It’s the last day of the year, and as we close out the year of running, let’s look back on the some of the top stories of our sport in 2024.
These 10 stories are what the iRunFar team thinks rise to the top of trail running, ultrarunning, and mountain running this past year. They are a combination of the performances you all read the most about and those we objectively think pushed running needle forward the farthest in 2024. This list is not meant to be comprehensive or limiting beyond the fact that an article has to end somewhere. These stories are just plain some of the damn finest of the last 12 months.
Have an amazing year, runners! May these stories inspire you to get out there and run happily.
Tara Dower Sets the Overall Supported Appalachian Trail Fastest Known Time
American Tara Dower’s feet not only broke all the records on the U.S.’s Appalachian Trail itself as her supported speed record surprassed everything that’s been done in the past — by women, men, and everyone — but the feat broke records on iRunFar. Our news article covering her finish was the top news article on iRunFar for 2024. Everyone who cares about trail running wanted to learn as much as possible about Dower’s massive accomplishment.
Look back at her August and September effort:
- Tara Dower Sets New Overall Supported Fastest Known Time on the Appalachian Trail
- Strong Self-Belief and an Even Stronger Crew: An Interview With Tara Dower on Her Appalachian Trail FKT
- Crewing Tara Dower on the Appalachian Trail: An Interview With Rascal
- What We Learn From Tara Dower
Tara Dower set a new overall supported fastest known time on the Appalachian Trail in 2024, and she set records in the media afterward as well. Photo courtesy of Tara Dower.
Jasmin Paris Is the First Woman to Finish the Barkley Marathons
In March, the U.K.’s Jasmin Paris wowed the world when she became the first woman to finish the Barkley Marathons, Tennessee’s notoriously ridiculous 100-plus-mile race. In doing so, her news story on iRunFar became the second-most-read news article on the website this year. Yep, that means the top two news articles on iRunFar this year were stories about women — and it wasn’t even close. Can we finally put to bed the notion that folks don’t follow women’s running as much as they do men? Anyway, Paris’s effort was phenomenal, and your support of her effort was, too.
Enjoy our two articles about Paris’s inspirational Barkley performance:
- 2024 Barkley Marathons Results: Jasmin Paris First Ever Women’s Finisher, Most Finishers Ever
- Self Confidence: An Interview With Jasmin Paris About Her 2024 Barkley Marathons Finish
The sheer exhaustion of the effort was plain to see in Jasmin Paris at the finish of the 2024 Barkley Marathons. Her effort captivated the trail running world — and well beyond — this year. Photo: David Miller
David Roche Sets the Leadville 100 Mile Men’s Course Record
The Leadville 100 Mile course record was once thought to be unbeatable, set by Colorado mountain running icon Matt Carpenter in 2005, who made himself an absolute scientist about the course and event. But records are meant to be broken, and that’s precisely what happened when coach and runner David Roche of the U.S. blew the roof off this race in his 100-mile debut. Let’s remember Roche’s effort at the Colorado event in August with these two articles:
- David Roche Breaks 19-Year-Old Leadville 100 Mile Course Record Held By Matt Carpenter
- Is David Roche Having His Geoff Roes Moment?
David Roche winning the 2024 Leadville 100 Mile and setting a new course record. Photo: Life Time
Courtney Olsen Sets the Women’s 50-Mile World Record
Several ultrarunning world records were set in 2024, among them the 50-mile effort of American Courtney Olsen at Illinois’s Tunnel Hill 50 Mile in November. A moment of silence for the woman who put away 50 miles at an average pace of 6:39 minutes per mile, or 4:08 per kilometer. Oh. My. Goodness. If you missed them, here are our two articles on Olsen’s effort:
- Courtney Olsen Sets 50-Mile World Record of 5:31:56 at the 2024 Tunnel Hill 50 Mile
- An Interview With Courtney Olsen After Her World Record Run at the 2024 Tunnel Hill 50 Mile
Courtney Olsen crossing the line to set a new women’s 50-mile world record at the 2024 Tunnel Hill 50 Mile. Photo: Micki Colson, Colson Photography
Amidst the UTMB Spectacle, Katie Schide Shines With a Women’s Course Record and Vincent Bouillard Breaks Out for the Men’s Win
The UTMB Mont Blanc festival in France has very simply become a spectacle — good, bad, and everything in between. One good thing that comes out of the weeklong frenzy is the incredible competitive depth at several of the event’s races, UTMB, CCC, OCC, and TDS — but especially UTMB. In that race, American Katie Schide capped off a fantastic year in trail ultrarunning to set a women’s course record. For the men, France’s Vincent Bouillard dominated the men’s field en route to his first big international win. You can look back at UTMB with our results article.
