Sorry friends, we’re only going to talk about the Western States 100, and then skip everything else. That okay?
Pfff, I jest. We’ll go quick, but there was the Lavaredo Ultra Trail in Italy, the Trail Andorra 100 by UTMB, and Canada’s Minotaur Skyrace, all among other big adventures. And we’ve got to talk about all of it.
Marathon du Mont Blanc – Chamonix, France
90k
The 90-kilometer (56 miles) race was run on Friday on a big loop that gained 6,330 meters (20,767 feet). Both the women’s and men’s races saw a close front two break away from the rest of the field.
Women
In the women’s race that meant that Jennifer Lemoine (France) and Lucie Jamsin (France) were only five minutes apart at the finish. Lemoine ran 13:32 and Jamsin clocked out at 13:37. Jamsin was closing hard in the final stretch. At 80k she was 14 minutes back of the leader and made a big chunk of that deficit up on the downhill finish.
Third-place Laura Van Vooren (Belgium) finished in 14:02.
Men
And then in the men’s race only 98 seconds separated race winner Germain Grangier (France) and runner-up Louison Coiffet (France). Grangier got there first in 10:36 and Coiffet finished in 10:37. Grangier took the race lead near 60k, and the two stayed close the rest of the way.
Hugo Deck made it an all-France podium with a third-place 10:47.
42k
The event’s namesake distance was on Sunday morning and was the year’s second Golden Trail World Series contest. Its loop course totaled 2,540 meters (8,333 feet) of elevation and finished in front of big crowds in downtown Chamonix.
Women
Nordic ski season is over and Sophia Laukli (USA) is again on foot on the trails. Laukli was way out in front for a 4:12 win. That’s two minutes better than what Sara Alonso (Spain) ran to win here in 2022, and it was 11 minutes better than Laukli’s closest competition this year.
Sophia Laukli, the 2023 Marathon du Mont Blanc 42k women’s winner. Photo: Golden Trail Series|Marathon du Mont Blanc|@the.adventure.bakery
Second-place Miao Yao (China), perhaps in her first Golden Trail World Series race, finished in 4:24, just over a minute better than Oihana Kortazar (Spain). Those two dueled for place and so to did fourth- and fifth-place Theres Leboeuf (Switzerland) and Sylvia Nordskar (Norway). Leboeuf got the better of this one in 4:30 for fourth, and that was one minute better than Nordskar. Nordskar though appears to have fallen and was badly bloodied at the finish.
Daniela Oemus (Germany) and Caitlin Fielder (New Zealand) were first and second at the Zegama Marathon in May to start the Golden Trail World Series, but the pair were just sixth and eighth today, respectively. Both were perhaps still recovering from the recent Trail World Championships Short Trail race, where they finished sixth and twelfth. Leboeuf was third in that same race too.
Tabor Hemming was the first American in tenth.
Men
Rémi Bonnet (Switzerland) had a bit of a breakout last year and was the star of the 2022 Golden Trail World Series. This is the first time we’ve seen him this year, and he looks really good again. Bonnet was out front in 3:35. He didn’t race here in 2022, but his 2023 winning time was 16 seconds better than what 2022 winner Jon Albon (U.K.) ran. And as with women’s winner Laukli, Bonnet too was clear of any chasers. No one was within five minutes of him.
Rémi Bonnet wins the 2023 Marathon du Mont Blanc 42k. Photo: Golden Trail Series|Marathon du Mont Blanc|@the.adventure.bakery
Second-place Eli Hemming (USA) was impressive on the global stage in 3:40, and third-place Petter Engdahl (Sweden) finished in 3:46. It was Hemming’s second race in as many weeks, after he won the Broken Arrow Skyrace 23k last weekend. And Engdahl was earlier 13th at the Trail World Championships 40k two weekends back.
The 2023 Zegama Marathon winner Manuel Merillas (Spain) finished in 3:48, and Bartłomiej Przedwojiewski (Polish) was fifth in 3:49.
The next Golden Trail World Series race is the July 15 Dolomyths Run in Italy.
