We only skipped a week, but it seems like forever ago. We’re back, though, and happy 2020! This week’s column picks up scattered results across decades, and across the world, like the Across the Years group of races in Arizona and Hong Kong’s Ultra-Trail Tai Mo Shan. We preview next weekend’s Bandera 100k Golden Ticket Race too.
Across the Years – Phoenix, Arizona
The decade edition of Aravaipa Running’s Across the Years event had a ton of different race options, a ton! There was a 10-day race, a six-hour contest, a last-person-standing race, and a bunch of others all on a 1.05-mile mostly gravel loop at baseball-heavy Camelback Ranch. There were several records and fast times targeted, but those attempts largely fizzled with the New Year’s fireworks.
Women
Chavet Breslin won the 24-hour competition with 117 miles. Hoa Nguyen and Darcy Piceu totaled 110 and 105 miles for second and third.
Targeting the 48-hour world record, Camille Herron dropped out after 62 miles in 8:40 due to a hamstring issue. I’m not really one for NFL stats, but Herron’s year reminds me of that of NFL quarterback Jameis Winston’s just-completed season, and that’s not a complaint or a criticism. Winston passed for 33 touchdowns, but coupled it with 30 interceptions and the combination was an NFL record.
Sixty-year-0ld Marcia Rasmussen won the six-day contest with 342 miles. Annabel Hepworth leads the 10-day race overall with a remarkable 675 miles as of mid-morning Monday. The 10-day event finishes on Tuesday at 9 a.m. local time.
Men
Chris Pope took the men’s 24-hour crown with an excellent 141 miles. Vlad Henzl and Rob Raguet-Schofield were second and third with 122 and 117 miles.
Ian Sharman was chasing a fast 100 miles, but stopped after reaching 50 miles in just under six hours.
Extra-long-haul runner Pete Kostelnick went for 444 miles over six days. Philip Eberts leads the men’s 10-day race with 615 miles as of Monday mid-morning.
Ultra-Trail Tai Mo Shan – Hong Kong, China
The Ultra-Trail Tai Mo Shan group of races included several distances, all on trails around Hong Kong’s highest peak, 3,140-foot Tai Mo Shan. The race was run in reported 80% humidity, and although official results aren’t yet online, social media has identified the race winners.
Women
The longest course stretched for 162k (100 miles), and Kam Suen won that race in 29:07.
Marie McNaughton (New Zealand, living in Hong Kong) dominated the 115k (71 miles) in 16:04, and behind her Chin Ping Fu and Kimmy Leung finished hand-in-hand in 18:46. McNaughton won the race in 2017 too.
It was not yet clear who won the 50k race.
Marie McNaughton, 2020 Ultra-Trail Tai Mo Shan 115k champion. Photo: Ultra-Trail Tai Mo Shan
Men
Hinori Nomoto and Ho Yin Yeung went one-two in the 162k race in 24:03 and 27:20, respectively.
The men’s 115k winner had not yet been named online.
Gediminas Grinius (Lithuania) won the 50k in 6:12, and Hiroaki Matsunaga (Japan) was a fast-closing second.
Full results (when available).
Gediminas Grinius, 2020 Ultra Trail Tai Mo Shan 50k champion. Photo: Ultra-Trail Tai Mo Shan
Other Races and Runs
New Year’s One Day 24 Hour
It was the 10th anniversary for the Coastal Trail Runs New Year’s One Day 24 Hour race in San Francisco, California. Asuka Eguchi was both the women’s and overall winner, totaling 120.8 miles on a 1.06-mile loop. Dylan Gallagher was third overall, first male, with 104.9 miles. Full results.
Tuscobia Winter Ultra
In far northern Wisconsin, the Tuscobia Winter Ultra went both 80 and 160 miles, either one-way or as an out-and-back, right at the end of 2019. Racers could either run, ski, or fat bike. One hundred and ten of the 221 starters finished, and Gretchen Metsa won the 80-mile run in 17:50. Faye Norby won the double in 58:17. Both were new course records. Men’s winners for the 80 and 160-mile were Joseph Altendahl and Brian Corgard in 20:04 and 44:50, respectively. Full results.
