For a race that does not have a great reputation for its weather, Saturday, April 12, proved the naysayers wrong with an absolutely perfect day for the Mad City Ultras. The morning dawned a bit chilly, with calm winds and brilliant sun. Madison, Wisconsin, was the staging area and a stellar field had assembled including the 50-mile male and female world record holders as well as several runners who had been members of previous 50k and 100k USATF national teams.
The Mad City 50K route is five 10k loops around Lake Wingra in Vilas Park. While it might appear relatively flat, the back section can test a runner as the kilometers progress across undulating terrain.
There were 50 runners registered for the 50k USATF Championship division — more runners than have previously toed the line in past events. While there may have been favorites, no one was willing to predict who might cross the line as the national champion. Winners would receive an automatic selection to the 2025 US 50k team that would compete in the 2025 50K world championship. The issue at the time was that the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) had failed to secure a venue for the 2025 rendition. Nevertheless, the show must go on.
Men’s leaders early in the 50k. Photo Steena Cirves
Last year’s 100k national champion, Adam Vadeboncoeur, 35 (Boulder, CO), 50-mile world record holder Charlie Lawrence, 30 (Boulder, CO), and Ian Carter, 30 (Flagstaff, AZ) who has a 2:16 marathon PR, led the race in a tight pack after the first lap, running at a 5:31/mile pace. This group continued mostly together at the end of 20k, with Carter and Lawrence pulling only 20 seconds ahead of Vadeboncoeur, but all looking very strong and running controlled races. Their second lap was almost a minute faster.
Into the third lap, the order remained the same with the two leaders increasing their distance over Vadeboncoeur by a total of 30 seconds, but it was still a tight race. By the fourth lap, Carter had run out of juice and dropped from the race. Meanwhile, this left Lawrence in front by about a minute, followed closely behind by newcomers to the top three Ryan Root, 30 (Boulder, CO) who had snuck into the second spot and Jeffrey Seelaus, 30 (Walpole, MA). These three were running within about a minute of one another.
Lawrence ran an incredible last lap gaining even more time on the field behind him. He crossed the finish line in 2:49:02, breaking the previous course record of 2:51:28:42, set by Tyler Jermann in 2023, to win the 2025 50k USATF National Championship.
Seelaus grabbed the second spot in 2:53:38, followed by Vadeboncoeur in third, separated by a mere 13 seconds in 2:53:51. Root trying desperately to run down Vadeboncoeur, finishing in fourth, only 4 seconds behind. As a consolation for Root, both he and Johnny Rutford, 34 (Beaverton, OR), ran qualifying times for consideration for the 2025 50k national team should there be a 2025 50k world championship.
Courtney Olsen wins the 50k with a new course record. Photo Steena Cirves
In the women’s race, an incredibly impressive line up included the current 50-mile world record holder, Courtney Olsen, 37 (Bellingham, WA), the current Mad City 50k course record holder, Lindsey Prescott, 35 (Flagstaff, AZ) and Sophie Seward, 28 (Terra Haute, IN), college professor and a 2:33 marathoner. These three women hung together for the first 30k coming through the 10k, 20k, and 30k within one second of each other. Things did not get interesting until the start of the 30k.
While Olsen remained consistent with her 6:16/mile pace, Seward and Prescott fell behind losing 45 seconds and one minute respectively to Olsen by the time 40k had passed. With 10k to go, it was a matter of Olsen running consistently as Seward and Prescott may have been feeling the early fast pace. In the end, all three women surpassed the previous course record set by Prescott of 3:21:35 in 2024.
Olsen crossed the finish line as the 2025 USATF 50k national champion in 3:16:45, crushing the previous record. Coming through only 50 seconds later was Seward in 3:17:35. Rounding out the podium was last year’s Mad City 50k winner, Prescott, bettering her 2024 time by 68 seconds and finishing in 3:20:17. Allison Mercer and Emily Harrison Torrence also ran under 3:33 for consideration for the US 50k team should there be a world championship in 2025.
In addition to the USATF 50K championship, Mad City hosted a 50k open solo race, 100k solo race and a 50k and 100k relay, so there was plenty of action throughout the day. Along with the outstanding weather, it was just a great day to run and enjoy spring in the upper Midwest.
Winning the 100k overall was Martin Erl from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 7:14:23.09. For the women, in her debut, Amber Arvidson from Reserve, New Mexico, won the 100k in 8:17:16.83.
Kudos to Nora Bird and her outstanding volunteers. Together they put on a race that clearly put the athletes as their priority and did most everything to accommodate their needs, assuring best efforts. Throughout the day, I continuously observed the incredible enthusiasm and pure joy expressed by Nora and her team. Special thanks also to Roy Pirrung who was our USATF official onsite and to Gregg Hipp, USATF LDR (Long Distance Running) Chairperson. Their support and presence at this event provided additional credibility to the 50K national championship.