The Steep Stuff Podcast
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The Steep Stuff Podcast
Golden Trail World Series Final Preview with Robert Prosser
Golden Trail World Series Final Preview with Robert Prosser
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Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast. I'm your host, James L'Oriello. Guys, I'm so excited to be joined today by co-host Robert Prosser to preview the 2025 Golden Trail World Series Final and Prologue. Yeah, super excited for this one. Hope you guys enjoy it. Uh, all good stuff there. Better late than never, because the race starts in like 14 hours. Sorry, I was a little late on this one. Um, but yeah, hope you guys enjoy it. Golden Trail World Series Final 2025 with co-host Robert Prosser. Ladies and gentlemen, we Robert Prosser. Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast. How's it going, man?
SPEAKER_01:It's going. It's been a long week, and uh, this is a little bit a long time coming, but I'm definitely excited to talk about some golden trail finals today.
SPEAKER_00:I know. Dude, I'm really sorry I pushed this. It literally starts like we're like 12 to 13 hours before the start of the actual prologue, but the fans that are listening and will be listening tonight. They won't care. Um, but yeah, I'm glad we're able to put this together and it's been a hell of a week, uh, both professionally for both of us and for uh just life. So I'm glad uh glad we're able to put this together and talk about the Golden Trail World Series final that's finally here. Dude, I feel like it's been a crazy, it's been a crazy long season for Golden Trail. I mean, now starting in April and now we're in October, like I almost feel like they maybe bit one out of uh like Skyrunner's page in the sense where like a little bit more races and just kind of more spread out amongst the calendar.
SPEAKER_01:Definitely, I think it's a little bit of a catch-22 because I do like that the Skyrunner has so many options and so many like locales for them to race, but it also is a little bit disappointing because it does water down the competition sometimes. And so I do like that they're exposing new areas, having Japan backs back years, China backs back years to different locations. Um, but I do think it makes the season a little bit long. And then I also think I mean it it you know, if you schedule your season well, it can work out, but we'll kind of see some of these races won't be quite as competitive, or people will kind of pick and choose which races because they know they can get good points because they won't be quite as dense, I guess. So, but yeah, it definitely feels long. Uh, and I'm curious to see how people that raced early in the season well will race uh this far out, you know, six, seven months out later.
SPEAKER_00:So it is interesting with the final, and maybe this is a good like through topic as well to kind of get into is like maybe I almost feel like it's condensed the the competition. Like I feel like all we've talked about all season when it comes to Golden Trail, specifically on the men's side, has been Patrick Philemon and El Hussein, and then on the women's side, it seems like it's been Jolene, Joyce, Lauren Gregory here and there. Um, you know, when it comes to like the broken arrow stuff, as well as Anna Gibson on the American side. But I think it's like the the kind of the through line and topic has been the consolidation of just talent at the top and then everyone else kind of jockeying for spots, and you know, as we kind of go through, it's been I don't know, it's it's interesting, but I do I would agree. I feel like this year specifically, I feel like Golden Trail no, granted, I was not there, but did not feel like as competitive as it has been in previous years. I don't know what that is.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think the on the men's side it definitely feels like yeah, it's like those three, and then it's everyone else is fighting for fourth through tenth. So I do feel like that probably has been a little tough back-to-back years. I do think there's a little bit less likelihood that the favorites quite as obvious on definitely, I think even the men's side, but definitely the woman's side. I think the women's side is pretty up for grabs this year, and we'll talk more about that in a second. But um, yeah, I do agree. I think in general competition and wondering who could win every race, and right now the men's race, it really only feels like three people can win it on any given race, whereas the women's race, it does feel like there's a good range of people depending on the terrain. So um yeah, I do think that's important that hopefully we see a little bit more competitive parity in the men's side and we see some other guys break out, like a Christian Allen win or something, because there is a big difference between finishing like fourth through tenth in a golden trail and finishing in that top three, but especially winning. I think there's kind of like a big breakthrough. Once you win one, then you kind of realize you can do it. Um, and so people that got some of their first wins, like Lauren Gregory this year, you know, it's a big uh notch of confidence if you can get a win in a golden trail series.
SPEAKER_00:So totally agree. Yeah, it's interesting. Like it would be really cool to see um like a Christian Allen go and take a dub, right, at one of these. And I almost feel like he's he's got one in the chamber. Like it's probably he's got the talent to do it, it's just a matter of like everything coming together on the day. Um would be cool to see him win a final. And like you said, like Lauren Gregory, I think that's um uh yeah, I think having Lauren Gregory there would be, you know, having her win one just wouldn't be wouldn't be a surprise. Sorry, I'm talking to you and my phone's ringing and uh distracting. No, it's okay. Just scammers always are calling. All right, back to the back to the course. So kicking off on 1010, we're actually so tomorrow within several hours.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, pre-trail says 34 hours and 55 minutes.
SPEAKER_00:There we go, to the final. But we have the prologue first, which is good. That's true. Um, one thing I will say about this, um, for those of you interested in following along um as far as the streaming goes, it's gonna be streamed on Eurosport, HBO Max, TNT Sports, and Discovery Plus. Dude, how cool is that? Like, we're getting to watch trail running streamed on HBO Max and and like Discovery Plus.
SPEAKER_01:Like Yeah, yeah, even for Sears and all, I woke up uh this year and watched uh it had already finished by the time we woke up here in the springs, but I watched it on HBO Max, and that was pretty damn cool to like to be like going to a streaming service to watch a trail running race. So yeah, it is really exciting. Uh, I think it's a little less accessible, or like for the Eurosport people, it's a little tough, but like yeah, having HBO Max and then watching it is pretty neat, and I'm definitely excited for what they're doing with it there. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00:All right, let's talk about the course itself. Let's talk about the race. This is one this one is interesting. The Ledro Sky Triento. So Led Ledro Sky Race is basically what it's kind of a part of or kind of called. Um this is an interesting through like thread because it's advertised, the race itself is advertised, and we'll talk about the course uh and its technicality because I think that's definitely worth something discussing. Definitely. Um, but advertised as a sky race. I find that interesting, especially because uh golden trail races, more or less, are not really advertised to be super technical. They're much faster races on on average when you're comparing them to something like a sky race, um, or something more built as a sky race. Like I know for a fact like this course is a bit more burly and technical than most of the other courses raced. Maybe this is if we're gonna draw a comparison, this might be closer to something like uh the Plitz Alpen Glacier Trail, something a bit more burly technical, especially on the descents, a bit more technical um and not super straightforward. Um yeah, I don't know. It's different. Like it's a beautiful area in northern Italy. Like, have you checked out any of that area in the research?
SPEAKER_01:Uh I have not. I did do Google Maps, so it's in Pieve de Lidro, which is southwest of Trento Trento by 35 kilometers as the crow flies, and then northeast of Milan by 180 kilometers. Um, I've been really wanting to go to Dolomites, I still have not been and is very high on my bucket list. Uh, we might even try to do it next year, maybe for a honeymoon, not sure. But um, yeah, dude, the Trentino, I was looking at a race out there. There's just so many cool, good trails. So uh I wasn't familiar with this specific area, that's why I did some research, but um, I do agree with everything you're saying about the course. It does look pretty technical.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. One of the things that really uh stuck out to me that I thought was quite exciting when it comes to the first specifically the prelude is the preludes in previous iterations of the finals have been a bit flatter and have been a bit less technical, just a bit easier, if you will. Dude, this is a straight up mountain classic prelude. Like almost five miles, almost 2,000 feet again. So it's four basically 4.42 miles, 1,795 feet of vertical, so it's 6.9k, 505 meters, steep, it's technical, it's burly, it's not easy. Um, thank, thank, thank God for Remy LaRue. Big shout out to Remy LaRue because he gave me some breakdowns of the course, uh, and I'll quote him in a little bit. But like his Strava's just been a godsend on some of the stuff that he's been scouting as far as just knowing the course. Yeah. Um and yeah, like his run through through the prelude, I was like, wow, this is it's it's easy. Like I'm it we're gonna see super fast times, obviously, like prive, probably five mid to low five minute great adjusted paces for the men and definitely probably six minute great adjusted paces for the women. Um it's gonna be interesting to see how like the descent gets taken, but anything that sticks out to you for the prelude specifically.
SPEAKER_01:Uh agree with everything. And yeah, I do like that it's been pretty steep. I I think it's it's gonna be pretty similar to rain. I mean, last year the part of they did it in Lakarno, which is like it's the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland called Ticino, is the region. Um, and I think it'll be similar. And I do I did like, I mean, that one looked pretty epic. You know, we're getting into the fall, so it's getting more wet and kind of boggy. And I think this will honestly look similar to the the Lakarno one where it's kind of steep up, steep down. Um, yeah, and definitely will favor a lot of the more technically oriented. And I definitely think we'll talk about that when we're talking about previewing who could win or who could do well. Um, that's definitely something to keep in mind is who does well with some technical footing.
