Hey y’all, we scrolled through 700+ IG posts and 125+ articles, newsletters, podcast episodes, and videos since Friday’s issue so you could catch up on the weekend without living on your phone. Here’s your Tuesday Ultra Minute:
John Kelly started an AT FKT attempt southbound from Katahdin at 6:21 a.m. ET Tuesday and reached the 100 Mile Wilderness start checkpoint at mile 15 in 3:31, according to his live tracker. A compressed peroneal nerve ended last year’s northbound try just short of finishing. After nerve hydrodissection and physical therapy, Kelly says things are starting to feel fairly normal again. This time, he wants the privilege and joy of being on the trail to stay central rather than spending weeks miserable.
Courtney Dauwalter will return to UTMB for a fifth start. She has won three of her previous four appearances, and the late addition puts the three-time champion back on the line August 28.
Mădălina Florea won her first Sierre-Zinal, while Philemon Kiriago took his third victory in four years. Florea broke clear on the descent and finished in 2:55:46, ahead of Caroline Kimutai in 2:56:31 and Sierre-Zinal debutant Morven Goodrum in 2:57:15. A widely discussed aid-station clip shows Nienke Brinkman stopping to search the labeled table at Hôtel Weisshorn and losing visible time while Florea continued ahead. Hôtel Weisshorn is an official aid zone, where assistance is allowed. Brinkman finished fifth. Kiriago and Patrick Kipngeno ran together until late, then Kiriago won in 2:26:24, 32 seconds ahead of Kipngeno. Michael Selelo Saoli completed an all-Kenyan, all-Run2gether men’s podium in 2:29:36. The Golden Trail World Series says Florea’s third straight series win left her firmly on top, while Kiriago’s first series win of 2026 moved him to second overall. Series leader Elhousine Elazzaoui did not finish and said afterward the race had not gone as he hoped.
Christian Allen finished sixth at Sierre-Zinal in 2:31:14, 38 seconds faster than Jim Walmsley’s previous American best. After his third start, Allen wrote that setting the mark “after so many studs have paved the way over the last 52 years was a dream,” and said he hopes to contend for the win in a future year.
Maria Petit finished Sierre-Zinal in 5:49:20.5 with guides Pau Moreno and Elisa Mas. Race footage shows Petit, who is blind, and her guides using a directional bar across technical mountain terrain.
Kaylee Frederick won Eastern States 100 outright in 23:09. Frederick said afterward she was the race’s first woman to finish first overall and first to break 24 hours. The race’s record table lists Nicole Yokum’s 24:34:14 as the previous women’s mark. Frederick also cut more than 11.5 hours from her 2023 finish and wrote, “Maybe I could be a trail runner, too, if I wanted.”
Nick Cusseneers and Claire Bannwarth won the Swiss Alps 100 160K in course-record times of 22:48:37 and 27:52:33. Cusseneers improved the 2025 men’s record by 50:06, while Bannwarth took 49:21 off the 2024 women’s mark. Raphael Sprenger and Yannick Widmer completed the men’s podium, while Jasmin Paris finished second among women in 29:23:48 and Marie Vialle Brasseur was third. The 160K course packs about 10,000 meters of climbing into its loop through the Valais Alps. Paris said afterward she is beginning to feel fit again after having her baby.
Logan Perin and Angelika Hahn won KAT100’s 173K in 21:53:17 and 31:40:10. Patrick Pape and Martin Stäps followed Perin, while Nanna Spirgath finished just 63 seconds behind Hahn and Anna-Lena Kaiser took third. In the 81K, Lisa Wimmer and Hugo Deck were the winners in 8:39:33 and 7:40:49.
UTMB World Series will add a Chattanooga event June 4–6, 2027, bringing the circuit to the Southeast. Ultra Trail Chattanooga by UTMB will offer 100K, 50K, and 20K races. The point-to-point 100K starts at Erlanger Park and links Lookout Mountain trail systems en route to Cloudland Canyon State Park. Priority registration opens August 18 at noon Eastern, followed by general registration August 20.
The USATF 50K Trail National Championship is moving to Perpetua Coast on October 3 after the Grasshopper Fire canceled Wy’east Trailfest. The replacement in Yachats, Oregon, covers 31.1 miles with roughly 5,700 feet of climbing and descending along the coast.
Two more Washington trail races were canceled because of the Three Queens Fire. Rainshadow Running called off the September 19 Teanaway Country 100-mile, 50-mile, and 50K races, the event’s second consecutive cancellation after the 2025 Labor Mountain Fire. Evergreen Trail Runs also canceled the debut Kachess Ridge 50 scheduled for August 22 and hopes to launch the race in 2027. The PCTA says the nearby PCT remains open, but Mineral Creek Trail access is closed and the status could change with fire activity.
David Roche is undergoing foot surgery Tuesday after pushing through a fifth-metatarsal injury he connected to compensating for last year’s torn plantar fascia. Roche said he dismissed a sprained foot in June and more warning signs in July. He expects to begin rebuilding in eight to 12 weeks and plans to channel the interim energy into coaching.
On the anniversary of starting his Appalachian Trail FKT, Jeff Garmire unpacked the training behind 45 days on trail. He kept speed and strength work in the plan, used short, specific training camps late in the build, and deliberately avoided proving he could already handle 50-mile days. “Every giant day has a recovery cost,” he wrote. “I don’t think I was the fittest I’d ever been. I think I was the most prepared.” Garmire also joined the Trail Mix Running Podcast for an 84-minute conversation about his Calendar Year Triple Crown, Cocodona, running around Mont Blanc, and what keeps him motivated.
Cody Poskin won Wyoming Range 100 in 25:40:30, a course record reported by iRunFar. Ginny Robbins was second overall and the first woman in 28:37:45, her second straight win.
The most viewed links from our last issue:
Also worth a look:
At Alaska’s Kesugi Ridge Traverse, Yvonne Jeschke finished second overall, 40 seconds behind Maxim Khatsenko, and lowered her own women’s record by 21 seconds to 5:14:53.
A new Fastest Known Podcast episode follows Aurélien Sanchez through the injuries, difficult trail conditions, emergency-room visit, and support system behind his Pacific Crest Trail FKT.
Allison Powell’s 45 Days, a film about Garmire’s Appalachian Trail record, has a Bozeman screening August 27 and a public YouTube premiere August 28.
A 52-minute Lazarus Lake documentary will premiere in Chamonix on August 27, with Gary Cantrell joining a discussion after each of three screenings.
Trailmix argued that independent races help protect trail running from a UTMB-shaped monoculture by preserving local character and experimentation, while larger organizations bring infrastructure and visibility.
Lastly, Zach Miller’s latest trail-maintenance project involved moving a nest off the trail. He was unsure whether that made him a “(Bee) keeper of the trails” or a Darwin Award candidate.
That’s it for today. If TUM helps you follow the sport without spending your whole day on Instagram, the best way to help it grow is to share this issue with one friend who’d get it. Or simply like this post. Thanks for reading.
Ken
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