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The first official weekend of summer kicked off with 57 races on the UltraRunning Magazine race calendar. In this week’s Ultra Weekend Recap, we dive into results from California, Wyoming, Vermont and West Virginia. Congratulations to everyone who toed the line this weekend, and be sure to check out all the results on the UltraRunning Magazine results page.
Broken Arrow Skyrace
Many elite runners gathered at Palisades Tahoe in Olympic Valley, California, (home to the start of next week’s Western States Endurance Run) for the Broken Arrow Skyrace, a series of trail running competitions that included Saturday’s much-anticipated 46k ultra distance. Unfortunately, while much of the country welcomed the start of summer with sunshine and warm temps, higher elevations out west experienced conditions that more closely resembled the first days of winter. Due to severe lightning and snow accumulations that would have hampered evacuation efforts, runners had to hunker down in ski patrol shacks and tram buildings until it was safe to head off the mountain. Ultimately, the race had to be cancelled with 390 of 553 starters still on the course. All reports say race organizers did a tremendous job of keeping everyone safe.
There were 163 participants who finished before the race was cancelled, paced by Eli Hemming, who won in a new course record time of 3:50:48. David Sinclair finished in second (3:54:10), and Ryan Becker (3:59:35) rounded out the men’s podium in third. The top three women all ran under the previous course best in an epic battle that came down to the wire. First place honors went to Jennifer Lichter in 4:42:32. Helen Mino Faukner finished closely behind in 4:43:08. Daniella Moreno (4:43:48) ran to third. Full results here.
Bighorn Trail Run
An impressive 198 runners finished this year’s Bighorn Trail Run 100-miler, a classic mountain race held outside of Dayton, Wyoming, in the Bighorn Mountains. Nicole Laughton (21:02:37) ran the fastest female time in the race’s 24-year history on her way to winning the women’s race and placing fifth overall. Josie Walters was the second woman across the line in 24:42:50, and Marilee Woyth (24:49:14) came in third. In the men’s competition, Brett Carlson won in a speedy time of 19:25:40. Croom Beatty earned second (20:01:35), and Kim Collison (20:07:47) completed the men’s podium in third. Full results from both the 100-mile and 52-mile races can be found here.
Catamount Ultramarathon
There were 172 runners who earned an official finish at the popular Catamount 50k held at the Trapp Family Lodge outside of Stowe, Vermont. Top male honors went to Eric LiPuma in a blistering fast 3:33:42. LiPuma took nearly 10 minutes off his previous course record time set back in 2021. Dylan Flewelling finished runner-up (3:43:27), and Greg Azzaretti (3:58:23) claimed third. Liv Taber won the women’s event and finished eighth overall in 4:20:53. Joanna Fortier (4:27:52) came in second, and Hallie Schmidt (4:58:58) was third. Full results here.
New River Gorge Trail Festival
Our final stop takes us to Fayetteville, West Virginia, and America’s newest national park for the New River Gorge Trail Festival. There were 86 runners who completed Saturday’s 50k race, led by women’s winner and sixth overall finisher Elise Molinaro in 5:06:27 (second-fastest women’s course time ever). Jennifer Williams finished second female and ninth overall in 5:46:10. Olivia Joseph (6:15:55) came in third. On the men’s side, Dustin Ritter was victorious in a new course record time of 4:24:06. Jonah Sanchez took second (5:01:36), and Jaron Martin placed third (5:04:12). Full results here.
Other results from this weekend include: Alpine Solstice (Bend, OR), Six Days in the Dome-WI (Milwaukee, WI), Catoctin (Frederick, MD), Golden State 50k (Salinas, CA), Ghost Town Trail Challenge (Blairsville, PA), Orange Curtain (Cerritos, CA), Free to Run Trail Races (Pittsfield, MA), Wicked Worm (Grand Rapids, MI), Flagstaff Extreme Big Pine Trail Runs (Flagstaff, AZ), Bears Ears Ultra (Monticello, UT), Wild Woman Trail Marathon (Trout Lake, WA), and Strawberry Fields Forever (North Bonneville, WA).