SPEAKER_00:So for sure, for sure. And then the course itself, the actual course, uh, the final course is gonna be 13.04 miles, 5,249 feet. So build as a sky course. I mean, that's pretty burly for 13 miles. I mean, I like I said, I'd have to be there to see it myself as far as the technicality goes, but from the information that I'm getting, um, see, and I'll even read the text that I think it was the text I sent you uh from Remy, um, because Remy was pretty good in describing um kind of the whole breakdown. Here we go. All right, from Remy LaRue's words. Yeah, there's been a lot of talk of the course, a lot of comparison to sky running. The two main words are steep and technical, with emphasis on steep, kind of similar, and this was cool because he, you know, he kind of quoted it like as being similar in Northeast Trails, which obviously we all know to be steep and technical. Um he said they don't do switchbacks here. If the mountain goes straight up and down, the trail goes basically straight up and down. In terms of tech technicality, it isn't insanely technical, but because it's mixed with a lot of 30 to 40 percent grade, it feels very techy going down. Um Golden Trail World Series media team will definitely be strategically placed to film some epic uh epic falls, I'm guessing. Ha ha. So shout out to Remy LaRue for the course breakdown um on both of the courses. And and yeah, I think that's kind of just the through a thread of like what we kind of expected.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and then there have been races. I think the course is slightly different, but um, there it has been an existing race, and so some of the course records are actually course record holders are actually people who have are racing here this year. Chesary Maestri and Alice Gaggy have the course record on the men's and women's side. Men's course record was 146.22, and Alice Gaggy ran it in 213.03. I think the course is like a little bit different, but that's something to keep in mind. So they're familiar with the territory because they'll both be racing this final. And then some other names. Uh Alberto Vender and Marco Felosi have run it before, and so is Fabiola Conti, who always also appears to be running uh the final this year. So yeah, I mean, I think for some people to be familiar with territory, and I do agree with the sky running uh with the sky running analogies. Uh it looks really cool. Uh the website's good, it's really informative too.
SPEAKER_00:So dude, big shout out to Fabiola Conte. I feel like she doesn't get enough, like I know she kind of popped onto the scene, maybe it was like 2022, 2023. I think she had a Solomon contract and then kind of like faded kind of back into, I don't know, maybe more local races and stuff like that. I know she's like well known for having done series and all. I know every year she goes to the Mont Blanc Marathon and like kind of was on the international stage and like then kind of disappeared to it and then kind of popped back onto the scene this year with Worlds and has had some like spectacular performances.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, when I did my long trip review, I was actually feeling pretty bullish on her. She, her three main results this year, she had like a top five and a top three at two technical sky races. I think Montzerbion was one, and I forget what the other one was. And then um, she had a win at another race. It was the Mona Rosa Walzer bug, and it was like 120k, but it had like 8,300 meters of vert. So I was like, wow, well, she's fast enough to do good at sky races, but also she's gutsy enough to like do good at these really vert-uh, presumably really technical races. So I was like, well, she's fast and she can do a long race. And so I I think I had her ride around like fifth for my picks in the long trail. Um, and yeah, she had a really good race. She ended up getting third there. And but we'll see, you know, that's a pretty quick bounce back. We'll definitely be talking about worlds a lot and how that might affect some people. But yeah, I totally agree. It was really impressive to see what she did at the long trail. Um, and she has a really versatile athlete, so um, yeah, Italian, so home turf as well.
SPEAKER_00:So one thing I want to talk about is invitations. So we know the top 30 men and women were invited to the final. Um, this is interesting because I know Golden Trail series is kind of funny that way. They don't exactly publish a list of exactly who's invited and who maybe turned down uh invites, who maybe didn't travel. Will people be filling those spots of the people that didn't go? I would say obviously. And then you got to factor in the fact of the national Golden Trail National Series, which I know is not happening in America this past year, but it did happen in other countries as well. There was some more national-based races. Uh, I know in Germany, Spain, other countries. So it's kind of a black box as far as like who outside of the top 30 as far as the invitations and how those went through. So we're kind of basing, at least I'm basing, you know, kind of this just off of the top 30 that's going to be on the Golden Trail series site. The 30 that we know that we would guess would be in in compet in contention, if you will, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, definitely. Yeah, and I was I was thinking the same thing, and I was also noticing like some noticeable absences and some people. I was like, I wonder if these people like Judith Weeder, other people that didn't race as much Golden Trail series, but also could easily, you know, podium here. We're still gonna race. Um, and no Judith this year, but and no Maud either. Not in the top. Yeah, no Maud either. That's a good point. Um yeah, I wonder how she's bouncing back from Worlds, but yeah, I was kind of wondering the same thing. I was like, we have these names in the top 30, and then some of the people that are like 20 through 30 are really also have a capability to podium, but they only ran one or two Golden Trail series races this year, so they just don't have a ton of points. Um but yeah, that would definitely be an interesting, interesting factor.
SPEAKER_00:One thing I do want to uh definitely talk about because a lot of our um good chunk of our listener base obviously is on state side. So the Americans, if you're wondering what Americans were invited and what Americans traveled, um Lauren Gregory was invited to the final, Anna Gibson, Courtney Coppinger, Rachel Tomaichek, Sarah Carter. Shout out to Sarah Carter, new Pikes Peak champion uh for the Pikes Peak Ascent. Um call it Christopher Moody, and then can't forget Sidney Peterson, who had another another banger of a season. And then on the men's side, only three men invited on the American side Taylor Stack, Christian Allen, and Nicholas Turko. Um very interesting. I am very bullish on Taylor Stack and Christian Allen. Very curious to see where they end up in this race. Um, Taylor and Christian both having good shot performances at World, specifically Christian getting fourth of the vertical. Um Taylor Stack has had an insane season uh when it comes to the Golden Trail series, especially with the series and all and Plitz Alpham Glacier and Broken Arrow. Uh so it's gonna be kind of uh interesting to see where these guys and gals kind of match up in the mix um with a lot on the a lot on the line for the final.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I was trying to think in my recent memory. I've gone back and watched most of the Golden Trail has obviously lots of really good episodes, they're pretty good at documenting. So I went back to like 2019 and watched even a lot of those episodes, which are really good. That's when like even Killian would participate in some. So good. But I was trying to think of like, because Taylor's right on the edge, he's in sixth place over on the point standing, and then Christian's 14th, but he could easily bump in the top 10, if not top five, with a good result this weekend. I was trying to think of like who have been the best Americans in the Golden Trail series, and I really have like a hard time thinking of what American at least American men. I know Sophia Lockley won in 2023. Yeah, maybe Sage Canada had some early results. Um so I was just trying to think it'd be really cool to get you know Taylor or Christian or both uh in that top five. Because you know, obviously it seems like the top three are kind of in their own category right now. But if we could get uh one of those guys in the four or five position, and I think it's it's pretty likely. I mean, uh the points are more important in this final, so a lot of positions will change based off how well people do at the prologue in the final.
SPEAKER_00:So it's kind of crazy to think. I mean, maybe the audience might lambass me for this if I do forget anybody besides uh Sage Canada, but it's hard to remember anybody off of like recent years because I think I think of Sage Canada's second place performance behind Killian, I think it was 2019 at the Pikes Peak Marathon.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think that sounds right.
SPEAKER_00:Um and that's when it was still the marathon was on the Golden Trail series. Dakota's had great finishes. I'm trying to think of the ascent. Eli Hamming, actually, like I he's Eli is probably the best memory. Yeah, and it was actually kind of a bummer for me. Like, I love Eli and I know that like the situation that he's in now, like you know, racing more longer stuff, I think makes sense for him. But like it would have been cool to see a few more seasons out of him on the Golden Trail series just because he's so good at the short stuff. Um, but yeah, damn ultra people. Um, but yeah, no, I think Eli makes sense in recent memories, H Canada. And I can't think of a lot of other American men that have like really performed at like the super uh like you know high-end stages.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah, we're kind of more ultra-focused. That's definitely what's more incentivized. I feel like both contract contractually and I don't know, just kind of like if you're running trails, people are like, oh, when are you gonna do Leadville? When are you gonna do Western? When are you gonna do you know this hundred mile race? So I definitely think we're starting to see the transition for that, but it it's never the sky running and sub-ultra stuff hasn't it's more incentivized in Europe than it has been in the States, and now we're trying to change that. So that's what you're trying to change. It's changing, dude.
