We recently spoke with Ellaney Matarese, a 2025 Harvard graduate and All-American on the track who has made quick work of her jump into the trail and ultra world. With a third-place finish at the Kodiak 50k and a seventh at this year’s Black Canyon 100k, she’s proving she’s the real deal.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
How did you get into running and make the jump into ultras? I grew up playing soccer. I ran a local 5k in seventh grade, and I placed second woman. After that, I began running formally, eventually running in college at Harvard. I started as a middle distance runner — the 800 [meter] was my best event— and by my senior year, I tried the steeplechase, which ended up being my favorite and my best event. After I graduated, I found a local Southern California trail 10k and ran that race. It was much harder than I expected, but I won, had a super fun time, and did the next race in the series before the USATF 50k at Tamalpa Headlands. I fell in love with the beauty and adventure of trail running. I think there’s a lot more community in the trails than on the track, because in these longer races, everyone’s on their own journey; more than in an 800.
From that first 10k, how did you progress to your next couple of races? When I decided to do the USATF 50k in August, I’d never done a marathon, so that was definitely a shock to the system. The Kodiak 50k (Kodiak Ultramarathons by UTMB in Big Bear, CA) was the first time I’d competed in an international competition, which was very cool. In high school, I did training camps in Big Bear, so it was a homecoming race. I finished pretty fast, and felt like I could keep going. In December, I had been planning to run CIM (California International Marathon) before I discovered trail running, and I attempted to set the world record for fastest marathon in a skirt as a fundraiser for Girls on the Run.
Talk through Black Canyon, where you placed seventh in your first 100k. After Kodiak, I put myself on the Black Canyon waitlist, and I got in quickly. It’s fun to be the person that everyone’s surprised to see. I trained on the course when I was living in Flagstaff the month before the race. The start of the race was chaotic, and I was sucked back further than I would have liked, but from miles 10 to 20, I slowly passed people.It’s fun to see someone in front of you and hunt them down. I was seventh woman for most of the race, and enjoyed it until maybe mile 45, and then I was like, “Okay, I’m ready for this to be done,” as I reached a level of fatigue I hadn’t hit before.
How did your training at Harvard, a famously high-mileage program, prepare you for the ultra world? I always asked my coach for more mileage, and that was a big part of what helped me build my base. Another part of my coach’s training philosophy is maintenance pace — regular runs at 6:45 to 7:00-minute pace, which helped for running fast for a longer time. Now, I’m running a bit more mileage, definitely at a slower pace, and also incorporating cross training.
With such a grab bag of experience, what are your short and medium-term goals? I’m still trying to figure it out. I would love to fight for a Golden Ticket (to Western States); we’ll see how far in the future that will be. (Author’s note: Since the interview, it appears Ellaney is on the Canyons 100k start list.) I’d love to contend for a top spot in OCC (UTMB), and at CIM I’d love to run an OTQ (Olympic Trials Qualifier). That would be a secondary goal because I’m more focused on the trails.
How do you feel being a young runner in an older sport has impacted your time in the ultra world? In the ultra community, I have two friends who are my trail older brothers because they’ve been my guides to navigating the space. It’s somewhat rare to come straight out of college to trail (running), and I didn’t see it coming, but I am very happy with where I ended up. I’m in the process of applying to medical school and deciding whether I would start next fall or take another year to pour more into trail running.
Speaking of medical school, what did you study in college and what do you do now? I studied neuroscience, and I did a [minor] in music. I worked part time in a research lab at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. We did exercise-based clinical trials in cancer patients, which tied in my love of running and exercise physiology. I’m working part time with the lab on data analysis, review papers and patient recruiting. I also recently started doing administrative work for Ninja One, an IT company.
What motivated you to study music? I’ve always loved music. I took some cool classes, including one that was on Renaissance performance and culture, and we learned to play the viola da gamba. It has six strings and frets; it’s a hybrid between a cello and a guitar. I also sang in the Kuumba Singers choir, which was a really great part of my college experience.
A couple of rapid-fire questions to close:
What’s your favorite race you’ve done? My 800-meter race my freshman year of high school. I won the league championship as a big underdog against the returning favorite. It taught me that I can do things that I never thought I could.
Favorite pre-race meal? Eat pasta, run fastah!
Favorite in-race fuel? Blank’s Sports Nutrition. I like the lemon-lime gel, but I mix it with blue raspberry.
Favorite thing to listen to on the run? I listen to every genre, from choir music to pop, rap and indie.
Favorite weather to run in? 65 and sunny is perfect.