The Sub Stack Short Trail News - Episode 5 - Broken Arrow & Sunapee Scramble Recap

Broken Arrow is no longer “a big US race” and Sunapee is no longer “just a championship weekend.” These two stops are starting to feel like proof that trail running and mountain running in North America has entered a new era: deeper fields, smarter tactics, better coverage, and performances that hold up on the world stage.

We sit down together to unpack what we saw across the US Mountain Running Championships at Sunapee and the Broken Arrow Skyrace festival, from pacing strategy on runnable early miles to the chaos of steep ski-hill starts at altitude. We talk about why these courses demand real planning, how athletes can make huge moves after the opening climb, and why knowing the terrain can be as valuable as fitness. Along the way, we dig into the “don’t believe elites when they say they are injured” phenomenon and how cross-training like skiing and biking can still produce world-class race days.

We also nerd out on what great storytelling looks like for the sport, including Broken Arrow’s next-level live stream and the tech behind it, plus how commentary can help fans understand what is happening in real time. Then we get into the results and the human stories: breakthrough performances, veteran longevity, and comeback wins that make you want to lace up your shoes immediately.

If you care about trail running results, mountain running tactics, the Golden Trail Series ecosystem, or where the US scene is headed next, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves the sport, and leave a review with the most impressive performance from the weekend.

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Transcript

Catching Up And Recent Adventures

SPEAKER_01 0:00

All right, Rachel Tomaichek. Welcome back to the Substack Episode 5. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 0:07

Yeah, I'm doing well, doing well. Just hanging out in Colorado. I'm 32 weeks tomorrow. So yeah, I've been doing a lot of hiking. Drew and I had a fun weekend this weekend and went up to Breckenridge and hiked up Peak Eight, which was the biggest like mountain that I've done kind of during pregnancy. So it was really fun. It was really hard. Um it's definitely hard up at 10,000 feet to hike something that steep. And there's a bunch of snow on the top and things like that. So it was definitely an adventure, but uh yeah, a really fun weekend. And then I got to watch Rogan Arrow, which we'll get into. So yeah, how are you? How is how is being out a broken arrow this weekend?

SPEAKER_01 0:47

I'm I'm tired. I am I am I am refreshed and like I'm energized from just the energy of the weekend and just how exciting it was. But yeah, I'm I'm ready to I'm taking a nap after this. It's been it's been it's been a crazy few days. Uh and then I'm on top of that, I'll be racing this weekend, which is uh, I don't know. I I was like, man, I want to do races that get me out of bed, that get me really excited, that have like good competitions. So, you know, obviously want to throw in a Cirque series race there. And that's why I was like, oh, maybe this weekend I'll hop into something fun and why not? Let's just make it really difficult. We'll fly from one side of the country to the next. Uh so we are you know back to back in in country this week, which was super fun. We'll see how we're gonna roll the dice and see how that goes.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Yeah, yeah, that's Killington for the Cirque series. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

Yep, Cirque Series Killington was there last year. Uh really bad performance on my own part. I, you know what happened was I had planned on going out there. Um, my wife and I actually drove out with the dogs because we were gonna do like a the fun trip in the northeast. And this was uh I had planned everything and paid for everything into the whole thing before I had like my uh sacrum injury last year. So I was not running up until I maybe started running like a week, two weeks before uh the race. And I was like, well, my brother-in-law is in the race. Uh, you know, obviously I'm a good friend of Tom Hooper's. He's a he's a buddy of mine. I was like, you know, it would be really fun to just go. They're already like hotels booked, let's just go. Um actually from out of my expectations for only running like one week, and uh, but yeah, just had like a massive episode of cramps because my muscles just weren't ready for it, like right around the end of the race. There's like really nice people as I'm like cramping on the side of the hill, like nice people like dropping gels on my dying corpse.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Like they're like, keep going, you got this.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

They were so nice, and I'm like, You ever have like, I don't know if you've ever had like one of those like like almost like a Garrett Corcoran type of cramp where you're like laying there trying to stretch your leg out, and the the the like the calf and quad is just so like seized up.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Uh yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, that's worse.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Yeah, it was terrible. So yeah, hopefully, I mean we can't we can't get much worse than that.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

So let's yeah, true. Yeah, hopefully it's only up from this.

unknown 3:04

This is

Broken Arrow Vibes And Course Reality

unknown 3:05

true.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

But yeah, broken arrow was amazing. I was there Thursday through Sunday. It was crazy to uh just gotta you know put a lot of faces to names and and you know, just meet so many people that have been on the podcast and do a bunch of media work. And it was also nice and different to be there without having to race. So like that expectation was a little bit different. So I could like I take in the weekend and just enjoy other people's races and and you know, just spend time with friends and uh, you know, kind of soak all that in. Got to see a bunch of the course too, like both the 23k and the like um I did the 11k and a good chunk of the 23k course as well, and some of the ascent, like a big chunk of the ascent course while I was there. And uh yeah, the courses are legit, world class. Uh, I can't say I really liked the ascent course in the sense where like the ski hill in the front in the beginning from the race with all the plants and stuff. Yeah, dude, it was so overgrown this year. I was like, so die. This is terrible.

SPEAKER_02 3:58

It's a tough start, yeah. And I think some people will have poles with them, and you're just trying to run behind someone with poles, and people start off way too fast and then kind of die on the ski hill, and then you have to get around them somehow. So um, I do think it is nice because once you get the ski hill, they do start at a pretty wide start. And then even when you get past the ski hill, the fire road that you're on is pretty um wide and open too. So there is a lot of room to make moves through the race, which is great. Um, you don't just like immediately go into single track, but it's definitely a very, very steep start for sure.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

So the section you're talking about once before before you hit the road and when it starts to funnel in, um, like at the very top of the ski hill before it hits the road, there's like straight up, it was like there was bushes there this year. Like it was straight up like three foot. Like a tiny person like you, I'm like, I wouldn't, I was like, what do I do here? This is this is insane. So yeah, it was so interesting. Um and it was interesting too. Like uh, you know, I've got some good videos of uh the men and women coming through. Obviously, Anna didn't, you know, for the most part didn't change position uh in the race, but the men, the shakeup in the men's race was insane. So that was yeah, super interesting to see. And then you know what? Yeah, this the first time I was ever on the 23k course, which also shares like most of the course of the 11 of the 11k. And I was so surprised by how flat it was for the first four miles. Like you don't really start getting a lot of downhill until like mile four. I was not expecting that. That was that was different, it was weird.

SPEAKER_02 5:34

Yeah, yeah. I feel like both on the ascent people go out too fast uh because they're trying to run up this ski hill when maybe hiking is even more efficient. And then on the 23k, the trails are so runnable that it's also easy to go out really fast because you're just like sprinting out onto these trails that are pretty smooth, and then you hit the really steep climbs and realize either that you went out too fast or that you paced yourself well on those lower trails. But um, yeah, it's definitely an advantage to know the courses for sure.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Big time. Yeah, I think there's a lot of I didn't think about this until recently. Whereas like most courses, I don't know, maybe you just don't think too much into it. These I feel like require a decent amount of strategy because it's not just it's not like a simple up-down where you just throw yourself up the mountain and then throw yourself off of it. Like I think there's a decent amount of like learning the pacing and the strategy behind um, you know, I guess really both courses. Because if you still have legs, I mean Cam, I think Cam was probably the best example, Cam Smith, where he was, I don't know, maybe 15th, 10 or 15th coming off the ski hill, and then just absolutely blitzed everybody. And I was I was impressed. It was absolutely crazy to watch. But um, yeah, I think like if you still have legs when you get to the road, then you can really make up so much time.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

So oh yeah, yeah, for sure. And same with the uh 23k too on the descent, you can really make up some ground. So um yeah, you I think it's a course that you really just have to play to your strengths with. Like if you're really good at climbs uh for the 23k, you need to get out and climb hard. Um, and if you're really good at the descents, then maybe you save a little bit in your legs for the descent. But yeah, I think it's a course where you can play to your strengths as an athlete.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

What did you uh think of the

Pacing Strategy On Runnable Mountain Courses

SPEAKER_01 7:23

live streams? I thought they were really good.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

Yeah, they were so good. Yeah. Um, I watched it last year and it was really good, but I feel like this year was even better, and they had um some professional mountain bikers, or maybe they were retired professional mountain bikers, I think.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

