled the entire
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: women's top eight under the previous course record pace.
• 11:48
  She's coming off a seven place at Sierra's in all this year and
• 11:50
  a very speedy 301
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: that most years would get you like top five,
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: if not top three.
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  SPEAKER_00: She's also got a win at Val Duran 50K,
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  SPEAKER_00: which from my understanding was the UTMB major for the European scene.
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  SPEAKER_00: And what's,
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: bodes well for OCC racing because it was a longer race.
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  SPEAKER_00: She had a DNF at Zagama this year,
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  SPEAKER_00: came out too hot and couldn't stick it,
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: and then she got a fifth at Golden Trail World Series Great Wall Race,
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  SPEAKER_00: where she also came out super hot with Kenyans and finished the race,
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  SPEAKER_00: but fell off the pack and faded to fifth.
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  SPEAKER_00: So once again, Mao Yao, she's gutsy.
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  SPEAKER_00: She's all out.
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  SPEAKER_00: She's got like a 228 marathon vest.
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  SPEAKER_00: She's super speedy, and she's known to be really good on the downhills.
• 12:29
  So last year,
• 12:29
  it paid off for her to come out hot and stay hot,
• 12:31
  but this year,
• 12:32
  the field is
• 12:35
  what travis longar's analytics would suggest uh with regards to
• 12:39
  density from 2025
• 12:42
  versus 2024 and then sorry i'm confirming i'm pretty sure it is
• 12:49
  more densely
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: competitive um
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then the other thing about her is,
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: so yeah,
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: I can see her trying the exact same tactic and potentially it works,
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: but also potentially not sticking it because more people hang on to her.
• 13:01
  And then she maybe does something more similar to what she did
• 13:04
  in China at the gold
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  SPEAKER_00: trail series and falls off the pack.
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  SPEAKER_00: Malia is definitely super fit.
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  SPEAKER_00: She's super fast.
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  SPEAKER_00: She has the speed to repeat.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said,
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: she bombs the heck out of the downhills and flats,
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: and then she moves well enough on the outfills to not lose time.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I think Malia, I mean, she's got to be a lot for the top 10.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I think
• 13:19
  think it's possible she repeats but i i don't know that i feel
• 13:24
  like she's going to
• 13:24
  repeat and it's going to have a lot to do with uh one part
• 13:27
  yudith and then one part
• 13:28
  this next female who we're going to talk about which is going
• 13:29
  to be joining
• 13:30
  chipagino so with that being said i think malia could go very
• 13:32
  high i'll probably
• 13:33
  have my top five but i don't know that i see her repeating and
• 13:36
  the next person like
• 13:36
  i said joining chipagino i think she's possibly the favorite
• 13:40
  for this race she's
• 13:40
  never raced uh her longest race is a 50k but this would be her
• 13:43
  longest distance by
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: like
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, 415 at Marathon de Mont Blanc was our longest time on feet.
• 13:49
  So this is going to take another hour and a half,
• 13:51
  you know,
• 13:51
  which is a pretty big jump.
• 13:53
  But,
• 13:53
  you know,
• 13:53
  if you can fuel for those,
• 13:55
  uh,
• 13:56
  Rastonica 50K,
• 13:57
  she went 354.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: So those four hour races,
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: it's not,
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: it's not like you can kind of weasel your way by without good nutrition.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I think she could definitely make the jump here.
• 14:05
  It's going to be probably the most technical and hilly race
• 14:08
  that she's done.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um,
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I haven't even talked about it yet.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: So she's Solomon sponsored, I think, because she's Milmani runner.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: She's back-to-back Sears in all championship,
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: just defended her title after last year,
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: kind of shocking everyone,
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: seemingly coming out of nowhere.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said,
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: she's got to win at Rastonica 50K,
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: or no,
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: a third place in May to get in,
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: finishing behind Malinosa and Caroline Kimeta,
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: her teammate.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: She showed,
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
• 14:33
  her versatility and ability to win long and durable races by
• 14:36
  beating Judith Weider
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: at Marathon de Mont Blanc.
• 14:40
  and then and that was a tight race to the top seven females
• 14:44
  were within 10 minutes
• 14:45
  of each other so it wasn't like it wasn't competitive and it
• 14:46
  wasn't like it wasn't
• 14:47
  tight it wasn't a blowout it was super close and then um yeah
• 14:52
  an hour and 40
• 14:53
  minutes longer so that's gonna be the big question is is can
• 14:55
  she bridge that gap
• 14:57
  and can she knock it out of the park on her first 55k that's
• 14:59
  gonna be the biggest
• 14:59
  question mark but she definitely has the skill and the talent
• 15:02
  and the speed to be
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: able to win in so just a matter of execution in that case
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Next woman to talk about is about as consistent as you can get.
• 15:10
  She also seems to really like finishing in fourth place,
• 15:13
  and that is Rosa Laura Filu.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: She's a scarper runner and compress sport runner from Spain.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: She just doesn't miss,
• 15:20
  and she lines up at pretty much all the big races over these
• 15:22
  past two years,
• 15:23
  and she just has done better and better and better each time
• 15:26
  and just keeps racing
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: a little bit better each time.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: She is returning top 10 because she got her ninth place last year.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: That was just three minutes over the previous course record from 2022.
• 15:34
  She's been on point this year and hasn't fallen off at all from
• 15:37
  where she left off last year.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: She got a fourth in Marathon of Mont Blanc this year,
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: fourth in Zagama,
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: and a fourth in Golden Trail World Series Noly.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: So like I said, this girl likes to get fourth place.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: It seems to be her number,
• 15:49
  but I think a fifth or sixth is probably best case scenario for
• 15:52
  her here based off
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: how deep the field is.
• 15:54
  I do see her very likely to be in the top 10,
• 15:56
  though,
• 15:56
  and almost certainly be in the top 15.
• 15:58
  So if you're looking to make those picks to maximize your
• 16:00
  fantasy free trail points,
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: and don't want somebody who drops or somebody who goes big or goes home,
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: like I mentioned some of these first two or three racers might be,
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Rosalora Filo is definitely a pick for you.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: So next person is going to be Sarah Alonzo.
• 16:14
  And Sarah Alonzo would be a favorite for this race and might
• 16:17
  still even be a
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: favorite for this race.
• 16:19
  But the big question mark I had around her was she posted on
• 16:22
  Instagram after
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: getting attacked by a cow,
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: which is a freak,
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: tragic accident and such a weird thing to happen.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um,
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: but looking at her Strava,
• 16:30
  it looks like it only took her about two weeks to get back to
• 16:33
  running and her
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Strava has been looking pretty good for the past couple of weeks.
• 16:36
  Um,
• 16:37
  at least three good weeks of training,
• 16:38
  if not four after the cow issue.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um,
• 16:41
  so it seems like she's back in training and it seems like she's
• 16:44
  healthy and feeling
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: back to herself.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um,
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 16:47
  this spring she won the Gama and I think she had a podium at
• 16:50
  the Kobe trail as
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: well.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't believe she raced the
• 16:54
  golden trail world series is a great wall but she definitely
• 16:57
  just she might even
• 16:58
  won kobe honestly i think she did win kobe so um so two golden
• 17:02
  trail world series
• 17:03
  wins she also ran a one eleven and a half marathon that's a 526
• 17:06
  base for 13 miles
• 17:07
  so she was looking real good um and the only question was how
• 17:11
  much of this cow
• 17:12
  thing set her back but if she's towing the line and she's
• 17:14
  racing she's going to be
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: super competitive i see her coming out super hot with
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: females like Meow Yao and potentially Joylene Chippegeno.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I think she can stick it.
• 17:23
  She proved last year at her debut OCC that she can stick it
• 17:27
  with that fourth place in 605.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I think she'll just be looking to learn from that and do even better.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: So she's always a solid pick.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: So next female is a former Golden Trail World Series champion,
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: somebody who is really on top of the world,
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: kind of like Remy.
• 17:42
  I mean,
• 17:42
  she won it the same year that Remy won it,
• 17:45
  Remy Benet we're talking about.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: And she's also a Solomon teammate.
• 17:48
  And that,
• 17:48
  of course,
• 17:48
  is Sophia Lockley,
• 17:50
  the Nordic skier out of University of Utah.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: And now she's living in Norway and training there, I think, for the year.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: U.S.
