Let's Talk Trail Running

The 52nd edition of the Sierre Zinal trail race in Switzerland is set to take place this weekend. Prrevious race champions on both the men’s and women’s side will be showing up to throw down at what is OBJECTIVELY the most densely competitive trail race in the world.

Sierre Zinal always draws a frothy mix of elite trail runners and blazing fasrt road running speedsters/track stars meeting to throw down on the 31km (19 miles) course with 2,200 meters (7,200 feet) of climbing thanks to its generous treatment of elites with both accomodation, travel, and prize purses based on historically fast times.

No Kilian Jornet this year means the men’s side feels wide open (but is it actually?) and the women’s breakout star from last years race, Joyline Chepngeno, is looking to defend her title.

Tune in for help making your Fantasy Freetrail picks, if you love trail running, or if you just want to hear my voice (not entirely sure about that last one).

Articles mentioned in the podcast:

Article about the origins of Sierre Zinal and its founder by (I believe) Run the Alps Founder Doug Mayer

https://www.trailrunnermag.com/races/trail-race-news-races/le-coeur-avant-le-chrono-the-heart-before-the-watch/

IRunFar Article with Sierre Zinal Statistics by Mallory Richard

https://www.irunfar.com/sierre-zinal-a-data-driven-primer-on-the-iconic-mountain-race

A men’s race that feels wide open with only one top 10 runner returning from last year, whereas the women’s race has four of the top ten returning including last year’s winner and Course Record Holder, Judith Wyder.

Go make your picks at Fantasy Freetrail

If you’re anything like me then there is no such thing as too much coverage for Western States. Here’s a comprehensive breakdown of both the women’s and men’s fields this year along with some (way too early and will definitely get changed 40 times in the next week) top 10 picks for Fantasy Freetrail. Enjoy!

Multiple GOATs in attendance (Kilian is in the house!!!!), two US selections races (vertical and short trail), and One Golden Trail World Series race. Wow, that was a mouthful and this race is sure to be a lot to handle as well. Come along for the ride and join me as I make previews and predictions for the top 5s for all three races.

Author’s Note: Sorry it took so long to get this out but it has been a veryyyyy stressful week. Better late than never!

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.