Hey y'all, we scrolled through 900+ IG posts and 100+ articles, newsletters, podcast episodes, and videos since Friday's issue so you can keep up with the latest in trail & ultra without living on your phone. Here's your Ultra Minute:
Ryan Sullivan won the High Lonesome rematch, and Becca Bramley broke the women’s course record by 27 seconds. Jeff Colt wrote before the race that he and Sullivan ran together from roughly miles 30 to 55 last year before Sullivan dropped around mile 73; Colt set the course record, and returned this year largely because Sullivan did. This time, Sullivan won in 19:56:30, with Gabe Joyes second in 20:11:23 and Brett Carlson third in 22:00:09, while Colt stopped at mile 68. The official splits show Joyes left Monarch Pass 30 minutes behind Sullivan, was three minutes back leaving Raspberry 2, and finished 14:53 behind. Bramley finished third overall in 21:55:49, ahead of Isabella Poulos and Salynda Heinl, and lowered Rachel Entrekin’s women’s course record by 27 seconds. After Entrekin set the record last year, race director Caleb Efta gave her a five-dollar bill inscribed “The Queen” (although it appears to say “Qween”). At this year’s awards, Entrekin passed it to Bramley. Nathan Rubinfeld won the nonbinary division in 27:54:15.
Devon Olson and Noah Dusseau both broke Cascade Crest’s previous out-and-back fire-course record. UltraRunning Magazine reported that the Three Queens Fire left no way to complete the planned second half of the course, so organizers used an out-and-back. Olson won in 18:33:15, and Dusseau finished second in 18:49:44; Cascade Crest said both beat the old mark. iRunFar’s results roundup lists Kyle Peterson third in 22:11, Andrea Tarras as women’s winner in 22:06, Abby Jahn second in 23:18, and Bailey Dantonio third in 23:39. Devon Yanko was a notable DNS; she wrote that the foot injury she carried out of Scout Mountain was a torn FHL tendon and that she received PRP after an MRI.
Keith Nadeau and Megan Eckert won the Vermont 100. Nadeau finished in 15:41, ahead of Aaron Stevens in 16:12 and Cody Cutler in 16:15. Eckert won in 17:19:56, followed by Joanna Fortier in 18:16:52 and Camille Herron in 18:31:58. Fortier wrote that Vermont was her 100-mile debut and that the emotions from training and thinking about the moment for so long hit her in the final mile. Vermont’s 100K went to James Gilbert in 9:09 and Therese Howe in 10:47. At the Tahoe Rim Trail 100, Kyle Roberts won in 21:57:13 and Lindsey Dwyer finished first woman and second overall in 21:59:58; the race called Dwyer’s time a record for the current course configuration and the third-fastest women’s time in race history.
Vauban’s World Cup weekend opened with an uphill repeat and ended with Kenyan podium sweeps. In Saturday’s uphill race, Richard Omaya Atuya repeated in exactly 40:40, ahead of Brayan Rodríguez Flores and Elijah Kamau Kariuki; Francesca Ghelfi came from sixth at the mid station to win in 49:18, with Ruth Mwihaki Gitonga and Kirsty Dickson completing the podium. Sunday’s 13.9K up-and-down race produced Kenyan podium sweeps: Atuya reached the high point first, but Ephantus Njeri took over on the descent and won in 1:03:01, with Atuya second and Kariuki third. Gitonga beat Gloria Chebet by 19 seconds, and Miriam Chepkirui took third.
Lisa Borzani won Monte Rosa Walserwaeg’s 120K. Borzani finished in 19:19:39, Claire Bannwarth was second in 19:25:57, and Martina Klančnik Potrč was third in 19:30:58. Official results have Jérôme Vanderschaeghe winning in 15:33, followed by Florian Descamps in 16:00 and defending champion Simone Corsini in 16:05.