• 17:58
  Olympic team or I don't know if she's I think she's probably
• 18:01
  training for the U.S.
• 18:01
  Olympic team,
• 18:02
  but trying to learn from the best skiers,
• 18:04
  which presumably are the Norwegians.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: So anyways,
• 18:07
  it seems like since she won the twenty twenty three World
• 18:09
  Series and even since the
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: final when she lost the series,
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: she lost to Madalena and Judith.
• 18:14
  in the final but she won in points because of the tiebreaker it
• 18:16
  just seems like
• 18:17
  ever since those last two races in 2023 her confidence has kind
• 18:20
  of been kind of
• 18:21
  shook and she's been more uncertain herself because she hasn't
• 18:24
  had that level of
• 18:24
  dominance so like once she had some of her first defeats in
• 18:27
  2023 it's just kind of
• 18:28
  not quite been the same she kind of came into last year not as
• 18:32
  early as she
• 18:32
  expected to um because coming off ski season took a while and
• 18:35
  then her first race
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: back it just didn't go she didn't
• 18:37
  I don't know if she wasn't as fast as she thought she was or
• 18:40
  everyone else just got better.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: But basically,
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: she came back and got that sixth place finish at,
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: I want to say,
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: or seventh place finish at Marathon of Mont Blanc.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then last year,
• 18:51
  she raced a sixth place finish to the prologue or sixth place
• 18:54
  finish to the final
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: and prologue to fourth.
• 18:57
  And it just feels like the field's kind of moved forward
• 18:59
  without her and that she's
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: kind of stuck and needs to get her confidence back.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: So a win here could be huge.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to see her get it back in the top five,
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: but I don't know that she'll be the top American woman this year.
• 19:08
  And we'll talk about that in a little bit,
• 19:09
  but I can see her definitely going top 10.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: She definitely has the skill to do really well here,
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: but I just don't know that that confidence is back yet.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: So that's going to be a question mark for me,
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: but I hope to see her and I think she could go as high as top five.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: So that's Sophia Lockley.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: Next person is also a
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Former Golden Trail World Series winner.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: She is the Sierra Zanelle course record.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: She also was tied for the most wins at Sierra Zanelle.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: And she has never raced anything longer than a 47K.
• 19:36
  So this would be her first technically ultra,
• 19:39
  I guess you could say,
• 19:39
  a 50K.
• 19:40
  And that,
• 19:41
  of course,
• 19:41
  is Miss Maude Mathis,
• 19:42
  who's running for A6 these days.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um...
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: All I got to say is I'm super stoked she's back,
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: and I'm really,
• 19:49
  really excited to see how she changes the dynamic of this race
• 19:52
  because somebody of
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: her stature,
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: if she's healthy,
• 19:55
  she could really set the tone and set the pace for this race
• 19:57
  and really kind of
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: dictate how it is run.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: And based off her series in all fourth place,
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: really,
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: she pretty much had third in the bag,
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: but Katie ran her down in the last,
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: one or two kilometers.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: So she got a fourth place in series in all of Speedy 258,
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: which isn't as fast as her PR,
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: but I mean,
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: that's a huge...
• 20:14
  jump for her considering where she's coming from and then she
• 20:17
  also got a second
• 20:17
  place excuse me it was her best race so that Sears and All was
• 20:21
  her best race since
• 20:22
  it went at Golden Trail World Series early last year at Kobe
• 20:25
  and then a second
• 20:25
  place in the China race and she really hasn't had a good race
• 20:28
  since then until
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: Sears and All so
• 20:30
  she's never raced a 50k like i said so it's gonna be the
• 20:32
  longest event to date but
• 20:33
  i'm super stoked to see her make that jump and i think if we
• 20:37
  have a healthy mod um
• 20:38
  she could pull a francesco booby move and just put up some
• 20:41
  great results uh in her
• 20:43
  first ultra so i think top three is a ceiling for her in my
• 20:45
  mind but i have a good
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: feeling she'll be in the top 10 when all is said and done
• 20:50
  Next female is going to be friend and roommate and neighbor and
• 20:54
  just all-around
• 20:55
  badass human being who is also an Adidas Terex athlete and a PT
• 21:01
  for youth ACL
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: repair rehab and the free trail pro running coach to my girlfriend,
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: NLS,
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: which would be Hannah Allgood.
• 21:12
  You can tell just based off the introduction that I'm probably
• 21:14
  going to be a little
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: bit biased talking about her,
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: but why not?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, she's an awesome person.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: So despite being eight in order of UTMB index listing,
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think she'll be one of the most slept on runners in this year's race.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that a lot of people are talking about her,
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: so maybe it's not as much of a dark horse pick,
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: and hopefully it's not putting too much pressure,
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: but I really think she has...
• 21:33
  positioned herself well for this race and i think that her
• 21:36
  canyons 50k win is a
• 21:37
  really good indicator of how well she could do here and how she
• 21:40
  could um really
• 21:41
  take out a lot of people that we think of as speedy in this
• 21:43
  field um her other
• 21:44
  races include a seventh at western states this year and a win
• 21:47
  at the 50k in
• 21:48
  california that she did that i cannot remember the name of
• 21:51
  maybe remember in
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: headlands but i'm not 100 percent
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: She's freaking fast.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: She's fit,
• 21:55
  and she's rocking a new coach as of a couple of months or weeks
• 21:58
  ago and some new
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: confidence coming into this race.
• 22:01
  So I'm extremely biased,
• 22:02
  and I'm feeling extremely good about her chances here.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think she is going to go top five in this race.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Athena Allgood.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: Next person is going to be Therese LaBeouf,
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Swiss athlete for Compros Sport,
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: who is about as consistent as a Swiss timepiece or a Swiss watch.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: She is continuing a solid campaign this year with a second Iger 51k,
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: only two minutes behind Laura Houghtonrott,
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: the Sierras in all breakout runner this year who got sixth place.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then she got a seventh.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: So Therese LeBeouf got a seventh at Marathon de Mont Blanc.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: And she was within 10 minutes of the winner, Jolene Chippegeno.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, it was a super tight pack.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not like she was far off.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: And she also has a fifth place at Tagama this year.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: So Therese LeBeouf, not a returning top 10 female, but she did get 11th.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: So that's basically the top 10 at last year's race.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure she's looking to learn and improve on that time.
• 22:50
  She did a lot of the same races leading up to last year's OCC
• 22:53
  as this year's,
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: but results and times are better this year at those races.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I think she's more fit coming in this year.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I think she's a super strong guy for top five.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: And if not, she's definitely gonna be in the top or for top 10.
• 23:03
  And if not,
• 23:03
  she's definitely gonna be in the top 15,
• 23:04
  which will still get you points.
• 23:06
  Next athlete is Canadian Arc'teryx athlete and a mountain 50K
• 23:10
  specialist from Canada.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to be Jasmine Laufer.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: So far,
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: she's got a fourth race at Spigo,
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: but it was in the same time that she won the race last year.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so that just how fast the field was this year.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then she also had a DNF at Kane's 100K.
• 23:22
  So last year,
• 23:23
  she had some big wins at Ultra Trail Cape Town as well as...
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry,
• 23:28
  I'm just trying to scroll down to make sure nobody's been
• 23:32
  scratched that I'm
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: talking about.
• 23:34
  So anyways,
• 23:35
  last year she had a win at UltraKL Cape Town,
• 23:37
  which is pretty huge.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: And she transferred from North Face to Arc'teryx.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: And she also won at Spica, like I mentioned.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then she had second place at Run the Rut,
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: 50k in a time that was under Jen Lictor's course record,
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: but was still second place.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it's tough to say where Jasmine's at this year's race.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: And she can be a bit up and down with DNFs here and there at big events.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm hesitant to pick her in my top 10.
• 23:56
  I definitely think she has the fitness to run in the top 10 if
• 23:58
  she finishes.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: But I also think she's liable to start and not finish the race.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the big question mark I have around her.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: But she definitely thrives in mountain environments and mountain races.
• 24:08
  Although people say the OCC,
• 24:09
  I guess they say it's the most technical of them.
• 24:12
  But it still sounds like running economy is really important in
• 24:15
  this race.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is going to be more of a hundred K specialist,
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: a German ultra athlete for Dina fit.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that's going to be Rosanna Buchauer.