Vertical K
Christel Dewalle (France), sixth at the recent World Mountain Running Championships Uphill race, got to the top first here in 42:00. It was an all-French podium with Candice Fertin and Lucille Germain second and third in 46:08 and 46:29.
[Editor’s Note: Christel Dewalle previously served a four-month doping ban after a positive test for the stimulant heptaminol at the 2016 Skyrunning World Championships.]
Men’s winner Alexandre Ricard (Canada) doubled back from worlds too. He was 16th in the uphill race and 17th in the classic race, and won the vertical K here in 35:39. His teammate Remi Leroux (Canada) was second in 36:20 and 2023 Trail World Championships 80k winner Benjamin Roubiol (France) was third in 37:33.
Lavaredo Ultra Trail by UTMB – Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
120k
At 1,551 starters, the classic distance was still the event’s biggest, and the group started at 11:00 pm. The famed route gained 5,800 meters (19,029 feet) on a big loop around the inspiring Tre Cime peaks.
Fiona Porte (France) was nearly an hour better than second-place Maryline Nakache (France) at the front of the women’s race. The two ran 14:57 and 15:43. Third-place Emma Stuart (Ireland) got in under 16 hours too at 15:54. 2018 winner Kelly Wolf (USA) was in the field, but did not finish due to injury. For perspective on the leading times, Caroline Chaverot‘s course record from 2017 still stands at 14:05.
The top three men all came in under 13 hours, but no one approached Hannes Namberger’s 11:56 course record from last year. Race winner Jonas Russi (Switzerland) finished in 12:13, runner-up Robert Hajnal (Romania) in 12:31, and third-place Georg Piazza (Italy) in 12:54. Russi was ninth at Transgrancanaria earlier this year, and Hajnal is a UTMB mainstay who was ninth there last year.
50k
The 50k was on Friday and went for 2,600 meters (8,530 feet) in a single loop.
Barely three minutes separated the first three women, and the first six women were only 11 minutes apart. Irene Fuertes (Spain) was the first finisher among the close-packed group in 5:38. Romana Lojková (Czech Republic) was second in 5:41, and Raluca Burtea (Romania) ran 5:44 for third.
Irene Fuertes on her way to winning the 2023 Lavaredo Ultra Trail 50k. Photo: @revistatrailrun/@josemiguelmunoze
The men’s first two were close too, but gapped the rest of the field. Francesco Puppi (Italy), sixth at the recent Trail Running Championship 40k, edged Nadir Maguet (Italy) for the win by just over a minute. The two finished in 4:02 and 4:03 with Puppi breaking the course record. Third-place Jan Margarit Sole (Spain) finished in 4:27.
Francesco Puppi, the 2023 Lavaredo Ultra Trail 50k male winner. Photo: @revistatrailrun/@josemiguelmunoze
Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB – Ordino, Andorra
Everything in landlocked Andorra is really mountainous, and this 105k gained some 6,900 meters (22,637 feet).
Austrian runner Esther Fellhofer put over 90 minutes on everyone else. She won in 17:13 for a new course record. Yuan-Yuan Wu (China) and 2022 race winner Ildikó Wermescher (Hungary) were second and third in 18:44 and 18:49.
And for the men, Ben Dhiman (USA) finished in a first-place tie at 13:36 with Jean-Philippe Tschumi (Switzerland). Dhiman is one of America’s best big mountain runners, and I don’t know anything about him other than it appears he’s based in Spain. Dhiman won Spain’s Penyagolosa Trails 106k this year and was third at the 2022 Diagonale des Fous on Réunion Island.
Third-place Pau Capell (Spain) finished in 13:49. For perspective, Zach Miller (USA) won last year’s inaugural race in 14:20.
Minotaur Skyrace – Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Canada
The year’s fifth Skyrunner World Series race went for 32k with 2,817 meters of gain. Typical of the Skyrunning World Series, the race was on a technical track with narrow ridges and steep descents.