SPEAKER_00:It's changing. That's a whole nother podcast. Yeah. All right, let's kind of talk about I think the overarching storyline here, especially for this, is just the amount of folks in the top ten on both sides, men and women, that just recently competed at worlds. 100%. Only two, so on the men's side, only El Housine and Pierre Calabrin, or sorry, yeah, Gal Galbordin, excuse me, French athlete. Only El Housine and Pierre did not compete, and they're the only ones in the top ten that were not at worlds. And then on the women's side, Madelina Floria, and then Rosa Laura Failyve, uh, Spanish athlete, were the only two that are of the top ten that were also not at worlds.
SPEAKER_01:So even then Rosa did compete, and she competed in probably the worst race to run before this. She got top five at the long trail. Oh, Rosa was in the race? Yeah, she didn't miss it. She didn't race the sub Ultra, but she they changed sometimes they put her as Rosa Laura and sometimes they put her as Rosa Maria, because I think her name's Rosa Maria Laura Feliu. Good catch. Good catch. But yeah, she went top five in the long. So her and Fabiola are both gonna be in the same boat where I'm uh not quite as bullish on them as I would typically be uh for this final if they had not just done so well at the long trail.
SPEAKER_00:All right, so scratch that then. We've got literally just Madelina, El Housine, and Pierre are the only three that have not just competed at worlds. Is it a fact? I mean, obviously long trail is gonna be a factor. We kind of saw that. Um, but dude, short trail too. I mean, like, look at David Sinclair and Eli, like kind of had very clearly had CCC in their legs uh that you know when it came to compete. I it's hard to say. Like, I wonder if, like, for instance, like Roberto DiLorenzi having the short trail on his legs, that could be a potential issue. Um, but I think for the uphill uh and the mountain classic, I mean, you're gonna recover so much faster.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think if anything, the uphill mountain classic, I'm more bullish on those people, and I think that's a great tune-up. The short trail I am a little bit conservative with, and then the long trail I'm extremely conservative with. But I don't know. We've seen we'll see. It'll be interesting. I'm definitely curious how that will pan out, but I'm hesitant with anyone that raced world's uh short trail longer.
SPEAKER_00:So I'm just gonna throw out some names here, top ten of the women ranking and like what they did at World. So Sarah Alonzo, silver medal in the short trail. Uh Caroline Kimmutai dropped short trail, Melon Alsa dropped from the short trail. Joyce Naru was fourth in the men's or sorry, fourth in the women's mountain classic. Lauren Gregory, fifth in the women's mountain classic.
SPEAKER_01:One second between them two.
SPEAKER_00:It was so close. What a race, dude. Uh Falaris, 14th in the vertical, Naomi Lang, bronze medal in the short trail, Anna Gibson, bronze in the vertical, and then I can't quite remember where she finished on the mountain classic. Um, and then Rosa, like you said, was fifth.
SPEAKER_01:I think she was fourth or fifth, yeah. In the long trail, long trail.
SPEAKER_00:And then on the men's side, Patrick was bronze the bronze medal in the uphill, Philemon was the Mountain Classic champion, Michael Seal, Michael Saelli, Kenyan Mountain Classic team. Daniel Pattis uh competed on the short trail. Taylor Stack was on the Mountain Classic team, Roberto DiLorenzi was on the Swiss short trail short trail team. Um, how did you pronounce Caesar? I called him Caesar Mystery. How do you pronounce his name properly?
SPEAKER_01:A lot of people say Caesar, but I don't Martin on Golden Trail pronounces it Cesare, so that's the only reason why. Because I feel like he is really good at his job and also is around those athletes a lot. So I've heard it's Cesare, but I also think it's like Caesar, but I think they're just saying it more that way. So to each their own. I don't know. That's just the reason I've heard him say it, and I trust his judgment the most.
SPEAKER_00:So I say we take it for take it for that then. So Cesare uh Mastrari, local to this area too, like you had said, and had won this race previously, held the record. He was on the Mountain Classic team, and then Dominic Raleigh uh competed in both the Mountain Classic and the Vertical. So these are all top ten athletes ranked in the Golden Trail that are also competing this week. Um yeah, so and of that, interesting, five individual medals represented, including the Mountain Classic world champion Philemon, who I gotta say, dude, you made me eat my words. I did not think Philemon was gonna be the Mountain Classic champ, and sure as shit he is.
SPEAKER_01:I hadn't picked in my I hadn't picked the lane in my fantasy free trail. So yes, I I don't know. He just had a lot of good update on races this year and has kind of that's kind of been his bread and butter. So um yeah.
SPEAKER_00:What did you think about some of the notable drops like Felaris, Kasang, and Malin dropping the short trail? Is that more I don't I didn't read too deeply into either of those as far as injury goes or if there was any issues there. Is that maybe just more being conservative? Um, knowing you know there's more, I think, monetary situations on the line when it comes to golden trail for both of them being in the ranking, um, and just trying to be conservative for a race like the Golden Trail final. Like I wonder what that would be.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think Malon, from my understanding or from what they said on Subhub, uh, I think she caught cramps and then just decided to pull. Because I mean, like we talked about on the preview, that short trail women's team was super deep, and I mean they still ended up getting the silver and just missing out on the gold, mainly because of Tovey Alexanderson crushing everybody. But um, so yeah, I think it probably was kind of uh a little bit of bad day, and then also knowing that you had a really strong team, and then I don't know too much about Falaris dropping. Um and then yeah, I'm trying to think Malin dropped, and then Carolyn Kimsai, I think Self Hub also said she didn't, she just didn't even start. Her name was on the list. Um, but I also there's some questions around her because Golden Trail wasn't putting them out, putting her name out on their preview or for their top 10, and she is third overall in the points for the series. Um she might not be racing, so yeah. So I have some that's my biggest question mark with her, along with the technicality of the course.
SPEAKER_00:Um I do want to correct myself really quick. I had full I'd written down Fularis, but she was third 14th in the vertical. Yeah, you're I meant to say Caroline Kimmy Tai.
SPEAKER_01:Kimmy Tai, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, because I was gonna say I'm pretty sure Ferris ran. And she hasn't had as good of a year as she's had in the past. She's had like some, I want to say some top threes at Sears and all, and usually is really good in this up-down type of format. And she's had good results this year, but just not to the level that she's had in the past. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00:It's gonna be interesting. All right, so here's the big question. I I've two I mean, this is obviously more podium-based, but uh the two big things I wrote down. Will Philemon challenge El Housine and will Sarah, I think even a bigger question is Sarah Alonzo now fully back from injury, clearly second place at worlds, like had a great race herself. Is she but like can she challenge Madalina for the win? Like Madalina had a tough race in the last final, um, you know, has kind of folded on the big stages, but also has had a like she's number one in the ranking, has had like a substantially like amazing year. Can Sarah Alonso like topple her? Is that possible?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I definitely think I think this type of course favors Sarah Alonso, and I also think that she does seem to be very back, but then I guess my main hesitation is going back to she did just race worlds, that was three weeks ago. So Trail Marathon, I mean a lot of these guys do that kind of turnaround, but I'm curious if that will beat out a fresh Madalina. And Madalena did have a rough go last year's finals, but she also blew or like surprised all of us when she won both the finals in 2023, and she pretty much like single-handedly helped Sophia win her final because uh Yudith would have won that year if Madalina didn't win both the prologue and the final. That's very true. Because she did beat Sophia um in both the prologue and the final, but it wasn't enough points because she didn't get a win in either of the races. So but I I think Matalina would be fresh. I want to say she not only did she kind of get shook up at the final last year, I think she might have been coming in with mono or some kind of sickness. Um from what I hear at least, don't quote me on that. But uh I think I will probably take a fresh Mandalino over Sarah, even though I think this course favors Sarah a little bit, but I do agree that I think it's really up. And I honestly think Joyce could have a really good day out here and pump up a lot in the standings because we've seen they double the points for the prologue in the final, so you really can have big moves. And I think really anyone that's in like the top five or six is within striking distance. Um, and so for the women's points total, you know, Joyce is still in fifth place, uh, Malin's in fourth. Um, but I can see Joyce having like at least one win, if not two wins here. Um, so I think she's a legitimate contender for making a move. Um, but I do think it could be Sarah Sarah's year. She's got her first golden trail win this year, it was Zagama since 2022 or 2023, and then um just has really raced super well and been super fit. She's she's fast too. I didn't realize how fast she was. She ran like a 111 half this spring, uh, and she just has been in really good shape all year.
SPEAKER_00:So where do you put Lauren Gregory and Anna Gibson in the mix?
