After a Friday storm that left the mountains shrouded in an icy veil, Saturday dawned clear, cold, and almost ideal racing weather. It was Rob Krar (post-race interview) and Emelie Forsberg (post-race interview) who both possessed enough fortitude to deal with early-season snow, the lack of oxygen of high altitude, and the big mix of trail and pavement to emerge the Ultra Race of Champions (UROC) 100k winners.
In addition, you can find our full play-by-play of the race as well as a collection of our pre-race interviews and preview on our 2013 UROC 100k Live Coverage page.
As usual, we’ll be updating this article with additional results as well as links to UROC 100k-related articles, photo galleries, and race reports.
Thanks to Ultimate Direction for sponsoring iRunFar’s coverage of the race.
Ps. To get all the latest ultra news from iRunFar.com, subscribe via RSS or email.
The start of the 2013 UROC 100k. Photo: Eric Schneider
2013 UROC 100k Men’s Race
Is it wrong to say that the men’s race went according to “typical” ultramarathon script? There was the early, fast pack (Sage Canaday, Jason Wolfe, Rob Krar, Kilian Jornet, Dakota Jones [post-race interview], Cameron Clayton [post-race interview], Matt Flaherty, and Rickey Gates), some of whom thrived and some of whom suffered in the long haul. There were the guys who stayed steady all day (Ryan Ghelfi, Mike Versteeg, and Andrew Bock). And then there was the carnage-clearer who pulled the rug out from under those who hurt the most at the end (Martin Gaffuri). All the cast members were present for the 2013 UROC 100k men’s race.
From the start, Sage set the pace on the first climb, but he was absorbed into a lead pack containing Rob, Dakota, and Kilian by about five miles in. Jason shot to the front and led the fearsome foursome into Frisco about 14 miles into the race. The gentlemen leapfrogged with each other several times until mile 33, when Rob arrived to Vail Pass with a lead he’d sustain for most of the rest of the race. That said, somewhere in the vicinity of Minturn, around mile 52.5, Dakota put up a strong charge ahead of Rob. But before the last five miles of the race, Rob took it back, holding it to the finish line. Dakota finished second a couple minutes behind.
Rob Krar a few yards ahead of Dakota Jones and Kilian Jornet at mile 27. Photo: iRunFar/Matt Curtis
Cameron won the award for the day’s smartest race. The guy seemed to let some of the early dramatics happen in front of him, sitting in the shadows, if you will. At the mile 44 aid station, Two Elk Lodge atop Vail Mountain, he arrived sharing third position with Kilian. From there, he distanced himself from the rest of the men’s field. Kilian finished fourth and far back, still securing his win of Skyrunning’s ultra series in this, the series’ final race.
Cameron Clayton sitting back early at the Miners Creek aid station (mile 18). Photo: Travis Trampe
Ryan deserves props as well for a smart race. Though he cycled through several different positions in the men’s top 10, he never waxed or waned by much, clearly running the right race for him. While Sage and Jason might have suffered a bit for some of their early pace pushing, the two hung onto top-10 spots with their sixth and seventh positions. Eighth place Martin Gaffuri was in 11th just 10 miles from the finish, and a late-race push launched him ahead. Cool story of the day, Mike Versteeg and Andrew Bock. We saw these fellas’ running with or dang near each other for much of the day, and they finished together, too, filling out the ninth and 10th place positions with a tie.
