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While many of us were glued to the Western States and Hard Rock lotteries, others were hitting the trails at one of the 52 events on this week’s Ultrarunning Magazine race calendar. This edition of the Ultra Weekend Recap takes us to Arizona, California, Texas, and West Virginia. Let’s get to it.
We begin in Mesa, Arizona where a speedy group of runners raced through the desert at the McDowell Mountain Frenzy (50-mile and 50k races). In the 50k distance, three women cracked the top ten overall, led by Devon Yanko who claimed the women’s crown in 4:14:35 and placed fifth overall. Natalie Horn ran to second and seventh overall (4:27:58), and Kayla Josephson (4:31:54) finished third woman and ninth overall. In the men’s 50k, Justin Grunewald cruised to victory in 3:33:19. Nick Coury finished second (3:43:24), and Bryce Brooks (3:54:21) followed in third.
In the 50 miler, Ryan Becker ran away from the field, earning the win in 7:11:32. Richard Wolferz came in second (8:03:02), and Trent Robinett (8:35:26) rounded out the men’s podium in third. Kristina Randrup outpaced the competition in the women’s 50-mile race, winning in 8:26:32 and finishing in third place overall. Kaydi Bolos took second and seventh overall (9:49:21), and Emily Wendt (10:18:29) snagged third. Full results from both races here.
Our next stop takes us to Julian, California for the scenic point-to-point Anza Borrego Cuyamaca 50 Mile Run. 138 runners completed Saturday’s event, led by Oscar Ponteri who made a late charge to take the win and set a new course record in 6:57:58. Nathan Brown followed in second (7:13:04), and Nicholas Beltran (8:00:19) claimed third. In the women’s contest, Paloma Ortiz crossed the finish line first in 9:22:06, the third-fastest course time ever. Sara Wenger came in second (9:42:51), and Elizabeth Scott (10:10:31) earned third. Full results here.
Moseying down to Needville, Texas, we check in on the tightly contested Brazos Bend 100 (100-miler and 100k), where the top three 100-mile finishers all cracked the sub-16-hour mark. Lindsey Dwyer took the women’s win and finished second overall in 15:42:16 (less than two minutes behind the overall winner). April Woo placed second female and fourth overall (17:54:35), and Stephanie Melkonian (18:58:02) ran to third and seventh overall. Theirry Joffrain won the men’s 100-miler in 15:40:37. Buck Baker finished second (15:57:03), and Tug Boren (17:56:09) claimed third.
Three women swept the overall podium in the 100k race, with Chelsea Barr taking the outright win in an incredibly fast (new course record) time of 8:06:46. Amy Watson finished second overall (10:16:14), and Linda Boring (10:34:45) placed third female and third overall. On the men’s side, Nate Martin won in 11:00:21. Hermanus Nieuwoudt took second (11:26:05), and Randy Horn (11:29:28) finished third. Full results of both races here.
Last but not least, we travel across the country to Fayetteville, West Virginia for the New River Gorge Trail Festival – Winter Edition (50k). Top male honors went to James Downs who completed the course in 4:26:01, good for the second-fastest time in course history. Kevin Renner claimed second (4:54:47), and Jacob Bursey (5:05:46) came in third. On the women’s side, Celia Nalbach took the win in 5:33:20 and finished ninth overall. Sheri Rotondi placed second (6:17:37), and Anne Tisdell completed the podium in third (6:28:39). Full results here.
Other results from this weekend include Cloudland Canyon (Rising Fawn, GA), Festivus 50 Mile Trail Run (Middleburg, FL), Jackson County Ultras (Brownstown, IN), The Guv’nor Frozen 50 (Dodgeville, WI), Caloosahatchee Ultra (Alva, FL), Perpetual Motion (Grapevine, TX), and Climb 89 (Richland, WA).
Congratulations to everyone who raced this weekend and be sure to check out UltraRunning Magazine’s full list of race results here.