Yeah, story to this, story to this. So I get to the top of uh the um just before the ascent starts, me and Tom Hooper get to the top of the um like the ski hole. And yeah, there's a whole group of mountain bikers, and these dudes are like Euros that are kitted out in like the special, all the special garb. And it's Greg Villet, and I guess he has a company that that that's their business. Whoa, okay. Aspects of the live stream. Yeah, it was really interesting. No, right. Like you should see like multiple thousand dollar kits of like uh they've got a Starlink on the back, and then all this like really fancy technology. I was taking pictures of it. I was like so cool because I'm still in time. Like, you could use this at Sunnepe, this would be really cool. Um it was really, really interesting uh to see like some of the the get ups they had, and then on the e-bikes, and especially like on the dirt roads, you just crank that e-bike up and you can it's it's probably pretty easy to film a good amount. I thought they did a fantastic job for for at least the ascent. I didn't get to watch too much. Totally.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you or so each bike has a Starlink on it? Yeah, basically. Whoa. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

It was like a backpack, yeah. It was like a backpack kit with like a couple like a radio situation. They had like their helmet on and then like a kind of a hookup to the to the radio on there. And then yeah, I had a every person had like this almost like a metal frame that had a Starlink uh like built in, and then the camera that they had as well. Whoa. So it was it was pretty space age. I was I was very impressed like with the the setting. Wow. I'm assuming that like it's I guess it's the business that they have that maybe Greg has or whatever, uh, through one of maybe like Golden Trail, it's like a sub-business that they that they operate that you can just hire places like this.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

So that was pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

Yeah, that would make sense. Yeah, I feel like with Golden Trail, I see more people out there without bikes that are running next to athletes. But um, yeah, that's they did an incredible job here. I feel like even in the descent section, once they got into the single tracks, they were still filming a lot of that section. So yeah, that was really cool. But I wonder if they'll or if they have started integrating those bikes into the Golden Trail series for this year. Um, and they'll kind of move more to that. I do think some of the races there are so, so steep, it's hard to imagine um bikes on those courses over in Europe. But yeah, that would be cool.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

No, big time. I and I think you're right. Like you can almost, I don't want to say cheat a little bit, but like it makes life much easier for at least like Broken Arrow, because there's so many ski roads to access everything that you can get from point A to point B quite easily on you know on the road with uh with the mountain bike. Whereas like, yeah, on like something like Ledro or like if you're on some technical ridge, like there's no way you're gonna get up there with a mountain bike. It's funny.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

But I think uh our American course is easier for it. Um yeah, yeah,

How The Live Stream Got So Good

SPEAKER_01 10:32

yeah. I was blown away. ACG too. I gotta I gotta give them their credit. Like that was a a world-class race. There was so many people this year. I have never seen I think the last one was there was 2023, and it had to have been at least 20 to 30 percent bigger than 2023. It was like massive, and just the amount of people spectating and cheering, even for smaller races, like the 11k, the iron face, and the 18k. There was uh just a crazy amount of people at the finish line like going wild. So which I don't I feel I totally see that in 2023, which is which is pretty crazy.

SPEAKER_02 11:04

So yeah, yeah, I definitely think that was the most stacked field in a North American race that I've seen. Yeah. Ever, or at least in the sub Ultras. I think so.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

I didn't get a chance to run the numbers yet, but I'm almost like 100% sure. I'm like, let's say 99% sure that was the most competitive race ever. Like the 23K was the most competitive race we ever had on American soil. That like I feel like that outdid the 2023 Pikes Peak Ascent, which was the up until this point, the previous, yeah, first of Ultra.

SPEAKER_02 11:35

Yeah, yeah. It's wild. I mean, people were coming over that are from Europe and usually do World Cup races or Golden Trail series races, and this wasn't even in the Golden Trail series this year, and they were still showing up. Um, so that was really cool to see that Broken Arrow can really just stand on its own as a race. It doesn't need to be part of a series or anything like that. It's just good because it's good.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

Yeah. Yeah, it it really you're you're so right. Like it really has become like a true marquee international event. Like I guess the way it kind of stacks up with Western states too, being the week prior and then having TrailCon in the middle. I mean, athletes from everywhere around the world, like whether it doesn't matter what you're racing, there's some kind of something for everybody. Yeah, I think it's it's gonna continue to grow, and you know, they're really big and great with getting elite fields, and elite fields just-I mean, we had Ninky Brink been there this year. Yeah, there was Rory Link letter. I saw Stephanie Bruce. Well, I didn't even know she was in the race. Um there was quite a few like athletes from the road scene and just from all scenes. Uh Jesse Diggins, I got to hang out with her for a little bit. The uh she was like a four-time Olympian. Uh there was yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like who's who of uh all endurance sports were there. So it is truly being kind of the craziest event uh that we've gotten in the North American scene. And I think it's great. I think it's great for the sport, and I think it's good for us. Um, because it just continues, it's just so big. It's kind of crazy. Because like, I don't know, I feel like you probably remember the sport when it was like this kind of like rinky dink smaller thing, and that's kind of how I remember it. And it's like, whoa, it's not that way anymore. It's like it's like really, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:11

So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I got into trails around in 2021. So I feel like it was really when it was growing and building a lot of momentum, which was fun. But you could still go to some races that were pretty small and things like that. And um, Broken Arrow was kind of also just taking off, and they were a more established race in the US, but now they're an established international race. So yeah, really cool to see the US just having some races of that caliber.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

One last thing I'll end on. I was thinking about this before we kind of went into this conversation was this is like the only race in the United States where like a top 50 result is actually pretty solid because there was it was so deep. And like they say that about many, if not any races outside of like UTMB or even world, like worlds or UTMB or something like that, you know?

SPEAKER_02 14:00

Yeah, yeah. World's UTMB series and all, I feel like uh Zagama, but yeah, really cool to have a race like that on US soil.

unknown 14:09

Yeah.

Why Broken Arrow Feels International

SPEAKER_01 14:10

All right, let's shift gears. Uh, we'll we'll start to get into results and stuff like that. But I also want to talk to you about Sunopee, uh, which a few weeks ago, I mean, we've just been on a roll. Sunnipee was amazing. We you and I both had a chance to go on the commentary team uh at the US Mountain Running Championship and uh get to kind of call that race and commentate on that race. How special was that? Wasn't that fun?

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Yeah, that was so cool. Yeah, I loved being able to commentate on the race. And um, yeah, they did a really good job on the live stream too. I feel like in years past, maybe it's been a little spotty or they've had problems with the Starlink or something, but this time it was really, really good. It was hard to see once they got into that technical single track section, but um, I feel like that would be really impossible to bike up or get someone back in there for. So yeah, they did an incredible job with the live stream. And um, yeah, it was really, really fun to commentate on that race.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Yeah, I feel like you, specifically you and Remy brought and and Corinne as well, just brought so much value uh to, but you know, I gotta say, like you and Remy with the experience on course and just everything that you guys brought to it. Um, definitely the stars of the show. Like there was so much that you guys were able to kind of lend to the audience to help them better understand like what the athletes were going through, and then a lot about the course as well. So I definitely appreciated that. That helped a lot.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

Oh, thanks. Yeah, it was so fun. It's been fun staying connected to races kind of this year when I'm not racing as much. So yeah, it was it was awesome.

SPEAKER_01 15:35

I hope like as the sport continues to grow, like that's the way kind of things roll with as the sport gets massive, there'll be every like big race will have a live stream, and then like that kind of feeds into like athletes as they you know, whether they're injured or out for pregnancy, or it whether maybe they just don't feel like racing, and they can get a job to be able to be a commentator, like at a uh an event. I think that would be sick. That's the way it should be, and the way a lot of sports do it.

SPEAKER_02 16:02

Totally. I mean, I think you're seeing that already in track. Um, Kerry Goucher is retired, but she does a lot of commentating on big races, and um yeah, Sonia Richards Ross does that too. And then um, there's a new thing with the athlete lounge where where a lot of retired track athletes are commentating on Diamond League races and stuff while they're going on. So yeah, I feel like we're seeing that in track, and it would be cool to pull that over to the trails more and more too.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Yeah, no, 100%. It's definitely pretty sick. Um yeah, Sunapee. Let's

Sunapee Commentary And Standout Performances

SPEAKER_01 16:35

let's talk about that. I feel like as we we're almost at like the 20-minute mark now, I don't want to keep uh glazing broken arrow on Sun of P, but I feel like we need to talk about results.