• 24:26
  Her sweet spot seems to be kind of that hundred K.
• 24:28
  She got third place at CCC last year.
• 24:30
  She's also known for starting off really conservatively and
• 24:32
  then running down
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: people from behind.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think she moved up from like,
• 24:36
  she went like John Albemarle and went from like third or 30th
• 24:39
  place to third by the
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: time it was all said and done.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah,
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: So far this year,
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: she's been pretty quiet,
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: and she's only,
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: from my understanding,
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: only really raced Western,
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: which did not end well for her.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: She had stomach issues.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: And excuse me, she also got a second place at Chianti 73K.
• 24:54
  So I feel like this race,
• 24:55
  and I think that's what got her golden ticket,
• 24:56
  actually.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: Or no,
• 24:58
  CCC last year got her golden ticket because it wasn't the right
• 25:00
  distance to
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: Chianti,
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: excuse me.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like this race is a
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: A bit fast for her skill set,
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: and I think the race is a little too short for her to try that tactic.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: And this field's a little bit deep,
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: so I think a good day would be top 15 for her,
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: if I'm being honest.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: But would love to be proven wrong.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: Next female is a returning top 10 champion,
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: or top 10 runner,
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: Italian runner for Ultra,
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: and that's going to be Camila Magliana.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: She got 7th place finish,
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: only 30 seconds behind Danny Marino,
• 25:25
  was kind of closing the gap and trying to make up time on her
• 25:27
  to finish in front of
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: her.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: She is also the...
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: And she was also under the previous route course record as well.
• 25:36
  So far,
• 25:36
  her 2025 has included a third at the Cat Marathon by UTMB,
• 25:41
  the race that's in Austria.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth place at Labrador, 50K behind Tony McCann and company.
• 25:45
  And then a win at Trail du Saint-Jean,
• 25:47
  50K by...
• 25:50
  But that one didn't seem to be...
• 25:53
  too deep I think she could be a good pick for points but I also
• 25:56
  feel like there's
• 25:57
  going to be at least three to five newcomers in the top ten and
• 25:59
  if I was holding
• 25:59
  spots for attorneys there's other stronger candidates based off
• 26:02
  their results this
• 26:03
  year so I think she has the capability but I think there's some
• 26:06
  other people that I
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: would probably slot in before her
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Next runner is going to be Ikram Rasala,
• 26:11
  a Spanish athlete and marathon speedster for the Spanish shoe
• 26:16
  company HOMA.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: J-O-M-A, I think is how it's pronounced.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: HOMA.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: She ran a .228 debut earlier this year in a .111.5,
• 26:23
  and she's also returning eighth-place finisher from last year
• 26:26
  in a time that was
• 26:27
  the same as the course record from the previous time this horse
• 26:30
  was run in 2022.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: She's got super cool hair.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's curly and awesome and amazing.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: And this year, she's been on point with the third-place at Valderan, 50K.
• 26:39
  which was the UTMB major for Europe behind Meow Yow and Sylvia
• 26:42
  Nordscarf.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: She also had a sixth place and a super impressive improvement at Zagama.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: Her only miss was her most recent race at Zagama,
• 26:51
  but I feel good that she'll bounce back and I think that she'll
• 26:53
  do what she did at
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: Zagama and run even faster this year.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think ceiling is probably a top five for her,
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: but I think she's a very strong pick for the top 10.
• 27:01
  Next runner is going to be Italian sky runner and ultra runner
• 27:05
  and Scarpa runner,
• 27:06
  Eliza Desco.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think she's also the partner to Marco De Gasperi,
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: the legend from my understanding,
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: and she runs for Scarpa.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: So fifth place this year at Valderand 50K, which we talked about.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Third place at Calamaro Sky Race and a DNF at Transvaulconia.
• 27:21
  She has YouTube results going back to the least as far as 2013
• 27:23
  when she won zeros
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: and all,
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: and she has also won Marathon de Mont Blanc multiple times.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: She raced OCC to a fifth place in 2021,
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: and then once raced UTMB since,
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: or let's see,
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: once raced UTMB since,
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: and DNF at CCC,
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: sorry,
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: she hasn't raced.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: DNF at CCC in 2022 hasn't raced UTMB since,
• 27:48
  but appears to be in pretty good shape this year based off
• 27:50
  those results that I
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: mentioned earlier.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: So that is Eliza Desko.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: Next one is Ida Emily Robesam, a Norwegian runner.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: And all three races of this year for her have been on point.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: Second at Chianti Marathon behind Judith Weider.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: Seventh at Azagama and eighth at Marathon in Mont Blanc.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: She did a race OCC last year too, 19th place.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I imagine she'll be looking to take away from that and improve.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: Next one is going to be Sofia Poro.
• 28:18
  novitz pork novitz the ukrainian 100 chance i'm not pronouncing
• 28:23
  her name right but
• 28:24
  i think she's a potential dark horse in the field she runs for
• 28:26
  solomon she's got
• 28:28
  back-to-back second places at lavarado 50k but she went 14
• 28:31
  minutes faster this year
• 28:32
  and was only nine minutes behind tony mccann she hasn't raced
• 28:35
  super deep races
• 28:36
  that's probably my biggest hesitation with picking her but i
• 28:38
  think she could have a
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: good day here and definitely has the possibility for going top 10.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: Got a couple more females rounding out this list.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: Eliza Morin,
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: Canadian athlete with some very fast times in Canadian ultras,
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: but has mostly only raced there.
• 28:50
  She was the double national champion in the Canadian world's
• 28:52
  qualifying races for
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: the both the VK and the up-down race,
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: beating people like Jade Bellsberg.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I think she's very speedy.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: And she did also win Quebec Mega Trail 50K, but got second overall.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: So that makes me think that it's not a super deep field.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think she has the possibility to go top 10,
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: but I also,
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: in the same camp as Sophia,
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm hesitant to pick somebody who hasn't raced at a
• 29:12
  race this big before i mean sophia had done lavarado but the
• 29:15
  density wasn't there
• 29:16
  eliza's done good races but nothing in europe and it seems like
• 29:19
  it'll be her first
• 29:20
  race in europe from what i can tell you so that's a big
• 29:21
  question mark um definitely
• 29:23
  is fit and fast enough to go top 10 but it's just that's my big
• 29:26
  question mark
• 29:26
  around them next is candace furton french runner for new
• 29:30
  balance with a few good
• 29:31
  marathon trail race results this year and i said that occ in
• 29:34
  2023 under her belt i
• 29:35
  don't know enough uh to comment on her more than that so i just
• 29:39
  think she's
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: somebody to look out for
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: Next female is going to be Adidas Terex, athlete also from Germany.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: Her best result this year was the third place at the K&S 50K.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: That is Kimmy Schreiber.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: She went top 10 at Talent Play last year and also DNF OCC.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: So she's probably looking for some redemption.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: She'll have the Terex squad out there crewing her.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: In 2023, she raced OCC, finished 13th.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: And in 2022, 11th.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: So she's looking to crack the top 10.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: She has raced this and has experience here.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I think she'll be hungry to go top 10.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: Three more females.
• 30:10
  We got first American Claire Deveau,
• 30:12
  and she was the winner of Chuckanut in 2024.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's when she first came across MyRadar.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: Since then, she's raced second place at Kulmanen, the Swedish 50K.
• 30:22
  It's rather flat last year,
• 30:23
  which I think qualified her for this OCC race.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then she's only two race results in 2025 at Lemonworth Skyline.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: She got the win.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then 11th place at Broken Arrow, 46K.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: Two more females.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: Maria Pons, Spanish runner for Brooks.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of good results in longer and steeper races.
• 30:43
  This year she's got a fifth at the Valorant 50k and a third at
• 30:46
  Pina Galusa Trails,
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: which is a 60k with 3,300 meters of vert.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I think she has what it takes to do well,
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: and I think Spanish runners do very well here at OCC,
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: quite frankly.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: Last female to talk about is going to be Cody Clevin,
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: the SLC race athlete with multiple good finishes at Speedgo,
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: which is why I'm mentioning her.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: She got a third place last year in a very speedy 624,
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: and then she won the Speedgo 28K last year.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_00: So she could definitely be a dark horse to watch.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: So with that being said, that's kind of my preview on the women's side.
