We looked from Japan to Montana, but it was a quieter weekend of trail and ultra racing. Check out the highlights from The Rut and Run Rabbit Run, and others, in this week’s rundown.
You can also check out our race coverage from earlier in the weekend:
Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile – Steamboat Springs, Colorado
The race name is a play on nearby Rabbit Ears Pass, but the race itself is best known for its big prize purse. There was over $85,000 of cash going out to top finishers, with both the winners of the 100-mile race going home with $20,000.
Women
Mary Denholm pushed the pace in the race’s first half, but then the weather rolled in and Denholm left the race after mile 44 and 7:43 of running. Riley Brady was 20 minutes behind Denholm at that point, but gained the lead when Denholm dropped. Brady put time on everyone for most of the rest of the way and won in 20:29. It was, perhaps, a bit of a redemption run for Brady after dropping from this year’s Western States 100 in June.
Becca Bramley and Mckendree Hickory were second and third for all of the race’s second half and finished in 21:14 and 21:21. Bramley won the race’s 50 miler in 2023, and Hickory won the High Lonesome 100 Mile last year.
Men
The Rich got richer. Jesse Rich was the surprise $20,000 winner in 17:42. Rich has a long run of ultrarunning success, but this was certainly the biggest. He was second at the Run Rabbit Run 50 Mile way back in 2014 and, more recently, third at The Bear 100 Mile in 2023.
Jon Harrison and JP Giblin, the winner of the 2023 Leadville 100 Mile, were second and third in 19:06 and 19:20, respectively.
Riley Brady, 2025 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile champion. Photo: Kellie Thompson/Hidden Antelope Photography/@hiddenantelope
Jesse Rich wins the 2025 Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile men’s race. Photo: Kellie Thompson/Hidden Antelope Photography/@hiddenantelope
The Rut – Big Sky, Montana
The three-day, five-race event was a sold-out “Montana Mountain Running Celebration.”
Lone Peak VK
The Friday, September 12, climb was rerouted short of the summit due to tram construction. The new route was the same used in 2023 and was roughly a two-mile race with 2,750 feet of climbing. There was still $1,000 for the win and $500 and $250 for second and third, though.
The first four women were all from Bozeman. At roughly an hour away, that’s a local race in Montana. Makena Morley was way out ahead of everyone else, finishing in 38:39, and placing fourth overall. She ran 2:30 at the Grandma’s Marathon in Minnesota in June of this year. Dani Stack and Erika Flowers were second and third in 46:22 and 47:19.
For the men, Cam Smith tuned up for the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in two weeks. He’s qualified for two races there, and did two races here too. Smith won in 34:25. Behind him, Meikael Beaudoin-Rousseau and Owen Wright were next in 35:23 and 37:10.
Makena Morley, the 2025 The Rut VK women’s winner. Photo: The Rut/Anastasia Wilde
Cam Smith, the 2025 The Rut VK men’s winner. Photo: The Rut/Anastasia Wilde
28k
Saturday’s 17-mile race was one big loop with over 8,000 feet of climbing. There was a $9,000 cash purse that paid $3,000 to the winners.
Klaire Rhodes ran down early leader Maya Rayle to win the women’s race in 3:53. Rayle was second in 3:59, and Lindsay Allison made a couple of second-half passes to get onto the podium third in 4:04. Rhodes won and set the race’s 50k course record a year ago.
Men’s frontrunners Cam Smith, Jackson Cole, and Johen Deleon were together through halfway, but by the time they hit the Lone Peak summit, Smith had powered into the ultimate lead. A day after winning the VK climb, Smith won here in 3:03. Cole was second in 3:07, and Deleon finished third in 3:16.
Further down, Jeff Mogavero bounced back from a drop at UTMB with a fourth-place run, and recent Imogene Pass Run winner Spencer Keating was sixth. Montana legend Seth Swanson was 14th.
