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Welcome back to our Ultra Weekend Recap, the first of 2023. After a relatively quiet couple of holiday weekends in ultrarunning, we saw the first Golden Ticket race of the year arrive on Saturday, along with a classic California 50/50 and more results from across the country.
The Lone Star state hosted the 20th Bandera 100k Golden Ticket race, and the results did not disappoint. Courtney Dauwalter from Leadville, Colorado, the 2018 women’s Western States champion, punched her ticket back to the race in June with a commanding, course record performance. Dauwalter appears poised to rewrite the memory from dropping at Green Gate in 2019. She ran the 100k in 8 hours, 59 minutes and 37 seconds—9 minutes faster than the previous record—and finished in sixth overall. Over an hour back, in 10 hours, 4 minutes and 3 seconds, Nicole Bitter of Austin, Texas, will return to Western States to avenge her DNF from 2021. Just 9 minutes behind Bitter, Careth Arnold out of Sarasota, Florida, took third in 10 hours, 13 minutes and 49 seconds.
In the men’s contest, Jeffrey Colt of Carbondale, Colorado, secured his second Golden Ticket in as many tries, and looks to turn M11 into a top 10 finish in June. He won in 8 hours, 23 minutes and 54 seconds. Runner-up was JP Giblin from Boulder, Colorado, in 8 hours, 29 minutes and 8 seconds. Giblin was the second-place finisher at the 2022 Leadville 100. Canyon Woodard out of Franklin, North Carolina, came in third in 8 hours, 35 minutes and 25 seconds. Full 100k results here.
The accompanying 50k race on Sunday saw Joshua Fowler of Houston, Texas, win in 4 hours, 2 minutes and 1 second. Pedro Beltran from Waco, Texas, took second in 4 hours, 24 minutes and 19 seconds, and Milton Miranda, of San Antonio, Texas, rounded out the men’s podium in 4 hours, 45 minutes and 53 seconds. The women’s winner, Lucy Bartholomew, from Melbourne, Australia, won in 4 hours, 32 minutes and 51 seconds, and also finished in third overall. Second place was Lottie Brinks of Austin, Texas, in 4 hours, 46 minutes and 14 seconds, and third was Mallory Meredith out of Tyler, Texas, in 5 hours, 10 minutes and 19 seconds. Find full 50k results here.
Out on Catalina Island off the coast of California, Avalon anchored the 42nd Avalon Benefit 50k/50m races on Saturday, January 7. Shelby Farrell from Redondo Beach, California, won the 50-miler in 7 hours, 32 minutes and 54 seconds, and Sofie Blicher of San Diego, California, was hot on her heels in 7 hours, 35 minutes and 31 seconds. Veronica Alaniz out of South Gate, California, finished in third in 7 hours, 44 minutes and 3 seconds. For the gentlemen, Paul Sinclair from Los Angeles won in 6 hours, 44 minutes and 59 seconds, Connor Jackson of Hermosa Beach, California, was the runner-up in 6 hours, 49 minutes and 44 seconds, and Kenneth Rasamny from Corona del Mar, California, came in third in 6 hours, 55 minutes and 1 second. Full 50-mile results here. Cory Mayfield from Pasadena, California, dominated the 50k in 3 hours, 46 minutes and 44 seconds, and Caitlin Healey of Los Angeles took the women’s title in 4 hours, 37 minutes and 6 seconds. Full 50k results here.
We also have results from Saturday’s San Tan Scramble 50k and the No Hands 50k. Results from the past two holiday weekends include the New Year’s One Day, Go Big 50k, Across the Years, and the Red Eye 50k. A few more Race Results are available and more will be uploaded from this weekend in the coming days.
Did you race at an event that we don’t have results for yet? Please let us know and leave a link in a comment below. If you’re racing next weekend, tell us about that too, so we can include it in Wednesday’s What’s Up In Ultra column.