It’s a truly diverse, all-terrain line-up this week. The Valencia 10k road race was perhaps the most competitive race for trail runners on the weekend, and at the far other end, the long-haul Winter Spine Race is underway.
Winter Spine Race – Pennine Way, United Kingdom
The 268-mile Winter Spine Race started on Sunday, January 11. It’s a one-way, non-stop challenge in extreme weather along the Pennine Way. There was heavy snow, ice, rain, and wind in the days leading up to the race.
This is a long one, and so it’s really early. Last year’s men’s race was won in 82 hours, and the first-place woman completed the adventure in 87 hours.
At the time of this writing on Sunday, Eugeni Roselló Solé (Spain) leads the men, and Johanna Antila (Finland) is in front of the women’s race.
Meanwhile, the Winter Spine Challenger South, a 108-mile race from Edale to Hawes along the southern portion of the Pennine Way route, saw severe weather lead to a course change. Jack Scott, the 2025 Winter Spine Race winner, led the field through snow, ice, and sleet to win in 25:10. Sarah Page won for the women in 29:03 with a 13-mile lead over the next woman.
Sarah Page, the 2026 Winter Spine Challenger South women’s winner. Photo: The Spine Race
Jack Scott, the 2026 Winter Spine Challenger South men’s winner. Photo: The Spine Race
Valencia 10k – Valencia, Spain
This is so fast. The 218th-place man ran 30:00, wow. Quite a few trail runners came to Valencia for fast times.
Third at the 2025 Trail World Championships Short Trail contest, Andreu Blanes (Spain) ripped a 27:47 sprint. That was only good for 29th against the world-class road field. Golden Trail World Series runner Joey Hadorn (Switzerland) was 55th in 28:20.
In the women’s race, Tereza Hrochová (Czech Republic) was 14th in 31:05, and that was a new Czech national record. Oria Liaci (Switzerland) was 35th in 32:13. Hrochová raced the 2025 Trail World Championships Short Trail contest, and Liaci doubled at that same event with the 2025 World Mountain Running Championships Uphill and Up and Down races. Sara Alonso (Spain) was in Valencia too and finished 58th in 33:00, and Rosa Lara (Spain) was 74th in 33:34. Dominika Stelmach (Poland) stepped way down in distance and finished in 34:40.
Additional Races and Runs
Bandera – Bandera, Texas
Jared Rothlauf was a runaway winner in the men’s 100k in 8:54. He was over an hour better than everyone else. Anneke Durkan topped the women’s group in 11:08. Benjamin Melisi won the men’s 50k in 4:15, but 2020 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist Molly Seidel won for the women and was first overall in 4:09. The course has changed some over the year’s but it appears that the former event record was Melanie Fryar’s 4:24 finish in 2012. Full results.
Jared Rothlauf, the 2026 Bandera 100k men’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
Anneke Durkan, the 2026 Bandera 100k women’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
Egmond Half Marathon – Egmond, The Netherlands
Coming back from long-term injury, Nienke Brinkman (The Netherlands) was third in 1:11:28. Full results.
Oman Desert Marathon – Bidiyah, Oman
The five-stage race totals 165k (102 miles) of self-supported sand dune running. At the time of this writing, with two stages in the books, Mohammed El Morabity and Rachid El Morabity (Morocco) lead the men with 5:59 and 6:28 on the clock, and Aziza El Amrany (Morocco) and Aziza Raji (Morocco) are atop the women’s rankings with 8:29 and 9:07 elapsed. Full results.
Bridle Trails Winter Trail Running Festival – Kirkland, Washington
At Bridle Trails State Park, Aaron Haugen and Brittany Kealy won the 50k race in 3:49 and 3:52. Full results.
Avalon Benefit 50 – Avalon, California
On Catalina Island, Michael Ruf and Catherine LeClair won the 50 miler in 6:22 and 7:38, and Cody Poskin and Stefanie Kuhfusz were tops in the 50k in 3:36 and 4:38. Full results.
