We’re running down race results from Birkebeiner to Bormio, and Nevada to the New River Gorge. There’s a world record, course records, and Olympic medals in this week’s column.
You can also check out our race coverage from last week:
- Olympic Skimo Gold: Skyrunner Oriol Cardona Takes Men’s Sprint Win
- Ashley Paulson Sets 100-Mile World Record at 2026 Jackpot 100 Mile
- Trail Runners Represent at Front of Olympic Skimo Mixed Relay
Jackpot Ultrarunning Festival – Henderson, Nevada
The 100-mile race on Friday, February 20, was contested on a 1.19-mile loop and was the USATF 100-Mile Road National Championships. There was a $4,000 prize purse.
It was a three-peat for Rajpaul Pannu in the men’s race.
In the men’s race, Rajpaul Pannu came back from a disqualification in 2025 to win in 11:38. In 2024, Pannu also won in 11:58, but in 2025, he finished first in 11:52 but was disqualified from the championships when his shoes didn’t meet USATF standards. This year, Pannu came through halfway in 5:37 and averaged just under seven minutes per mile for the full 100 miles.
The next three men all went sub-14 hours, too. Scott Munson, Edher Ramirez, and Pete Kostelnick ran 13:37, 13:44, and 13:57, respectively.
The day really belonged to women’s winner Ashley Paulson, though. The 44-year-old from Utah scored a new women’s 100-mile world record. Paulson ran 12:19 to take 17 minutes off Caitriona Jenning’s (Ireland) old record from November 2025. Paulson ran the first half in 5:56.
American Ashley Paulson setting a women’s 100 mile world record at the 2026 Jackpot Ultra 100 Mile. Photo: Aravaipa Running/R21 Photography
Paulson first burst into ultrarunning with a win at the 2022 Badwater 135 Mile and earlier won the 2024 Jackpot Ultras 100 Mile in 14:04. A prolific runner, Paulson is next signed up for the Arizona Monster 300 Mile in late March, and then the 200-Miler Triple Crown: the Tahoe 200 Mile, Bigfoot 200 Mile, and Moab 240 Mile across this summer and fall.
Second- and third-place Kaylee Frederick and Jenny Arnzen ran 14:49 and 15:01 to get on the podium.
[Ashley Paulson served a six-month doping sanction in 2015 and 2016 due to a doping violation in triathlon for a positive test for ostarine, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) from a contaminated supplement.]
4 Refugios – Bariloche, Argentina
It’s already the year’s first Skyrunner World Series race. It was in Argentina’s northern Patagonia on a big mountain 40-kilometer course with 3,350 meters (10,990 feet) of climbing.
José Manuel Quispe (Peru) ruled the men’s race in 5:39. Quispe hit the first refugio checkpoint in front and pulled away for a nearly 10-minute win.
Genaro Crisóstomo (Argentina) dueled with Morgan Elliott (U.S.) for second, with Crisóstomo getting to the line in second ahead in 5:48. Elliott finished third in 5:49.
José Manuel Quispe, the 2026 4 Refugios men’s winner. Photo: Skyrunner World Series
Women’s winner Kalie McCrystal (Canada) finished in 6:21 and was fifth overall. Tanja Löwenhagen (Germany) and Rosalia Zegarra (Peru) were second and third in 6:52 and 7:18.
New Aconcagua FKT-holder Erin Ton (U.S.) started the race but dropped after a little over two hours of racing.
The next Skyrunner World Series race is the Andes Mountain Race on March 7 in Chile.
Kalie McCrystal, the 2026 4 Refugios women’s winner. Photo: Skyrunner World Series
Additional Races and Runs
Winter Olympics Ski Mountaineering – Bormio, Italy
The individual sprint races were contested on February 19, and the mixed relay happened on a longer course on February 21. Athletes with ties to trail running were in all of the races. Oriol Cardona (Spain) won the men’s sprint and Cam Smith (U.S.) was 10th. Marianne Fatton (Switzerland), Emily Harrop (France) and Anna Gibson (U.S.) were first, second, and ninth in the women’s sprint. In the relay, Harrop and Cardona were part of the first- and third-place teams, Fatton was on the second-place Swiss team, and Smith and Gibson teamed up to finish fourth. Full results.