Women
Just two weeks ago Marcela Vašínová (Czech Republic) raced longer than she ever had before, finishing 12th at the Trail World Championships 80k. Recovery must’ve gone well. She won here in 5:01, six minutes better than 2022 race winner Emma Cook-Clarke (Canada). Third-place Karina Carsolio (Mexico) was third in 5:11. 2022 Skyrunner World Series winner Lindsay Webster (Canada) missed the podium again in her second series race this year. She was fourth in 5:12.
Marcela Vašínová on her way to winning the 2023 Minotaur Skyrace. Photo: Nikos Schwelm
Men
The 2022 runner-up Jackson Cole got ahead early, and then barely held off Peter Fraňo (Slovakia). Fraňo was third at the recent Trail World Championships 80k and like Vašínová, was working on short recovery. Fraňo was three minutes back of Cole 46 minutes into the race, seven minutes behind at the two-hour mark, and still five minutes in arrears 3:15 into the race. And then only 36 seconds separated the two at the finish as both registered 4:21 but with Cole in first and Fraňo second.
Third-place Jessie McAuley (Canada) finished in 4:31.
Jackson Cole, the 2023 Minotaur Skyrace men’s winner. Photo: Nikos Schwelm
Western States 100 – Auburn, California
iRunFar earlier dug into the greater race dynamics, and here in TWIR on the Monday after the races we cover in person, we like to dig into greater finish results. That is, we’re again going to list out the result for each of the runners included in the pre-race men’s and women’s previews.
Women
Courtney Dauwalter was in the lead for the entirety of the race, and squeezed everything she could from the record books. Dauwalter’s 15:29 finish was remarkably 78 minutes better than Ellie Greenwood‘s 2012 course record. Second-place Katie Schide kept Dauwalter close through the race’s first half and finished second in 16:43, also under the old course record. Eszter Csillag (Hungary, lives in Hong Kong) had a strong second half and finished third in 17:09. The top nine women all ran under 18 hours. Before this, only three women in the same race had ever done that.
Courtney Dauwalter setting a new course record at the 2023 Western States 100. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
1 – Courtney Dauwalter – 15:29
2 – Katie Schide – 16:43
3 – Eszter Csillag (Hungary) – 17:09
4 – Katie Asmuth – 17:21
5 – Emily Hawgood – 17:26
6 – Taylor Nowlin – 17:40
7 – Ida Nilsson (Sweden) – 17:43
8 – Priscilla Forgie (Canada) – 17:46
9 – Leah Yingling – 17:49
10 – Meghan Morgan – 18:11
11 – Jenny Quilty (Canada) – 18:49
12 – Kaci Lickteig – 19:47
13 – Stephanie Auston (Australia) – 19:58
14 – Riley Brady – 20:59
22 – Wen-Fei Xie (China) – 23:46
23 – Nancy Jiang (New Zealand) – 23:57
29 – Mandie Holmes – 26:43
Drops included Nicole Bitter, Keely Henninger, Camille Herron, and Heather Jackson.
The first women’s finisher not in the pre-race preview was 15th-place Christine Mosley in 21:10.
Men
The 2019 third-placer Tom Evans (U.K.) dumped his chasers after Foresthill, mile 62, and raced to Auburn in 14:40. It was the race’s fourth-fastest finish ever. Tyler Green outran Anthony Costales for second and third in 15:04 and 15:09. It was Green’s second runner-up finish here, and third top-four finish in the last three years.
Tom Evans winning the 2023 Western States 100 in 14:40. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
1 – Tom Evans (U.K.) – 14:40
2 – Tyler Green – 15:04
3 – Anthony Costales – 15:09
5 – Daniel Jones (New Zealand) – 15:22
6 – Mathieu Blanchard (France) – 15:37
7 – Ryan Montgomery – 15:38
8 – Jeff Colt – 15:42
9 – Cole Watson – 15:54
10 – Janosch Kowalczyk (Germany) – 16:09
11 – Rod Farvard – 16:15
12 – Ludovic Pommeret (France) – 16:21
13 – Arlen Glick – 16:37
14 – Jonathan Rea – 16:38
15 – Scott Traer – 16:40
16 – Cody Lind – 16:55
17 – Dakota Jones – 17:00
18 – JP Giblin – 17:15
19 – Can-Hua Luo (China) – 17:23
20 – Adam Merry – 18:28
24 – Reed Breuer – 19:54
25 – Thomas Wagner (Austria) – 20:03
28 – Alex Nichols – 20:33
31 – Ryan Kaiser – 21:07
The biggest overachiever — that is, the first runner to finish not named in the preview article — was fourth-place Jia-Sheng Shen (China) in 15:19.