SPEAKER_02 16:44

Yeah, yeah, we gotta get into the results here.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

I'm just kind of curious, out of the race, both men's and women's, what what kind of impressed you the most uh for Sunapee? Was there any specific kind of performance that like that that kind of I don't know, just gave you like I don't know, just kind of had you impressed?

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Yeah, yeah. I think definitely the women's field impressed me with the new athletes coming up and really kind of making a name for themselves, which was really cool. Um, I think Maya Rail did a great job just establishing herself in in the sport in this race. Um, and that was really cool. And even on the men's side, too, there are a lot of guys that are newer to the trails that kind of just went in and crushed in their first US mountain championship. So um, yeah, kind of seeing some of those newer athletes come up was really, really impressive. Um, and then I guess on the flip side of that too, some of the older athletes too, Casey and Men did an amazing job. Um, and so yeah, I think just like seeing older athletes, newer athletes to the sport race together and um all have kind of impressive performances was really cool.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

Yeah. I I have to say, I I'd say the men's race was probably easier to predict. The women's race, I felt like though, like if I was a betting person, and I you and I kind of talked about offline about this before, even before the race, it I really thought the race was really gonna come down to Courtney Koppinger and uh and I and Taylor Taylor PV. And I was really surprised to see you know athletes like Maya Rail, Ali Alicia too, but Elisa she threw me off. She she totally sandbagged me because I was we were in our pre-race conversation and she was like, Oh yeah, I'm I'm in, like I'm just coming back from injury. She's like, I don't really think I'm gonna race race. We'll see. And I was like, Yeah. Yeah. So she raced. Oh, she raced.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

To me, okay. I don't trust pro athletes when they tell me anymore that they're injured or that they've had something going on because I feel like there's been so many times that I talk with somebody before a race and I'm like, How are you doing? Things like that. We're just catching up. And they make it seem like they have had the worst training leading up to this and things like that. And then they go in and crush the race. And I don't know if some of it is just like um they really have had a tough training block because I think that that is true. And there's some athletes that we'll talk about today that had to cross-train a ton and they really were injured pretty badly, like before this and going into the race. But um, yeah, they just cross-trained a ton and got really, really fit. And so some of it probably is that they're feeling unsure. But I just don't trust elite athletes when they tell me that because I'm kind of like, if you've been putting in the work, you might be the fittest that you've ever been right now. And you just don't know, especially in the trails. I feel like it's a different when you're on the tracker roads because you kind of just need to run. Um, but with trails, like there's a lot of really amazing athletes like Anna Gibson is coming off of a lot of skiing and um biking, I think, right now, and goes in and crushes the race. So I feel like in trails, there's a lot of different activities that you can do to get you really, really fit for the trails. So um, yeah, I guess I don't trust pro athletes sometimes when they tell me that they're not ready.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Well, you're so right. You're too like I'm two for two for this because I had Rena tell me the same thing. Rena said she, I think she had like a knee injury or something. I I don't know, like a fantastic race. And Rena, I felt like, and I think I said this on the live stream, like more known to to everybody as a as a climber, and I think where she established more dominance of the race was actually on the descent, and like showed some range there. So yeah, I don't know. I don't trust anybody anymore. This is totally.

SPEAKER_02 20:37

And I'm not saying that they're lying or that they're not. Uh they might just not be feeling confident in their fitness, but even if they're not confident in their fitness, in my mind, I'm like, I'm confident in your fitness because you've probably been cross-training a ton. And like I said, you might be more fit than you ever have been. So um, yeah, I know everyone out there is just gonna go out and give themselves the best chance to have the best day that they can. And if you're fit, you're fit.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

It's true. Interesting to see a lot of dichotomy of courses. Like you look at the type of course that athletes perform well on, something like a Sunnepe versus something like a broken arrow, which is obviously more Mountain West. Um, and it's definitely, for instance, like Sunope was definitely more Elisa's type of more, I'd say Quebec slash Euro even type of course where it's a little bit techier, it's more grass and mud, it's less uh just a different, different type of like mountain classic, if you will. Yeah. Athletes perform differently on something like Broken Arrow, where there's altitude at play and it's just a completely different type of course.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Totally. Yeah, that's very, very true. I also think that um it depends too on how runnable something is, something like Sunope. Um, it does have some pretty technical sections and things like that that you have to do a lot of hiking during. And so maybe coming off of some kind. Kind of inner injury, um, you're better at just like those kinds of sections that are more technical and you just need to have a really high VO2 max, but you don't need to be as efficient with your running form as normal. So um I don't know, I feel like that can play into it a little bit too.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

Yeah, big time. Um, let's talk. I one more one more thing I do want to say before uh this is another thing you and I were talking about offline as well was some of the picks on the men. Because I really thought that Sun of P was going to be too much for someone like an Ares Redding because it had a lot more technicality to it, versus something that would be more I felt like broken arrow would suit him better. And he shocked me. I mean, I think he had an amazing performance at Sun of P, got himself on the US men's team for the updown, showed a ton of range, and uh just really cemented himself as one of the better US men right now and really, you know, one of the young studs kind of coming up in the sport.

SPEAKER_02 22:53

Totally. Yeah, I I don't know if I was um surprised by that, but I just didn't know if he would have that skill uh or not. Because I feel like when somebody comes onto the scene at first, you just don't know what their technical skills are like. So um, yeah, he had already proved himself in those really fast races, like Big Alta. Um, but yeah, you just don't know how that's gonna translate to the more technical terrain. So yeah, it was cool to see him just really in the zone on those downhills and um yeah, being able to compete with the best of them on the technical sections.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

Big time. And then one last person before we get onto the results, Dan Kurtz. Hats off to Dan Kurtz. I feel like Dan gave it his best, I mean, definitely his best effort, especially with kind of a modified build. He wasn't really sure where things were. He was working with a new coach this year in Zach Kenzel, and then had to go uh get surgery on his neck, which took a little bit longer to recover from than he kind of originally anticipated. I think his surgery was February and March time frame. Um, so it took a bit of time for him to kind of get back from. And he's got a ton of fitness. I think he's gonna be racing. I believe is it this weekend? I think it is this weekend, uh, Marathon Du Mont Blanc.

SPEAKER_02 24:05

So yeah, yeah, he's over there.

unknown 24:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

Yeah. Yeah. I've been seeing all his runs on Strava. Um, yeah, it looks like he's having fun there. So yeah, that is a really that was fun to see his result there at Sunope because um, yeah, I think just when you know athletes and you know the stories and the things that they've gone through um and the hardships they go through, it means a lot when they perform really well after going through something really hard. So um Dan's definitely one of those people that has just been resilient and been putting in the work even when things are tough. So um really, really great to see him kind of crushing it. And yeah, I'm excited to see how he does this weekend.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

Big time. But yeah, he's part of this contingent of like American men with, and I think MK kind of said this when they were doing the uh subhub. Uh it might have been the 23K uh uh preview episode. It's that like there, it's a great time in this in like for American men right now, like between Christian Allen, Dan Kurtz, Mason Copie, Taylor Stack, there's a a group of like really young men up and coming that are starting to compete on the international scene and do really, really well. So I'm quite excited for the future. I think there's a lot to be excited about uh when it comes to those guys. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:18

Totally. Yeah, me too. I'm excited. And um, yeah, it'll be fun to see how what the rest of this summer has in score when they start racing in these international races more.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Yeah, yeah, I can't wait for some of the Golden Trail series races. Like Taylor Stackman just keeps hitting, hitting singles, doubles, and triples. Like he's he's really really good. I mean, and he beat Mason this weekend, which a little bit longer, of course, different kind of course. Um, but it's always fun to see like him, Mason, and Cam kind of together. Uh yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, that American Mountain Classic team from last year, so it's kind of funny. Yeah, that is fun. Yeah. Let's let's get into

Sunapee Results And Team Spots Explained

SPEAKER_01 25:54

um. Should we get into some results? I'll let you take it away for the for the women.

SPEAKER_02 25:58

Okay, yeah, yeah. Um, Sonape for the women, Elisa Morin was first, she's from Canada. Um, Maya Rail was second, Rena Schwartz was third, Courtney Coppinger fourth, and then Taylor Tuttle, fifth, and then uh also Casey Inman was sixth. And I wrote her in there uh as sixth because Elisa and Elisa's from Canada, and then Courtney declined her spot for the US team. So uh Casey made the US team as well. So Maya, Rena, Taylor, and Casey will be on that US team um for I think the World Cup classic race.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

Um did Courtney talk about why? I mean, I know why, and I know you do. You know why too? Yeah, did Courtney talk about why? I don't know if that's in the shirt.

