Even with an extra day in 2024, another year has flown by! While I enjoyed some stretches more than others, it’s gotta’ be up there with one of my best years ever. Here’s a look back at my 2024, mainly through the lens of running, first via a monthly rundown and then a broader look back before thinking about 2025.
Monthly Rundown
January
I started the year reflecting on running’s beautiful simplicity while exploring my temporary home on New Zealand’s South Island. Even if I was entered in the Hardrock 100, I was increasingly aware that I wouldn’t run the race due to work responsibilities and, therefore, was running solely for its own sake. On the upside, I enjoyed a couple of big multi-day run/fish adventures. On the downside, Achilles pain while running downhill late in the month had me seriously contemplating whether my mountain running days were over.
A beautiful January day on the Ahuriri River on the South Island of New Zealand. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
February
My Achilles continued to bother me quite a bit in February, but I ramped up my eccentric drop rehabilitation exercises, which would point my 2024 in a better direction. Despite the injury, I managed to run roughly 100 kilometers over three days to complete the full Rees-Dart loop in New Zealand, which I’d first visited and dreamt of making into a loop eight years earlier. Maybe even better was a stretch of three straight runs that I completely enjoyed toward the end of the month. Reflecting back nearly a year later, it’s more evident how much joy can be found in a couple of otherwise unspectacular runs that just go well.
Descending from Rees Saddle while out on the Rees-Dart loop in New Zealand. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
March
The first Saturday of the month, I nearly jumped in my first ever Parkrun in Wanaka, New Zealand. Although I skipped it, I did get in a Parkrun-inspired 5k workout that went well. A week later, I made my Parkrun debut. I’d already added some strides at the end of the occasional run for a few weeks and this Parkrun, another later in the month, and a 5k cross country race that had gone well the previous November had me wondering if I might focus on speed in 2024. That ended up not being the case, but it was fun. Overall, much less adventuring than intended happened this month as I returned temporarily to full-time work on iRunFar. Still, it was nice seeing autumn rolling into Wanaka, New Zealand, before visiting some friends on the North Island on the way home.
The early morning warm-up before a Parkrun in Wanaka, New Zealand. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
April
Sometime in the second week of April, I learned I’d likely have the chance to run the Ultra Gobi 400k in China for the second time. That thought got me out for my first long run in a while, to run a couple quicker training runs than normal, and even log a few runs with a pack such as I might carry while running Ultra Gobi. Settling back into Silverton, Colorado, the last few weeks of the month, there were a couple more pack runs and even a workout or two, but it was mostly about settling back in and reacclimating to life at 9,300 feet.
A snowy workout back at home in Silverton, Colorado. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
May
Despite being the month that my return to run Ultra Gobi became official, it was an unspectacular month on the running front, although I did get in a couple of quicker workouts and a couple of pack runs. There were also a few moderate-length runs (10 to 14 miles) and my longest run (24 miles) in a few months. Although they weren’t miserable failures, April and May are two months in which I could easily and significantly improve my training in 2025 without too much effort. Heck, January through March are candidates for the same with overall modest training, even if I did have a decent number of long adventures, particularly in January.
Even late May is barely spring in Silverton, Colorado. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
June
Despite being a busier work month — looking at you, Western States 100 coverage — it’s also the month that highlighted my running success in 2024. Specifically, I thrived on fishing-induced long runs, with a pair of marathon-length days separated by only one easy day early in the month, as well as two 50k-plus run/fish outings later in the month. A final bonus was getting in a 20-mile road run the day before the Western States 100. Overall, it was my most consistent month of training all year, even if it was a series of long runs paired with otherwise modest training in between.
Enjoying a long run amongst the pronghorn in Colorado. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
July
I’d planned a 100k effort the weekend between iRunFar’s work at the Western States 100 and Hardrock 100, but that fell to the wayside due to illness. Still, I managed a 50k-plus run that week. Between illness recovery and Hardrock 100 coverage, I had my second-lowest mileage week of the year with 13 miles. The second half of the month saw a step up in training with a 30-mile run/fish and a fun day at the Never Summer 100k, as my return to cover the Western States 100 after a year off coverage inspired me to put my name back in the lottery for the first time in more than a decade.
An early morning at Bonham Reservoir on Colorado’s Grand Mesa. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
August
August started with a low mileage week and a more moderate mileage week, along with an overdue return to running with a heavier pack. Those heavy pack runs seeded a bunch of doubt about a huge backcountry training week I had in mind. Fortunately, a two-day, 100k backcountry jaunt with a heavy pack went well, and later the same week, I felt strong pacing a friend for 33-plus miles in their 100 miler, so the adventure was back on. That adventure was my San Juan InFINity Loop, during which I logged 237 miles in a week, all with a heavy pack and in some challenging weather conditions. It was the most demanding training week of my life and the most critical piece of my Ultra Gobi training.
Lizard Head Pass, Colorado, after a brutal thunderstorm on day 5 of my late August 2024 training surge. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
September
Honestly, September felt like a letdown on the running front. Why? I’d hoped to tackle a single-effort 100-mile run/fish challenge, but between recovery from the InFINity loop, logistical details of that run, risk of injury, and the quick approach of Ultra Gobi, I canned it. In retrospect, it was a better month than I’d remembered. I logged many strong 10- to 20-mile runs with my race-weight pack and a final 28 miler with Meghan two weeks out from Ultra Gobi, which was perfect. I spent a bunch of time throughout the month buttoning up gear choices, logistics, and satellite map course scouting for Ultra Gobi, all of which would soon pay off.