HUFF 50k
The HUFF 50k dates back to 1997 in Indiana. Jessica Bremer mercied the women’s field to a winning 4:05. The only one ahead of her was men’s winner Jeff Zenger. He was off the front in 3:41. Full results.
Jessica Bremer, 2020 HUFF 50k champion. Photo: HUFF 50k
Boyer’s Furnace 40 Mile
Forty-nine of 57 finished Virginia’s Boyer’s Furnace 40 Mile race just ahead of the New Year. Mikala Shremshock and Paul Jacobs ruled in 8:42 and 6:16. Full results.
Red Eye 50k
Also in Virginia, the Red Eye 50k made for a low-key start to the racing year. Laura Yoder won in 6:36, and men’s best Michael Wardian–couldn’t wait beyond January 1 to race an ultra–set a new course record in 4:17. Full results.
Great Scorpion 50k
I’m not sure what’s great about scorpions, but that’s how they describe them at the third annual Great Scorpion 50k in Mississippi. Kensie Smith and Michael Wienandt were tops here in 6:42 and 4:55, respectively. Full results.
Salem Lakeshore 50k
Winston-Salem, North Carolina opened 2020 with the Salem Lakeshore 50k. It was a quick field, paced by Heather McArthur and Chad Crockford in 4:19 and 3:28. Full results.
Charleston 100 Mile
South Carolina low country, that’s where you get the second-ever Charleston 100 Mile. Twenty-eight finishers were led by overall winner Rebecca Joyner in 19:38. Men’s winner Chris Varnadoe was second overall in 21:35. Full results.
Harbison 50k
Score another one for South Carolina! Cheryl Kirby and Derek Gibson won the Harbison 50k in 5:43 and 4:13. The race is held inside a state forest of the same name as the race. Full results.
Round the Bay Ultra
Susan Frazier repeated as winner of Florida’s Round the Bay Ultra 36.8-miler. Frazier triumphed in 5:19, and broke her own course record. Ben Wolfe was first overall in 5:12. Full results.
Next Weekend – Bandera 100k – Bandera, Texas
The Tejas Trails Bandera 100k is again a Golden Ticket race and will award automatic entry to the Western States 100 to its top-two finishers. The race happens over two laps in the Texas Hill Country.
Women
- Amanda Basham – 2nd 2019 CCC
- Cat Bradley – 2nd 2019 Leadville Trail 100 Mile
- Rea Kolbl – 2nd 2019 Broken Arrow Skyrace 52k
- Ailsa MacDonald (Canada) – 6th 2019 CCC
- Charli McKee – 1st 2019 Javelina 100k
- Sally McRae – 1st 2019 Mozart 100k
- Kerrie Wlad – 7th 2016 Lake Sonoma 50 Mile
- Arden Young (Canada) – 2nd 2019 Quad Dipsea
Men
- Buck Blankenship – 2nd 2019 Mogollon Monster 100 Mile
- Yew Ferrara – 2nd 2019 Tahoe Rim Trail 50 Mile
- Colton Gale – 1st 2019 Siskiyou Out Back 100k
- Justin Grunewald – 3rd 2019 The North Face 50k Championships
- Drew Holmen – 4th 2019 The North Face 50 Mile Championships
- Jeff Mogavero – 3rd 2019 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile
- Ryan Montgomery – 2nd 2019 Brazos Bend 100 Mile
- Alex Nichols – 3rd 2019 Speedgoat 50k
- Scott Trummer – 1st 2017 American River 50 Mile
- Cole Watson – 2nd 2018 Broken Arrow Skyrace 26k
Call for Comments
Did your holiday weekends include some racing that we haven’t highlighted above? Tell us about it!