• 31:15
  At the end of these,
• 31:16
  I pick my podiums and I'll go all 10 deep with the caveat that
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because this is coming out two days before the race,
• 31:24
  there's 100% chance I'm going to fiddle with these and change
• 31:26
  them around.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: And there's also a chance that I'm going to swap some people in and out.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: But as always,
• 31:30
  I'll tell you kind of my thoughts on why I picked who I did and
• 31:33
  also who I'm
• 31:33
  considering swapping in or who I have question marks around and
• 31:37
  might potentially
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: put in my top 10.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm just going to go 10 through 1.
• 31:42
  And then I'll also add some names to look out for that I would
• 31:44
  consider putting in
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: or might swap in.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: 10th place, I got Edith Amelie Rubsam.
• 31:48
  I was really impressed with her Zagama this year,
• 31:50
  and she has a bunch of good race results.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I think she could do well and has raced this race last year.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: She's probably looking to improve.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: 9th place, Ikram Rarsala.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: Ditto on her Zagama and her results this year,
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: and ditto on the fact that she did do well last year.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I think she could go size 5th place, but I got her 9th.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: Eighth place, I got Therese LaBeouf.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, it's consistent as a Swiss clock.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome results this year.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: And like I mentioned,
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: she did a lot of the same buildup that she did last year,
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: but this year's races were even faster.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: So seventh place, Rosa Laura Filou.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think I see her improving from her ninth place.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: I could see her as high as fifth or fourth place.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: That seems to be a place that she likes a lot,
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: but I think that I'm going to cap her out at like five,
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: six,
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: seven.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I got her in some place in this case.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sixth place, I've got Maude Mathis in her debut ultra.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: Once again,
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: I can see Maude as high as third,
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: and I think a fully healthy Maude could dictate this race,
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: but I still think Maude might only be like 95%-ish.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's tough to tell because she's also aging.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: She's not super old, but she's getting close to 40.
• 32:48
  So that's the only other question I have combined with her
• 32:53
  return from injury,
• 32:54
  more or less.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: So sixth place, Maude Mathis.
• 32:57
  fifth place i've got hannah all good for all the reasons i
• 32:59
  mentioned before i think
• 33:00
  hannah legit has a chance to even go top three and maybe even
• 33:03
  win this race um but
• 33:05
  some of these athletes i'm just like they i don't know there's
• 33:08
  so many really good
• 33:09
  names but i want hannah to win and she's my pick for for my
• 33:12
  heart honestly fourth
• 33:14
  place sarah alonzo looks like she's back healthy from the cow i
• 33:16
  think she's gonna
• 33:17
  come out hard i think she could do well and i guess that has
• 33:19
  her in the same place
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: last year
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: Third place, I got Meow Yao.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: Not repeating, but coming out hard.
• 33:24
  Probably coming out too hard and then maybe fading a little bit
• 33:27
  in the back half.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: Second place, I got Judith Weter.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then first place, I got OCC debut, Joylene Cepangeno.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think that her results are good enough at her ultras.
• 33:35
  I think she got a third at Rastonica,
• 33:37
  but I think she took lessons away from that and learned.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think she ran an equally long race at Marathon de Mont Blanc.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: If not even longer, it took longer.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then she also beat Judith Weir, the winner and course record holder.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: So if she can beat Judith at a race like Marathon of Montblanc,
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think Joylene set up to do really well here.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: So that covers the women's side of the picks.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: And with that being said,
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_00: people who I'd potentially swap in,
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think that Eliza Morin has a really good chance of going top 10.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I think Camila Magliano is definitely a strong pick for the top 10.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then I guess I'm totally missing Sofia Loggley.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think Sofia Loggley is probably going to go top 10 as well.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: But right now, this is my top 10.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: So in the notable women's scratches,
• 34:22
  Bailey Kowalczyk was really kind of the only one I saw that was
• 34:25
  a notable scratch,
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: and Shea Apolano,
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: and then Kimber Mannix,
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: and Lindsay Allison,
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: and Ruby Lundqvist.
• 34:33
  So they will not be racing,
• 34:35
  but most of,
• 34:37
  I mean,
• 34:37
  we go a while down before we get a scratch.
• 34:40
  I mean,
• 34:40
  all the big names that were initially slated to race this are
• 34:43
  looking good.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: All right,
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: on the men's side,
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: the men's side is,
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: almost as exciting,
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_00: but I think the women's side was a little bit more exciting,
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: especially with these drops.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: On the men's field, big questions.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: We got the first matchup of Jim versus Adam.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: I checked the fantasy free trial head-to-head.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: I have not seen anything, and so we'll talk about that in a little bit.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_00: probably the most exciting thing I'm excited about.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think Petter Engdahl's return is very exciting.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think that it was exciting that we were going to see,
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: I was going to call it the UTM boys,
• 35:10
  which was going to be Jim Walmsley and Hannes Donberger after
• 35:13
  plenty of UTMB races,
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: like 10 UTMBs between the two of them.
• 35:18
  We're going to finally make an OCC race debut,
• 35:20
  but Hannes is no longer in the race.
• 35:23
  And then I also think that other drops,
• 35:27
  Ryan Becker and Benedict Hoffman to go with.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then I also think that we're still going to have this trend of,
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: we've had,
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think,
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_00: two or three Chinese people in the top 10 each year.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: But it's always hard for me to tell.
• 35:37
  But I think we're going to have two Chinese men in the top 10
• 35:39
  because we have lots
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: of good ones to choose from and multiple ones that have gone top 10.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: So anyways, the men's field, that's what we'll get into.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: But first, I'm going to read you 2024's top 10.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: Last year, first place was Eli Hemming in 5'11".
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: Second place, Francesco Pupi, 5.14 and change.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: Third place, Antonio Martinez Perez, 5.17 and change.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth place, Zhu Wei Zi from China, 5.22.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth place, Aritz Aguilla from Spain.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: Sixth place, Christian Jones in 5.27.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then seventh place, Daniel Castillo,
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: from Spain.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: Eighth place, Tau Lua.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: Ninth place, excuse me, Tau Lua got 5.30.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_00: Ninth place, Hu Zhao, also from China, 5.30.46.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: 10th place, Robbie Simpson, and he was in 5.31.04.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_00: So it was just behind that Chinese duo.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_00: So that was the men's side.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I just realized that I didn't even have notes on Ritzke,
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: even though he went top five last year.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm slacking on that front.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I apologize because I got a little bit distracted because of that.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so anyways,
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: in order of UTMB index,
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: in order of people who I'm also most excited about,
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: we are going to have first is going to be Mr.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: some boy named James Jimbo Jim Bob, him Walmsley, Jim Walmsley.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um,
• 37:13
  and he's probably the person I'm most excited to see race
• 37:16
  because I think this is
• 37:17
  kind of like his bread and butter distance because he has that
• 37:20
  kind of next level
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: speed,
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_00: even though when he got into the,
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_00: to the big ultras,
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_00: UTMB was like the granddaddy of them all.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: And it was by far way more competitive than OCC and CCC.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: But I think at this point that, uh,
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't know.
• 37:33
  I think he's honestly probably even better suited to these
• 37:35
  shorter races because he
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: is also insanely speedy and also durable.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he really could knock it out of the park.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I really wish we were seeing him racing Eli in this race,
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: but Eli's going to be jumping on the CCC.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: But anyways,
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: that's Jim Walmsley,
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: American political joke,
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: but forget the Epstein files.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think that Jim needs to release his Stravify.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: I want to see what kind of training he's doing.
• 38:16
  But anyways,
• 38:16
  I don't really know what else to say about Jim other than he's
• 38:18
  a GOAT.
• 38:19
  I think if he's healthy,
• 38:20
  he's a lock for the win because he's dominated races like
• 38:22
  these.
• 38:23
  We haven't really seen him race anything like this since like
• 38:25
  Sierra's and all in 2019.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think he also raced Worlds and beat Francesco Poopy that year.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_00: I hope we get a healthy and fit Jim.
• 38:31
  I hope that he's coming in and he knocks his isle park and will
• 38:34
  lead up to Worlds.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said,
• 38:36
  I want to see him and Adam Peterman or Adam Peter God throw
• 38:39
  down for the first
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: time.
