A double whammy preview episode with two big sub-ultra races next weekend. One Skyrunning World Series race and one of Freetrail’s very own races with a nice prize purse thrown in. We’ve got Skyrunning World Series Champions and Golden Trail World Series Champions kicking off their season with their first races of the year at Calamorro Skyrace.

Links Discussed in Podcast:

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Luca Del Pero 2025 Calamorro Course Record Race

Sara Alonso 2025 Calamorro Course Record Race

Links discussed in show:

Zaid Malek BBC Article

IRunFar Chianti Race Recap from 2025.

Kilian Jornet strava file from 2025 Chianti 120k race.

Roberto Delorenzi strava file from 2025 Tenerife 47k race.

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Join me as I preview the first European race of the 2026 Skyrunner World Series season, including 3 of the top 4 men’s short trail finishers from worlds last year. I also discuss the results of the 2026 Transgrancanaria classic which saw a sweep from the Albons and some notable drops on both the men’s and women’s fields.

Articles Mentioned on Podcast: Skyrunner Website description and Skyrunner Substack Preview from last year’s race. Transgrancanaria Recap from IRunFar.

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Question: What do last year’s UTMB winner, a 3 time Lavaredo winner, a 2 time CCC winner, and a dual winner of OCC/CCC have in common?

Answer: They’ll all be lining up at this year’s Transgrancanaria start line for an early season show down- Tom Evans, Hannes Namberger, Hayden Hawks, and Jon Albon are all lining up at this early season classic to do battle.

The women’s field includes two of last year’s podium finishers and a 2025 TROY top 10 finisher lining up for her first time in Sunmaya Budha.

Articles Mentioned in Podcast: IRunFar 2025 Recap

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A deep dive into the 2025 Freetrail Trail Runner of the Year (TROY) results. The goal of this podcast is to discuss the results of the 2025 TROY voting: what went right, what might have gone better, and how the results compared to previous years in the 4th year of TROY voting. In the podcast I reference podcasts from both Freetrail (Tim Tollefson and Dylan Bowman) and Singletrack (Finn Melanson, Brett Hornig, and Mike Mcmonagle) that broke down their thoughts on the 2025 Trail Runner of the Year voting and share some of my own commentary.

Podcasts referenced in the show:

Singletrack

Freetrail

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Olympic medalists coming to the trails in their prime, is Jim Walmsley toeing the line, and who the heck is walking away with a Golden ticket? Things are about to get wild out west in the Arizona desert this Valentine’s day with a STACKED lineup of heavy hitters ready to throw down on both the men’s and women’s fields. Tune in to find out who to look out for in this years Black Canyon 100k.

Links Discussed in Podcast: IRunFar article from 2025

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Happy 1 year anniversary of Let’s Talk Trail Running! 1 year ago I recorded my first preview to a very small audience & here we are a year later back at it. Thanks to everyone who tuned into my previous episode discussing candidates for the 2025 Trail Runner of the Year (TROY) voting. It was my most listened to episode yet and I had a blast researching and discussing the seasons of all the amazing athletes included. I intend to do a recap on the TROY results and my thoughts on the rankings for both TROY and TPOY so keep an eye out for that here shortly. Happy 2026 trail season everybody.

Links to IRunFar article discussed in the podcast.

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The time of year that all these Fantasy Freetrail race preview shows has been building up to is finally here: voting for TROY (Trail Runner of the Year) top 10 on the Fantasy Freetrail website! Make your picks for this years best Trail Runners of any distance before voting closes December 16th.

This episode discusses many of this year’s TROY finalists, their most impressive results, and some proposals for your top 10 picks this year in what proved to be a STACKED year of racing around the world. If you need help filling out your ballot or learning about other trail runners around the world and how their results compare to US trail runners, look no further! Don’t forget to also make your picks for TPOY (trail performance of the year) to vote on this years most amazing performances as well. As always, be sure to read the voting considerations before making your picks to make sure you’re making the most educated decisions possible regarding your picks. I hope you enjoy the episode ands that it helps you all with your ballot! Thanks for a great first year of podcasting to all who listened!

A deep field of American runners including Chris Myers, Jeff Mogavero, Adam Loomis, and Grant Barnette will be going to battle with two-time course winner Dmitry Mityaev and Slovakian stud Peter Frano on the men’s side. On the women’s side, last years second place finisher Antonina Iushina willbe looking to improve her finish one spot but will be up against the likes of Nepalese legend Sunmaya Budha and German athlete Rosanna Buchauer. Tune in to find out who I think has the edge and will come out on top in both fields. Let me know where you agree/disagree with my picks and who you’ve got picked for your top 5.

Returning champion and CR smasher David Sinclair will be looking to repeat on the mens side while a showdown is set to take place between Hannah Allgood and Jade Belzberg on the women’s side. Tune in to see who I think has the edge and who I’ve got pegged for top 5 on both sides!