Pass the gravy. It was Thanksgiving in the U.S. and there wasn’t a lot of racing to be had. We do have a report out of the Quad Dipsea, and previews of next weekend’s Ultra-Trail Cape Town and Marathon des Sables Peru races.
Quad Dipsea – Mill Valley, California
The Quad Dipsea totals 28.4 miles as a double out and back on the popular Dipsea Trail. The race turned 35 this year.
Men
Alex Ho went 4:24 for the win. Just sixth after the opening 7.1-mile segment, Ho expertly moved up thanks to a well-paced second half. His 1:02, 1:02, 1:06, and 1:12 splits bettered the greater positive splits of the fast starters.
Second-place Dane McElroy crossed the finish line in 4:32. Ezra Becker and Rudy Rutemiller tied for third place with a 4:36 finish.
Alex Ho on his way to the 2017 Quad Dipsea win. Photo: Tropical John Medinger
Women
Women’s winner Penny MacPhail did her stair climbing with a chicken in hand, part of her year-long project to raise money for Oxfam. It was close, Macphail’s 5:31 bettered second-place Katherina Laan by just over a minute. Laan was chasing hard and made up almost eight minutes on the final 7.1-mile segment.
Third-place Laura Richard was hunting too and finished in 5:38.
Penny MacPhail, 2017 Quad Dipsea champion. Photo: Tropical John Medinger
Next Weekend – Ultra-Trail Cape Town – Cape Town, South Africa
The fourth edition Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k (and its accompanying 65k and 35k) are expected to be its most competitive yet. The 100k race starts at 4 a.m. on a winding loop that gains 4,300 meters (14,000 feet) of elevation.
Men
- Pau Bartolo (Spain) – 1st at 2015 TDS
- Andrea Biffi (South Africa) – 4th 2016 Ultra-Trail Cape Town
- Dylan Bowman (USA) – 7th at 2017 UTMB
- Ben Brimble (South Africa) – 3rd at 2016 Ultra-Trail Cape Town
- Jock Green (South Africa) – 2nd at 2015 Ultra-Trail Cape Town
- Tom Evans (U.K) – 4th 2017 CCC
- Robert Hajnal (Romania) – 5th at 2017 Lavaredo Ultra Trail
- Scott Hawker (New Zealand) – 11th at 2017 UTMB
- Prodigal Kumalo (South Africa) – 1st at 2016 Ultra-Trail Cape Town
- Daniel Jung (Italy) – 2nd at 2017 Hong Kong 100k
- Jorge Maravilla (USA) – 2nd at 2016 Tarawera Ultra
- Ben Matiso (South Africa) – 27th at 2017 Comrades Marathon
- Radu Milea (Romania) – 11th at 2017 Eiger Ultra-Trail
- Bongmusa Mthembu (South Africa) – 1st at 2017 Comrades Marathon
- Sebastien Nain (France) – 13th at 2016 Transgrancanaria
- Eric Ngubane (South Africa) – 30th 2017 Comrades Marathon
- Patrick Parsel (USA) – 2nd 2017 Flagstaff Skyrace 55k
- Diego Pazos (Switzerland) – 3rd at 2016 Transgrancanaria
- Andris Ronimoiss (Latvia) – 9th at 2017 Madeira Island Ultra Trail
- Bennie Roux (South Africa) – 4th at 2015 Ultra-Trail Cape Town
- Ryan Sandes (South Africa) – 1st at 2017 Western States 100 Mile
- Rory Scheffer (South Africa) – 1st Ultra-Trail Cape Town 65k (shorter event)
- Vincent Viet (France) – 5th at 2016 CCC
Women
- Trish Bahlmann (South Africa) – 23rd Comrades Marathon
- Lucy Bartholomew (Australia) – 1st 2017 Ultra-Trail Australia
- Naomi Brand (South Africa) – 3rd at 2016 Ultra-Trail Cape Town
- Andrea Huser (Switzerland) – 2nd at 2017 UTMB
- Megan McKenzie (South Africa) – 5th at 2017 Mont Blanc Marathon
- Teresa Nimes (Spain) – 3rd at 2016 CCC
- Robyn Owen (South Africa) – 1st at 2016 Otter Trail
Next Week – Marathon des Sables Peru – Ica Desert, Peru
The long-time Marathon des Sables Saharan Desert stage race is branching out. The six-day Peru edition of the race starts on November 28, and covers 250k (155 miles) in the Ica Desert. The race will again be self-supported.