• 38:40
  I know Adam Peterman took his course record on Mount Sentinel
• 38:44
  climb at Missoula.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: And he also took his course record at Spigo before David Sinclair got it.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm sure Jim is kind of looking at Adam,
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_00: looking to settle the score,
• 38:53
  looking to settle the score and just kind of let him know who's
• 38:55
  really boss in this
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: relationship.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: So that's Jim Walmsley.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_00: Next person on the list is an order of UTMB index,
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_00: although I have reservations,
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: and that is going to be Roberto Di Lorenzi.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_00: Not because Roberto is not an amazing racer.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_00: He's an amazing racer.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: He's got tons of speed.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_00: He's got tons of talent.
• 39:12
  But he just hasn't been having – he hasn't been last year's
• 39:15
  Roberto this year.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: He hasn't been vintage Roberto, the Roberto that we saw last year with –
• 39:19
  some amazing performances at zagama and sierras and all and
• 39:23
  basically just on top
• 39:24
  five in every race he did we don't have that same roberto this
• 39:27
  year he went 20
• 39:28
  minutes slower on his sierras and all race um and then
• 39:32
  everything just hasn't been
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_00: it seems like something's off whether it's his training or
• 39:36
  I don't know if he's sick or injured or what if he's just
• 39:39
  over-trained or what.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: But this year, he's just not quite the same as he was last year.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I really hope he gets it figured out.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: But I have a hard time,
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: even though his UTMB index is so high,
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: he's not racing to the level that he was last year.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_00: He's not racing quite to that type of UTMB index.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't mean he can't go top 10,
• 39:55
  but I hope he gets it together and I hope he has a really good
• 39:58
  race and kind of
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: starts turning a corner.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_00: Next one on the list got scratched, and that was Nadir McGay.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: I was really excited to see him race,
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: but I was looking at Strava,
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: and he had only cycled since August 8th,
• 40:11
  so I was pretty confident that something was not right because
• 40:14
  he wasn't doing any
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: running.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: So anyways, we're going to have to talk about him.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_00: Next runner is going to be Cristian Minoggio.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: He's an Italian athlete for Keyless.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: What is it?
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: Fuga?
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Fuga, I think it is.
• 40:26
  And he has raced and won a lot of Sky Races and Ultras in Italy
• 40:31
  this year,
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_00: but none whose name really stand out to me,
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: honestly.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_00: And then last year, he ran to fifth place at Trofeo Kima in a deep field.
• 40:38
  I got top two guys on the course record and then second at MAGA
• 40:41
  Sky Marathon in a good field.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_00: He hasn't raced OCC before.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure what has made his UTMB index quite as high as it is today.
• 40:50
  But he's definitely a good mountain runner,
• 40:52
  but no super standard results in deep fields.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: So that is...
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_00: That is Christian Minogio.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_00: And sorry, I'm looking through some names.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_00: I should probably put a Chinese athlete in my top 10.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_00: Anyways,
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_00: so next runner I am very bullish on,
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_00: and I think that he is sneakily very fit,
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_00: and he has done very well at this race before,
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_00: and that is Mr.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_00: Petter Engdahl,
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: the Adidas Terex athlete.
• 41:20
  from sweden but living in norway um you know he attempted to
• 41:25
  step up to some longer
• 41:26
  distance races last year with his utmb dnf and then before that
• 41:29
  he had a nice try
• 41:29
  at western states which went well but it just wasn't quite to
• 41:32
  his potential and i
• 41:33
  think he rolled his ankle early but he really is the most
• 41:36
  talented and has the best
• 41:38
  results the faster and shorter the races get to an extent he
• 41:40
  kind of has that sweet
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_00: got a 50 to 100k in my mind
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: And we've seen that with him,
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: with races at Marathon of Mont Blanc,
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_00: OCC,
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_00: and his master class at CCC still has the course record.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_00: Sub 10 hours is an amazing performance.
• 41:52
  So he's gone as high as third place at Marathon of Mont Blanc a
• 41:54
  couple years ago.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_00: OCC he got third place at in 2021, I believe it was.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_00: So...
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think this is really kind of a sweet spot.
• 42:02
  And based off his recent win,
• 42:03
  he just won UTMB-Walzerweg in Italy against a good field.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_00: And he won it by like 15 minutes in a five-hour race.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_00: And he also got a top center marathon in Montpellier.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_00: It was eighth place.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's turning the corner.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think the old Petter is back.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I also think that he's kind of starting to figure out,
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think he has some kind of asthma issue or undiagnosed health issue,
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_00: but it seems to me like his fitness is back.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's the type of dude to push it really hard in training.
• 42:28
  And I think sometimes he can kind of overtrain or put too much
• 42:31
  race efforts in training.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_00: But I think we're seeing him throw the corner.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: I also think he could go out and blow up big time, honestly.
• 42:40
  But I have faith that he has turned to the corner and I think
• 42:42
  he's going to race to a top five.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm feeling pretty bullish on him, quite frankly.
• 42:47
  Next person is somebody who has really killed it this year and
• 42:51
  really has kind of
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_00: reached the next fitness level.
• 42:53
  This person in my mind is kind of like Roberto Di Lorenzi when
• 42:55
  he took the step to
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_00: the next level last year.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_00: And he's kind of this year's Roberto Di Lorenzi.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_00: He just podium or win in everything he does.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_00: He really has been racing some deep,
• 43:04
  deep fields and he's been doing good on both Skyrunner and
• 43:07
  Skyrunner and Gold Trail
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_00: World Series,
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_00: which is kind of like a Roberto trait.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_00: So the guy I'm talking about is Luca Delpero.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_00: He is one of the hottest hands in the field,
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_00: and he's really just put forward his best season to date.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's definitely should be in the top 10 for Troy.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think that he'll probably get a little bit gypped by the U.S.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_00: audience because they don't know him as well.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_00: But he is the top five guy.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, he kind of took Roberto's spot.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_00: So he's got tons of podium top five performances.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: We got Tats for Sky Marathon.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_00: He got second place.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_00: Second out Labrador, 50K to Francesco Coopi.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: Only by like two or eight minutes, I think.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_00: Win at Gorge's Dutarn.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth at Zagama.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_00: Wins at Transylvania Half Marathon in VK.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth place at Skyrace at Massazine.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_00: And a win at Calamara in Consolato's Del Norte Skyrace.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_00: He can't miss this year.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't think this race will be any different.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is his longest race ever.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_00: Ever from what I can tell.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_00: So Zagama was probably his longest before that.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: Or most of his longest had been around four hours.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: But I think Luca Delpera is really well positioned.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he's in really good shape.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that he's going to shine here this year.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if I see him going top three.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_00: But I think I see him in that four through seven spot for sure.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_00: Next person is a return from injury.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_00: He was a mainstay in the Golden Trail World Series for such a long time.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the deadliest racers in the field.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what the nature of his injury was,
• 44:26
  but we're finally getting the Davide Magnini back that we knew
• 44:31
  and loved back in
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_00: the day.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said,
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_00: he was a staple podium contender,
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: multiple wins in the formative years,
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_00: especially in Golden Trail World Series 21 and 22.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: And he hasn't raced in the past two to three years, hardly.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: And if he has, it really hasn't been his potential.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_00: But he finally appears to be back to his old ways.
• 44:48
  He got that win at Marathon de Mont Blanc,
• 44:49
  which I was so excited to see about.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_00: And he also got a win at Giro de Mont.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so he's got the skill set to win this race, in my opinion.
• 44:57
  But this is a bit longer than his typical events,
• 44:59
  which has me a bit nervous.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_00: But I like him a lot.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_00: He's kind of like...
• 45:03
  Maude Mathis making her debut he doesn't quite have that like
• 45:06
  legend stature but he
• 45:07
  has some huge wins uh he's got second fastest time at Zagama
• 45:11
  behind like Killian um
• 45:13
  and he pushed Killian to get his course record at Zagama and so
• 45:15
  I think I think he
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: could have a great debut OCC and I'm really feeling bullish on him
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_00: Next person is, you know, some people just they have races figured out.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: And Antonio Martinez has that with OCC.
• 45:29
  He got a third place last year,
• 45:30
  second place in 2023 and a second place in 2022.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_00: He saves his legs throughout the race.