SPEAKER_01:Uh I'm pretty bullish on Lauren. I got her in my top five and probably even my top four. And I think both of them will be yeah, I mean, I right now looking at my free trail picks, I got Lauren and five, Anna and seven, and that's contingent on Caroline racing. And if she doesn't, I'll probably move them both up to like four and six. But I I yeah, I easily think that I think that one, Lauren's been getting more fit throughout the year. Um, and I know she was kind of banged up a little bit. I think even coming into like broken arrow, she was kind of coming off an injury. Uh, and then the win at Tepic Trail was good, was really good. I mean, it wasn't as it was kind of more like a Kobe race where selectively people raced and it wasn't quite as deep, but a win uh a win at Golden Trail series is a win. So I mean that was really good, and it really helps the confidence. Uh, and I think she'll come into this. She had really good results at the Worlds last year, right? She had a second in one of the races and like a fifth another, um, or maybe two, a second and a third. But she uh she raced really well at last year's final, so I feel like she'll be peaking at the right time and in good fitness. And I was thinking honable too. You know, we were talking about the men's uh American side, it'd be being impressive if we see two in the top five, but I could very realistically see uh Lauren's at in sixth overall right now, and Anna's in 10th. I could see both of them in the top five by the end of the end of the weekend.
SPEAKER_00:So I think as far as top 10 goes as well, uh don't sleep on Courtney Coppinger. Yeah, that's someone I can really I think has a golden opportunity.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think she's a very good downhill. I think she could do very well here, and she's just outside. I mean, the points difference between like seventh and her in 13th is only like 50 points, and we're talking out of like a maximum 600, so it's not a huge spread, but I think that she will likely move up and could very well move in the top 10. So yeah, I could definitely see three fame three American runners in the final for the top ten. Top ten final.
SPEAKER_00:So let's let's get into sleepers. Um, my question for you is like, what do you think about uh like the locals? Alice Gaggi, who just got 19th in the mountain classic, and then uh Cesar Mustari had it where like where do you think kind of the they like get in the mix?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think they'll both have good days out here. I did have uh Alice Gaggi as a kind of like a dark horse pick or somebody that you wouldn't uh expect to do, or like that we just don't know as well, probably being in the US audience. Um so she's an Italian runner for Brooks. Uh she did just race worlds, she got 19th at the classic. Um, and then early in this year she got a sixth at Golden Trail series Noli or Golf Lodelia Solo. I'll kind of use them interchangeably, and a fifth at Broken Arrow. Um so yeah, she's got speed, she's really skilled on technical terrain, and then she already knows this course too. And I think she'll be in pretty good shape. I mean, a 19th at Classic, uh, I think that bodes pretty well for doing well here. And then Chesari, he started off the year really strong. Um, two top fives at Great Wall and GTS Noli, which both of those were pretty deep races. Um, we saw the Kenyon crew come in for Noli and uh or excuse me, for the Great Wall, and then we also had a deep Kenyan crew. Fernoli as well. Uh didn't have as good of a race at Pete's Alpine Glacier. He was like 17th. Um, and then second at ETC and 11th at the classic distance of worlds, but I think he's very well good to go for like five through ten in this race. And he is speedy, he already knows the course, so I definitely think he'll do well. Other dark horses um had a few more on the men's side. I think Dominique Roley on the Swiss uh Swiss athlete, he got fourth in the classic. He was the only non-East African in the top seven at the classic for world, so he ran really well. I think he is more of a specialist when on that when that downhill comes in. He didn't do as well in the uphill. I think he was right around like 20th. Um, but I think when you get those technical descents, he does really well. And he also uh smoked a really good Sierra Zenal this year, seventh place overall. I thought he was gonna be him or Joey Haydorn was gonna be the top uh Swiss guy, but it turned out to be that triathlon guy that nobody I didn't know about him, so he kind of came out of nowhere and ran the lead a lot. And then speaking of J Joey Haydorn, he's also gonna be very written down, and I think he is also gonna be a dark horse. Um and we see him kind of just pop off at these final events and do really well. Um, he started off kind of like Chesry, started off the season real strong and had some good results. And that Great Wall race, he was right in the middle of the Kenyan pack and ended up going like four, he was fourth at Kobe and third at Great Wall, so he was right in the mix with the Kenyan dudes. A lot of them came out hard and blew up. It was an interesting race to watch. Uh and then he raced at Sears and all and probably didn't do as good as he wanted to with the 37th. Um, but he's been focusing on his orienteering season since then. I did kind of do a quick scroll through of his Instagram. I don't think it ended quite as well as he wanted it to, but I also don't know that's necessarily attributed to fitness because I know there's a lot of like navigation and other stuff, so I wasn't sure on that, but I definitely think he could go top 10. And then we do have a good mix of Kenyons, Paul Machoka, Samuel Kiprodic, and Michael Salelo. Paul Machoka and Michael Salelo, I'd mostly focus on because they have some really good up-down results at world mountain running events. And the last one you did mention, Piero Calbordin. He's a speedy Brooks runner, French guy. Um, I looked, he's got like a 103 half, so really, really fast. Um, and he has had some good results, so I think he could sneak a top 10. He went 22nd in worlds at the trail and had multiple top 10s in Golden Trail this year, including six at Pete's Alpine, which is probably a similar course to 10th at Noli and eighth at Great Wall. So it seems like he's a really good downhiller, um, from what I can tell.
SPEAKER_00:So interesting. What do you think? All right, how does it play out for the points? Um how many points is the prologue worth? And are people going to be going balls to the wall, you think, for the prologue as well as the final? Like, like, is there there's strategy to this weekend? I feel like.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, don't quote. I'm going off of memory, but I think I mean I know for the regular race the points get doubled and they take your three best points results. And so up until this point, a win in a race was 200 points, so I'd imagine it's 400 for a win at the final. And then I don't know if the prologue is 100 for the win, and it works down from there. I'm not sure. But I knew that I know that it gets really shaken up, and you really have to, you can't just like be like El Zine, have three wins, have perfect points. Like he still would only finish like fourth or fifth, so you really have to be coming into the final in good shape and race the final if you want to um have a good chance. So I'm not exactly sure. I know it's double points, at least for the full race, and then the prologue, I'm not sure. Maybe it's um regular points or half points. So uh and I do think people will be blitzing it. I mean, last year it was just like a time trial, and I'm curious if they do the same because last year I think they did that like staggered start where you don't all do it, but you have somebody like the interval start where it's like somebody goes and then 30 seconds and somebody goes. So that's kind of cool because you're like catching the people in front of you and seeing your lead. And I think they have they go in reverse order of points. So basically, like El Zene would go last and he would have the person in like Patrick in front of him and the film in front of him. So that's kind of cool because then you know if you caught your person, you went faster than them on the prologue. Um, and at least you try to just keep the same gap and then you know you're not losing time on them. I think that's how it goes. So at least that's how they did it last year. I don't know if they do it this year that way.
SPEAKER_00:I would imagine it's probably very similar, if not if not the same exact format. What do you think? Um I don't know. Did you I didn't write down I picked final for I took picked top five for both. Okay. What do you think for the prologue though? Like, do you think the winner of the prologue will be the winner of the overall?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's a good question. Last year it was with Elozine on the men's side, and then the women's side it wasn't the same because Joylene won the race, but she didn't race the prologue, and I can't remember who won the prologue. Um is it Sarah? It might have been Sarah, it might have been Joyce or somebody. Yeah. Um I do that's a good question. I don't know. I'm kind of up in the air. I think for the prologue. This men's race, I'm really I think Philemon has a legit chance. Him and Patrick are tied for points. I'm honestly probably between Philomon and Elzine. I'm a little bit more bullish on I don't know. Elozine's fresh. Yeah, I mean I think the men's side, it could be both when or Elozine wins the tra the long race and Philemon wins the prologue. Um but on the women's side, I really think it could go back and forth. Uh, and I think that uh Madalena could win the race, but Sarah could win the prologue or flip it around. And I also think Joyce was gonna race well here, so but I'm not sure. I it's kind of tough for me to tell. Um I do like that they do the prologue, but it's tough to pick for, and they're not doing it on fantasy free trail like they did. I think last year they made picks for the prologue, and this year they're just doing it for the trail race.