50k
As with the 28k, there was $9,000 in money here, too, on the event’s last day.
Third in the VK, Erika Flowers doubled back on the long course and took the women’s crown in 6:30. She was in front from the race’s first checkpoint until the finish. Emmiliese Von Avis and Stella Johnson got around the mountain course next in 6:41 and 6:50.
Men’s winner Adam Loomis shook loose from Zach Perrin near the halfway point and held off Perrin’s late-race surge to win in 5:13. Perrin was only 65 seconds behind in second at 5:15. Third-place Florian Winker (Germany) chased them in 5:32. Loomis won the Twisted Fork 68k in June and the Telluride Mountain Run 40 Mile in August. A year ago this weekend, he was second at the Run Rabbit Run 100 Mile, too.
Erika Flowers, the 2025 The Rut 50k women’s winner. Photo: The Rut/Anastasia Wilde
Adam Loomis, the 2025 The Rut 50k men’s winner. Photo: The Rut/Anastasia Wilde
Additional Races and Runs
World Athletics Championships – Tokyo, Japan
In 2015, Stella Chesang (Uganda) won the World Mountain Running Championships. That was a 13k race in the U.K. This weekend, she was 12th in the World Athletics Championships Marathon in 2:31:13. Victor Kiplangat (Uganda), the men’s 2017 World Mountain Running Champion, was 15th in 2:11:33 in the men’s marathon and 50k world record-holder CJ Albertson (U.S.) was 40th in 2:19:25. In the men’s 10,000-meter race, Oscar Chelimo (Uganda) was 18th in 29:26. Chelimo won the junior boy’s race at the 2017 World Mountain Running Championships. Full results.
Ouray 50 Mile – Ouray, Colorado
On a route with more than 23,000 feet of climbing, Corinne Shalvoy came within two minutes of the course record to win the women’s race in 15:22. Colin Kelly won the men’s contest in 14:15. Full results when available.
Corinne Shalvoy braves a snow squall on her way to winning the 2025 Ouray 50 Mile. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Colin Kelly, the 2025 Ouray 50 Mile men’s winner
Pine to Palm 100 Mile – Williams, Oregon
The race goes back to 2010, but this was the final Pine to Palm 100 Mile. Annie Behrend won for the women in 21:36, the race’s fifth-fastest finish ever, and Daniel Lingenfelter outdueled William Hubert for the men’s crown. Lingenfelter and Hubert finished in 18:08 and 18:17. Full results.
Run Rabbit Run 50 Mile – Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Alongside the marquee 100 miler, Megan Roche and Ryan Raff won the 50-mile race in 8:21 and 7:04. Both were out front of their respective fields for all of the race. Raff set a new course record and Roche finished fourth overall. Full results.
Berkeley Trail Adventure 50k – Berkeley, California
Kimberly Neely came away with the women’s win in 4:45, while Rob Nachtwey won the men’s race in 4:22.
Kimberly Neely, the 2025 Berkeley Trail Adventures 50k women’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
Rob Nachtwey, the 2025 Berkeley Trail Adventures 50k men’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
Snow Mountain Ranch 50k – Granby, Colorado
Angelena Sweet and Jeff Urbanski led a small group of finishers in 5:08 and 4:04. Full results.
Shawangunk Ridge Trail Run – High Point State Park, New Jersey
The 70-mile trail traverses the Shawangunk Mountains from High Point State Park, New Jersey, to Rosendale, New York. Kirsten Rasinske won the women’s race in 24:46:36, and Roland Mann won the men’s race in 19:11:09. Full results.
Kirsten Rasinske, the 2025 Shawangunk Ridge Trail Run 70 Mile women’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
Roland Mann, the 2025 Shawangunk Ridge Trail Run 70 Mile men’s winner. Photo courtesy of the race.
Call for Comments
- Are there any other trail- or ultra-adjacent runners at the World Athletics Championships?
- What else did you have your eye on this weekend? Leave a comment to share!