Ultra-Conero Memorial Mimmo Strazzullo 100k – Porto Recanti, Italy
Men’s winner Pascal Rüegger (Switzerland) ran 6:18 to finish nearly 40 minutes ahead of second-place Matteo Zucchini (Italy), who ran 6:58. Third-place Martin Müller (Germany) was 52 seconds better than the seven-hour mark, too, with a 6:59 run. In the women’s race, 24-hour world record holder Sarah Webster (U.K.) tied her own European record with a 7:03 finish. Noora Honkala (Finland) was second in 7:27, and Annette Velde Sande (Norway) was third in 7:39. Full results.
Old Ghost Road 85k – Seddonville, New Zealand
Kiwis Daniele Danesin won it for the men in 7:16, and Kate Loye was first for the women in 7:48. Full results.
Daniele Danesin, the 2026 Old Ghost Road 85k men’s winner. Photo: Old Ghost Road Ultras/Photos4Sale
Kate Loye Finish Line, the 2026 Old Ghost Road 85k women’s winner. Photo: Old Ghost Road Ultras/Photos4Sale
Montara Mountain 50k – Pacifica, California
The race had Aaron Kubala and Beverley Anderson-Abbs win in 4:15 and 5:03. Anderson-Abbs just missed her own 5:01 course record from last year. Full results.
Chabot/Redtail Ridge 50k – Castro Valley, California
Men’s winner Ben Moore finished in 4:05, but women’s winner Sylvie Abel was first overall in 3:56. Abel’s finish was a new course record that took nearly 17 minutes off Magdalena Boulet’s mark from 2020. Full results.
FOURmidable 50k – Cool, California
The course had over 6,000 feet of climbing across four big hills. Darren Thomas and Jennifer Schmidt led the men and women in 3:50 and 4:10. Full results.
Fire and Ice 50k – Lisbon, New York
The inaugural Fire and Ice Winter Run delivered true winter ultrarunning conditions, with runners facing wet, shin-deep snow across sections of the course. Kevin Dames took the men’s win in 6:52. Disco Meisch led the women’s race, finishing in 8:09. Full results.
Kevin Dames, the 2026 Fire And Ice 50k men’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
Disco Meisch, the 2026 Fire And Ice 50k women’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
Power of Four Ski Mountaineering – Aspen, Colorado
The two-person team race connected Aspen’s four ski areas across 24 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing. Davide Giardini and Logan Greydanus won big in the men’s race in 5:24, and Kristin Layne and Kelly Wolf finished atop the women’s division in 6:38. David Parsons and Annie Weinmann won the co-ed race in 7:43. Full results.
American Birkebeiner – Hayward, Wisconsin
What a finish this must’ve been. The big cross-country ski event had 10 men finish within eight seconds of each other in the skate division. Luke Jager, the 2025 Mount Marathon third-place finisher, won in 1:50, and 2025 U.S. Mountain Running champion David Norris was sixth but only three seconds back. The women’s race was nearly as close, with Alayna Sonnesyn finishing first in 2:08. The fifth-place woman was only 10 seconds behind. Full results.
Cabin Fever 50k – New River Gorge National Park, West Virginia
Going point to point through the New River Gorge National Park, Dan Green did it in 3:31 for the men’s win, and Sydney Smith won for the women in 4:30. Full results.
Lord Hill Trail Run 50k – Snohomish, Washington
It was the race’s 21st year, and winners Craig Coon and Clara Froeschner finished in 4:03 and 5:15. Full results.
Craig Coon, the 2026 Lord Hill Trail Run 50k men’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
Clara Froeschner, the 2026 Lord Hill Trail Run 50k women’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
Call for Comments
- I love this story. Little-known American Ethan Shuley ran 2:07:14 at Japan’s Osaka Marathon on February 22. That made him the seventh-fastest American ever at the distance. The article included a trail tie in. “When he got to Japan, he was not chasing 2:07. He wanted to run a trail ultramarathon, thinking that slower, longer running might keep him healthy. He attempted a 100-mile trail race with roughly 20,000 feet of climbing but dropped out at mile 60.” That trail race appears to be the 2023 Lake Biwa 100.
- What else happened this weekend that we missed?