SPEAKER_00:So what do you think as far how I mean this is a tough question I ask, but like with Joelene absent now or out of the mix, how does that shake up the women's field and change things like substantially?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Um I don't know. Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah, I mean, I think it makes it more exciting, honestly. I think Joeline, I'd be a little bit more bullish on. Although I'm I don't know, like the Pizza Alpine, did Joyline I don't remember if Joyline raced it. I know Caroline didn't she didn't do super well. Um I don't think Joyline did, she didn't, uh but Caroline did, Caroline Kamatai and a handful of other canyons, and they just didn't do great. I think it was partially because it was also rainy and they didn't take good care to like thermoregulate. Um, but I think it just makes the race more exciting because I really do think Madelina has a very good chance, and I think we could see her win. I think Sarah Alonso could uh win and win the overall final. And then I honestly think Joyce could bounce back and is within striking distance as well. But I think it'll be cool because I think we'll almost definitely have a new female winner uh for overall points, whether it's Madalina or Sarah Alonso, or I mean Alan Osa is also within striking distance, and yeah, I mean, honestly, like Lauren Gregory is as well.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, I feel like I'm very bullish right now, Lauren Gregory and Sarah Alonzo. I think those are the two that have me like super excited. Um the men's race is like Snoozville, I'm not gonna lie. It's like, come on, man. Like, can we have someone other than Al Hussein, Patrick, and Philemon like step up? Come on, Christian, like where are you at? Or Taylor, somebody. Um, yeah, let's get into is there anything you feel like storylines that we did not address?
SPEAKER_01:Um yeah, I put how close will the men's race like will be another one second finish, that's what I'm curious about. And then female side, just more of what we talked about. I really think like the winners up for grabs will almost definitely see a new winner, but I think Joyce has a very legitimate chance, and I it would be sick to see Lauren Gregory too um have another US female winner uh like we have. But yeah, I don't I don't have any other storylines other than what you've we've kind of mentioned so far.
SPEAKER_00:One person I actually did not bring up was Naomi Lang, short trail bronze medal finisher. Obviously, you said you were kind of factoring in, and I feel the same way. Factoring in like that short trail was a burly nasty course. Like, how much of that is gonna be in the legs? Because like I feel like this could be a great course for someone like Naomi.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I do feel like, and people were kind of saying that they were kind of surprised by her short trail, or I heard some people mention that, but I mean she won the Plitz Alpha. Yeah, she won Pizza Alpha and Glacier, and then she also ran the Scalfell Sky Race, which was her like UK qualifier for the race, and that's like a really technical classic course, and she beat a lot of good uh women at that race and like beat them by a big margin too. Um, but yeah, this is definitely kind of like her bread and butter, and I could see her, she's the ninth overall in the points. But like I said, basically sixth through twelfth, thirteenth are really tight, so there's gonna be a lot of movement for depending on how people do well. And I do think that she could honestly bounce back and do really well at this course. Yeah, Pete Topine Glacier kind of surprised some people, but she also um was coming off of she got third at Marathon of Mont Blanc this year, and that was still a super deep field, even though it wasn't World Uh Golden Trail World Series. Uh, and then I think yeah, we kind of started to see her, at least I started to see her come across the radar. She got a seventh at the finals last year, and then this year she got signed to that Solomon International team contract. Um, I think she's like an EMT or some kind of medical field worker, and she's starting to get more and more support to be able to come to these races. Uh, and then yeah, tenth at Sears and all this year and third place at ETC. So I think the sloppier she's praying for rain, she's playing for sloppy and more technical stuff, and the more she'll have an advantage compared to yeah, maybe Madalina wants a little bit more runnable. Uh, and then I think Sarah Alonzo is also Namien and Sarah are probably two of the best downhillers, and Malin's up there too as well. Um, so yeah, I think this course will suit well.
SPEAKER_00:One thing I did want to sneak in there for like sleeper, I gotta say, like, dude, I gotta give like I I feel like this is more I feel like the prelogue is prelog prologue, sorry, is more Remy LaRue's course. Um, it's hard to say, like, I think he's one of the best. Like, I mean, he shared it obviously like last week at the mountain class, like one of the better mountain classic athletes in the in the world. Um, this course might be a little long for him, but like, dude is nasty. So I want to put him on in the group of sleepers. I was gonna say for sleepers as well, but it's hard to like, you can't really throw Daniel Pattison as a sleeper, but also race short trail. Also, it's curious to see like where that kind of lines up as well.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think Daniel Pattis is well, and uh props to you. I know texted you, but with the Canada pick, uh female uphill got the bronze. Yeah, and yeah, Canada has some has some really, really good runners. Um and then Daniel Pattis, yes. Sorry, I was thinking Daniel Pattis, uh Italian Brooks athlete. He's yeah, really good short trail specialist. Uh he did just race that short uh short trail race 15th for Team Italy uh and having a good season, he's really versatile. I mean, he can he can do good on fast courses, he can do good on technical courses. So I do think he'll do well here. I do think he's a strong pick for the top 10. I don't know. I think maybe just because I expected him, I think I had him in my top 10 for world short trail, and I thought he'd be a little bit higher. Um so I'm curious to see how he bounced back, bounces back. But we haven't seen him race a ton of golden trail stuff recently. I think maybe Sierra Zenal was his last race, but I'm sure he was focusing on worlds uh for the Italian team. And they were doing things like they got to scout out the course and do some runs on it. Um but I think he could definitely do well here. Sorry, I'm trying to pull up his I have a tangent to go off of when you're ready. He got third at Zagama, seventh at Great Wall, and sixth at Kobe. So yeah, he did have a lot of early season, and so we haven't really seen him since Zagama on a golden trail race. Um, but he can do both fast and technical races, and I do think this this suits him well.
SPEAKER_00:So super talented guy. I have a question on worlds. I was just thinking about this and kind of reflecting, and I don't want to go off on too much of a tangent for it before we pick podiums, but like that course was so skyrunner, like friendly centric. Like, I don't know, just like pick looking back, like I would have never in a million years, and this is no disparagement against like Frederick Transard, but like never in a million, like like for instance, like Sarah Alonzo, like definitely had on my podium, like that made sense. Um and like if I would have gone back and like really looked into it, like Toby Alexanderson makes sense, but like I would have never picked in a million years for anchard to be the like yeah, I would have maybe picked like Manu Morales over him and stuff like that. So my my my thought to you, and like I said, no disparagement against any of the athletes because they're all amazing. But like, do you think the courses for this particular world championships truly pick the world champion, or was it just the best guy on the day for this?
SPEAKER_01:Uh I thought it was cool. I mean, so I think uh as a partial answer to your question, the when Iron Farr interviewed Katie Scheid, they talked about that and kind of how like the the whoever selected the worlds, like the committee that selected the worlds course kind of gave a nod to like different types of trail running versus just like you know, buttery California single track, um, whatever where it's just kind of like time trialing and whoever's the fastest. But they actually picked like a legit, more or less a skyrunning course and something that really kind of shows the diversity. And they were kind of saying that that might even be like a nod to um because there's a lot of talk about trail running going to the Olympics, and so but obviously we need a format that's super televisable, and I mean that was a pretty good mix of like it was super technical, but also the coverage on the short and long trail was it was amazing. Like I would make that my background screensaver for my laptop for my phone, and it just made me want to go to the Pyrenees even uh more, which I guess I mean I did last year, but now I want to go back again. I was in a different part, and um, but yeah, I mean I do agree. Yeah, I don't know. I was I was actually really happy they picked a really technical course.
SPEAKER_00:No, I'm I'm not I'm not upset about it. I just the question I pose just as someone that covers it, I'm like, it had me thinking. Like, I don't know, like for instance, like Jim and Jim and Katie like didn't surprise me at all, but like I think the men short trail out of everything surprised me more than anything else.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I do I do agree. I think I think uh especially for this like you yeah, US audience, like I know Fred Trenchard because he's really good sky runner and I like sky running races, and he also does good in golden trail stuff when he does that, and he kind of has the versatility, but it's interesting because I would I definitely had him in my top 10, uh but he was in that five through ten. And I figured his ceiling was like uh probably fifth or fourth. Because even in the skyrunning and other stuff he does, we'll see him get second through fourth, but it's kind of another level to be able to like win these races, and he'll always be on the podium, but he won't usually win. So I I was pretty impressed by his win, but I also think it's just a testament to like how focused the French team is on targeting worlds, and we see that with guys like Benjamin Rubal and other guys. Um, I was also pretty bullish on uh the long trail who finished second with him, uh, and I'm blanking on his name right now, but um, yeah, they just like come to play and they had they kind of like get a boost as soon as they put that first French jersey on. And so yeah, I was surprised that he won, but I definitely had him for a top 10 and I thought he could go top five. And I wasn't as surprised, like I thought Manu was gonna do very well there. I had him in my top five. Andrew Blanes, I had him in my top five as well. Um, but yeah, it's a good question. I was really happy. I thought that short trail was really awesome, and it was really impressive to see Fred race to that level. I was really happy that Manu did well. You know, I'm a big fan of Manu fan. I'm a big fan, fangirl over him, so I was really excited to see him kind of bounce back and peak at the right time. And then I think that uh and I'm even like pulling up, where is the short trail? We're gonna go short trail, man. And just looking at these kind of individual names. Um get rid of teams. Yeah, Fred, Manu, Andrew Blondez, Alan, Santa Maria Blanco. I was honestly really impressed and surprised. I know he's really good on speedy courses, but I was I wasn't expecting him to do that good on a technical course. I mean, Spain went two through four, that's nuts. Uh Marcin Kubiczka, Polish athlete in fifth. I didn't realize that. Luca Del Pera was expecting him to be out there. Yeah. Martin Nielsen, Davide Magnini, Sylvan Cashard, and Lorenzo Rotomartier. Yeah, that was all kind of like people that I could see there, but it was pretty, pretty impressive. And also, uh, I guess shout out to Noah Williams too for being top American. Like, let's go now. Um, as I look up the list, I was really impressed by that. Um, and that was pretty damn cool to see as well. So, but yeah, uh I don't yeah, I don't know if that totally answered your question.
