Geoff Roes of Nederland, Colorado and Tracy Garneau of Vernon, British Columbia have been voted the 2010 UltraRunning Magazine North American ultramarathoners of the year.
Roes won the prestigious Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run and four 50-mile races during the year. Roes’ 15:07:04 course record win at Western States was voted the outstanding performance of the year, edging Scott Jurek’s new American Record for 24 hours. Roes was a unanimous choice among the nationwide panel and won the award for the second consecutive year.
Anton Krupicka of Boulder, Colorado, winner of the highly competitive Miwok 100K and White River 50 Mile races, finished second in the voting. Badwater champion Zach Gingerich of Aurora, Illinois edged Nick Clark of Fort Collins, Colorado for third.
Garneau became the first Canadian woman to win the award, edging Meghan Arbogast of Corvallis, Oregon in the closest vote in the 30-year history of the award. Garneau and Arbogast placed first and second at the Western States 100, with Garneau prevailing by a mere 14 minutes. Garneau also won the HURT 100 Mile Endurance Run on Oahu in January and the American River 50 Mile in Sacramento in April.
World 100-kilometer champion Ellie Greenwood of Banff, Alberta was third in the voting, edging out Badwater champion Jamie Donaldson of Littleton, Colorado.
Greenwood’s 100-kilometer world championship victory in Gibraltar was voted the top female performance, edging Amy Palmiero-Winters’ Western States 100 Mile finish. Palmiero-Winters is a below-the-knee amputee.
In age group awards, Bob Hayes’ 12:02:54 time at the Le Grizz 50 Mile in Montana was honored as the top male performance. Hayes, from Missoula, Montana, is 84 years old. Diana Fitzpatrick, 21:58:37 at Western States was voted the top female age-group performance. Fitzpatrick, 52, of Larkspur, California, broke the women, 50-59 age-group record by nearly 90 minutes.
A panel of 18 race organizers from all regions of North America submitted ballots this year. An ultramarathon is generally defined as any race longer than a 26.2-mile marathon. There were 554 ultramarathon races held in North America in 2010.