Ultra Weekend Recap — September 3

Three events highlight our Ultra Weekend Recap for the weekend of September. We have Americans dominating the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) podium, results from the point-to-point Grand Traverse 40-miler in Colorado, the Ring 71-miler in Virginia and a handful more.

In Chamonix, France, Americans secured 50% of the podium spots with two wins and a runner-up. Jim Walmsley of Flagstaff, Arizona, and currently based in Arêches-Beaufort, France, became the first American male to win UTMB in the 20th edition of the race. He ran a new course record time of 19 hours, 37 minutes and 43 seconds, albeit on an alternate course. Walmsley was followed by Zach Miller in 19 hours, 58 minutes and 58 seconds, who led for much of the race. Third place went to French runner Germain Grangier in 20 hours, 10 minutes and 52 seconds. Courtney Dauwalter from Leadville, Colorado, finished off her incredible triple header summer of 100-mile races and won the race for the third time in three tries in 23 hours, 29 minutes and 14 seconds. Runner-up honors went to Denmark’s Katharina Hartmuth in 24 hours, 10 minutes and 52 seconds, and rounding out the women’s podium was France’s Blandine Hirondel in 24 hours, 22 minutes and 50 seconds. Analyze the full results with splits here. Americans did well in the shorter distance races at the festival (TDS, CCC, OCC) totaling 15 additional top 10 placements.

At the point-to-point Grand Traverse 40-miler running from Crested Butte to Aspen, Colorado, Brook Handler from Denver, Colorado, won the women’s contest in 7 hours, 7 minutes and 54 seconds. The second-place female, Mickey Davis of Boulder, Colorado, was hot on her heels finishing in 7 hours, 10 minutes and 40 seconds. Third place was claimed by Meredith Bruner out of Minturn, Colorado, in 7 hours, 17 minutes and 43. Keegan Oldani from Ann Arbor, Michigan, won the men’s race in 6 hours, 14 minutes and 28 seconds. Zachary Hauer of Denver was less than 4 minutes back in 6 hours, 18 minutes and 4 seconds, and Noah Schaich hailing from Fort Collins, Colorado, came in third in 6 hours, 42 minutes and 31 seconds. Check out the full results here. 

At The Ring, a clockwise tour of the 71-mile Massanutten Trail surrounding Fort Valley, Virginia, Anthony Wolosik from Washington, DC, won in 17 hours and 58 minutes. Bradley Hawley from Woodbridge, Virginia, came in second in 18 hours and 7 minutes, and the final spot on the podium went to James Fogg from Kensington, Maryland, in 18 hours and 21 minutes, Dani Sevel of Manassas, Virginia, won for the women in 23 hours and 51 minutes. Tonnie Warfield, coming from Baltimore, Maryland, came through in 26 hours and 18 minutes, and Gaynor Bourgeois out of Takoma Park, Maryland, rounded out the women’s podium in 26 hours and 24 minutes. Check out the full results here.

We also have race results from the Pinellas Trail Challenge 46-miler in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Three Corner Rock PCT 50k in Carson, Washington, and the Almaden Hills Trail Run 50k in San Jose, California. 

What event did you attend this weekend? What’s Up In Ultra the rest of September? Drop a comment and link below.