SPEAKER_00:But no, you did, you did. I I appreciate it. I I just like I like getting perspectives. One quick question before we go to podiums. Uh, did you you won how many things did you win for the overall for free travel? Did you get them all?
SPEAKER_01:Um, no, I didn't win. I got I won the uphill, and then I got a second and a sixth or something like that. But I'll also have to shout out like there was here, let's see events. Uh another dude who I think even did better than me, and I was talking to him, uh, Julian Lacosse, and he me and him are up there on the overall leaderboard. I think we're in like second and third right now. We just bumped Travis Longkar. He's the creator of Free Trail, and he's very good at free trail. Um he just kind of behind the scenes. But um, yeah, no, it ended up going super well. Let me see dashboard. Uh the yeah, I think that yeah, I think I had like uh I won in the uphill. I think I got what do you get for this? I don't know. Some stuff sometimes they send up, sometimes they don't. I got sixth in the uh in the long trail and then the short trail I was like 25th or something like that. But Julian Lacoste, I think he won one, and then I think he had a second and the eighth. So he did even better than me, and we're second and third overall. He was texting me some of his picks, and he actually uh organized he's the race director for my understanding for the Canadian championships upcoming week. I'm friends with Julian.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, I we just only talk on social media, but like I had no idea.
SPEAKER_01:No, he was saying he was trying to get you to come out to his race and stuff, and so it's funny he messaged me and I was like, dude, your look name looks so familiar. And then he sent me the leaderboard for fantasy free trail, and he was one spot above me. And I was like, that's a white dude. I gotta give him some love.
SPEAKER_00:He's he's amazing with what he does. With I I want to pronounce his race correctly, but like yeah, I'm not DeFi Day, Colours. I don't, I'm sorry, my French is garbage and I feel bad if I'm even pronouncing his name wrong.
SPEAKER_01:I was thinking the same thing. I was like, I'm sorry, Julian, if I bet you your last name.
SPEAKER_00:He's an amazing human. Like, I gotta give him he and he's so kind. Like, yeah, I I gotta go support his race one of these days. He'll probably cover it actually. Like, maybe I'll do some coverage that we get some.
SPEAKER_01:He invited me to come out this this year, and I was like, dude, I don't think I need to swing it. There's a lot of stuff at my work, but I was like, I definitely want to race your race next year because I always am looking for something like third week October, where it's like I still have some fitness, but there's not really much trail stuff going on out west. And uh dude, vertical mountain classic. Like I know it's it's amazing. And he dude, he has awesome feedback too. I was texting him after our last podcast came out. He messaged me and kind of reached out, and that's when I asked him, like, why do I know your name? And then we were texting back and forth about uh like our picks for worlds as it was happening, and then like I said, I mean he even did better than me. I think he had three top tens and a win, uh, and I only had two. And yeah, we just it was cool. I really liked to see when he was messaging me his thinking about like why certain people are gonna do well. He he I think he might have me beat, honestly. Like, I like doing this stuff, but he might even have me beat. So wow. So he's a brain. Okay. I know he's a brain dude.
SPEAKER_00:So dude, I gotta have both of you on the pod. That's what I said.
SPEAKER_01:I I dude, I told him I was like, I'm I'll talk to James and we'll we'll get it because I think his takes are even better than mine.
SPEAKER_00:So collective, the collective brain trust. This is amazing. All right, let's pick podiums. I'm gonna let you go ahead, start with the women.
SPEAKER_01:All right, for the women's side, we want to go five deep. Let's go five deep, yeah. All right, let me go events and okay, scrap final. All right, on the women's side, I'll start with five. I've got Lauren Gregory in fifth place, but I really think she could podium at one or both of the events. Um, and it'd be really sick to see her win. I mean, she did win the Mexico race. Right now I've got her fifth. I think she will move up, and I think we will have at least two, if not three women in the top ten. And I think Lauren will probably end her points total in the top three uh overall. Fourth, I've got Caroline Kemotai, but that's a big question mark, and I'm kind of waiting to see if she is racing or isn't racing. Um hesitant on two fronts, one because she didn't race world, so what was the issue there, or what might have happened.
SPEAKER_00:Uh and then she had DNS or a DNF?
SPEAKER_01:DNS is my understanding. That's what they said on uh on Subhub. And I also think I didn't see her name in any of the finishing results, and I think they had DNFs in there too. I tried to search, so I don't I don't think she started at all. And then my other hesitation too is what we talked about, Pete's Alpine Glacier. I don't think she's like the most technically savvy, or I don't know, maybe I just haven't seen it yet. Um, so I'm a little bit hesitant with this course. Um, but she is definitely, you know, probably the breakout runner of the year, and it kind of stinks with the joy with the joy lean stuff because I think that'll kind of get overshadowed. But I mean, yeah, she won Kenya's like trail championships over Joy Lean even early this year, and then she kind of woke everyone up when she won Golden Trail series Great Wall over Joy Lene, and then she got some of that pizza alpine, and then technically I went at Sierra Zanal and I let Joyce is out. So fourth with a big question mark. If I had to sub somebody in like if Joeline, if Caroline's not racing, then I'd probably have either Naomi or Naomi Lang or Anna Gibson in there. So, or like it moved up in the top five. All right, for podium, so third place, I've got Sara Alonzo. I really want her to win, and I really think she can win, but I'm just a little husband with how well she did at short trail. I don't mean it like it's just like that's such a good performance, and it's I'm just kind of questioning how sharp and like how good your legs will feel after that. And then I've got Joyce uh Najiru in second. I think she'll race really well here. I think her what fourth or fifth? She was just in front of Anna Gibson, whatever it was, uh, or just in front of Lauren Gregory. So fourth at uh the updown uh at worlds really bodes well. And I think she's kind of been a little bit up and down this year, but she definitely still has potential to win races, and I think this race kind of suits her. Uh, then I got Matalina with the win, and I think I think Madelina, I think she'll be poised well to be the new champion. I think she got burnt out a little bit coming into the final last year because she raced a really long season. This year she did race a long season, but she has taken a pretty good hiatus coming into this race. So I think she will be sharp, and I think that's important.
SPEAKER_00:So I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Madalena win. Like that would that make sense. Obviously, number one in the rankings right now. Obviously, sharp. So all right, I'm I'll take it away. This one's tough. Um, so for fifth, I have Anna Gibson slash Naomi Lang. Like, I don't know. Okay, it's got to be one of those two for me. In fourth, if she races, Caroline Kimmy Thai, so we're tied on that. Okay. In third, I have Lauren Gregory. Nice. Second, Madalena Floria, and first, I'm gonna go Sarah Alonzo.
SPEAKER_01:Nice.
SPEAKER_00:Uh I mean, I don't know. Like it's one of those things where yeah, it's very possible. I mean, this kind of goes against my rhetoric on what I said earlier with having, you know, like short trail still in your legs, but I feel like Sarah Alonso versus I feel like Mataloria Floria is the better marathoner, if that makes sense. The better flat runner, better turnover. Sarah Alonzo, I feel like is better on technical terrain. So I think it might come down to some matchups on like some of the more technical descents. Yeah. Sarah Alonso's kind of showed her chops in previous iterations of these races, whether it be um I just feel like as a Spanish runner and as more of a skyrunner, I feel like Sarah might have the edge on a course like this. I think it really comes down to too is how technical is this course? Like everybody says burly technical, yada yada yada. I've actually, like I said, very limited photos, very limited videos of this have like like kind of like shown up. So I think a lot of it comes down to like the true technicality of it. If it's burly as people say, I don't know, maybe that gives the edge to Sarah, who is, I think, like more technically inclined than someone like Madalena. But Madalena is fresher. So, and especially like if she has a bigger block of fitness underneath her, could be, you know, could I dunno. It's gonna be a tough race. It's gonna be fun to follow.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I totally agree. And backing up your Sarah point, yeah, I mean Zagama win. Uh she got the one at Kobe this year, which everyone said was like a super rootie technical downhill. She's got a win at Calamara Sky race last year. Uh she is super technically savvy, so I totally agree that she would have the edge if uh the course plays that big of a factor.
