Sponsored By:
“March Madness” usually refers to the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments that kicked off this week, but with a historic finish at the Barkley Marathons, course and state records being broken and over 45 races on the UltraRunning Magazine calendar, March Madness could also describe this weekend’s ultrarunning action!
We start this week’s Ultra Weekend Recap in Frozen Head State Park for what will go down as one of the most epic Barkley Marathons ever run, highlighted by Jasmin Paris (UK) becoming the first woman in history to complete all five loops. Paris finished the Barkley in 59 hours, 58 minutes and 21 seconds, leaving just a minute and 39 seconds to spare and keeping all of us on the edge of our seats as we waited for updates. In all, a record five runners completed the race, with Ukrainian Ihor Verys (58:44:59) being first to the yellow gate in his Barkley debut. Other finishers included Americans John Kelly (59:15:38) and Jared Campbell (59:30:32), as well as New Zealander Greig Hamilton (59:38:42). This was Campbell’s fourth Barkley finish, and Kelly’s third.
Next, we head Ottawa, Kansas, for the Prairie Spirit Trail races. Because this event features four ultra distances (100-mile, 100k, 50-mile and 50k), I’m only going to list the winners, but you can find all of the results here. We start at the 100-miler, where Cody Jones set a new Kansas state 100-mile record. Jones ran 14:11:12, taking over 10 minutes off the previous state best. For the women, Andrea White won in 17:15:28 and finished fourth overall. In the 100k race, Carrie Grant claimed the overall win and set a new course record in a time of 10:04:14. Michael Dunn (10:47:52) took the win for the men. In the 50-miler, Samuel Holland won in 6:19:41, with Kayla Straub winning the women’s title and finishing second overall (third-fastest course time) in 7:11:13. Finally in the 50k, Neela D’Souza won in 4:24:57 (third overall), and Jeffrey Kern (4:05:51) placed first for the men.
Up next, we swing over to the North Carolina Outer Banks for a breezy and wet running of the Blackbeard’s Revenge (100-mile and 100k), which included a last-minute course change to avoid flooding. In the 100-mile race, Ross Alvaro took the victory in 17:09:44, followed by Tyler Cunningham in second (19:39:54) and Jeremy Hardin (20:30:43) in third. In the women’s race, Megan Alvarado (19:48:59) took top honors finishing third overall and running the third-fastest time in course history. Keya Price finished second in 26:38:11, and Holiday Williams placed third (27:23:13).
In the 100k race, Anita Harless won in 11:16:47, Heather Marzan placed second (11:50:13) and Lindsey Ellison took third (12:15:44). On the men’s side, Alexandar Thomas came out on top (9:33:34), followed by Nathan Buzas (9:58:08) and Keith Crapps (10:36:59). Full results here.
Heading west to the Arizona desert, we check in on the fast and highly competitive Crown King Scramble 50k. In the men’s race, Ryan Raff shattered the course record in 3:41:24, with second place finisher David Roche also going under the previous course best in 3:44:45. Makai Clemons rounded out the podium in 3:52:14. On the women’s side, Megan Roche cruised to victory in 4:30:25, running the second-fastest time ever run on the course. Lindsay Allison came in second (4:55:32) and Abbie Tuomi placed third (5:08:26). Full results here.
Finally, we drop by Moab, Utah, for the scenic Behind the Rocks Ultra (50-mile and 50k) races. In the 50-mile distance, Keavy Baylor was victorious in a time of 9:50:04, Rachel Kauffman took second (9:55:25), and Alley Zielinski finished third (10:17:33). In the men’s field, Ben Handrich won in 7:47:14, Brydon Anderson was second (7:51:15) and Morgan Galvin completed the podium in 7:59:30.
In the 50k race, Cole Campbell won in a blistering time of 3:41:36, taking almost 10 minutes off the previous course record. Caleb Olson finished second (3:56:09) and Brian Whitfield (4:01:19) placed third. In the fast and competitive women’s race, Anne Flower crushed the course record, winning in 4:23:39 and placing sixth overall. Lauren Kersjes finished second in 4:30:45 (ninth overall and third-fastest time in course history), and Riley Brady (4:37:01) finished third and 10th overall. Full results here.
There were tons of races this weekend so be sure to check our results page as more results are submitted. If you don’t see your race listed, please add a link in the comments so we can add it to the list.