Saint Croix Winter Ultra – Hinckley, Minnesota
The overnight on-snow 40-mile race through Saint Croix State Park requires that racers carry all their essential survival gear through the cold Minnesota night. Scott Wopata and Bri Meyer won in 6:02 and 8:56. Full results.
Scott Wopata, the 2026 Saint Croix Winter Ultra men’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
Bri Meyer, the 2026 Saint Croix Winter Ultra women’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
No Hands 50k – Auburn, California
Race winners David Pillard and Lena Wirth came through in 4:58 and 6:27. Jacob Banta scored a new 35k course record in 2:32, and Emily Hawgood won for the women in 3:16. Full results.
San Tan Scramble 50k – Queen Creek, Arizona
At the San Tan Mountain Regional Park, John Raneri and Taylor Kaser won in 3:40 and 5:13. Full results.
Houston Marathon and Half Marathon – Houston, Texas
The flat and fast races had great weather, and a few ties to trail running. In the men’s marathon, Cal Neff was a pacer and finished in 2:26:12. He’s in next month’s Black Canyon 100k. Courtney Olsen was 11th in the women’s marathon in 2:35:39, and that’s a U.S. Marathon Olympic Trials qualifying time! Olsen went through halfway in 1:18:18 and then ran a negative split.
Occasional trail runner Sam Chelanga finished the men’s half marathon in 1:05:54. Allie Ostrander ran 1:10:11 for 18th place in the women’s half marathon. By finishing in under 1:12:00, the run gets Ostrander into the U.S. Marathon Olympic Trials, too.
(In 2023, Ostrander was suspended for four months after testing positive for canrenone, a metabolite of spironolactone, after it was determined that she mistakenly took the drug without first obtaining a World Anti-Doping Agency Therapeutic Use Exemption.)
World Cross Country Championships – Tallahassee, Florida
Rispa Cherop (Uganda) was sixth at the World Mountain Running Championships Up and Down race last year, and she was sixth here too. Cherop finished the senior women’s 10k race in 32:52 in sixth place individually, and as part of the third-place team. Full results.
USATF Club Cross Country Championships – Tallahassee, Florida
A day after the World Cross Country Championships, the USATF Club Cross Country Championships were held on the same course. It looks like trail runners might’ve been entirely absent from the open men’s 10k, but Laurel Moyer went 22:14 for 38th in the open women’s 6k, and Eric Blake ran 34:23 to finish 15th in the masters men’s 10k. Renee Metivier was second in 22:02 in the masters women’s 6k race, too. Full results.
Disney Marathon – Orlando, Florida
Past Lake Sonoma 50 Mile winner Brittany Charboneau won the women’s marathon in 2:54. Full results.
Frozen Sasquatch 50k – Charleston, West Virginia
Will Ross (right), the 2026 Frozen Sasquatch 50k men’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
Leslie Starnes (left), the 2026 Frozen Sasquatch 50k women’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
Call for Comments
- I’ve lost track of the years, but I know that this weekend —Bandera weekend — is my TWIR anniversary, and I’m happy to keep it going!
- Whether the Valencia 10k, World Cross Country Championships, or Houston Marathon, or anywhere else, are there other loose trail running, mountain running, or ultrarunning ties you can point out?
- The “UltraRunning Magazine” North American Ultrarunner of the Year rankings are rolling out. I’m a voter, and in looking back, I know I definitely didn’t get my ballot right. My question is: Who is going to be the biggest snub? It looks like Courtney Olsen is going to be left outside of the top 10. In 2025, she was ninth at the Comrades Marathon, broke a longstanding North American 100k record, and won the USATF 50k Road National Championships. I think that all should’ve been enough for a top-10 finish in UROY. Charlie Lawrence had a similar resume, too, with that same USATF 50k Road National Championships win, a fast-but-unofficial 100k run in Italy, and a new North American 100k record, but it appears that he’s also going be left out of the top 10.