SPEAKER_00:So we will see. Yeah, if it's more runnable, I'll give the edge to Madalina. If it's less runnable and more techie, I'd give the edge to Sarah. Um, all right, let's go for the men. I'll let you take it away on your men's picks.
SPEAKER_01:Uh men's side, I'm thinking, well, this is kind of boring, right? Because everyone's gonna have the same top three, but just some different iteration of them. Uh yeah, I guess shocker alert, I do have a lot of Kenyons in my top ten, but if we're going for the top five, I'll have Chesry Maestri in fifth. I think that he could very well have another top five. Um, I think that he came in with some really good early season fitness, and then he kind of has some mediocre uh middle results, but I think his second at ETC and his 11th at the Classic and Worlds and his course familiarity, I think it poses him well for like a four through eight range.
SPEAKER_00:What did Cheseri get at Pittsalpin Glacier? I'm just curious.
SPEAKER_01:17th place. So it wasn't his best day. Um but I think the conditions got to a lot of people out there. Yeah. It's pretty wet, rainy, cold. And I also think uh what a lot of people, I think a lot of people got hosed. You had to come out hard because otherwise you got hosed on the single on the single track. And I think even Remy LaRuez write up, I think I read it on his Strava. Um, I think he talked about just like how if you were not in good position on that climb, you you really couldn't make up spots because it was such narrow single track. So it was one of those ones kind of not dis not too dissimilar to even doing like the uphill. Like you had to kind of make a cross-country style break for it and then be in a good position because you just really couldn't make up a ton of time on how narrow those those trails were. So I think you know Taylor had a ton of speed coming out and uh and made his position well, but I think anyone that didn't kind of got hosed and then just got discouraged. So fourth place I got Paul Machoka, the Kenya athlete. Um, he is one second, I'm pulling up. What is he coming off of? Uh fresh out of bronze bronze medal at the Mountain Classic. Uh, he doesn't miss when he races, and he has a lot of really good world mountain running event uh results. So he got a fifth at Sierra Z and all this year, third at Golden Trail Series Noli. Uh so two top fives in his GTS races. And I think he'll move up a lot in the final point standing after this weekend. Um and then now the question is just what order of the top three? Uh I guess I'm probably gonna go, I think it's between El Zine and Philemon, and I think Philemon has a chance to win, but I just like that El Zine is fresh. But also, Philemon, I mean I don't think the classic is a detriment. I think honestly, Patrick's gonna be the one that's out of the mix here, and so I'll go Patrick third, Philemon second, and I'll go El Zine with a repeat win. But I don't know, I literally just swap Patrick from second to third, and I'll probably flip all three of those around at some point.
SPEAKER_00:And also question on that. Are we biased because Patrick got third in the vertical? And then we're just putting it. Philemon won the classic.
SPEAKER_01:There's definitely recency bias for sure. Um, and now that you say that, I'm even like, I think Patrick's a little bit better on technical stuff. Um, but yeah, there's some recency bias, but I also think Phil or Philemon's got like kind of a next level. We talked about last time and how he had almost like 10 second places his last year, but we're finally seeing him win a lot of races. Um, and I'm curious too, I think it's boosting his confidence, but it's also interesting because he's winning more WMRA stuff. But Patrick strategically has not raced WMRA because his focus was golden trail series this year, from what I understand. So um I wonder if that's almost like giving Philomon a leg up just because he's getting confidence in winning these races that Patrick was winning last year, and now he's kind of bringing that in golden trail. But I do like the L Zine's fresh, and I think this course really does suit him. But we did see like I mean he did lose, he got into kind of like a late, kind of like a last season finish at Noly. I think there was some like bobbing and weaving because there was a bunch of sharp turns at the end of the course, and some people went off, and that cost some people. But I I mean I think Philemon out-strategized him at Nolli because Philemon did get the win there and out-kicked him. Um, so we've seen that Philemon's getting a little bit smarter strategically. It's just crazy that L Zine can just sit on the like Patrick and Philemon's tail and really what he does. Basically decide, like, I mean, teach their own. If you're fit enough to do that, then just sit and kick basically. But it's kind of crazy that he can just sit, climb with Patrick, who's one of the best climbers in the world, Philemon who's the best up down in the world, and then he's just like, all right, cool, I'll take off here on the downhill and beat everyone. Like, that's kind of nuts. So um I like El Zine's chances.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, I agree. All right, I'm gonna go fifth. I'm going Taylor stack in fifth. I got him in my top ten for you. Yeah, I think he's I I mean, I like I think we there's a strong possibility we have two Americans in the top ten. Like, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Christian Allen in the mix as well. But I just think between I think I don't know, maybe this is Regency bias as well, but looking at Taylor, split up and glacier, like maybe I'm like paying mate way too much attention to that result. But I think his ability to mix it up on more of the technical stuff and just be kind of there would not be surprised to see him in the top five. So I'm gonna go him fifth. Cool. I'm gonna go Michael Sayoli, uh Kenyon in fourth. I got him in sixth. So yeah. Patrick, I'm gonna go Patrick in third, Philemon second, Al Husin first, and goddamn it. I really hope Philemon or Patrick wins, but you know, and that's that's just me. I just want to see a new champion, somebody different, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Al Hussein take the dub, and good on him, you know.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, to each her own, and I definitely agree. I think like historically I would pick Patrick over Philemon, but I think Philemon's on a different level this year, so yeah. Um yeah, I think Dominique Roley is gonna do well too. Uh Swiss athlete, and then Joey Hadron.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, that's another one we we kind of like talked about as a sleeper. Wouldn't be at all surprised to see like definitely top ten, wouldn't be surprised to see him in the top five. It's totally possible. Um, I don't think we've seen how good he is yet. I mean, like we talked about like he's had great results um at like Kobe and races like that were a little less competitive, um, but wouldn't be at all surprised to see him kind of in the mix.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but he I mean, when he did the China race, he was up there with all the Kenyan guys and right in the middle of them. He was kind of like Taylor Stack was in Pete's Alpine. Yeah. And then last one I think was mentioning, but on the men's side, I think Marie Nave actually bodes pretty well here, and I think she'll probably be somewhere in the top 10 uh French athlete. She just got 11th in the classic at world, uh, and she's a really good up down and had a seventh at Great Wall and Nolly, and then a sixth at Broken Arrow. So I think she'll probably run pretty smart here.
SPEAKER_00:So dude, this is a big weekend for our sport too. I mean, outside of Golden Trail, we've got the Morleen skyline and sky race happening in Ireland that's gonna be pretty competitive. North American Continental Sky Running Championships gonna be happening in Mexico, and also Kodiak's happening this weekend, which I was a little surprised to see some of the names on the Kodiak list. I was like, why is Eli running another 100k?
SPEAKER_01:It feels like a lot of people, and actually it looks like they just added Kodiak 50K to the fantasy free trail picks. But yeah, I agree. It feels like a lot of people are kind of putting like Kodiak as like a oh crap, I can get it early. Or, like, I can get a free UTMB qualifier.
SPEAKER_00:Uh is the 100k a golden ticket race?
SPEAKER_01:No, it's not a golden ticket. Uh no, it's not. But it's the UTMB trail major. So that makes it that means you can go top 10 and automatically get a qualifier. Because it's basically what canons used to be. So if you go top 10 at any Kodiak events, that it qualifies you for the UTMB equivalent. And I think usually they'll let you go one way or the other. So 50K, if you go top 10, you'll qualify for OCC. 100K if you go top 10, you'll qualify for CCC. And then the whatever 100 mile or whatever the longest one is will qualify you for UTMB. And usually they'll let you go kind of like one way, like one way up or one way down, but just not all the way. Like I don't think you can do the 50K and then get into UTM B. Um, but yeah, so that makes it pretty deep. And for these elites that are kind of just like, oh, I don't want to have to race a competitive qualifier or go top three at a UTMB. It's kind of like, oh, well, they know they have a spot at UTM B next year. But a lot of people, I'm kind of like, Do you really need to be racing this? Because I'm like, is this it's kind of like a fire sale, and I'm curious if like it'll end up in either pull-ups or injuries, or just like it's kind of like, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:I want to give a shout out to Michelino who's gonna be throwing down at the 100k. Hope you hope he wins it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, there's some good uh I think we got like Hayden Hawks out there, 50k Caleb Bolson, Andrew Blondez, who just got third in the world in the short trail.
