Gobble gobble. Our post-American Thanksgiving edition is full of Kosciuszko, SaintéLyon, and València.
Pumpkin spice or peppermint spice, stay warm and read up on all of it.
SaintéLyon – Saint-Étienne, France
The event is one of the biggest in France, run at nighttime across five distances and with a relay option. The premier race is 82 kilometers (51 miles) and goes point-to-point to connect the cities of Saint-Étienne and Lyon.
Thomas Cardin (France) shook free from Ben Dhiman (U.S., lives in France) in the race’s second half to win in 5:52. Dhiman was second in 6:03 and Andrzej Witek (Poland) was third in 6:12.
Looking back on Dhiman’s year ahead of potential “UltraRunning Magazine” (North American) Ultrarunner of the Year voting, in 2024, the American ex-pat won the Madeira Island Ultra-Trail 115k, was second at the Andorra by UTMB 105k, third at Diagonale des Fous, and second at SaintéLyon, but dropped at UTMB.
Marie Goncalves (France) was the best in the women’s race at 7:03, and Adeline Martin (France) was second in 7:10. Eleanor Davis (U.K.) was a bit off the lead pace but finished third in 7:32.
Kosciuszko by UTMB – Snowy Mountains National Park, Australia
Kosci Miler
Backyard all-star Sam Harvey (New Zealand) is pretty quick in other race formats too. Harvey took the men’s crown in 16:39 and that was way ahead of everyone else. Luke Nichols (Australia) was second in 19:09 and Aaron Smith (Australia) was third man in 20:51.
Sabrina Stanley (U.S.) steamrolled the women’s race in 19:51, and it wasn’t close, either. Stephanie Auston (Australia) and Emily Gilmour-Walsh (Australia) were second and third in 23:10 and 24:31, respectively.
Sabrina Stanley on her way to winning the 2024 Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko by UTMB 100 Mile. Photo: Tim Bardsley-Smith
Kosci 100
This one went 66 miles and with almost 10,000 feet of climbing. Only the first three men came in under 11 hours. Quinton Gill (Canada) was out front in 10:12, and Aussie runners Matt Gore and Josh Chugg were next in 10:31 and 10:37.
Abby Hall (U.S.) led for all of it and was victorious in the women’s race in 13:05. Juliette Soule (New Zealand) was a close second in 13:22, and Buha Bali (Australia) was third in 14:29.
Abby Hall winning the 2024 Kosci 100k by UTMB. Photo Tim Bardsley-Smith
Kosci 50
The 50k race had nearly 1,000 starters. The men’s podium was all Australian with Tait Hearps scoring a 64-second win over Ben St. Lawrence. The two came through the finish in 4:10 and 4:11, and Tom Driscoll took third in 4:21.
Kate Avery (U.K.) took the women’s crown in 4:43. Kimber Mattox (U.S.) saw her first ultra action in over a year with a second place in 4:51, and Vilde Moser (Norway) was third in 5:00.
Tait Hearps winning the Kosci 50 by UTMB. Photo: Sportograf
Quad Dipsea – Mill Valley, California
The double out-and-back totaled 28.4 miles, 9,200 feet of elevation gain, and thousands of stairs on the famous Dipsea Trail. It was the race’s 41st year.
Nick Handel was way out front in 3:47 for the men’s win. It was his third straight win. Next year, he can be a quad Quad Dipsea winner. Nolan Hosbein and Matthew Mitchell were second and third in 4:15 and 4:22, respectively.
Women’s winner Sylvie Abel gained the lead on the third interval and finished in 4:38. Abel just missed the course record that dates to 2010 by three seconds. Ruby Lindquist and Zuzana Trnovcova finished in 4:51 and 4:53 for the next podium spots.
Sylvie Abel winning the 2024 Quad Dipsea. Photo courtesy of race.
Additional Races and Runs
Soochow 24-Hour Invitational – Taipei, Taiwan
I couldn’t locate a good translation or results link, but social media points to Phil Gore (Australia) and Camille Herron (U.S.) as race winners. Gore, a former Backyard world record-holder, totaled 270.82k. That’s 168 miles, and Herron ran 263.00k, or 163.42 miles. It was a new track world record. Herron’s personal best for 24 hours is 167.84 miles. Six weeks earlier, she ran 14:08 for 100 miles at the Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd.
València Marathon – València, Spain
València’s taken on the “Ciudad del Running” nickname and its half and full marathon races are hotspots for fast times. In the women’s race, Stella Chesang (Uganda) was second in 2:18:26. In 2015, she was the World Mountain Running Champion. Comrades Marathon course record holder Gerda Steyn (South Africa) ran 2:28:14 to finish 20th. Full results.
3 Días Trail Ibiza – Ibiza, Spain
Ibiza’s certainly not best known for its running, but the three-day festival had some competitive races. Miguel Heras and Eli Gordón won the combined three-day event with 8:22 and 10:05 totals across 93k of racing. Full results.
Seattle Ghost 50k – Seattle, Washington
Zach Rowland and Christine Mosley finished on top in 4:09 and 4:31. Full results.
The Derby 50k – Ellerbe, North Carolina
Joel Shores scored a new men’s course record in 3:14 and Michelle Gray won the women’s race in 4:58. Full results.
Call for Comments
- How’d your turkey trot go?
- Did you see other trail runners or ultrarunners in the València Marathon results?
- Southern Utah gets a lot of attention, but yesterday I was at Dinosaur National Monument in northeastern Utah and, wow, that’s really spectacular too. Have you been?