A splendid view on my last long run before the 2024 Ultra Gobi. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
October
This was Ultra Gobi 400k month. It was the race of my life. I’ve yet to but most certainly will be writing about it in this space. I still get the warm fuzzies thinking about that experience. While it was far from a case of everything going right, it was a case of the totality going far better than I could have imagined.
The back half of the month was gratifying in a completely different way, in that I headed off to Bhutan to volunteer at the Snowman Race. For the second time in the two runnings of the race, in 2022 and 2024, I was the international advisor for the first night’s camp of the five-day stage race. It was incredible to watch 16 Bhutanese folks, 27 pack animals, and I come together to host 16 athletes deep in the Bhutanese backcountry for all of 18 hours. I knew my role would be to help the different Bhutanese teams — the guides, medical team, army support, and horse handlers — work effectively together, help optimize the camp layout and functions for the runners, and work through any problems the runners experienced.
Our camp’s “adopted” dog Michu checking out the finish line of the 2024 Snowman Race’s first night camp. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
November
November was my running off-season. Even if I ran every day, most of it was relaxed. This time included the end of two weeks Meghan and I spent in Thailand before returning to the U.S. after our work at the Snowman Race. Roughly a month after Ultra Gobi, I started to get the urge to train again. Late in the month, I ran a 5k cross-country race on Thanksgiving. It was slower than the previous year but under much more challenging conditions.
Running with my sister back home in Titusville, New Jersey. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
December
Meghan and I returned to New Zealand for the American winter, which is the New Zealand summer. I did get out for one multi-day run/fish adventure, but I didn’t run as much as I’d hoped, didn’t add in any speedwork, and didn’t stay on top of my Achilles rehab, which I’d stopped right before Ultra Gobi. I’m not upset with that. Instead, I’ll consider myself to have coasted out of 2024 and into 2025.
A moody day on the Matukituki River in New Zealand as the year wrapped up. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
A Broader Look at 2024
Why am I not disappointed with that December? Because I still had my biggest running year ever at 2,706 miles. That’s up from my previous best, which grew sequentially from 2,610 to 2,618 to 2,828 from 2018 to 2020. It was all the better, as I coasted to this through December rather than running a bunch of miles just to get to a new personal best or break 2,700 miles.
More broadly, 2024 was one of the most enjoyable years of my life. Full stop. A couple of years in my adult life are up there, but it’s entirely possible that 2024 was tops. Less work stress and more running helped. More running adventures certainly helped. And I’ve got lots I can do to improve going forward.
Back to running. While it might be surprising, I ended 2024 in worse shape than I ended 2023. Why? In 2023, I did a spurt of training in October and November, preparing to run a 50-mile race in early December. In contrast, I wrapped up my running off-season late in 2024. Perhaps more surprising is that I don’t consider myself to have ever been super fit in 2024. Undoubtedly, I was very strong at the end of the summer and heading into Ultra Gobi, but I never felt crazy fit. Maybe that’s just me not yet adjusting to or accepting the lower fitness limits that might come with aging, but I still feel like I was far from peak fitness. On the other hand, I feel like I ended the year with my Achilles in a significantly better place than I ended 2023, which I’m pretty thankful for!
A starry night in Roduphu on the Snowman Race course in Bhutan is a perfect place to reflect. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
A Look Ahead to 2025
For one reason or another, all the major 100 milers that I was considering as goal races for 2025 are currently off the table. That means I’ve got no goal races on my calendar for 2025. However, I’m still pretty darn excited to train, get strong, and get fit, if only for the huge adventures I’ll have. Plus, I suspect that something will come up along the way.
Overall, I have the separate goals of becoming fitter, stronger, and more resilient at some point in 2025 than at any time in 2024.
By fitter, I mean a more cardiovascularly capable runner. While I played with some workouts early in 2024, I’ve really not trained for fitness in far too long. I suspect there are some huge gains to be had here, just so long as I can maintain some motivation for any real length of time.
By stronger, I mean leaning into that diesel locomotive-type strength I had in spades around Ultra Gobi time. Strength in the sense that I could run and hike well with a heavy pack at an easy effort for an extraordinarily long stretch of time. This feels like a personal strength these days, whereas what I consider fitness a relative weakness.
By more resilient, I mostly mean improving some particular issues and weaknesses. As mentioned earlier, I start 2025 with my Achilles in better condition than when I started 2024, but there’s still so much work I can do to improve them, and I’m on it now. Secondary to improving what I’d consider as my actual Achilles injury is improving both my strength and confidence in running up inclines. I’m similarly in a much better spot to start this year, but I think there’s so much I can improve. I’ve also got work I to do on my left hamstring strength as well as improved flexibility for both hamstrings. Finally, while not an issue during Ultra Gobi, I could do a bit more work — even if very occasional — to address my very tight diaphragm which uncomfortably cramps from time to time.
More broadly, I’m looking forward to some more general personal growth in 2025. To be honest, I don’t feel like I’ve had space for this in a couple of decades, and I certainly wasn’t thinking about personal growth before then. I’m unsure what form this might take, but I’m starting to assess my strengths and weaknesses, aspirations and aversions. This could be fun!
Call for Comments
- Use the comments section to wrap your own 2024 and look ahead to this year!
- What’s your biggest running takeaway from last year?
- And what do you dream of making happen with your running for 2025?
What does the road ahead hold for me in 2025? This scene from the 2024 Ultra Gobi 400k keeps me dreaming. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