SPEAKER_00:All right, so with Hayden, like I I mean he's been training, but at the same time, this is a complete tangent, but like training, but like hasn't been at home base, hasn't been throwing down like a normal block, like he's been kind of traveling all over the world, like living chilling with the fam, doing his thing. Like, is he just jumping in it for the sake of jumping in it, or is he serious about it?
SPEAKER_01:Like, uh, I think he's serious. I think a lot of people that had like disappointing, like Caleb Bolson had disboring worlds because he banged up his knee, so he's going with a 50k. Uh Hayden, I don't know. Hayden doesn't, he's actually not home a lot. Like, he could he lives like in New Zealand for a lot of time in the winter time. He'll just go out there for three or four months, maybe not three or four, two to three months, one to two months, and he'll just train with Jan Jones and then he'll be in Europe for most of the summer. So he he bounces around a good bit, uh, even though he is a Utah boy or whatever. But yeah, I mean, this 50k start list, Caleb Wolson, Andre Bonas, Alex Garcia Carrillo, Cole Watson's coming back from injury. Oh, wow. Brian Whitfield coming fresh off the Pikespeek.
SPEAKER_00:Brian's in the relay? I gotta text him. Holy shit.
SPEAKER_01:Anthony Costales, hopefully healthy, and he's what a two low teens marathoner. Cade Michael, super speedy, Mikai Clemens, super speedy, and then sleeper pick-wise, Eric Lagerstrom, uh try guy who went top five at Black Caine in 50k. Female side, Sarah Beale, Julia Font Gomez, so that's pretty cool. Interesting. Some sky runners, Tabra Hemings racing if Eli is, and then Claire DeVoe, Jane Moss, so that'd be cool. Lindsay Allison and Hillary Allen. So actually, we have a lot of uh worlds people on here that are gonna come try to get their UTMB stones and get it. She killed, yeah. She killed it. Really cool to see her top American. So um, yeah, I do agree. If but it does feel kind of like a half-haz hazard fire sale, it's like, oh crap, I gotta get a UTMB qualifier and oh Kodiak's there. And I liked it doing it, it sold out like pretty quickly. And originally I was gonna do the UTMB Mexico race this last week. No, they changed it from Port Portavada to Chihuahua. So they do it in the copper, they do it in the Copper Canyon now. Okay. Um, and it did look really epic, and I did really like the idea of it, but it just ended up being a it's tough to get there logistically, so you have to fly in Chihuahua, and then it's like four hours by train or bus. Basically, it was gonna be like two days of travel, day and a half travel, and then the race was on Friday too, so it was just it was tough. I I wanted to do it, but it just seemed like too much of a stretch, and so I did Perpetual Coast, but Perpetual Coast was like Oh yeah, for me. Most people say a lot of people say it's the most beautiful race they've ever done, and I can see why, and it was absolutely gorgeous. So I've never been to the Oregon Coast, and the Oregon Coast is like out of this world. Pretty legit, right? Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously, like you know, we grew up in Florida, there's beaches, whatever, they're whatever. They're they're cool, they're nice, you get sunshine, but the the coast on Oregon is like the waves are huge and the rocks are huge, and the trees are super green, and everything's just like kind of magical feeling. It looks like there's gonna be some like fairies coming out or something, so dinosaurs or yeah, dinosaurs dinosaurs for sure. I was expecting dinosaurs to walk out, or yeah, some Jurassic Park. Um, but it was it was really cool. And I'd never been to that part of I've been to Oregon, but I've never been to the coast, and so just doing a road trip down from Portland to uh it's in Yachts, it looks like yachts with a A before the T, but it's Yahats, is what they how they say it, and that was really cool. And then we also like stumbled upon a aerospace museum that's randomly like an hour southwest of Portland, and it has the Spruce Goose, which is like the biggest plane ever created, so that was pretty cool. That's nice. Um, this wealthy guy just wanted to basically create his own sick aerospace museum rather than spending a bunch of money on useless random stuff, and so he made a really sick aerospace museum like an hour out southwest of Portland, so that was kind of cool.
SPEAKER_00:Did you forgot the one in DC?
SPEAKER_01:I've been to Dulles, I've been I've been to Dulles and I've been to I've been to Pensacola as one, and then I've also been to Davis Malthin as well, between like military and school and stuff like that. And honestly, this one probably gave all three of those a run for the money. Like they had a really impressive collection, they had awesome volunteers. All the dudes that were volunteers were like, Oh, I'm an XF4 pilot, oh I'm this pilot. Like, they're all just like badass dudes that wanted to do something with their retirement. And this Bruce Gruce is like, that's uh Howard Hughes, uh the movie The Aviator with uh Leonardo DiCaprio. He plays Howard Hughes, and he was kind of like this. Basically, people say uh Stan Lee says that he modeled uh Iron Man uh Tony Stark off of Howard Hughes. He's kind of like this neurotic like multimillionaire kind of playboy, but he made his own planes, tested his own planes, did all this stuff, and the Spruce Cruce is like the biggest plane ever created, and uh it was epic. So yeah, I dive diver yeah, whatever, digress.
SPEAKER_00:So it's good to get out of Colorado a little bit, see other things, you know. I gotta I'm looking for something like competitive early season. Like I might go to Big Alta or I might go to Gorge Waterfall and run the 30k or do like the 28k at Alta, one of the two.
SPEAKER_01:Definitely I'm planning, I'll probably do the 28k at Big Alta, but I definitely want to go Big Alta weekend. I'm already about to start texting people. Uh yeah, and there'll be another option, a longer race on top of that too. But I think I'll use that potentially as a marathon tune up, but I might do the 50k too. The course is uh it's gorgeous and it's a really awesome race. Daybreak in general is just a really awesome race company. So make sure Dylan did a good job partnering with them, and then I did Big Alta and uh Perpetua this year, but then yeah, I would love to do Gorge eventually too.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, yeah, the Gorge 30K has me intrigued. Rose ran the 50k a couple years back, and I got to play a lot on that course. Was like, oh it's like tricky techie, but like you can rip it. It's funzies. Yeah, it's a fun course. I don't know. There's there's there's options. I don't know. It's it's hard to say, like as far as like I don't know, 20 miles is also really far. So it's funny when you say that because I'm like, that's just getting warmed up. Yeah, that's so that's a hard, that's a far race for me. Um all right. One thing I do want to talk about before we close it out is the Sky Run um Skyline um race that's gonna be taking place this weekend that is in Northern Ireland, Ireland. Shout out to teammate. Um Jackson Cole is gonna be out there racing. It's a good little, it's a decent group. I mean, so Jackson's gonna be out there. There's gonna be Jacob Abkin throwing down uh Bernon Townsend, Menu Morales is also on the start line for this one, so it's relatively competitive. Uh Iris Presti on the women's side, Marta Martinez, um Robin Vieira, a lot of Spaniards uh gonna be throwing down here, but seems like a beautiful course, seems extremely technical. Um first, I think this might be the first of the Ireland sky races that I'm aware of. I know there's been like Golden Trails had in years past, um was it Ring of Steel and others, but it seems like a sweet little one. Uh we obviously don't have to do a preview on it, but I just thought it would be kind of cool to shout out and uh give some shout-outs to the athletes that are gonna be throwing down there because the course looks pretty techy and pretty sick. I mean, those of you who are on uh follow Merrill Skyrun World series on Instagram, definitely check it out. It's called the Marlene Skyrun, like Sky Run, and it's got or Skyline, and it's got just some sweet sections of the course and looks nasty.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, they definitely have a good start list. And yeah, the Morns are supposed to be pretty technical. Uh, I know the guys on Trail Talk talk about it a lot. Um and yeah, it is pretty nuts. I mean, it kind of it's very New England-y, like you can see why they call it New England New England, uh, because it looks a lot like England and Ireland, and it's just like super rocky, wet, boulders, chunky, mossy. Um, and it does look pretty epic, so it is exciting to see. Once again, it's not catch 22, right? It's like more places that they go to in the Sky Running World Series and more races, which makes it more accessible for like up and coming people. Um, but then they also have like an event every other week. But I do think Ireland's a good ad, and I think that is pretty sick.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, 35k, 2700 meters. It looks nasty. So yeah, it's like it looks like I mean, you can like I said from the videos, it's like boulders, like very northeast, very nasty. Um, yeah, super cool stuff. So nice Dan Kurtz should be running this race. This looks like Dan Kurtz kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01:I know that's true. That's very true.
SPEAKER_00:All right, that's a good way to end it. Uh Rob, thanks so much for coming on, dude. Looking forward to the next one and uh appreciate bring so much value to this stuff, and I really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, thanks for the invite. It's been a blast. Yeah, man.
