Taking over a well-established race isn’t easy, but when I was presented with the opportunity to continue MadCity Ultras, I knew I had to do it. Even though I coach athletes and host training camps, directing a race is a whole different experience. When the transfer of ownership happened in mid-December, there were only a few months left to open registration and make this the best event that I possibly could.
Photo courtesy MadCity Ultras
MadCity Ultras attracts a fast crowd as it’s historically been the USATF 100K Road National Championship. It’s also one of the first spring road ultras in the Midwest. The one-of-a-kind course takes runners on an iconic route in Madison, Wisconsin, known to the locals as the “arb loop.”
There were 21 athletes who toed the start line at Vilas Park in Madison, and in the end, 13 finished with 10 doing so in 100k national qualifying times. I was told by USATF’s Lin Gentling, that this year’s race proved to be one of the most competitive 100k national championship races he’s seen in the last 15 years, with eight elite athletes who had been on national 50k and 100k teams. Most were running with the goal to represent the US at the world championships on December 8, 2024, in India.
The women’s race was impressive even though there were fewer athletes in contention for the US team. Six women started the race and three finished. But out of those three women, all finished with qualifying times.
The masters runners included Neringa Kaulinaite, who broke the tape in 7:48:45, becoming the women’s 2024 100k national champion and securing her place on the 2024 US 100k national team. She was followed by Allison Mercer (7:55:04) and Jessa Victor (8:16:48). Kaulinaite used this race as a training run for Six Days in the Dome this summer, also in Wisconsin.
Photo courtesy MadCity Ultras
The men’s race had a certain electricity to it from the start. Adam Vadeboncoeur ultimately kept the lead and broke the tape as the100k USATF champion in 6:37:54. Ryan Miller finished 10 minutes later (6:47:52), along with Kris Brown (6:49:31), John Judge (6:52:21), Geoff Burns (current course record holder) (6:59:09), Brandon Talisesky (7:01:09) and Chikara Omine (7:01:14). The time difference between second and fourth was just over 4 minutes. An unprecedented seven men ran qualifying times. Vadeboncoeur finished last year’s MadCity 50k in second place and qualified for the 2023 50k team here as well.
Photo courtesy MadCity Ultras
As for the 50k, these athletes also came to compete and came with an outstanding number of distance debuts. Within the top 10 finishers, five of them were women, with second and third overall being female. Lindsay Prescott came in as first woman, breaking the previous course record in 3:21:35 by 2 minutes. She was followed by Sarah Morrison in 3:25:37. Third through fifth came in as follows: Christine Guerrero (3:29:38), Gina Tranquada, (3:38:56) and Bridget End (3:50:04). Just out of the top five came Carolyn Smith, our master’s winner.
The men’s 50k race included built up energy from the 100k, and the outright winner who led the race from the start with impressive lap times was Cristobal Gutierrez in 3:04:04. Second through fifth were David Nogle (3:27:15), Benny Frericks, Max Statz (4:09:58) and Jerry Bloom, who was also our master’s winner (4:19:08).