2013 UROC 100k Men’s Results
(Times are unofficial based on visible clock time)
- Rob Krar (The North Face) – 9:29:00 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- Dakota Jones (Montrail) – 9:32:26 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- Cameron Clayton (Salomon) –10:06:24 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- Kilian Jornet (Salomon) – 10:19:16 (pre-race interview)
- Ryan Ghelfi (Rogue Valley Runners) – 10:24:38
- Sage Canaday (Scott) – 11:00:25 (pre-race interview)
- Jason Wolfe – 11:21:01
- Martin Gaffuri (New Balance) – 11:32:32
- Mike Versteeg – 11:36:45
- Andrew Bock – 11:36:45
Rob Krar winning the 2013 Ultra Race of Champions (UROC) 100k. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
2013 UROC 100k Women’s Race
Emelie Forsberg was a clear favorite at the 2013 UROC 100k women’s race. And, by the looks of the race’s first couple hours, it seemed that things would predictably lean in her favor. That is, until we saw her at the Miners Creek Road and Copper Mountain Aid Stations at miles 18 and 27. At both those places, Emelie not only complained of difficulties breathing because of the altitude, but she was also visibly vexed by it. Somehow, however, she wrestled the high-altitude beast. At Vail Pass, mile 33, Emelie arrived just barely in the lead. From the halfway point on, she continued to build her lead on the rest of the field, handily winning the women’s race. Her win also cemented her as the winner of the Skyrunning ultra series, which concluded with this race.
Emelie Forsberg running on Copper Mountain. Photo: iRunFar/Vince Heyd
Stephanie Howe (post-race interview) was Emelie’s singular challenger on the day, that is, of the human variety. Early on, Stephanie stalked Emelie through the aid stations, pouncing when Emelie temporarily lapsed from the altitude. After Emelie overtook Stephanie for the lead by Vail Pass, Stephanie continued her forward progress behind Emelie but far ahead of the rest of the women.
Stephanie Howe running into Copper Mountain village. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Michele Yates ran steady from start to finish, finishing third for the women. Francesca Canepa ran in fifth position for most of the day, but she grabbed and kept fourth place around Minturn at mile 52.5 when Kerrie Bruxvoort slowed because she was unable to get enough calories in. Kerrie ended up in fifth place, the last prize-money spot.
Michele Yates running into Minturn (mile 52). Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
2013 UROC 100k Women’s Results
(Times are unofficial based on visible clock time through 5th. After that, times are those provided on Ultralive.net.)
- Emelie Forsberg (Salomon) – 12:06:34 (pre-race and post-race interviews)
- Stephanie Howe (The North Face) – 12:29:26 (post-race interview)
- Michele Yates (Ultimate Dirction/GU) – 12:46:24
- Francesca Canepa (Vibram) – 12:55:06
- Kerrie Bruxvoort (Salomon) – 13:23:39 (pre-race interview)
- Helen Cospolich (The North Face) – 14:32
- Nikki LaRochelle – 14:36
- Leslie Howlett (Altra) – 15:00
- Jeanne Cooper – 16:38
Full race results. Only nine women finished.
Emelie Forsberg after winning the 2013 Ultra Race of Champions (UROC) 100k. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
2013 UROC 100k Articles, Race Reports, and More
Articles and Photo Galleries
Brad and Lori Clayton’s photo gallery[broken link removed]- Joe Grant’s photo album
- Ultimate Directions Facebook photo albums (1 and 2)
- Competitor’s photo gallery
- Fredrik Marmsater’s Facebook photo album
- Eric Schneider’s photo gallery
- Team Colorado’s entertaining race recap
Race Reports
- Emelie Forsberg (1st woman)
- Stephanie Howe (2nd woman)
- Michele Yates (3rd woman)
- Leslie Howlett (8th woman)
- Dakota Jones (2nd man)
Ryan Ghelfi (5th man)[broken link removed]- Sage Canaday (6th man)
- Jason Wolfe (7th man) (Includes an awful photo of a knee injury suffered during the Imogene Pass Run not long before UROC, lots of blood!)
- Martin Gaffuri (8th man)
- Kristina Folcik-Welts (DNF)
- Matt Flaherty (DNF)
Dakota Jones and Kilian Jornet descending into Frisco. Photo: Rob Timko
Thank You
Thank you to the incredible group of friends who helped bring our UROC 100k coverage alive. Our field reporters included Vince Heyd, Nick Pedatella, Travis Trampe, Matt Curtis, Kristin Zosel, Patrick and Robin Lyons, and William Luce. Our CoverItLive moderators were Mauri Pagliacci of Trail Running Argentina, Andrew Swistak, Tom Caughlin, Dean Georgaris, Nick Pedatella, David Boudreau, and Travis Trampe. It takes a village! Thank you!
