Before digging into a whole bunch of race results, consider helping Tom Green. Green, the first person to complete the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning, suffered an injury last week. A GoFundMe page is collecting donations to aid in his medical expenses.
Fellsman – Ingleton, England
We begin our report on a trio of U.K.-based races with the 53rd annual Fellsman, a 60-mile race with roughly 11,000 feet of climb. Adam Perry won for the third time in 10 hours, 23 minutes, Jez Bragg finished second about 20 minutes back, and Konrad Rawlik took third.
In the women’s race, Jasmin Paris won the women’s race in 11:10, finished fourth overall, and reportedly set a new course record by 41 minutes. Official results weren’t yet posted, so can anyone let us know which women were second and third?
3 Peaks Race – Horton-in-Ribblesdale, England
Ricky Lightfoot won his second-straight crown as the 23-mile fell race, now in its 61st year. Lightfoot’s 2:51 was just ahead of Andrew Davies’s 2:53. Andrew Fallas was third in 2:57. The first four men all finished under 3:00.
Helen Bonsor looks to have taken the women’s championship in 3:27, with Anna Lupton and Caitlin Rice chasing to second and third in 3:34 and 3:39, respectively.
Hoka Highland Fling – Milngavie, Scotland
Now in its 10th year, the race reached its 1,000-person cap in just two days. The 53-mile race through the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park also served as the Scottish Ultra Trail Championships.
Matt Laye, the 2014 Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile winner, won a spirited battle over the U.K.’s Paul Navesey. Laye clocked 7:04 with Navesey, the former treadmill 50k world-record holder (3:05), second in 7:06. Donald Campbell, two weeks after winning the Iznik 130k in Turkey, was third in 7:17.
Matt Laye wins the 2015 Hoka Highland Fling. Photo: Hoka Highland Fling
Following a first-ever ultra win at last year’s Glen Ogle 33 Mile, Rachel Campbell stepped up in distance and won the women’s race in 8:42. Caroline McKay and Nicole Adams-Hendrey pressed to 8:55 and 8:59 second- and third-place finishes.
Indiana Trail 100 Mile – Albion, Indiana
Matthew Cooper and Avery Collins dueled at the front of the wet and muddy race at Indiana’s Chain O’Lakes State Park. After going through 50 miles in 7:04, 33 minutes ahead of Cooper, Collins relinquished the day-long lead near mile 92. Cooper then powered to a 16:31 winning time, with Collins, a day before his birthday, second in 16:49. Jim Trout was third in 17:49.
Although leading the women’s race, Michele Yates dropped at mile 50 in 7:38 while continuing to balance her post-partum return to racing. With Yates, the course-record holder, absent, Darcy Lallathin bested Suzi Swinehart for the women’s win. The two finished in 23:09 and 23:45. Robin Crump earned a podium position in third at 24:55.
Zane Grey Highline Trail 50 Mile – Payson, Arizona
France’s René Rovera won the 50-mile race, arguably one of the country’s most difficult, in 8:28. Brandon Stapanowich chased on the technical point-to-point route on Arizona’s Highline Trail in 8:36, and Erik Schulte was third in 8:47.
René Rovera wins the 2015 Zane Grey 50 Mile. Photo: Dave Payton
Familiar names dot the rest of the men’s results with Josh Brimhall fourth in 8:49, Joe Grant fifth in 8:58, Jason Wolfe in 9:11, Jason Koop in 9:40, and Ian Torrence in 10:12.
Amie Blackham topped the women’s race in 10:57, while Missy Gosney edged Jane Larkindale for second, 11:18 to 11:21.
Brazos Bend 50 Mile – Needville, Texas
Nicole Studer extended her win streak with a first-place 6:27, nearly an hour better than the previous course record at the second-year race, held in Texas’s Brazos Bend State Park. Sydney Lambert was second in 7:16, and Anna Hailey third in 7:34.
Nicole Studer, 2015 Brazos Bend 50 Mile champ. Photo: Trail Racing Over Texas
Josh Slocum and Wade Barrett outdistanced the rest of the men’s field with 6:16 and 6:24 marks. Stephen Baumgartner was third in 7:21.
Promise Land 50k – Bedford, Virginia
Twenty-one-year-old Virginia Tech student Darren Thomas dominated The Beast Series event with a 4:40 winning time, 27 minutes up on second-place Sam Dangc. It was, however, Dangc’s best result yet, after finishing fifth in 2014, third in 2013, and sixth in 2012. Jonathan Ryder chased to a third-place 5:10 finish.
