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Megan Eckert ranked 5th for the women in 2025 UROY. She achieved an extraordinary feat in May by setting a new women’s 6-day world record at the GOMU 6-Day World Championship in Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, France, covering 603.155 miles. Eckert became the first woman in history to surpass 600 miles in a 6-day race, averaging more than 100 miles per day. Her performance shattered the previous record of 560.33 miles set by Camille Herron by more than 40 miles, and also earned the Performance of the Year in the UROY voting.

Hans Troyer is the 5th-ranked man in the 2025 UROY balloting. He had a breakthrough year, highlighted by winning the venerable JFK 50 with the second-fastest time in race history. He also won the Bandera 50k and Way Too Cool 50k, and finished second at The Canyons by UTMB 100k, which earned him entry into Western States with a Golden Ticket. At his first 100-mile race, the legendary Western States 100, Troyer placed 8th overall with a time of 16:06:52.

Tara Dower is ranked 6th among the women’s UROY voting. Dower’s year was highlighted by her win at the Javelina 100-miler in 13:31:47, breaking Camille Herron’s previous course record by more than 30 minutes. She also won the Lake Sonoma 50 and finished in second place at the Black Canyon 100k. That finish earned her a Golden Ticket to Western States in June, where she began the race but had to drop out due to an illness.

Seth Ruhling placed 6th among the men in the 2025 UROY voting. In February, he won the Black Canyon Ultras 100k in Arizona with a course record time of 7:24:55, breaking Hayden Hawk’s previous record by over 5 minutes. He executed a brilliant tactical race, taking the lead at the penultimate checkpoint and earning a Western States 100 Golden Ticket for his efforts. Two months later in April, he followed up with a victory at The Canyons by UTMB 50k, finishing in 3:24:34. He then placed sixth at Western States in his 100-mile debut with a time of 14:59:36.

Scotty sits down with columnist Drew Dinan and editor in chief Amy Clark. They sit down to discuss the process of voting for UltraRunners of the Year and reveal both of their picks for the top five men and women, and much more.

Belzberg had an impressive 2025 season, highlighted by her victory at the JFK 50 Mile in November, where she finished in 6:07:53, the fourth-fastest women’s time in race history. Earlier in the year, she won the Chuckanut 50k in March with a time of 4:22:40. In April, Belzberg placed second at the highly competitive Gorge Waterfalls 100k. She also won the Squamish 50k and the Tillamook Burn 50-miler.