A course record at the Leadville 100 Mile, the USATF 50k Trail National Championships, and the latest from the Cirque Series are among this week’s go-to highlights.
Let’s get going!
Leadville 100 Mile – Leadville, Colorado
Women
Mary Denholm raced across the sky in 18:23. She was over three hours better than everyone else, and it was the race’s second-fastest time in history, trailing only Ann Trason’s 18:06 mark that dates to 1994. Denholm’s been unbeatable in Leadville this summer. She won the Leadville Trail Marathon and the Silver Rush 50 Mile, also in Leadville, in June and July. Denholm is also a two-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier, but this might’ve been her 100-mile debut.
Zoë Rom and Julie Wright respectively finished second and third in 21:27 and 21:48 after a close, all-day race.
Mary Denholm takes the win at the 2024 Leadville 100 Mile. Photo: Life Time
Men
David Roche stands alone on the men’s all-time chart. Roche rewrote history with a 15:26 first-place run. That bettered Matt Carpenter’s legendary 19-year course record by 16 minutes. As with women’s winner Denholm, Roche too won this year’s Silver Rush 50 Mile, and this definitely was his debut at the 100-mile distance.
iRunFar earlier detailed Roche’s race with key splits.
David Roche winning the 2024 Leadville 100 Mile and setting a new course record. Photo: Life Time
Two-time winner Adrian MacDonald ran faster than he ever had before, but his 15:56 run was only good for second this year behind Roche’s heroics. Ryan Sullivan was third in 17:21.
Ryan Montgomery was first non-binary runner, third overall, in 16:09.
Headlands 50k – Muir Beach, California
The event was the USATF 50k Trail National Championships and there was a $10,000 prize purse with $2,500 to each of the winners. The coastal race climbed 6,500 feet.
Lindsay Allison was out front in the women’s race with a 4:30 finish time. Sylvie Abel and Sarah Biehl pushed to second and third in 4:36 and 4:45, respectively. Abel was third and Biehl was second in last year’s race.
The men’s race was a blowout. Cole Campbell finished in 3:40, 17 minutes faster than everyone else. It was the race’s second-fastest finish in its long history. The 25-year-old next has the IMTUF 100 Mile in Idaho on his calendar. Finnian Jacobson-Schulte and Andrew Rylaarsdam were second and third in 3:57 and 3:59.
Tatra Sky Marathon – Kościelisko, Poland
The race was meant to be the year’s sixth Golden Trail World Series race, but it was canceled due to weather. The start time was first adjusted and the women’s race did start in heavy rain. The group was stopped 11k into the race though and the men never started. Lightning on the race’s high sections ultimately led to the complete cancellation.
The next Golden Trail World Series is the September 14 Headlands 27k in the U.S.
Thunder and lightning with heavy rainfall caused the Tatra Sky Marathon to be canceled 11k into the women’s race. Photo: Golden Trail World Series / Tatra Sky Marathon / Colin Olivero / @rising.story
Additional Races and Runs
Run Larapinta – Alice Springs, Australia
The four-day, four-stage race marked its 10th year. There were again both long and short course options that totaled 128k and 83k, or 80 and 52 miles. Jessica Jenke and Ariarn Huston both ran the long race in 15:39, less than a second apart, perhaps a meant-for tie, and Yun Phua was the first man in the long race at 12:48. Gillian Turnbull and Brett Godden won the short option in 10:41 and 10:49, with Turnbull the overall winner. Full results.
Runners enjoying the final stage of the 2024 Run Larapinta. Photo: Forktail
Squamish 50 Mile – Squamish, British Columbia, Canada
The event has both 50 mile and 50k races, and the option to double. Priscilla Forgie and Marcus Ribi won the 50 miler in 8:27 and 7:17, and Jade Belzberg and Alexandre Ricard were tops in the 50k in 5:16 and 4:32. The events served as the Canadian Trail Running National Championships 50 Mile and 50k. Full results.
Backcountry Rise – Toutle, Washington
Daybreak Racing’s 50k crowned Elisabeth Phillips-Jones and Mino Giunta as this year’s winners in 6:34 and 5:05. Full results.
Bulldog 50k – Calabasas, California
The race dates back to 1992. Eva Frieden and Anthony Fagundes won this year in 4:46 and 3:30, and Fagundes’s time was a new course record. He beat Chris Myers’s 2022 mark by only 10 seconds. Full results.
Lean Horse 100 Mile – Custer, South Dakota
Jane Murowski and Daven Oskvig went 20:47 and 18:05 at the front of the 100-mile race. Full results.
Cirque Series – Alta, Utah
The year’s fourth Cirque Series race went 7.1 miles with 2,545 feet of climbing. Race winners collected $1,000 each. Rachel Drake was almost a minute better than Giselle Slotboom for the women’s crown. The two ran 1:08 and 1:09, and Alexa Aragon was third in 1:12. Mason Coppi was at the top of the men’s podium in 58:19, and Talon Hull and Andrew Knapik were second and third in 1:01 and 1:04. Full results.
Mid Mountain 50k – Park City, Utah
Most of the race is run on the Mid Mountain Trail. Kristin Johnson and Thomas George led the field in 4:28 and 3:46. Full results.
Cloudcroft Ultra 53k – Cloudcroft, New Mexico
Sari Stolp and Henry Harris won in 6:39 and 4:57. Harris’s time was a new course record for the seventh-year race. Full results.
Transrockies Run – Buena Vista, Colorado
The three- and six-day stage run totaled 116 miles on a one-way run from Buena Vista to Beavercreek, Colorado. There were both solo and two-person team races. The women’s solo six-day race was among the most competitive with the women finishing second, third, and fourth overall. Emilie Mann (Canada) beat out Shea Aquilano and Brittany Peterson for the win. The three totaled 18:35, 18:49, and 19:19. Only men’s winner Brandon Miller and his 16:39 run was ahead of the women’s podium. Full results.
Marquette Trail 50 Mile – Marquette, Michigan
The races are run in far northern Michigan. Lily Medina and Benjamin Drexler won the 50-mile race in 11:34 and 9:04, and Kate Dohnal and Tyler Kobilarcsik won the 50k in 5:32 and 4:22. Full results.
Call for Comments
What other weekend action should be highlighted?