Drops included Hayden Hawks and early leader Jia-Ju Zhao (China).
Additional Races and Runs
Dead Cow Gully Backyard Masters – Nanago, Australia
Phil Gore (Australia) set a new backyard world record. He ran 102 loops for 425 miles across 102 hours. Gore and Sam Harvey (New Zealand) both finished 101 loops to better the previous world record shared by Belgium runners Merijn Geerts and Ivo Steyaert, and then Harvey stopped to allow Gore to finish the world-record breaking loop alone. Gore totaled 420.83 miles in his 101 hours of running, and Harvey Lewis (USA) bettered his own personal best for the discipline with 375 miles in 90 hours.
Montane Summer Spine Race – Pennine Way, United Kingdom
Jenny Yeo won the 268-mile self-supported race in 101:39, and Dave Phillips dominated the men’s race with a 16-hour victory. Phillips finished in 76:59. Phillips slept no longer than 15 minutes consecutively during the race. Full results.
Wy’east Wonder – Parkdale, Oregon
The Go Beyond Racing event runs point-to-point alongside Mount Hood. Hannah Ryder and Matthew Bigman won the 50-mile race in 8:37 and 7:25, and Rachel Peters and Keith Laverty led the 50k in 5:15 and 4:25. Full results.
Black Hills 100 Mile – Sturgis, South Dakota
Official results haven’t yet hit the web, but social media points to Andrew Simpson winning the men’s race in 19:54, and Karl Meltzer taking second in 24:44. Full results (when available.)
Mt. Evans Ascent – Idaho Springs, Colorado
The race started at 10,600 feet and ran up the road to the 14,264-foot top of Mt. Evans. Grace Morgan and Grant Colligan caught the thin air first in 2:17 and 1:44. Full results (when available.)
Night Hawk 50k – Lawrence, Kansas
At Clinton State Park, Amanda Raithel and Michael Bartkoski were victorious in 6:22 and 5:15, respectively. Full results.
Six Days in the Dome – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
It was early in the event last weekend, and now Jenny Hoffman and Jeffrey Urbanski totaled 145.48 and 151.32 miles for 24 hours. That jumped Hoffman from eighth to third on the qualifying list for the six-person U.S. 24-hour team. Urbanski’s on the list too now, ranking fifth. Six-day race winners Ella Lombardi and Nicolae Buceanu (Romania) racked up 427- and 499-mile totals. Full results.
Last Annual Heart of the South Road Race – Castle Rock, Georgia
The 347-mile self-supported run went from Fig, North Carolina, through Tennessee to Castle Rock, Georgia. The race was in process last week, and the top runners have now finished. Sixty-one-year-old Stephanie Miller finished as first woman in seven days, two hours, 19 minutes, and men’s winner Bob Hearn finished the epic in four days, eight hours. Hearn was over a full day faster than everyone else. Full results.
Race the Cog – Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
A week after the Mount Washington Road Race, there was another race up a service road and against a cog railway to the top of 6,288-foot Mount Washington. And for the second week in a row, Amber Ferreira and Joseph Gray were race winners. The two topped out in 50:04 and 35:56. This week’s race to the top was 2.75 miles in distance and with 3,500 feet of gain. Full results.
Manitou’s Revenge – Windham, New York
Runners braved heavy rain and slippery rocks in the race’s 10th running of the 53-mile point-to-point run through the Catskill Mountains. Kehr Davis won in 13:49, her fifth win here, and Daniel Grip led the men in 10:46. Full results.
Call for Comments
What was the biggest weekend highlight for you? Dauwalter’s course record was of course extraordinary, but, and it’s been this way for the last few years for me, the backyard world record is one that I absolutely shake my head about. I just can’t comprehend that amount of time with that little sleep.