Bethany Patterson won the women’s race in 5:28, 21 minutes better than her 2009 winning time. She was followed by Robin Watkins and Hannah Bright in 5:52 and 6:00, respectively.
Boston Marathon
Six weeks after running 2:20 at the LA Marathon, Sage Canaday again narrowly missed his sub-2:18 goal to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials. Canaday clocked 2:19:12 on a windy day in Boston. Uli Steidl was third in the masters ranking at 2:25:58, just ahead of Michael Wardian’s 2:27:20. (Wardian doubled back six days later to finish second at California’s Big Sur International Marathon in 2:33:04. Full results.)
Former U.S. Mountain Running Team member Nuta Olaru was second in the women’s masters results, finishing in 2:48:28.
Other finishers known to the ultra community were Alex Varner in 2:28:14, Chris Denucci in 2:42:32, and Caroline Boller in 2:54:08.
Other Races
Bryon Powell, Kami Semick, Lizzy Hawker, and others at Nepal’s Mustang Trail Race, an eight-stage race that covers some 102 miles, were all said to be okay amid the tragic earthquake that devastated the country.
Of 44 starters, just 32 finished the third annual Flatrock 101k, billed as Kansas’s toughest trail ultra. Mindy Coolman scored a new course record in 13:54, and Aaron Norman finished first overall in 12:41. Full results.
Sub-15! Ian Ramsey-North ran 14:45, nearly two hours better than his 2014 finish, at the C&O Canal 100 Mile in Maryland. Lisa Johnston earned the women’s win with a 21:38 finish. Full results.
Steve Speirs topped his own event record with 133 miles at the Virginia 24 Hour Run for Cancer, but barely edged out women’s winner Megan Stegemiller, who totaled 131 miles. Like Speirs, Stegemiller also improved on her own previous event record, having finished 108 miles at the 2014 race. Preliminary results.
In Colorado Springs, Colorado, Andy Wacker ran 1:42 to set a new course record at the Cheyenne Mountain Trail Race 25k. Longtime U.S. Mountain Running Team member Brandy Erholtz won the women’s race in 2:07. Full results.
Chris Vizcaino ran 3:30 for a big, 41-minute win at the Folsom Lake 50k in northern California. Sarah Johnston was third overall, first female, in 4:40. Full results.
Racing around Chattanooga, Tennessee’s Raccoon Mountain, William and Emily Ansick won the Scenic City Trail Marathon in 2:58 and 3:10. In the half-marathon race, Bill Martin and Daniel Lepage finished with matching 1:11:35 marks, 15 minutes ahead of third. Elizabeth McCalley won the women’s race at 1:30. Full results.
Kameron Ulmer sped through Idaho’s Weiser River Trail 50k in 3:11. Serrah West topped the women’s class in 4:25. Full results.
Newly crowned USATF 100k Road National Champion Camille Herron earned a third win at the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, finishing in 2:54.
Camille Herron, 2015 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon winner. Photo: Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon
Jorge Maravilla set a new course record at California’s San Luis Obispo Marathon, winning the race in 2:26. Full results.
At Wisconsin’s Chippewa Trail 50k, held on the Ice Age Trail, Nick Nygard and Christi Nowak were victorious in 3:45 and 4:44. Full results.
Matt Hoyes and Kristin Patterson won the Backside Trail Marathon, a fourth-year race that doubles as the USATF Kentucky State Trail Championships. Preliminary results.
Next Weekend – The Canyons 100k – Auburn, California
Rob Krar and Magdalena Boulet are heavy favorites at next weekend’s first-year 100k. While Boulet is coming off a win at the Sean O’Brien 100k, Krar will look to shake off the disappointment of a DNF at the Lake Sonoma 50 Mile.
“Lake Sonoma was far from what I’d hoped and expected, and the DNF stung for sure,” Krar said.
It’s been business as usual for Krar since that April 11 race, though. “I feel pretty confident in my health and fitness and haven’t altered my training at this point. I was able to regroup and refocus fairly quickly and avoid the pitfall of overanalyzing the race. Not every day is going to be perfect and some are simply going to be ugly. It’s part of the game and it’s important to get back on the horse, stay smart, and keep chasing the dream,” he said.
While top entrants are still shaking out, Bob Shebest and Ryan Bak were rumored as possible late entries.
Boulet is likely to be challenged by YiOu Wang, Jen Pfeiffer, and Jenny Capel, while Rory Bosio was rumored to be considering a late entry.