Eiger’s E101 went to Stian Dahl Sommerseth and Alina Wylezalek. The men’s result card has Sommerseth first in 11:44:03, Manuel Hartweg second in 11:56:18, and Maxime Pellouchoud third in 12:23:59. The women’s podium was Wylezalek in 14:01:24, Daniela Mackner in 14:24:35, and Julia Harnie in 14:57:36. The race’s weekend recap described thunderstorms, rain, hail, and sunshine across the Grindelwald courses.
Mike McKnight’s BPC-157 use has reopened trail running’s anti-doping debate. McKnight wrote Monday that he disclosed in a July 14 interview with Cameron Hanes that he had taken the peptide last winter for a herniated disc. He said friends recommended it, a nurse advised him on daily dosing, and he didn’t know it was prohibited; he also said his condition improved enough to cancel scheduled surgery. USADA says BPC-157 is prohibited under the World Anti-Doping Agency’s S0 Unapproved Substances category, isn’t approved for human clinical use, and has no established safe human dose. Sage Canaday argued Monday that anyone entering a race should follow the same banned-substance rules, with enforcement focused first on podium contenders, sponsored runners, coaches, and influencers. Jacob Puzey offered a defense Tuesday, arguing that McKnight lacked the anti-doping education and team guidance many college and professional runners receive and saying he didn’t believe McKnight intentionally sought an unfair advantage.
The latest from Aurélien Sanchez: 167.0 miles to go and 11.3 miles ahead of PCT record pace. Cimalp’s Tuesday update put his supported northbound attempt at roughly 2,423 miles and 91% complete. At 12:41 a.m. MDT Wednesday, Sanchez’s live tracker showed 2,483.5 miles complete on day 45; its comparison tool placed him 11.3 miles ahead of where Karel Sabbe was at the same elapsed time.
Sophie Grant is attempting a supported FKT on the roughly 2,000-kilometer Via Alpina from Trieste to Monaco. After a difficult day 16, a hotel night and full dinner helped her rebound for what her team called one of her strongest days yet. Her husband, George Woods, joined her for the first 30 kilometers; the crew van returned with two new front tires and a reconditioned spare; and a viral post from Stephanie Case brought more than 20,000 new followers to the project. Her FKT route page lays out the full route. Meanwhile, Karel Sabbe is moving into his third day on the roughly 3,000-kilometer HexaTrek across France. He and his crew shared a “Hexatrek day 1” reel Tuesday; at 12:22 a.m. MDT Wednesday, his public tracker was still marked ongoing and its route trace added up to about 215.8 kilometers.
Heather Jackson’s Tour Divide attempt ended on day four. Jackson wrote that she woke barely able to lift her neck, then developed tingling and numbness in her hands until she could no longer squeeze the brakes safely on steep descents. She tried stretching, trigger-point work, rest, and even tying her head back with a charging cable, but stopped when her neck control and hand sensation hadn’t returned the next day.
Crazy Mountain’s tree-clearing crew put in 312 hours ahead of this week’s race. The race said 19 volunteer sawyers and swampers—the people cutting and moving downed trees—cleared 100 miles of trail after unusually severe wind events; it also thanked three Forest Service crews for joining the final push. Kudos to those volunteers. The work wrapped ahead of this week’s race.
Lastly, “Most people would quit. I would probably quit!” That’s how Liz Derstine described watching Tara Dower fight through Hardrock while crewing a professional runner for the first time. Her account shows both the work and the helplessness behind the race: improvised lube gloves and two-minute aid-station stops, then hanging tent flaps for privacy after Dower reached Telluride shaken and disoriented, saying she’d gotten scared near Kroger’s and hadn’t known where she was. At mile 92.5, the crew wiped Dower’s legs and applied ointment “NASCAR pit crew-style”; Derstine then watched her climb Little Giant better than anyone they had seen there. Back in Silverton, Derstine paced around holding back tears before the crew cried as Dower kissed the rock.
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Ken
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