SPEAKER_02 26:47

I don't know if she has said it, but yeah, there basically the reason why somebody would decline a spot like that, especially when it's a world's year and or not a world's year and it's um kind of an off year, is because you can qualify for that race for the World Cup as an athlete on your own. You don't have to be part of a country to qualify. And in fact, most athletes at that race aren't running for a country, they are just racing in the World Cup race. Um, so if you do that and you're racing unattached from a country, you're able to wear your sponsor's kit instead of the USA Nike kit. Um, so your sponsors just are represented a little bit more. And I think that that means a lot to them if you can race in their kit as often as you can. And I think I think a lot of sponsors are totally okay with their athletes racing in the Nike kit if they make the world team, um, because that's a huge accomplishment and everything, and it looks good for that brand. But uh, I think when you're racing in things like the World Cup, where maybe you don't have to make a US team to qualify to race in that race, it makes some sense to race for your sponsor. Um, and then I do think she did talk about this part of declining her spot that um she knows that there's a lot of younger athletes that are kind of up and coming in this sport. And she just wanted to give them a chance to be able to be on a US team and race. And so that was really cool and selfless of her, and just like thinking of how she can help move the USA women's trail running forward, um, which was awesome.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

It speaks to the type of person Courtney is like how amazing. Totally that really like that's super cool. And yes, it like opens up another spot for another athlete and just yeah, kind of helps uh you know elevate everybody and like you said, gives another another athlete an opportunity. So hats off to Courtney.

SPEAKER_02 28:45

Yeah. For sure. And I think too, um, that is really great, great just exposure for those athletes too, because a lot of them aren't sponsored. So um getting on a US team could help them get a sponsorship maybe this year. And also um, if they make the team next year for worlds, then they're not going into worlds with no international uh experience. You know, they go in with already knowing kind of what it's like to be on a USA team. And so I think that's really valuable as well.

SPEAKER_00 29:17

So cool.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

Yeah, it's uh I mean, even though we're on an off year, you know, it's not a world's year, I think it's still gonna be super exciting. There'll be lots to cheer about in October. And uh D F Day Color is still gonna be uh, I mean, I feel like everybody's gonna be there. So it it should be very, very fun to follow. And we're sending some stout teams.

SPEAKER_02 29:35

So totally. Yeah, yeah, that's gonna be really, really fun. Um, oh, on the women's side also, I wanted to mention Oakley Olsen won the collegiate division for the women. So um, yeah, there's the college national championship as well at Sun of P. So she was the winner of that division. Um, but yeah, do you want to take it away with the men?

SPEAKER_01 29:57

Yeah, yeah. One more thing before we get going, though. Casey Eanman, I just want to say, I think she's 46. How how cool is that to still make a team at 46, dude? I would I that's that's good to show you such range and just uh just longevity in the sport. Like that doesn't normally happen. So just want to say a giant hat to Casey.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

Yeah, that was so, so cool. And um, yeah, she's made so many world teams too, and she's won worlds also. So just like I don't know, so cool to see her still doing what she loves and being able to do it at a really, really, really elite level when she's in her 40s. Um, I think we're kind of starting to see more and more athletes that are racing into their 40s, and that's really fun to see.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

So cool. I think she caught her husband in the race too, which is even cooler.

SPEAKER_02 30:42

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think was it Tom that was saying that that was her goal was to catch her husband. I think so.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

Yeah, which is hilarious. So I don't know who's got bragged rights in that household. So yeah, yeah. All right. Very cool. Taking it away for the men. Um, lots to talk about here. Darius Parker was the winner of the collegiate uh division, so giant congrats to Darius. Uh, more on him later. Aries Redding uh came out fourth place. Um, that fourth place spot for me was always kind of like the the the I don't know, a pick'em. Um I thought it could have been Aries, could have been Zach Erickson. There was a lot of uh Eddie Owens, there was quite a few athletes in the mix um that could have had that opportunity, but Aries showed his range from very early on. I mean, as you and I saw kind of, you know, for you know, kind of in front of us in the race, I mean, as soon as Mason and Christian took off, like Aries kind of stuck within five to fifteen seconds of them on the initial climb and held on to them for the first loop for a nice chunk of time before uh he kind of started to fall off, and Dan kind of caught him. I would say probably on the first ascent or descent, sorry, somewhere in there. So big big shout out to Ares in fourth place. In third place was Christian Allen. The story there was uh the story of the day was kind of this mix of Dan, Christian, and Mason. Um, you know, as we saw, you know, uh Christian kind of took it out extremely hard on the first loop. Mason kind of hung with him and just kind of waited for Christian to fade into the second loop, and Dan kind of made his move there going into the second loop, and then it was still like a pick of uh I think Dan didn't get the pass until the last descent to kind of get into second position. So it was really fun. I think Mason, who took first, really showed that he's the most one of the most balanced, um just well-ranged men in the entire sport right now. I'd say in the Mountain Classic, obviously he's the US Mountain champion. Um, you know, he had a great result at the 23k as well, so he's got a ton of range there. But Mason truly showed that he is like world, world class. And Dan is right there, you know, not too far off. And you know, to beat Christian, I think that's a really big deal. So I'd say top four men, like giant hats off. It was such a fun race to follow.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

Yeah, I will say Mason, too. He ran Gorge Waterfalls and won that. And then the next weekend went and raced Boston, the Boston Marathon, and ran a 215 there, untapered at Boston, which I think on a Boston course, you can run three to five minutes faster, probably on a course that's really flat because Boston is super hilly. So um he's just fit on the roads, fit on the trails, fit in general. Um, and that's really cool to see. And then I think also he hasn't raced internationally a whole ton, but now he's sponsored and he just announced that sponsorship. And I think we've kind of been saying for a while he's one of the most uh was one of the athletes that was highest up on like this guy needs to get a sponsorship, like somebody needs to pick him up, and now somebody finally has. And so I'm interested to see if he'll be able to get into um some of those more international races and maybe just have some more support from his sponsors to be able to travel and get into some of those races. Um, but I think he also just likes racing in the US and he's really good at it too. So um, whatever he does, it's gonna be gold for sure.

SPEAKER_01 34:13

I know he signed up for a bunch of Cirque series races this year. I'm very curious to see if that changes now that he is sponsored by Vibram and if we get him in some I don't know, because it is kind of late in the game. But I wonder if they would make an exception for someone like him to get into some golden trail series races. I I would love to see him at least do something, like a Plitz Alpen Glacier. Um, even if he can't get in the series at all, like something try to get into. Um we'll definitely see because he I think he can compete. I mean, if I'd say he's very close to Taylor stack. I think Taylor has obviously had more success on the international side and also you know did get him get the better of Mason this weekend, but it was only by a few seconds. So I think that they're very, very close in ability and athleticism. And um who was I talking to this weekend? I don't know if he's announced this yet. I think Cam. I think Cam's gonna be doing some. I don't know if he's talked about this. I believe Cam. Maybe you heard your first, but I think Cam's gonna be doing some uh some Golden Trail races too. So it'll be quite a yeah. I think that who told me. I don't know. I talked to too many people this weekend. So if that's fake news, so um but yeah, there was some. Yeah, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 35:20

Yeah, I think Mason could get into any World Cup or Golden Trail series race pretty much, probably besides series and all. I feel like those fields are kind of they fill up and then they close and they're kind of hard to get into late into the year. But I feel like any other race he could get into if he wanted to, and um, if he just contacted the race director or Greg or somebody like that. So yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:46

Yeah, I'd love to see it. I think Mason has all the ability in the world, so and he definitely has shown it. Yeah, I think, and like I said, you know, the US races are great, but I think it's it I think it's this step kind of in his career and where he's at now. It's time to start taking like that next step forward to show like, you know, you already had a he had a decent finish at Worlds. I mean, I think he was if I'm not right spacing like 14, something like that in the mountain classic. Totally. So yeah, I think it's yeah, logical step.