• 45:35
  He makes big moves in the back half and he kills it on the
• 45:38
  descending late in the race.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_00: He runs down people like no tomorrow.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: I don't see him doing any differently this year.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's been doing a good bit of training with his A6 teammates,
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_00: Miguel Benitez,
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_00: who we'll talk about later,
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_00: and Ben Demon out in Chamonix,
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_00: based off me following them on Strava.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_00: This year,
• 45:53
  he's won Trail du Jacques 50K by UTMB over Bart Przewski and
• 45:58
  got a seven place at
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_00: Zagama.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_00: And definitely is a strong pick for top 10, if not top five.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_00: And he's going to pace it like a masterclass in patience.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I think you got to have him somewhere in your top five.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_00: And he just doesn't miss and he doesn't beat enough a lot.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's a good sign.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_00: Next runner is Andrzej Witek.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_00: He's a Polish runner for A6,
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_00: second at Mozart 100k this year,
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_00: and a win at Tenerife 73k back in March.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_00: Despite his good UTMB index,
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_00: he has DNFs at a good bit of the big races like TCC last year,
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: TGC this year.
• 46:31
  I'm not totally sold on putting him in my top 10 because I
• 46:33
  haven't seen him perform
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_00: super well on big races like this.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: So question mark around him.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_00: Could be proven wrong, but I have some hesitations.
• 46:42
  Next runner is probably the strongest chance for Kenyan to go
• 46:44
  top 10 in OCC on the
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_00: men's side,
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_00: at least on the women's side,
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_00: Jordan for sure.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that is Ezekiel Ruto.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_00: He's got a win at UTMB Rastonica 50K earlier in May.
• 46:56
  And then his other good result was he had a fifth place at
• 47:00
  Marathon of Mont Blanc this year.
• 47:02
  And he was a third place behind John Alvin last year at the
• 47:05
  UTMB East 50K.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_00: So he's got some 50Ks under his belt, not as long as OCC, but
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_00: But I think he could have learned enough nutrition-wise to do well here.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_00: But with that being said, Rastonica and Nice were a bit flatter.
• 47:18
  Marathon Montblanc has some decent elevation,
• 47:20
  but it's not quite as technical.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll be curious to see.
• 47:22
  But I think Ezekiel Ruto could pull off a top 10 somewhere in
• 47:25
  that 5-10 range.
• 47:27
  uh honda snurberger is a scratch we don't even talk about him
• 47:30
  but i was excited and
• 47:31
  thought he could do quite well here uh and he was going to
• 47:34
  double back from western
• 47:35
  just like hannah and adam peterman actually so i guess this is
• 47:41
  adam peterman who is
• 47:42
  doubling back from uh western where he walked it in uh after
• 47:46
  having a pretty big
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_00: blow up and then he's coming back to that western occ double
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_00: Adam Peterman, a.k.a.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_00: Adam Peter God.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_00: The Peter God has risen.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_00: He,
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_00: like I said,
• 47:55
  is finally a showdown I've been waiting for since Adam won his
• 47:58
  debut Western
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_00: States.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that is Adam versus Jim.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: They're very similar runners with very similar backgrounds.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_00: Both ran collegiately for good programs.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard they have very similar personal best in both the 5K.
• 48:09
  And I don't know if Adam ran the steeple,
• 48:11
  but I think the 5K and 10K times are very similar.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I just can't wait to see them race each other.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_00: Adam races a good bit different than Jim.
• 48:18
  He's not really like the front runner that takes it out hard
• 48:21
  and just kind of breaks the pace.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of how I expect Jim to take this race.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_00: Adam really races like super maturely and super laid back.
• 48:29
  He prefers to patiently make his moves throughout the race
• 48:32
  rather than front running.
• 48:33
  SPEAKER_00: If he is in the lead pack, it's basically just because it feels right.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's not because he's trying to like pull the group early.
• 48:39
  So,
• 48:39
  you know,
• 48:39
  we saw him win Western basically by not even leading to like
• 48:43
  mile 75 or 80.
• 48:45
  We saw him win 100K at Gorges this year,
• 48:48
  but he didn't really start to lead.
• 48:49
  He was in the lead pack,
• 48:50
  but he didn't really pull away until like 35,
• 48:52
  40 miles in.
• 48:53
  So,
• 48:53
  and then we've also seen,
• 48:54
  like I said,
• 48:55
  Adam take down Jim's course record at Spigot.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then most recently he got third place at CCC last year,
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_00: just behind Hayden Hawks and Peter Frano and had a really awesome race.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_00: So,
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_00: He last raced Pico in 2024 to a disappointing sixth place for him.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_00: But I think OCC is a course that he can drive at.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_00: He, like I said, has a course record at Pico formally.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this could be a great tournament for him before Worlds.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_00: Really excited to see Adam Petergaard go out there and race.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_00: Next run is going to be Damiano Lindsey.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_00: Strong results in some deep 50Ks this year.
• 49:25
  Second place at Rostanico behind Ezekiel Ruto and tied for
• 49:28
  second at Monta Rosa
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_00: Valserweg behind Petter Engdahl.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_00: I think he could be a dark horse.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_00: I could see him in the top 10.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know that I'm gutsy enough to pick him,
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_00: but I think that he's somebody that people might be sleeping on.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we could have at least three Italians in the top 10 with him,
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_00: Davide Magnino,
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_00: and Luca Delpero.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_00: Next person I am very bullish on,
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_00: and that's going to be the British runner for Hoka,
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_00: Chris,
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_00: Christian Jones,
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_00: Chris Jones.
• 49:53
  He's one of the most interesting and speediest guys in the
• 49:55
  field,
• 49:55
  in my opinion.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_00: I heard or read something that he's made a great,
• 50:01
  I think I read it or saw it in the Ultra Trail Breakdown video
• 50:05
  on YouTube for the
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_00: preview.
• 50:07
  I've heard he's made the great betting orienteering national
• 50:10
  team,
• 50:10
  cross country.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's one other one maybe to track and field as well.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_00: He's got a 5K personal best of 13.45 and a 10K PB of 28.23.
• 50:21
  He did get sixth place at OCC last year,
• 50:22
  and he's definitely looking to improve.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_00: And this year, he's been in great form.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_00: He's got a win at Arc of Attrition, I think the marathon distance.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then he won the very, very technical Ultra Trail Snowdonia 50K.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_00: I could see him as high as top three in this race.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he's a lot for top 10 somewhere.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_00: He's also fun fall on Instagram.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I've become a fan of him just by,
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_00: uh,
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_00: he's super transparent with his training,
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_00: um,
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_00: which I really appreciate as a fan.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh,
• 50:43
  and he basically kind of gets breakdowns of the workouts he
• 50:46
  does every week,
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_00: the volume he does and kind of like what he's focusing on.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I think he also has a Substack too.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_00: So it doesn't everybody who says,
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_00: I guess that's where most people are listening to this.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said,
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_00: there's been,
• 50:58
  I think the past three or four years has been at least two
• 51:00
  Chinese athletes in the
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_00: top 10 at OCC.
• 51:02
  And some of them have repeated and some of them have just been
• 51:04
  seemingly random.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_00: And it's tough for me to gauge these Chinese athletes,
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_00: but this one is going to be Zhu Wei Z.
• 51:10
  He's a Solomon runner who ran into fourth base at OCC last year
• 51:13
  in our very past
• 51:14
  SPEAKER_00: time.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_00: His results this year have kind of been mixed and not as good,
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_00: but he ran a very fast time last year,
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_00: so it's hard for me to tell.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of the Chinese guys and gals race at a very high volume,
• 51:25
  so it's tough for me to tell which ones they're using as
• 51:27
  tune-ups and training
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_00: through and which ones they're really targeting.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_00: Next Chinese runner is going to be Yuxing Guan.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_00: He's an athlete for Kalis Fuga.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_00: He went third at OCC in 2023,
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_00: and I could see him going top 10 again,
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_00: although,
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_00: once again,
• 51:41
  his results this year haven't been as impressive in 2025
• 51:43
  compared to previous
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_00: years.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I think with the next Chinese athlete, I'll talk about Tao Luo.
