American Taylor Stack placed third at his first Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon. In the following interview, Taylor talks about how he’s still not sure if he’s just dreaming about his third-place finish, a bit about his background as a runner, how he approached the race, and what it was like racing alongside runners whom he’s admired for a long time.
For more on how the race played out, read our in-depth 2026 Zegama-Aizkorri Marathon results article.
[Editor’s Note: If you are unable to see the video above, click here to access it.]
Taylor Stack Post-2026 Zegama Marathon Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Meghan Hicks of iRunFar. I’m with Taylor Stack. It’s the day of the 2026 Zegama Marathon, and you’re the men’s third-place finisher. How does that sound?
Taylor Stack: Crazy. I still can’t believe it. I’m hoping that it’s not this dream that I’m going to wake up on race morning from, but I think it’s real.
iRunFar: That this is actually the day before race day?
Stack: Yeah, exactly. I’ve had that where I dream of winning a big race, and then wake up, and it’s like two days before the race.
iRunFar: Oh, that’s rude.
Stack: Yeah, it is. So I was thinking that in the last hour as I was pulling into third, but I’m pretty sure this one’s real, so yeah.
iRunFar: Yeah. Well, we’re all here too, so you’re having an extraordinary dream if so. Well, this is iRunFar’s first interview with you. We’ve gotten to see you race in a couple different places over the years. I’d love to learn a little bit about you. You’re a Western Colorado University guy.
Stack: Yep. I grew up in Salida, Colorado, and then went to undergrad at Western in Gunnison. So just over the pass from my parents’ house, and Gunnison’s awesome. I had a great experience there. I ran track and cross country, and then shifted to trail. I mean, I always kind of ran trails, but my main competitive focus was track and cross country for college years, and then shifted to more competitive trail scene a couple years after graduating.
iRunFar: Western Colorado’s got one of the few sort of trail teams, but we were talking off camera on the walk over here that you didn’t get into that. You did strictly track and field and stayed with that through school.
Stack: It is funny because now I go to all the same races as the Western Trail team, and I’ll train with those guys.
iRunFar: You’re like, “Hey, guys.”
Stack: Yeah, exactly. But yeah, while I was in college, I wasn’t part of the trail team. I was doing just track, and it’s like cross country in the fall, indoor track in the winter, outdoor in the spring. So there’s really like no season to … I mean, you can run trail races in the summer, and I would do some local stuff, but yeah, kind of shifted to the more like big-scene trail races after college.
iRunFar: Track and field is a great funnel for this. However, it’s a wee bit different there than it is in a place like here. So how’d you make that transition?
Stack: I think, for me, it was easier than it is for some other people. I mean, my introduction to running when I was like a young kid was on the trails in Salida, and I used to like run trail half marathons and stuff before I got really into track.
iRunFar: How interesting.
Stack: But then yeah, I mean, I do still love track and cross country. I think chasing PRs and stuff is super fun, but I was a steeplechaser in college as well, and I think that that discipline tends to transfer pretty well compared to maybe some other specialties, just because you’re like having to break your rhythm, and you’re like splashing through water pits and stuff, which is kind of like what we’re doing out here in Zegama, so yeah.
iRunFar: It was a mini Zegama.
Stack: Yeah, exactly.
iRunFar: So you have represented Team USA at the World Mountain Running Championships. So I think you’ve done two U.S. championships?
Stack: No, just one.
iRunFar: Just one.
Stack: Last year was my first Team USA, yeah.
iRunFar: And then one season with Golden Trails?
Stack: Yeah, last year was my first Golden Trail season. I started running for Brooks, and that kind of allowed me to do the travel stuff and be more involved with Golden Trail.
iRunFar: So you’re sampling the different types of trail running, mountain running disciplines, or just styles.
Stack: Yeah. I think I try to do races that are exciting to me, and also I love the competitive aspect. I want to be competing with the best in the world at the discipline, but I also really like true mountain racing, where it’s like technical and steep, and maybe bad conditions. To me, that’s just kind of the most fun part of the sport.
iRunFar: I think that’s good timing to segue to talking about today’s race and all of its conditions. Your first Zegama, but not your first sort of burly international trail race. Hindsight is 20/20, and I know the race just happened, but what was it like out there today?
Stack: Yeah, it was a battle for sure. I mean, it was a crazy competitive field with like Kilian Jornet and Rémi Bonnet, and people that like that.
iRunFar: Folks you beat, by the way.
Stack: Which is still crazy, but it’s like I’d have like a poster on my wall when I was a kid of these guys. So pretty cool to like toe the line with those caliber of athlete, and then also the course, and the place, and the atmosphere, and the crowd, and everything is just totally unique. Never experienced anything like that before, and I knew that it has that reputation, and so this was one on the list for this year. I was like, “Got to make that happen.”
iRunFar: You’re a member of Team Brooks, and last year, Daniel Pattis, also on Brooks for Italy, he was on the podium. Were you linked up with him ahead of time, getting some beta on how this thing works, or what was sort of like the setup, mental prep for you like?