SPEAKER_02 36:11

Yeah, he doesn't have zero international experience. When he has raced internationally, it's gone really well. So um, yeah, it would be fun to see him mix it up with people on the world stage.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

Yeah, yeah, and that's the thing. And you know, same thing on the topic of Dan as well. Dan is over this weekend for Mount Marathon, for Marathon D. Mount. I always get those two confused. Um, so yeah, I mean, I think that's the way to go. And I think that's you know what we'll start seeing is more of these short trailed men kind of going over. You know, on that thread, you know, I've talked to so many people that are in ETC this year. I think ETC is gonna be really, really big, which is I think that's exciting because that's you know, OCC is kind of a really like last year was really long. So this year, you know, it's my hope that like maybe ETC on a non-worlds year is kind of like our de facto mountain classic like world championship.

SPEAKER_02 37:01

Yeah, I mean ETC, I think last year was pretty stacked already. So I think it's growing and growing, and it's kind of fun too, because I don't think I think that you just have to have a high enough UTMB score to get or a UTMB index to get into it, and then you can get in. Um, but you don't have to be racing all these UTMB races to try to get stones or get a qualifier or something like that. So um it is nice for athletes that are trying to stay in that two to three hour race range and the sub ultras, just to be able to go over to that, because I I know that a lot of sponsors like seeing their athletes at UTMB, um kind of whatever race you're doing. So sometimes a race like OCC, even though it is the shorter, a shorter race, it's kind of long time-wise for somebody that is typically doing two to three hour races. That one's normally like five to six, I think, for women. So um I think it was like last year or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 37:59

It was like closer to so far. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 38:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm like, I don't know if I count that as some ultra anymore. But um, yeah, anyway, fun to see a stacked field for that race this year.

unknown 38:13

Cool.

SPEAKER_01 38:13

Any any closing thoughts on Sunnepe before we move on to Broken Arrow?

SPEAKER_02 38:18

Um, I think we covered it pretty well. Yeah, really great performances on both the men and the women's side. I'm excited to see those USA teams at the World Cup and yeah, just see how they do.

SPEAKER_01 38:29

Cool, cool. All right, moving on to Broken

Broken Arrow Ascent Championship Recap

SPEAKER_01 38:31

Arrow. I'd say the first things first, one thing that what wasn't super talked about is that the ascent was the pick'em as well for the USATF uh uphill championship. Um, so was it the top two or top four uh men and women were selected for that team?

SPEAKER_02 38:46

I s I I want to say top four, but um I would have to go and check the um atro website. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:55

Yeah, I think you're right. I think it was top four. And so yeah, it wasn't talked about too much, but oh my gosh, was the ascent just kind of bananas to follow along? And uh yeah, it was another one where it was a pick'em. Like there was it was so stacked. There were so many athletes. Um, this was the first time I've ever seen like just saw like Rory Link Ladder like warming up in the parking lot. I'm like, whoa, that's kind of cool. And Stephanie Bruce talking to him. Um a lot of like A-list uh stars from adjacent like sports like the roads and stuff like that, which was really cool to see.

SPEAKER_02 39:26

So yeah, that was really cool to see. And I think it just gets more eyes on our sport too, which is really, really fun.

SPEAKER_01 39:32

Yeah. Let me ask you this, and this is just totally like out of pure curiosity. Where did you originally think an athlete like Rory was gonna place? Because like I had him top 20, top 15, somewhere in there. I was very curious to see, like, okay, like this could have been a good course for him because there was a lot of road section in the ascent. So I was like, maybe really well on that. But the first initial uh climb is kind of funky, right? Like it's it's 35% great.

SPEAKER_02 39:58

So yeah, I thought probably like top 15 or top 20, but I didn't think that he'd necessarily been be in the mix to win or podium. Um, yeah, I think he's an amazing athlete on the roads. Um, yeah, incredible athlete on the roads, but trail is just a different beast. And um, usually also when you're on the roads, you're not racing up at altitude. And I think trail runners have a little bit more experience racing up that high, racing on the steep stuff, racing on technical trails. Um, like you said, that start is really steep. And I think that you do have to train specifically to be able to run up something that steep or be efficient on something that steep, whether you're running or hiking. So um yeah, I think that you just have to be a little bit more efficient. And so I don't know, it's cool seeing these road athletes that are really, really amazing coming over to the trails and um yeah, mixing it up with some of the trail runners that are really good at their sport.

SPEAKER_01 40:59

Yeah. No, same, same, same. And it was also cool to see Stephanie. I think Stephanie Bruce, I didn't even check her result, but I feel like she was. I mean, I saw her very early on, like within the top like 10 to 15 women. And I was like, oh, yeah, this is really cool. This she's got quite the she has quite the motor. I was like, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 41:15

Yeah, totally. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think she was top 10. Um, so yeah, she ended up doing really, really well in that race. Um, and I think I saw a post from her that said that she made the US team. So um she did do well enough to make the uphill team. I think. Um, I think some people might have declined their spot if she made it because she wasn't in the top four um US, I don't think. So yeah. Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 41:45

There was some drama though. It's funny. I was talking to, I was hanging out with Allie Mack literally the day before the race, talking to her, and she was all stoked. I think she broke her foot in the race. Oh no. Yeah, I I saw her like post about it. I asked, like I texted her, didn't get anything out of it. But um, yeah, I mean, I think she put a post on her the because she they're releasing that new book for her dogs uh for charity, which is really cool.

SPEAKER_02 42:09

Yeah, really cool.

SPEAKER_01 42:10

But I still saw her write in there that she wouldn't be racing the 23k because she broke her foot. So I don't know if that's but yeah, that's some that's what I saw. And the only place she would have done it was at the on the set. So that's yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:22

Well, I was wondering because um I expected her to be in the 23k, and then I didn't see her in there. So I was kind of wondering what she did or if she had always just planned on doing this, and but oh man, that's sad. I hope that she gets better soon if she uh does have a broken foot.

SPEAKER_01 42:43

Um yeah, yeah. So I'm trying to think of like thoughts initially from the 23k. It was really interesting to me the initial men up up off of the 35% ski hill onto the road. None of those people were the ones that won the race. Uh, obviously, you know, Patrick was able to get the best of Philomon, and Cam was able to motor up as well. That was pretty cool to see. I'll go into results actually. Might as well just jump.

SPEAKER_02 43:06

Yeah, yeah, may as well kick it off with them, men.

SPEAKER_01 43:08

Patrick took a first place. Cam, I thought it was really cool because Cam kind of motored himself up towards the end of the race and really asserted himself and really just showed like that schemo prowess and and just how strong he is. Uh, to beat an athlete like Philemon who came back on Sunday and won the 23k, Philemon's obviously in amazing shape right now. And uh, you know, obviously that's also the up-down or mountain classic world champion. So to come back and and beat someone like that in the ascent is fantastic. Um Philemon was in third place. He was first at the uh top of the hill and uh just looked so smooth, so composed. Didn't even look like he was working that hard. I was astonished. Like watching those guys run is like poetry in motion. Uh Christian, Christian was working pretty hard, but I was impressed with him fourth place finish, uh not too far behind. Um Brian Flores was actually, I saw him. I believe he was the one in I think he was wearing a Mexican kit. He was uh got you guys.

SPEAKER_02 44:05

Yeah, he is from Mexico. Okay. Yes. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 44:08

Yeah, I saw him. Uh he was in second place right off the hill, working. Dude was a motor. He was working. Um, a name that really stands out that we have not really seen in the mix in a long time is Casey Campbell. Uh, I know he's had some good results back all the way back to Sunope 2023. So good to see Casey back on the scene. I think this was a fantastic result. And then uh perennial contender Mika, uh Mika Bodenbusso, um, you know, Brooks, Brooks athlete, uh, someone who's always a contender at a race like this for uphill races will absolutely smoke the time on Green Mountain. I think he ran like 2840 something, uh like a week ago. Yeah. It's just so fast. Uh so Mika's in crazy shape right now. And uh so I'm sure it was good to see him back. I wonder if it was it probably a mixture of maybe race rust, just hadn't raced in a long time, and then kind of turning yourself right back into it, might have been kind of hard.

SPEAKER_02 44:59

So totally. Yeah, and he's another one kind of like we were talking about with Dan, where it's just really great to see him racing and race well because he's had a long struggle, I think, with um an injury. And I know that he's just been working really hard cross-training and trying to stay fit and um get fit through this injury. And so I'm really hoping that he uh has a great season and um things like that. But I know uh he had a knee injury. I think he's talked about it, but he's just been in the gym cranking on the handbike, which is incredible to me. If I couldn't, if something was so injured that I had to be cranking away on the handbike, I don't know if I I think I just say, okay, I'm just gonna take a break then because the handbike is not my jam. But he has been working really hard. So it's cool to see him get back up there and um be at the top and top 10 of the ascent.