• 51:50
  Chinese runner for Tarek he's also sporting back-to-back OCC
• 51:54
  top tens with eights
• 51:56
  both times his last two races this year have been DNFs and he
• 51:58
  hasn't had a finish
• 51:59
  in a 50k since April so once again I think there's gonna be at
• 52:02
  least one or two
• 52:03
  Chinese guys but it's always tough for me to tell and a lot of
• 52:05
  times their races
• 52:06
  coming in don't look super great so I think easily one of those
• 52:09
  three probably will
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_00: be in the top ten and I just had a hard time guessing which one
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete is going to be Bogdan Damian,
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_00: Romanian runner,
• 52:16
  who looks like he must have got picked up by Keyless this year
• 52:18
  because he didn't
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_00: have a sponsor other than DataCore before that.
• 52:22
  He impressed a lot of people in second place at the opening
• 52:25
  Golden Trail World Series Kobe race.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_00: He seems to be a very good ascender and quite speedy.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_00: Hasn't raced OCC before,
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_00: and this is longer than his typical racing,
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_00: but I think he could turn some heads.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of good Romanians out there that people kind of sleep on.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_00: Next athlete,
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_00: actually next two athletes I'm excited to talk about,
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_00: and that's going to be the first one,
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_00: Miguel Benitez,
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_00: Spanish runner for ASICS.
• 52:45
  He first came across my radar when he got second place to Dan
• 52:47
  Jones at UTA 50K,
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_00: which was the Oceania major.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_00: He's a 214 marathoner as of the spring at Sevilla Marathon,
• 52:55
  and he also raced his way to a sixth place at Marathoner Mont
• 52:58
  Blanc this year,
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_00: and a top 20 at his debuts here as an all.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think he was like 18th place.
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_00: It looks to me like this will be his longest race to date,
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_00: but he has been training on course with Antonio Martinez Perez.
• 53:08
  And if there's somebody you want to learn about OCC from,
• 53:11
  it's probably Antonio Martinez Perez.
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that he could have a good debut.
• 53:16
  There's always going to be a couple of new guys in the top 10
• 53:17
  at OCC,
• 53:18
  probably as many as five.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he is a really strong pick for one of them.
• 53:22
  SPEAKER_00: Another really strong pick for debut,
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_00: OCC top 10 guy,
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_00: is going to be also a training partner to also a very well-known athlete.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that is going to be Gautier Bonacarrera, which...
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_00: To me,
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_00: this translates like good runner,
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_00: which is a great last name to have if I'm translating that right.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_00: And Gautier is a French La Sportiva athlete,
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_00: and he's also the neighbor and good friend to Mr.
• 53:45
  SPEAKER_00: Ben Demon.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_00: He comes on Ben Demon's podcast and they talk about training together,
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_00: and he just seems like a really thoughtful guy.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he seems like a thoughtful guy.
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a fan of him just from hearing him talk to Ben.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_00: He went top 10 at UTME last year.
• 53:57
  SPEAKER_00: He got ninth overall,
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_00: I believe,
• 53:58
  and has been focusing on 50K or shorter races and getting
• 54:02
  faster this year.
• 54:03
  His results include this year a fourth place at La Verde of 50K
• 54:06
  behind Francesco
• 54:08
  Pupi and Luca Del Perro and a second place at the maxi race 60K
• 54:11
  and a win at that
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_00: MIUT Madeira Island Ultra Trail Marathon.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think he could go in that 7-12 range,
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_00: and I think he'll probably race this race really smart,
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_00: so I think he's really a good pick for top 10.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_00: And actually I might...
• 54:26
  I might actually put him in my top 10 now that I'm saying that,
• 54:29
  honestly.
• 54:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but I just put him in my top 10.
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 54:32
  And then rounding out this list,
• 54:34
  we got a couple more guys,
• 54:36
  a couple more US guys too.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_00: First one's going to be Michelino Sanceri,
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_00: the North Face athlete who took the FKT on the Grand last year with some
• 54:43
  SPEAKER_00: controversy.
• 54:44
  He's an American with the potential to do super well at this
• 54:46
  race given his results
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_00: at Speedgoat where he's gone second place,
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_00: no,
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_00: third place the year I ran it.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's gone top three multiple times.
• 54:54
  uh and he's also won run the rut and broken arrow i have no
• 54:58
  idea where his help is
• 54:59
  out though because he hasn't raced all year uh he pulled out a
• 55:01
  speed goat and then
• 55:02
  also not sure if he'll race or if he since he's on the us team
• 55:05
  for worlds as well
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_00: so what
• 55:09
  He could use it as a tune-up,
• 55:10
  but it seems like he's got a brush of cobblers off racing-wise.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I could definitely see him in the top 10, maybe even the top five.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm tough.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's tough for me to see where he's at.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_00: I really hope he's healthy,
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_00: and I would love to see a healthy Michelino to the line,
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_00: but I don't know if this is the year that we see that or not.
• 55:27
  This one's going to be a North American,
• 55:28
  but from Canada,
• 55:30
  and it's going to be Sam Hendry.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_00: He was a University of Utah skier, just like Sophia Lockley.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_00: From my understanding, I think he's gone to med school in Canada now.
• 55:40
  potential dark horse and somebody who could really do well I
• 55:43
  could see him going
• 55:44
  top 10 despite being slumped on pretty big time I don't think
• 55:46
  he's coming under the
• 55:47
  SPEAKER_00: radar I think he's in a good spot um
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, I think he's in Canada.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_00: He's from Canmore, BC, which I hear is like outdoor heaven.
• 55:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then he went to skiing and study at University of Utah.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_00: While there,
• 55:58
  he balled out with some Golden Trail World Series races and
• 56:01
  also got a second at
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_00: Speedgoat,
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_00: only behind David Sinclair's course record.
• 56:04
  I think he ran on 520-something,
• 56:06
  if I'm not mistaken,
• 56:06
  which is a very good time.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_00: He also raced the speedy U.S.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_00: Golden Trail Series events last year.
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_00: He got a top 10 at Speedgoat.
• 56:13
  uh top 10 and top 15 between mammoth and headlands he's also
• 56:16
  got that pole work
• 56:17
  being a skier and he climbs like it's nothing i saw him at
• 56:20
  spigo last year when he
• 56:21
  SPEAKER_00: was second to david uh and he he can really grind on an uphill so um
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, anyways, I think that he could be a sleeper.
• 56:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's a dark horse.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_00: Could see him going in that 5 through 10 range.
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_00: If you do get speed, you can definitely do good at OCC.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_00: And those cross-country Nordic skiers, they got the engines.
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_00: Pederingthal is in that same boat.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's where he came up through.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I definitely think he could go top 10.
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_00: Next mail is going to be Nico Martin,
• 56:47
  French runner with Brooks and somebody who has a ton of
• 56:49
  experience at OCC.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_00: He won the race in 2014.
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_00: He got seventh in 2018, 31st in 2019, sixth place in 2021 and in 2022.
• 56:57
  SPEAKER_00: Main result this year was a fourth place at UTMB St.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_00: Jacques.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't super deep, but this guy's got a ton of course experience.
• 57:03
  I don't think I see him being as fit or as good with his recent
• 57:07
  races as these
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_00: other guys we're talking about,
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_00: but I had to mention him.
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_00: Next one is going to be another dark horse from the U.S.
• 57:13
  in this time,
• 57:13
  and that's going to be unsponsored athlete,
• 57:15
  trail team athlete,
• 57:16
  Cade Michael.
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_00: Not as much a dark horse for the U.S.
• 57:20
  audiences because I feel like the Boulder Boys and Dylan Bowman
• 57:23
  and guys are
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_00: talking about him,
• 57:24
  SPEAKER_00: but the Euro guys are probably pretty surprised to see him,
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_00: especially given how far he is down on the UT Me list.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_00: But he's been putting in some really good...
• 57:31
  results with his seventh place at canons 50k which he kind of
• 57:34
  just fell off at the
• 57:35
  end and seventh place at broken arrow 46k which is also very
• 57:38
  deep then he also got
• 57:39
  10th place at headlands last year golden trail series and 12th
• 57:42
  at mammoth trail
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_00: fest
• 57:44
  SPEAKER_00: Last one I want to mention is another male from the U.S.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I'm Western biased.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that's going to be U.S.
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_00: champion in the up-down format, David Norris.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_00: He won Sun and Peace Scramble this year against a super stacked field.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, I was surprised.
