Major themes: No Joe Gray, many compromised favorites on the women’s side, and a men’s race that feels wide open and has lots of fit bois toeing the start line. Tune in to see who’s getting this years US spots in my mind!

Note: There’s jets taking off in the background around 27 minutes into the recording, just skip ahead 30 seconds and I resume talking again. Apologies!

Zegama is Zegama! Or at least that’s what they say. The legendary Zegama is a marathon distance trail race that takes place the end of May each year in the Basque region of Spain. The course is bombarded with thousands of screaming and passionate trail running fans and the weather can be legendarily terrible to go along with a very technical course that includes plenty of mud and rocks. The course combined with the weather combined with the distance mean that it is often the longest race on the Golden Trail Series calendar and often rewards a different type of runner than other GTS races. For this year’s preview I included a lot of information about the history of the course including past winners, past racers, and plenty of trivia about Kilian running the race (he has won it 11 times after all). Enjoy!

Note: Discussion this year’s runners doesn’t start until around 19:30, before that I talk about last weeks races and Zegama history.

Return of the past two season Champs-Remi and Elhousine are back racing baby! The first European race of the 2025 GTWS is kicking off and we’re starting to see the density of competition that we’re used to in Golden Trail races. More Kenyan athletes are running even than last race in China, which is sure to make the race exciting to watch. Will we see a repeat of last GTWS race with the Kenyans coming out hot and some of them fading back, or will Remi and Elhousine racing change the tactics? On the women’s side: will we see Caroline Kimutai repeat for another win or will Joyce Njeru bounce back from two races not up to her previous year’s potential? Time will tell, but hopefully this preview teaches you about some new runners and helps you make your Fantasy Freetrail picks!

Author’s Note: There’s a spot in the middle of the podcast where some jets are taking off in the background (I’m recording from deployment), feel free to just skip ahead 30-45 seconds and I begin talking again.

Transvulcania Ultramarathon is a 74km (44.7 miles) race across the Canary Island of La Palma that has about 4,350M (14,000 feet) of elevation gain as runners cross the beautiful island’s varied terrain. It has heat, steep climbs, and endless descents. This year’s race features GOATs like Ruth Croft and Blandine L’hirondel on the womens side and Dakota Jones and Dmitry Mityaev on the men’s side. Join me as I discuss the runners racing and make my picks for Fantasy Freetrail/discuss who to consider for your picks. I’m currently in 3rd overall on the Fantasy Freetrail Leaderboard which is NUTs.

Zach Miller, Francesco Puppi, AND Rod Farvard?!?! Oh my this race is going to be exciting. Join me as I discuss the dynamics of the last Golden Ticket Race before Western States this year and dive into some of the backgrounds of each of the runners. I include my picks for top 5 for both races and also include some other racers who have a strong chance of making it top 5 as well. Feel free to comment and let me know who you have in your top 5 or anywhere you think I got it wrong. Enjoy!

Fun Fact: Basically every time I watch the Zach Miller documentary by Billy Yang on Youtube I end up in tears by the end.

There are four opportunities to get Fantasy Freetrail Points at four different races this weekend. Four races means I’m doubling up episodes, the first preview of which will be a double whammy of Madeira Islanda Ultra Trail (MIUT) 115k and the GTWS Great Wall Race in Chengde, China. We’ve got the return of one of the GOATs to the racing scene in Katie Schide at MIUT 115k and the chance for some new Kenyan runners to make a big splash at the second GTWS race of the year. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Had some jets takeoff near where I was recording around the 18 minute mark. I stop talking for a bit but if you skip ahead about a minute I go back to talking.

Can Remi take back the crown? Will Patrick be able to finally win the overall title? Can Sophia Laukli return to the top of the running world? The first Golden Trail World Series race of the year is here and I couldn't be more freaking stoked! Here's a preview of the athletes racing the most competitive sub ultra trail event in the world.

Another trail race is here and this time it’s a US Trail Long Team qualifier for the Gorge 100k. The top 2 (I’m pretty sure) spots will automatically qualify for the long trail team for the US and will go on to race at the Trail World Championships in Spain later this year in September. I also included some short discussion on my picks for the Calamorro Skyrace which I wasn’t able to get a podcast out in time for unfortunately. Here is the link to my write up from my Big Alta 28k race weekend that I mentioned in the podcast. Enjoy!

Join me for a combined episode as I break down the Chianti 102k & Acantilados Del Notre race predictions, preview, and picks. We've got two of the all time GOATs of trailrunning (hopefully) lining up-Jim and Kilian. They will be joined by last year’s UTMB champion Vincent Bouillard and a host of other accomplished Ultrarunners for what should be an epic showdown. I also try to shine a light on the first race in one of my favorite series (with some of the most scenic courses in the world)-the skyrunning world series. For whatever reason (potentially diluted competition because of so many events) this series seems to get largely overlooked in the US. The Subhub does a good job of podcast previewing races but other than that the races don’t get much attention. Hopefully, I can help change that!

It's that time of year again- Freetrail's very own Big Alta trail races in Marinwood, CA! Join me as I discuss the athletes racing both disances and make picks for Fantasy Freetrail.