SPEAKER_01 45:55

That is one determined human. I mean, that and his elliptico. The elliptico is also an he like rides his elliptico up to like snow, like snow line at like 12, 13,000 feet. Like this guy's this guy's an animal. This is impressive.

SPEAKER_02 46:08

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Um, very cool to see. So yeah. And then I think uh Cam Smith, too, I was just impressed with his race strategy because I think he was somebody in that race who just had to have a lot of confidence in his race plan and in what he was doing. And he did that. You know, it's hard sometimes in those races. You just want to, if you're wanting to win it or podium, it's easy to just go out fast and hard and put yourself in it. And he did put himself in it, but he put himself in the race at the right time. Um, so yeah, he gave himself a chance. He stayed up there, but he didn't go out too hard. So yeah, really cool just to see the strategy behind his race and him just having confidence in himself to know that he's fit, even if he's not in first place up the ski ski hill. He's a gamer.

SPEAKER_01 46:58

He's such a gamer. I mean, there's a lot to this, but uh yeah, for like you, like to your point though, what you just said, like he might have been sitting back in like probably 10th or 15th, somewhere in that range, like when they hit the road. And obviously you could see he just made up, you know, uh towards the end, he made up nine or eight or whatever places. Uh my question is, and this is like this is a question for both Anna and Cam that just question makes me wonder. And this is a question for you. Do you think it's more the pressure that like I am an Olympian and now I have to perform on every stage because that's what's expected of me? Or do you think that after performing on a stage like that and doing as well as they did, do you think you like nothing is just like everything is easy compared to how hard that was?

SPEAKER_02 47:41

Yeah, I mean, I think it could go either way, depending on how they take it mentally. I feel like when I've come off really good races, sometimes it just helps me build a lot of confidence and it just is kind of a domino effect where I just keep racing well and things like that. But then also sometimes you do just get that pressure on you, and a lot of people are talking about you, and um, it's hard to kind of be under that pressure and race well. So I think for both of them, they both had really, really incredible weekends. So I think that they are taking that pressure and um yeah, just crushing with it too. And I also think um definitely for Anna, I don't know as much about Cam and what he's done between the Olympics, um, the winter Olympics and now, but I think Anna took a really um good break and a good mental break. And I think that was so smart. I think that she needed that. I think that she's back to crushing right now because she took that break and she knew probably that she needed it. And yeah, she's just it looks like she's been going on a lot of really fun adventures and still staying fit, but doing stuff that just brings her a lot of joy to train and um yeah, kind of taking the edge off because she went from the whole from worlds poding podium being on worlds, doing the golden trail series final, then immediately qualifying for the Olympics and being in a build for the Olympics, crushing it at the Olympics, getting forth as a team with Cam. And then um, I think she just needed that mental break. So really, really glad to see that she gave her that, she gave herself that space, and now she's back to crushing on the trails.

SPEAKER_01 49:23

It's so interesting. And you know what's weird too? They both performed like very similarly. Like both became American, both American uphill champions for this year, and both like sixth, seventh place in the 23k, which is weird. I don't know. I find that interesting that they both performed like so similar uh on the weekend.

SPEAKER_02 49:39

Yeah, yeah, it is interesting for sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 49:42

Uh okay, I think that's that should be all for the men on the ascent. Do you want to take it away for the women on the ascent?

SPEAKER_02 49:47

Yeah,

Women’s Ascent Finish And Comebacks

SPEAKER_02 49:48

yeah. So for the women, Anna Gibson was first, Joyce Dendru was second, Tabor Hemming was third, which was awesome to see her um back up there. Um, Molena Almonte uh was fourth, and then uh Nille Clement was fifth, and then Aaron Moyer was sixth. Um, so yeah, those were our top six women. Um and yeah, that was a cool race. Anna was definitely leading for most of it. Joyce kind of caught up to her and on that ridgeline, I think Joyce was leading for a lot of it. And then Anna just kicked on her at the last minute and uh won the race. But I think there is kind of a time when I was watching the live stream where it looked like Joyce had it, and then they kind of got up that final um climb to the top because you can't really see it's so steep that you're like, okay, who's gonna come up first? And Ano is back in the lead. So that was really, really fun to see uh just believing in herself and having a really great race.

SPEAKER_01 50:50

So maybe I I gotta say, uh that was a crazy performance. And then Comeback Player of the Week, man, is uh tie between Tabor Heming and Danny Marino. Like, I don't know who's they're both so impressive and so exciting. Uh I gotta say hats off to Tabor. We'll talk about Danny when we get to the 46k, but hats off to Tabor. Go get, you know, she she's been dealing with a lot of injury over the last year or so. And then to come back and, you know, get third place in such a stacked women's uh field, like that's that's an amazing performance. Big deal. It's funny. I actually ran into Eli in the parking lot and we were chatting for like an hour. He's like, Oh, I gotta go do my training run. He's like, hopefully Tabor's in uh because he did he had no idea how well she did because we were chatting it up, and he's like, hopefully she's in anti-doping right now. And I was like, hopefully, that'd be amazing and sure as shit. Yeah, third place. So it was very, very cool.

SPEAKER_02 51:40

Yeah, that was one of the best stories I think of the weekend. Um, in both races. We'll get to the 23k later. But yeah, she absolutely crushed this weekend. It's really fun to see her uh back and on the trails and racing again. And um, yeah, that was so so cool.

SPEAKER_01 51:56

Amazing. All right, let's move on to I guess we talked yeah, let's talk about the 46k.

Broken Arrow 46K Winners And Storylines

SPEAKER_01 52:01

Uh I'll take it away with the men at first. Uh Chad Hall in fourth place, Cole Campbell in third. You know, I gotta say, super big hats off for Cole Campbell. This was his best finish. He's been so close to the podium. I don't know, like, I think his best performance might have been way back in like 2021, somewhere in there, if I remember correctly. I think it was like somewhere between fourth and sixth. So he's been right there knocking at the door, and this was by far his biggest uh performance at this race. So hats off to him. And then another one, Noah Williams, second place. Uh Noah continues his role from you know being the top American male in the short trail worlds, and uh also had a he was just off of making the US men's team at this race last year. Got you know, when Brian Becker dropped out the uh the role, the spot, well, no, the spot went to no, he made it off. Sorry. Uh the spot went to Max. Uh, but I think um actually uh Noah got on from a resume spot. I think that's how it went down. So big shout out to Noah. And then uh first place, obviously, just who put on a clinic was Eli Hemming, who my God, is he fit? So yeah, it was amazing men's race to follow.

SPEAKER_02 53:13

And he pretty much just led it from the start. Eli did. Um, and it was kind of over. So uh yeah, really, really cool to see. Uh and I think Eli and Tabor were the fittest couple out there this weekend. So um I don't think there are any other couples that crush quite a bit.

SPEAKER_01 53:32

I would say I'd say the second would be would be Taylor and Sydney uh is the second one.

SPEAKER_02 53:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:36

So right there.

SPEAKER_02 53:37

Oh, yeah, true, true, true. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:40

Um all right, let's take it away for the women.

SPEAKER_02 53:43

Yeah, for the women, the 46K, Danny Marino back at it. That was so cool to see her win. Um, Sarah Carter in second, Rachel Drake in third, and then Kim uh Shreber, I think is how you pronounce it in fourth. So um, those were our women top four. But yeah, another really great comeback story with Danny, and she has been dealing with injuries for the past year or maybe a couple years. Um, and yeah, just really cool to see her coming back strong and um yeah, just really dominating in that race too. So um yeah, really, really fun race to watch.

SPEAKER_01 54:21

You know, I feel I feel I don't want to say I feel bad, but I definitely had picked uh I thought Rachel Drake, after seeing her ascent time on uh Granger Peak, she like destroyed uh the uh ascent record on Granger Peak, which is like a on the West Ridge. I don't know if you know it's like a it's like a VK. It's like cool, cool, cool spot. Anyway, long story short, I was like, yo, Rachel Drake is fit. This is nuts. This is the hard way, and especially for Danny coming back from injury. You know, it's always hard. You never know where you're at. What a comfort story. So and I think Danny had broken what was it? Her cute, I think she told the story on the podcast, her cuboid in her foot, which is like the most yeah, it was something in her foot.

