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David Sinclair placed 3rd in the 2024 UROY voting. Widely considered a mountain runner, Sinclair posted a spectacular course record at the flat and fast JFK 50. He burnished his mountain credentials by winning both the Broken Arrow Skyrace and the Speedgoat 50k, where he also set a course record. A native of Vermont and a 2:16 marathoner, Sinclair is a ski coach in the Lake Tahoe area.
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Rachel Drake is the 3rd-ranked woman for 2024. Her running year was highlighted by a course-record win at the JFK 50, becoming the first woman to break 6 hours in the 62-year history of the race. She also won the Black Canyon 100k and placed 8th at Western States. A native of Minnesota, Drake also finished her medical degree during the year. She and her husband, Tyler Green, and their two-year-old son, Lewis, moved from Portland, Oregon, to Salt Lake City this year, where she is now a medical resident.
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Rod Farvard is the 4th-ranked man for 2024. He placed second at Western States, posting the third-best time ever. He also set a course record in winning the Canyons by UTMB 100k. Originally from the San Francisco suburb of Moraga, Farvard now lives in Mammoth Lakes, California.
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Emily Hawgood and Megan Eckert tied for 4th place in the women’s voting for 2024, each receiving 195 votes. Hawgood finished fourth at Western States – posting a 38-minute PR in her fourth consecutive top 10 finish. She was also sixth at UTMB. A native of Zimbabwe, Hawgood now lives in Roseville, California.
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Megan Eckert and Emily Hawgood tied for 4th place in the women’s voting for 2024, each receiving 195 votes. Eckert had an incredible 10 ultra finishes in 2024, highlighted by the assist at Big’s Backyard, where she posted a women’s world best of 362.5 miles. Showing great versatility, she also won the Angeles Crest 100 and posted 153 miles in 24 hours at Desert Solstice in December. A middle school teacher and cross-country coach, Eckert lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her husband, Joe.
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Eli Hemming is the 5th-ranked man in the 2024 UROY balloting. Hemming won four large ultras during the year, including the Orsières-Champex-Chamonix (OCC) 57km race that is part of the UTMB series and had a whopping 1,534 finishers. Hemming’s win at the Black Canyon 60k was a course record. A former professional triathlete, Hemming lives in Kremmling, Colorado, with his wife, Tabor.
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Courtney Olsen is the 6th-ranked woman in the 2024 UROY voting. Olsen’s superlative year included a new world best for 50 miles, with a 5:31:56 clocking at Tunnel Hill and a third-place finish at the highly competitive Comrades Marathon (54 miles) in South Africa. She also placed 10th at the IAU World 100k Championships in India. Olsen lives in Bellingham, Washington, with her husband, Matthew.
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Caleb Olson placed 6th among the men in the 2024 UROY voting. His busy year included eight ultra finishes, including a 14:40:12 fifth-place finish at Western States—the fastest ever debut time at the venerable event. Olson grew up in the Seattle area and now lives in Draper, Utah.
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Jim Walmsley is ranked 7th in the 2024 UROY voting. His only ultra finish this year was at Western States, where he won while posting the second-fastest time in the 51-year history of the race, behind only his own course record. He was leading at UTMB when he aggravated a knee injury and was forced to drop. Walmsley has won UROY six times, more than any other man. He lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, with his wife, Jessica Brazeau.
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Mary Denholm comes in 7th among the women for 2024. She won the Leadville Trail 100, posting the second-fastest time in race history, behind only Ann Trason’s 1994 course record. She also won the Leadville Silver Rush 50 and placed second at the JFK 50. An attorney by training, she is now a full-time run coach at Lift Run Perform. She is originally from Maryland and now lives in Erie, Colorado.