Men
- Julien Chorier (France) – 17th at 2017 UTMB
- Erik Clavery (France) – 24th at 2017 CCC
- Yeray Duran (Spain) – 2nd at 2017 TDS
- Mohammed El Morabity (Morocco) – 2nd at 2017 Marathon des Sables
- Rachid El Morabity (Morocco) – 1st at 2017 Marathon des Sables
- Gediminas Grinius (Lithuania) – 8th at 2017 UTMB
Women
- Nathalie Mauclair (France) – 2nd at 2017 Marathon des Sables
Other News
Golden Trail Series
Make room Skyrunning World Series, World Mountain Running Association, IAU, and Ultra-Trail World Tour, there’s yet another new series joining the crowded series-organizational scene. The first-year Golden Trail Series, by Salomon, kicks off in 2018. Runners will collect points at five races–four in Europe, one in the U.S.–toward a qualifying spot in the South Africa finale.
Three of the first five races score, and each of the top-10-ranking men and women (and their plus one) earn free travel to the finale. Prize money will be offered at each of the five races, and at the end of the year, the top-10-ranking men and women in the series each earn a 5,000 Euro bonus.
- Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon (Spain) – May 27, 2018
- Mont Blanc Marathon (France) – July 1, 2018
- Sierre-Zinal (Switzerland) – August 12, 2018
- Pikes Peak Marathon (USA) – August 19, 2018
- Ring of Steall Skyrace (U.K.) – September 15,2018
- Otter Trail (South Africa) – October 19, 2018
Ryan Woods Doping Sanction
The U.S.’s Ryan Woods, a long-time standout in shorter trail races, tested positive for in-competition use of DHEA at the October 2017 Obstacle Course Racing World Championships. Woods took third at the event’s pro division 15k. And when teamed with Ryan Atkins and Hunter McIntyre, Woods was part of the first-place team. He and his teammates surrendered both those results. Adventurey, the company that administers the OCR World Champs and other OCR races, has banned Woods from participating in all its events in 2018.
It is unclear what a positive doping test means in the obstacle-course race circuit, beyond events put on by Adventurey, and how this affects Woods’s participation in trail running events.
More info on the ban and Ryan’s response.
Call for Comments
- Last week’s column generated some lively commentary about the upcoming men’s UltraRunning Magazine (North American) Ultrarunner of the Year prize. The women’s vote is expected to be equally challenging, perhaps even moreso, with both Courtney Dauwalter and Camille Herron figuring to be locked at the top. Dauwalter has race volume on her side, while Herron has a pair of top global performances. Let’s again look at their full records.
- Dauwalter – 1st at Riverbank 24 Hour (American record), 4th at Lake Sonoma 50 Mile, 6th at FANS 12 Hour, 4th at MaXi-Race 110k, 18th at IAU 24 Hour World Championships, 2nd Pikes Peak Marathon, 1st at Continental Divide 50k, 1st at Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile, 1st at Bear Chase 50 Mile (course record), 1st at Moab 200 Mile (overall win).
- Herron – 2nd at Bandera 100k, 1st at Tarawera Ultra (course record), 4th at Chuckanut 50k, 1st at Comrades Marathon, 1st at Tunnel Hill 100 Mile (world record).
- The weekend doesn’t look like much, but we’re all ears. Hit us with the turkey trots and other results in the comments field below.
[Editor’s Note: Columnist Justin Mock and editor Meghan Hicks spend many hours per week compiling this article, and often doing so well ahead of races posting their results online–that is, by combing social media. We simply cannot cover all the trail and ultra races that take place each week, so we do our best to provide results of the most competitive races as well as a spectrum of additional events from around the world. Please feel absolutely welcome to leave comments with the results of races not covered in this article, and to leave additional information about the races from which we have shared results. Thank you for your understanding.]