SPEAKER_02 55:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know she had a I'm pretty sure it started kind of with a really bad ankle twist at OCC, and uh, she's just had a hard time coming back. Um, but yeah, really, really fun to see her running so strong and um Sarah Carter, too, in second, a really, really strong performance. Yeah, I think she had a really breakout year on the trails last year and has kind of continued that on this year. So really fun to see her crushing.

SPEAKER_01 55:29

I would say that might be. I mean, I don't know, it's hard to say because Pike's peak ascent win was pretty big for Sarah, but I'd say this might be a bigger when you're looking at like the the amount of competition, I'd say this might be the big one of her biggest performances, if not her biggest performance, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_02 55:44

So how to yeah, yeah. I think she got 11th uh at the Golden Trail series final last year, too, which was pretty big. Um, yeah. So yeah, she's had some really, really great races within the past six or seven months. Um, and yeah, I'm just excited to see her continue to race and crush it on the trails. Yeah, I feel like there's been so many Americans that have been doing really, really well. So it's fun to see.

SPEAKER_01 56:12

Yeah, you know, and Sarah, I gotta say, like that, she's like such a good example of like, dude, just you know, stay consistent and work really hard and you will start to achieve your goals. And I just yeah, she's a she's a great example of that, and just a true example of that for any person that's like trying to chase their goals right now. Like it it will come, just you know, and just stick with it. So very cool.

SPEAKER_02 56:31

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah. Lots of good stories this weekend.

SPEAKER_01 56:35

I know, I know. Feel lots of feel-good stories. I'm I'm just yeah, very stoked on all these.

SPEAKER_02 56:39

All right, let's uh Which it was cool.

SPEAKER_01 56:42

Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 56:43

Oh, I was just gonna say, I think it was cool. They did a good job. Um, back to talking about the live stream where they highlighted a lot of the athletes and kind of their stories and things like that. So um, yeah, another reason why the live stream was amazing. But yeah, we can get into the 23k.

Broken Arrow 23K Men’s Tactical Battle

SPEAKER_02 56:58

Do you want to take it away for the men?

SPEAKER_01 57:00

Yes. All right. So all right. Top, what do we go? Top 10 deep, somewhere in that range. Uh Christian Allen's 10th place. Um, I'd say another another good solid one for Christian Allen, you know, continuing to improve uh upon himself. I'd say it's been maybe a tough go for him this year. I know he's it's been tiring. I think he won a pretty decent sized 50k was sometime in May. Turned around straight into Sun of P where he had his his fourth place performance there, and or third place performance there, and then right into this, you know, with the double you know, vertical, and then this. So I'm sure Christian's probably pretty tired of racing right now. So maybe I'm gonna get himself a little bit of a rest, but great result nonetheless. Uh, Paul Knight. I gotta say, Paul Knight, I said this from the longest time. This kid is gonna be dangerous, and sure enough, he proved it. Uh, Paul Knight is a very young gun. I learned about him a few years ago when he beat someone who I really consider to be an extremely good athlete uh at the Kendall Mountain run. And he, I think he Paul was like 19 years old or 18 years old at the time. He like just barely was in college. And now Paul is a trell, he's a member of the Trell Team Elite team. So by far, a quite standout uh performance, ninth place at the 23K, followed by Cesare Massery, uh, the Italian ACG athlete, another solid performance. I think he was somewhere similar in the ascent, like somewhere between sixth and eighth. Cam Smith in seventh place, uh, followed by Mason Copy, followed by Taylor Stack. So three-quarters of the uh US men's up-down team. They all kind of, I kind of had a feeling they were gonna like work together a little bit. I don't know how much they did that this year versus last year. I know last year they all kind of uh got together and Ocam pulled the team together and was like, this is our, you know, kind of our coming out party for uh the US men's team, and let's work together in this race. So I do find it kind of hilarious that they were all together again this year. So uh in no particular I think it was actually in the same order this year that it was last year, which is funny. Uh Brian Flores in fourth place, and then kind of the same thing that we've seen normally within Golden Trail races in a contingent of Patrick El Housine in Fulman, kind of in that top uh echelon, the top three. Um was surprised to see El Housine get beat by Fulamon this year. I did not think that was gonna happen. So shout out to Fulamon.

SPEAKER_02 59:19

So I mean, yeah, to me, I think um El Zen always runs his races really smart. He never takes it out too hard. Um, he kind of always takes it out. I wouldn't say easy, but he definitely takes it out controlled for himself and then kind of makes his way up and then sits behind whoever's in first and then kicks on them at the end. And a lot of times it is Philemon. Do you like that? Yeah. Uh I don't love because that aggravates a lot of athletes. It would aggravate me. I think it's smart on Elizine's part, but um, it would be annoying to me. Like I feel like for me as an athlete, if I would just want to run a race as well as I could run a race um and have the result stand for itself instead of trying to sit and kick on somebody. But I mean, all these three top men, Phil Monazine and Patrick, are racing a ton during the year. So I mean, it might be smart on Elazine's part if he's coming over here doing this race. He's doing basically every race in the Golden Trail series to kind of like not spend all of his energy in one race. And if he can sit behind somebody and kick on them, um, he saves some energy for the next race and isn't going too deep into the well and digging that deep in any race. But it was really cool to see Philomon uh win with the kick because I think that doesn't happen to him that often. I think a lot of times he is always leading the race um and then El Zane kicks on him. So um, yeah, it was fun to see the change up.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:56

Philemon's an interesting character to me. So like I I was in Cirque Series Brighton in 2023. And ever since then, I don't want to say I lost respect for Philemon, because I do I respect all of these athletes. I love all these athletes, but I watched David Norris absolutely pick him apart on some technical trail and and beat him and beat him like really good. And I was like, wow, like this is this is really interesting. Like, okay, if Philemon's got a weakness, that's it. Maybe he just had an off day because Patrick did win that day. Um but we've seen in the past Philemon get beat, and then all of a sudden in the last like year and a half to two years, something shifted because he's gotten, I mean, obviously, up-down world champion, series and all winner twice. And uh I think he maybe he just picks his races that he like wants to perform really well at. Maybe he's a little bit more strategic at that versus trying to win everything. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:48

Yeah. Well, sorry. Oh, I also wonder too, I think that race, that Cirque series race, was a race maybe right before a Golden Trail series race that was in the US, and that's kind of why he was over for it. So to me, I think I've gone over to Europe for races, and sometimes it's nice just to have a B or C race that you do after you travel just to kind of get the travel out of your legs, and it's a good kind of like first workout, but it's not your big A race that you're going over there to do. Um, so I wonder if it was something like that for him where he wanted to do a race just to kind of get a workout and shake the travel out of his legs before he went into a bigger race, like a golden trail series race. Um, but yeah, I don't know. Or it could have just been an off day, or he's gotten way better at technical trails than he was back then. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:42

He's dirty now. He's so good. I yeah, I gotta say, I just have so much respect. Like, I know I didn't want that to come across like, oh, like I don't respect like no, Philemon's the man. I just didn't, I always thought, like, after seeing that particular thing, I was like, huh. All right, so he's got a little bit of a weakness. Yeah, that was also the same year that he won series in all. I think it was. Yeah, because it was 24 and then 25. I think he lost to 24. So yeah, it's that guy, amazing performance, and good for him. I and I was also happy to see him kind of kick out out kick Al Hussein just because Al Hussein, that's a strategy. He's a he's a master tech technician. Um, it's fact, it's funny, I had Taylor on the pod, and he was talking about just watching the way Al-Hussein maneuvers and just watching his tactics and how he races, yeah, are actually quite smart. I like you said, it's yeah, it's kind of it depends on how you view it with someone kind of drafting off you or just kind of sitting on you on your wheel. Um, because you're obviously working way harder. But whatever, if it wins you 30 grand, by all means, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:42

Yeah, yeah. I mean, somebody said this on the live stream, and I think this is the best way to describe it is that he controls a race from second place. Um he he just does every time he's out there on the race course, he's kind of the one that has his race in control, um, which gives you a lot of power, I think, as an athlete.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:03

Big time. Yeah, he's good everywhere. He's very, very good. Um, all right. Let's go. We'll move on from the men. We'll talk about the women.

