The Desert Solstice track race, Hellgate 100k mountain run, and USATF National Club Cross Country Championships made for a diverse group of three races at the top of this week’s column. There were a number of 50k races around the U.S. too.
Also, we have the announcement of the Golden Trail World Series circuit for 2025, with a few new races added.
The Kobe Trail in Japan will kick off the 2025 Golden Trail World Series. Photo: @GoldenTrailSeries | @Kobe Trail | @Koastal Forest
Desert Solstice – Phoenix, Arizona
A small field of just 22 runners started the race on a 400-meter track. Some went for 100 miles, some for 24 hours, and some chased other intermediate time and distance goals. U.S. runners too chased qualifying marks for the national team that will compete at the IAU 24-hour World Championships in France in October 2025.
Men
The event’s starshine largely belonged to the women, but Don Reichelt totaled 154.1 miles over 24 hours to lead the men. Reichelt’s the 2023 U.S. 24-hour national champion and greatly bettered his national team qualifying mark. This 154-mile run jumped him to third on the national team chart.
Chad Lasater and Pat Hasler ran 137.9 and 124.0 miles for second and third.
Women
Stéphanie Gicquel (France) led the 24-hour runners, men and women. She totaled 154.8 miles. That’s a small miss to her 157.6-mile French national record.
Lauren Jones and Megan Eckert were incredibly close too with 153.9- and 153.4-mile totals. That vaults Jones and Eckert into the national’s team third- and fourth-qualifying spots.
Fourth-woman Marisa Lizak ran 151.9 miles and that positions her fifth on the U.S. chart for what could be a gold-medal favorite team for the world championships.
Among 24-hour runners, women took seven of the top-10 finish spots. And among 100-mile runners, Line Caliskaner (Norway) did it the fastest with a quick 14:58 mark.
Hellgate 100k – Fincastle, Virginia
The race had a midnight start and goes 66.6 miles through the Blue Ridge Mountains. This year’s race had 140 runners from 25 states.
Second a year ago, Aaron Slabach moved up one spot to win this year’s race in 10:42. Barret Stanton and Christopher Brand were second and third in 11:19 and 11:27.
A record 10 women finished the race under 14 hours, and the first four were under 13 hours. Rachel Corrigan outpaced Justyna Wilson and Nora Jodrey for the win. The three leaders finished in 12:21, 12:27, and 12:39.
USATF National Club Cross Country Championships – University Place, Washington
The USATF National Cross Country Championships were back in January 2024 and typically have more of the nation’s best runners, but this was the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships and the fields are bigger and deeper.
Men’s 10k
The men’s masters 40-plus race ran separate from the open race, and Joseph Gray won in 33:19. Also in the masters race were trail runners and ultrarunners Chad Trammell (32nd, 36:08), Eric Blake (50th, 36:56), Jesse Lang (71st, 37:48), and Uli Steidl (129th, 39:25).
In the open race, the top runner with trail running ties was Liam Meirow in 20th at 32:29. Other familiar names included Taylor Stack (103rd, 34:18) and Adrian MacDonald (236th, 36:07).
Women’s 6k
I didn’t spot any familiar names in the women’s masters race and in the open race, it was just Courtney Olsen in 115th at 23:22. That’s a giant step down in distance. She was 10th at the IAU 100k World Championships just last weekend.
Additional Races and Runs
Deception Pass 50k – Oak Harbor, Washington
Griffin Miller and Isabel Lane were top man and woman at the Rainshadow Running race in 4:11 and 4:24. Keaton Blair was the non-binary winner in 5:48. Full results.
Keaton Blair, the 2024 Deception Pass 50k non-binary winner. Photo: Takao Suzuki
Griffin Miller, the 2024 Deception Pass 50k male winner. Photo: Takao Suzuki
Isabel Lane on her way to winning the 2024 Deception Pass 50k. Photo: Takao Suzuki
Frozen Trail Run Fest 50k – Eugene, Oregon
Race winners Rodney Williams and Mary Follo clocked 4:37 and 5:07 finish times. Full results.
Tucson 50k – Oro Valley, Arizona
The race ran point-to-point and with a net downhill. Simon LeBlanc (Canada) and Madison Hart rolled it in 2:54 and 3:42. Full results.
Dallas 50k – Dallas, Texas
The 50k was an ultra distance within the greater Dallas Marathon weekend. Scott Preston and Sarah Rabourn won in 3:19 and 3:39. Full results.
Bigfoot 50k – Lore City, Ohio
The race is within bigfoot hotspot Salt Fort State Park. Alec Cline and Anna Balouris were the fastest in 4:06 and 4:20. Full results.
Naked Nick 50k – Leesport, Pennsylvania
The course ran around Blue Marsh Lake in eastern Pennsylvania. A.J. Kelly and Katie Bicksler were the race’s fastest in 3:47 and 4:26. Full results.
Tallahassee Ultradistance Classic – Wakulla Springs, Florida
It was the race’s 43rd year. A really small group of 50-mile finishers were fronted by Ryan Kunz and Addie Green in 6:57 and 7:11, and Edward Nabong and Jenny Early led the 50k in 4:07 and 4:42. Full results.
Daytona 100 Mile – Daytona Beach, Florida
Rafael Villarreal and Caryn Lubetsky led the 100-mile group in 15:42 and 17:31. In the 50 miler it was Marc Burget and Monica Perrault in 6:57 and 9:00, and Robert Margalis and Salud Cerruti won the 50k in 4:39 and 4:08, respectively. Full results.
2025 Golden Trail World Series
The Golden Trail World Series dropped their 2025 calendar.
- April 19 – Kobe Trail (Japan)
- April 26 – Jinshanling Great Wall Trail Race (China)
- May 17 – Il Golfo dell’Isola Trail (Italy)
- May 25 – Zegama Marathon (Spain)
- June 22 – Broken Arrow Skyrace (U.S.)
- June 29 – Tepec Trail (Mexico)
- August 2 – Pitz Alpine Glacier Trail (Austria)
- August 9 – Sierre-Zinal (Switzerland)
- October 9 to 12 – Grand Final (location to be confirmed)
The Broken Arrow Skyrace will be in the 2025 Golden Trail World Series. Photo: @GoldenTrailSeries | @Broken Arrow Skyrace | @Koastal Forest
This means that the Four Sisters Mountain Trail race in China was replaced by the Jinshanling Great Wall Trail Race in China, and 2024 series races Mont-Blanc Marathon (France), Tatra Sky Race (Poland), Headlands 27k (U.S.), and Mammoth Trail Fest (U.S.) are all not part of the 2025 series. And that the Jinshanling Great Wall Trail Race, Il Golfo dell’Isola, Broken Arrow Skyrace, Tepec Trail, and Pitz Alpine Glacier Trail are all new-to-the-series races.
Last year, the U.S. races were in September, but for 2025 the two North American races are instead in June. The June 28 to 29, 2025 weekend is always a giant one in trail running and ultrarunning and now includes not just the Western States 100, the Lavaredo Ultra Trail, and the Mont-Blanc Marathon, but also another Golden Trail World Series race in Mexico.
Call for Comments
We usually do it once a year, and it’s next week. We’re going to skip the December 23 column during the Christmas week and come back on December 30. See ya’ then!