We also covered the other most competitive events at the festival:
Katie Schide runs past fans on her way to her 2024 UTMB victory. Photo: iRunFar/Kirsten Kortebein
Fell Running Legend Joss Naylor Passes Away at Age 88
U.K. fell runner Joss Naylor can rightfully be credited with encouraging the development of his beloved sport. After a literal lifetime of living, fell running, and setting records in England’s Lake District, Naylor passed away in June at the age of 88. His family, friends, and the fell running community celebrated his life at the tiny church located in the valley in which he had lived with a moving service that involved folks running to the ceremony in their fell running club kit. Read our memorial to the legend, our attempt to honor Naylor’s fell running legacy.
Joss Naylor, fell running legend. He was born on February 10, 1936 and he passed away on June 28, 2024. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
The Western States 100 Fields Just Keep Getting Faster
While no course records were set at this year’s edition — more to do with the heat of the day than the competitive heat — the density of the competition keeps rising at California’s Western States 100. Katie Schide and Jim Walmsley took home wins in this year’s edition. While this rise in competitive depth has been especially notable over the last two years in the women’s race, we saw it in both the men’s and women’s fields in 2024. It took a mere 15 hours, 20 minutes if you wanted to get into the men’s top 10, and just 17:30 if you wanted to be a women’s top-10 finisher. Five of the men’s top 10 performances ever at this event come from this year, and this year’s women notched six of the top 10 performances ever. Just whoa. Our results article dives into this year’s top-end speed.
Jim Walmsley on his way to winning the 2024 Western States 100. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
The Six-Day World Records Go Down Multiple Times
First it was American Camille Herron who took over the women’s six-day world record at the lululemon FURTHER event, in March in California. We covered her accomplishment with these two articles:
- Camille Herron Sets 6-Day World Record by Running 560.33 Miles at the 2024 lululemon FURTHER Event
- Finding a Groove: An Interview With Camille Herron About Her 6-Day World Record at the 2024 lululemon FURTHER Event
Then, in September 2024, both the women’s and men’s world records were set at two different events in the span of a couple weeks, in Denmark and Hungary, respectively. Stine Rex of Denmark reset the women’s record at 567.688 miles (913.606 kilometers) and Matthieu Bonne of Belgium ran 650.146 miles (1,046.31k). We covered their accomplishments in this article.
Matthieu Bonne at the 2024 GOMU-EMU Six Day World Championships, where he set a men’s six-day world record. Photo: GOMU-EMU Six Day World Championships
Course Records for Everyone at the Hardrock 100
You get a course record. You get a course record. Everyone gets a course record! This year, the Hardrock 100 men’s and women’s champs, France’s Ludovic Pommeret and the U.S.’s Courtney Dauwalter ran away with victories and earned new course records in the process. While this event won’t ever have the competitive depth of other 100 milers, unless it changes its field size and how it conducts its lottery, the Colorado race still offers fascinating storylines at the pointy end of its field. Look back at Dauwalter and Pommeret’s course records with our results article.
Courtney Dauwalter early in the 2024 Hardrock 100, on her way to a third victory at this race in course-record time. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Kyle Curtin Sets the Men’s Supported Colorado Trail Fastest Known Time
So much happened in June in trail running, ultrarunning, and mountain running, including American Kyle Curtin absolutely destroying the men’s supported fastest known time on the Colorado Trail, the 490-mile trail stretching between Durango and Denver and lacing through much of the state’s incredible mountain ranges. Our news article about Curtin’s performance offers some details on his speed record.
Kyle Curtin (center) after reaching Durango, Colorado, and setting a new overall supported FKT on the Colorado Trail. Photo courtesy of Maggie Guterl.
Call for Comments
- What was the story of the year in trail, mountain, or ultra for you? Or, if you can’t narrow it down, what were a couple of your favorites?
- Have any predictions for stories we should look out for in the year ahead?