Stack: Yeah, I mean I try to study the course as much as I can from whatever you can glean from the data and the vert and stuff, and watching streams from previous years. But obviously, kind of going in blind, having never done the race before. But yeah, Daniel, I mean he’s such a strong athlete, it’s crazy, and he had a great race last year. We have a team hotel, and I was asking him all these questions and being super annoying like, “What shoes do I wear? How fast does it go out?” Yeah, but he’s a good sport.
iRunFar: So you took it out, I don’t know, kind of in my opinion, like a person who had run Zegama before and sort of felt confident in the, I don’t know, just all of the crazy variables of today, I guess you just felt comfortable, like that’s it.
Stack: Yeah. I think my racing style tends to be just like get after it from the start, which that can definitely come back and bite you sometimes. But all my best races, I’m on it at the beginning. But today, especially, I was like making a conscious effort to stay controlled and resist the temptation to go run with [Elhousine] Elazzaoui on some of the early climbs because I mean, it’s a four-hour race. I’ve never done a four-hour race before today, so that was uncharted territory for me. I’ve done other marathons, and I did a 50k a month ago, but all of those were shorter time-wise. So I definitely knew that the late miles could be pretty tough if you go out too fast, but still probably went out too fast, honestly, but just whoever can hold on.
iRunFar: I feel like there’s no free miles in this race, like maybe just a wee bit in a couple places. How did the course feel to you?
Stack: I love the course. I mean, it’s so cool, and a crazy amount of vert. It’s like 9,000 feet, which is nuts.
iRunFar: In a marathon.
Stack: Yeah. And super technical, and today’s conditions were especially tough with it like really muddy, slippery, gnarly. There was a little bit of slushy snow on top and everything, and so you have these spots where it’s like very jagged rocks with like slippery grass mud in between, and you’re trying to like move efficiently but also not disregard your safety out there because you could definitely mess yourself up with a bad step.
iRunFar: Did you disregard your safety at all?
Stack: I was actually pretty cautious today, I would say. But yeah, I mean, with these types of races, there’s always that balance of like, you can totally send it without knowing what’s coming around the curve, or you can go too slow and maybe be too cautious, and then you’re losing time. But I kind of enjoy races that have that dynamic because you’re focused on something other than just the fatigue and the pain of running itself, there’s a little more technical aspect.
iRunFar: You need to stay super focused on the terrain, what’s coming at you.
Stack: Yeah, for sure.
iRunFar: When did you ultimately move into podium position?
Stack: It was not until the last, I want to say … it would have been like 7k from the finish probably, or maybe even less, maybe 5k. It was that last downhill, which is just a bomb, and there are some muddy sections, but it’s drier than most of the course. And so it was kind of like whoever has legs to just like send it can make up a lot of time, and whoever maybe overcooked themselves on the early climbs is going to be hurting. So that’s kind of how it worked out.
iRunFar: And you had some legs left?
Stack: Yeah. I think I’m happy with my tactics, and how I kind of conserved energy because I was feeling strong, and I was able to move up that last hour going down.
iRunFar: This performance, and then your performance at the World Championships Up and Down race, I mean, those have to be your sort of like internal career bests in trail thus far.
Stack: Yeah, the World was amazing. I mean, I had higher hopes. I think I was really wanting to be top 10. I think I could have on a good day, but that’s always how it is. And I also got fourth at the Golden Trail final last year. That was probably my best performance before this. And I got third in another Golden Trail race last year, which I would put those maybe above the World’s race.
iRunFar: Got it.
Stack: But just representing Team USA is so cool, and like wearing the kit, same kit that like the Olympians wear on the track and everything, yeah, super fun.
iRunFar: That’s awesome. When we were walking over here, you said you were going to fully participate in the Golden Trail World Series this year
Stack: Yeah, I think so. Fortunately, having a sponsor that can help out with travel makes it way more feasible, and it’s just an opportunity to travel the world and see places like this, and see South Korea, go to Switzerland. When else are you going to do that in your life? This is the time. So I think it’s super fun. I love the style of racing, the shorter … I mean today was a four-hour race, but it’s like in the trail world, that’s maybe even still considered kind of on the shorter end, which is …
iRunFar: Just so rude.
Stack: Yeah. But yeah, I really enjoy that for now. So I’m going to get after it this year and see what happens.
iRunFar: Awesome. Congratulations on your podium finish here at Zegama.
Stack: Thank you.
iRunFar: And look forward to seeing you around the series and elsewhere this summer.
Stack: Thank you.