Broken Arrow 23K Women’s Breakthrough Races

SPEAKER_02 1:04:10

Yeah, yeah. Um on the women's side, I'll go from 10th to first. I like how you're doing that. Usually I go from first to 10th, but yeah. Um Marie Nevet was 10th, Valentine Ruto was ninth, uh, Nile Clement was eighth, McKenna Morley seventh, Anna Gibson coming in sixth after her win on the ascent. Uh Ninke Brinkman was fifth, Tabra Heming fourth, Joyce Enduru third, Lauren Gregory second, and Madalena Floria was first. And this was a really, really fun race to watch play out. Um, McKenna Morley took it out really hard on some of those uh trails at the very beginning of the race. There are trails that are kind of climbing, but maybe two to three hundred feet, and they have some downhills in them too. And McKenna has been really, really great at those specific types of trails. She did really well at um Big Bear last year and uh Canyons 50K this year. And so that's kind of her strength. And I think some people may say like she took it out really fast on those trails, but I think she was just playing to her strength, and that's where she could get ahead in the race. And um, that's kind of her wheelhouse. So she gave herself the best chance that she could to get in the race at the point that was best for her. So she kind of took it out hard on the trail, and then eventually Madalena and Joyce caught up there with her, and they were kind of up um in the top two on the climb. And then eventually uh Lauren, Tabor, and Ninke were kind of in a group together and they just made their way up um eventually to the rest of the or to Joyce um on the descent. I guess Lauren stayed back for. A little while and then kind of made her way up. But um, I think to me, one of the people that had the best race strategies of the day was Lauren. Um, because similar to Cam on the ascent, she just really trusted her own plan, her own fitness, and wasn't it didn't seem like she was really worried about who was next to her. She was just kind of in her own zone and worried about how she was feeling when she wanted to make moves. And um, I think she moved up from probably maybe like fifth to seventh place to second place on the descent and outkicked Joyce and Tabor right there at the end. So um, yeah, just a really, really exciting race on the women's side.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:45

I I do have a like a just a psychological question for you about McKenna. Because I I honestly I thought McKenna was gonna win the race. I think she was like my kind of my pick originally going in. I was like, uh, no one I I think she kind of was flying maybe under the radar a little bit. No one maybe knew her marathoning pedigree, but everything she had raced on the trails, she's like she'd never been beat. Right. And the other thing that had me convinced that she was gonna be fine on anything like semi-technical was because you know her rut VK last year. Like she I think she was in like fourth place overall, something like that, fourth to fifth. Um, and so she like maneuvered really well on technical terrain. It wasn't a crazy deep race, but she beat, I think, a couple like semi-elite men. And I was like, all right, well, I think she could do really well here, right? But I my question to you is do you think when Joyce and because you're so used to being so far ahead and not racing other women on the trails and not being tested at all, do you think maybe she panicked a little bit when she was caught by Joyce uh and Anna?

SPEAKER_02 1:07:45

Potentially. I think someone like Lauren and Tabor and Anna all have a little bit of an advantage because they know and have raced Madalena and Joyce so many times before. So they kind of know their racing style and it's easier to kind of know okay, this person's gonna push the climbs, this person's gonna push the descents. Whereas maybe if you're McKenna and don't know your competition as well, I don't know if she's watched races that they've done or um had insight into that, but maybe you just don't know who people are and maybe you panic a little bit if they catch you. Um I also just feel like she is really, really good at the 50k distance. And I think that she could be amazing at these um kind of mountain style races as well. But I feel like for her or for me, it was similar to how we didn't know how Aries was gonna do it at Sun of the. It's just like it's a new kind of um thing for her to try and a new discipline, and she's done really well in those 50k kind of fast races. Um, so I think that she can translate that over to these more technical mountain style races, but um, yeah, maybe didn't have that quite in her um on that day.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:04

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:04

Did you see? I don't know if you watched it, I've never seen someone throw up so much in my life than at the finish line. And I was like, why are you guys filming this or making a reel about this? This poor girl.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:17

I know I feel like they love doing that, they love getting all the like barfing or the um when you fall on the trail. They love that stuff. So yeah, I think I was like, oh my god. Yeah. Watching the live stream on the descent, there is a point where she kind of stopped running and was walking for a little while and trying to find something in her um, I think whatever she was carrying, she was trying to get nutrition or water or something like that. But it looked like she had some moments on the downhill where she was struggling a little bit more. So maybe some dehydration or something like that. But I mean, yeah, she definitely gave it her all um in that race. And also one other thing with McKenna Morley, she did not have a bad race at all. Still a top 10 here is amazing. So yeah, I would never say that this was not a good race for her. I just think that she has um some room that she can grow in a race like this. And yeah, I think she's an incredible athlete for sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:17

Oh my god, amazing. Like one top of the sport type of athlete over like if if not already. Uh yeah, I was just totally. I think Madalina had been out on the course for a while, like uh kind of game playing and stuff like that. So I'm not surprised that she uh, you know, had the win. So congrats to her.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:44

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And I think um similarly, McKenna, I don't think has that much international experience um racing on the trails. And so I think, yeah, um, like we were saying, it's kind of good just to know your competition. Or yeah, it's hard to just be on the international scene, even though I know this is a race in the US, I would still call it kind of an international race because there's so many international athletes that are racing here. So um I think you just have to really get used to that kind of racing and how the Europeans like to race. Um, and yeah, she'll she'll get more experience at it. And I think that she can have a really great career in some of these shorter races if she wants to, but also she's crushing on the 50k distance too. So yeah, it'll be just fun to see whatever she does.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:33

Oh, she's a yeah, amazing. Amazing. What did you think of uh Ninki Brinkman's return? Because she I think she'd done some uphill races as a like I know it was a Gama, she was supposed to race, but went up just doing the uphill race instead. And then uh I think she did Euro Champs as well. That was like she did the vertical on that. So kind of her first uh golden trail-ish race back in a sin's like 2022. It's been a minute.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:57

Yeah, I think she did great. I think also it's just cool to see how much the sport has progressed too, because I think that she was really crushing everybody um a few years ago in the Golden Trail series races. And so um, it's cool to see athletes like Lauren has come onto the scene and Tabor and um Madalena and Joyce have all gotten a lot better too. And so um, yeah, it's kind of fun to just see that competition um playing out. But yeah, I think that she is in great shape and um yeah, she could be crushing it this year on the trails too. I'm not sure what her plans are with the trails. I know that she's done a lot of kind of marathon, uh, marathoning and stuff on the roads. Um, so I don't know what she plans to do. And this was kind of if this was a one-off trail race that she wanted to do or if she's going to try to put together more of a trail season this year.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:49

Yeah, it would be cool to see her back. Yeah, yeah, it's it's it is kind of crazy because I, you know, time just flies so fast because you think of like Ninky was just on the scene, you think like it's not that long ago. Like Flagstaff Sky Peaks was one of the last like American races that she did, and others, and you're like, oh wait, that was 2022, that was four years ago.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:07

This is yeah, this is crazy. So yeah, kind of wild.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:10

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, really wild. But yeah, she's a great athlete, and um, yeah, it'll cool to it'll be cool to see if she continues on the trails or if she gets into their roads. I think it is fun when trail athletes are really good on their roads because um a lot of times I think that people think that trail athletes aren't that fast, and I think it's changing a lot. But Ninke is somebody who's run an extremely fast road marathon time. So um fun to see that yeah, trail runners are really fast too.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:41

True, true. Well, that's all I have for the 23k.

What These Weekends Signal Next

SPEAKER_01 1:13:44

Um anything you think we missed on Broken Arrow or you think we covered it all?

SPEAKER_02 1:13:48

Yeah, I think we got it. Um, yeah, those were all really exciting races. Great John Baldon live stream, and um, yeah, it just looks like a fun weekend. I just thought that I wasn't able to be out there.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:59

It was a lot. I'm still recovering. Dodged a bullet. No, I'm kidding.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:05

Um, it was definitely good. And I think that's yeah, that caps it up pretty good. I feel like we got everything. So many amazing performances. And I definitely want to say like some of the comeback performances, like Danny and Tabor, just like really just I don't know, give me energy, you know, going forward. And just so many, yeah. Athletes did incredible. And it was just uh, you know, two between Sunnepe and Broken Arrow, just like wow, the stage is set for an amazing trail season.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:31

So yeah, yeah. So fun to watch. So yeah, I'm excited to keep recapping some races that are coming up.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:38

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much, Rachel. I appreciate it. This might be the longest one we've ever done. This was a good one. Yeah, probably.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:48

I know, and it was only two uh races that we covered, so there's just a lot in these past few weekends. But yeah, um, yeah, great pod, and I'll talk with you later. Yeah, thank you so much.