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_00: I know he's super good at Mount Marathon,
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_00: but I didn't know he had that kind of leg speed.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_00: And as amazing as he is at that type of race,
• 58:03
  SPEAKER_00: I don't feel like he's really figured out ultras yet.
• 58:05
  And I'm hoping he does figure it out because I think he can
• 58:07
  knock it out of the
• 58:07
  SPEAKER_00: park given his ski background.
• 58:09
  SPEAKER_00: But he's won Mount Marathon, I want to say, five times.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_00: And he definitely has the course record holder.
• 58:14
  course record there he got a 13th at broken air at 46k this
• 58:16
  year and a third at
• 58:17
  utmb utmb portavarata last year which i think got him into this
• 58:21
  race and that was
• 58:22
  actually third overall or fourth overall but third place male
• 58:26
  because i think sarah
• 58:27
  alonzo was in front of him and he raced occ last year to a
• 58:30
  disappointing 23rd place
• 58:31
  so he's definitely looking to improve so that rounds out the
• 58:36
  men's side but first i
• 58:38
  SPEAKER_00: have to give you my picks
• 58:39
  SPEAKER_00: In 10th place,
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_00: I put him in while I was making this podcast,
• 58:42
  SPEAKER_00: and that's going to be Gautier Bonacarrera.
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_00: I had a Chinese athlete,
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_00: but like I said,
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_00: I have a hard time differentiating,
• 58:47
  so I'm just going to go with somebody who I can differentiate
• 58:50
  the results a little
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_00: bit better.
• 58:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think Gautier is a really strong pick.
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_00: He trains with Ben.
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_00: He's speedy.
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_00: He's consistent.
• 58:55
  SPEAKER_00: He's a smart racer.
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's going to do well.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_00: In 10th place, I have Cade Michael.
• 58:59
  I think he's going to keep building on his lessons from his
• 59:02
  50Ks this year and just
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_00: get a little bit better each time.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_00: Eighth place, I got Miguel Benitez.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_00: He's pupil in behind Antonio Martinez Perez.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_00: I really liked his showing behind Dan Jones at Ultra Trail Australia.
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that he is learning each race that he does.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_00: This will be his longest race in the mountains are my biggest question.
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that he could do well here.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_00: Seventh place,
• 59:24
  SPEAKER_00: but honestly,
• 59:24
  SPEAKER_00: I could have him as high as third place,
• 59:26
  SPEAKER_00: and I really had a hard time with these top seven.
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_00: Seventh place,
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_00: I got Christian Jones,
• 59:29
  SPEAKER_00: which was in one spot worse than last year,
• 59:32
  SPEAKER_00: but I could very well move him up as high as third place.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_00: So keep that in mind.
• 59:35
  SPEAKER_00: I might shuffle a lot of these guys.
• 59:37
  SPEAKER_00: Sixth place, I've got Pettering Dahl.
• 59:38
  I had him also in third place,
• 59:40
  but I moved him down right before I made this podcast.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said,
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to shuffle a lot of these guys up,
• 59:44
  and I'm not beholden to keep these because I'm definitely going
• 59:45
  to change them.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_00: But Pettering Dahl, I think, is really fit this year.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think this is a race that suits him.
• 59:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's going to come out super hot.
• 59:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's going to come out with a lead pack with guys like Jim.
• 59:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think Davide might take it out hot.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe Chris Jones as well.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe someone like Miguel Benitez would get marathon speed.
• 1:00:00
  And then I think smarter racers or more conservative racers
• 1:00:02
  like your Adam
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_00: Peterman,
• 1:00:03
  maybe like a Luca Del Perro and Antonio Martinez Perez are
• 1:00:06
  going to move up in the
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_00: back half.
• 1:00:07
  SPEAKER_00: So anyways, that's needless to say.
• 1:00:08
  SPEAKER_00: I got sixth place, Petter Engel.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_00: Fifth place, Luca Delpero.
• 1:00:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think the guy can't miss this here.
• 1:00:14
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think he's been off the top five for a bunch of races.
• 1:00:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he just keeps getting better and better and better.
• 1:00:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he's going to have a good race here.
• 1:00:20
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth place, I've got Adam Peter God.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, I could see Adam Peterman winning this race, too.
• 1:00:26
  SPEAKER_00: But just based off his more recent results,
• 1:00:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a little bit more hesitant to put him in that one through three.
• 1:00:30
  SPEAKER_00: But I definitely think I could see him as high as...
• 1:00:33
  SPEAKER_00: second or third.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think he's going to go top 10.
• 1:00:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's going to race well.
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I think he's,
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_00: uh,
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_00: taken a lot of lessons away from,
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_00: from Western and from other races that he struggled out,
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_00: uh,
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_00: like Spigo last year.
• 1:00:44
  SPEAKER_00: Third place I've got, the return of Davide Magnini.
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_00: I really want him to do well.
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_00: This might be a little bit more of a heart pick than a head pick.
• 1:00:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think that he could knock this out of the park,
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_00: but I also think he could blow up and struggle.
• 1:00:55
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe something like Remy Benet.
• 1:00:57
  SPEAKER_00: Some of these guys that have,
• 1:00:58
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 1:00:58
  SPEAKER_00: a little bit skinnier,
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_00: tinier legs and do all this descending,
• 1:01:02
  SPEAKER_00: sometimes they get kind of beat up on courses like this.
• 1:01:03
  SPEAKER_00: So...
• 1:01:06
  SPEAKER_00: I want Davide to do well, and I hope he does.
• 1:01:08
  Second place,
• 1:01:09
  I've got Antonio Martinez Perez,
• 1:01:11
  another second place I know.
• 1:01:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm sure he wants to win it.
• 1:01:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think the field is just too deep this year,
• 1:01:17
  SPEAKER_00: though,
• 1:01:17
  SPEAKER_00: but I think he could be anywhere from second to fifth place,
• 1:01:19
  and I might fiddle with some of these picks in the second
• 1:01:21
  through fifth place
• 1:01:22
  SPEAKER_00: range.
• 1:01:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that, of course, leads me to
• 1:01:25
  SPEAKER_00: First place, Jim Malmsey.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_00: If Jim finishes it, in my opinion, he wins.
• 1:01:28
  It's just a matter of if he finishes it and if he is towing the
• 1:01:31
  line healthy,
• 1:01:32
  100% Jim.
• 1:01:33
  SPEAKER_00: So that kind of rounds out my picks for the top 10 for OCC.
• 1:01:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm super excited for these races.
• 1:01:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm already working on my CCC notes,
• 1:01:41
  and I'm going to try to get at least the CCC podcast out
• 1:01:44
  tomorrow and then YouTube
• 1:01:44
  SPEAKER_00: be the next day.
• 1:01:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to be hard, guys.
• 1:01:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
• 1:01:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm on vacation, and I didn't time this well.
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_00: I always kind of travel when YouTube is happening,
• 1:01:50
  SPEAKER_00: and I never had a podcast at the same time before this.
• 1:01:52
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't think it was going to be a problem.
• 1:01:53
  SPEAKER_00: But I was kind of wrong.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to figure out stuff.
• 1:01:56
  SPEAKER_00: So work with me.
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_00: If I can't get out a post,
• 1:01:58
  SPEAKER_00: then I'll at least write down,
• 1:01:59
  take a screenshot on my top 10 and talk about why I think I
• 1:02:02
  picked those top 10.
• 1:02:03
  SPEAKER_00: So anyways, this has been another episode of Let's Talk Trail Running.
• 1:02:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like always,
• 1:02:09
  SPEAKER_00: guys,
• 1:02:09
  SPEAKER_00: if you think I'm wrong on some pick,
• 1:02:11
  SPEAKER_00: if you feel strongly about somebody who I'm leaving out of my top 10,
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_00: or if you think my top three is just way jacked up,
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_00: please let me know.
• 1:02:19
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to me.
• 1:02:20
  SPEAKER_00: I love any info.
• 1:02:21
  all kinds of interaction and i appreciate everyone who uh also
• 1:02:25
  corresponds and
• 1:02:26
  talks so in the meantime hopefully i'll talk with you guys
• 1:02:28
  tomorrow and thank you
• 1:02:29
  SPEAKER_00: for tuning in once