The Ultra Minute: Road Ultras Are Cool
Charlie Lawrence and Courtney Olsen claim 50k national title, records fall at Gorge, La Sportiva launches Sanitas Challenge, GTWS inks global broadcast deal, and more from this week in trail and ultra
Issue 37
Charlie Lawrence wins USATF 50K title in Adidas debut, signaling a new road ultra era
Charlie Lawrence announced his new Adidas deal on Friday. On Saturday, he made it count.
In his first race wearing the three stripes, Charlie Lawrence surged away late to win the USATF 50K Road Championships in Madison, Wisconsin, taking the national title and lowering the course record to 2:49:02 (from 2:51:28). It was a long time coming.
“I’ve wanted this for five years,” he wrote on Instagram afterward. “Some pretty big injuries kept me off the start line, so the emotions really hit hard after crossing that line.”
The win capped a breakthrough weekend for both the athlete and his new sponsor. Adidas signed Lawrence to a rare multi-year contract focused on road ultras, signaling belief not just in Charlie, but in a part of the sport most major brands still ignore.
In a message to The Ultra Minute, Lawrence said:
“There’s a gap. A lot of brands are invested in trail or the [road] marathon… Adidas saw an opportunity to go after world records and world titles on the road ultra side.”
Lawrence ran smart and confident. He tucked into the early pack with Ian Carter and Adam Vadeboncoeur, letting others push the pace through 20K. But when Carter faded and dropped around lap four (of five), Lawrence saw his opening.
“I didn’t plan on making my bid for the win at 21 like I did, but I smelt blood in the water and decided to go full tilt up the rest of the big hill and into the arboretum.”
That move sealed it. He ran solo through the final lap and finished nearly five minutes ahead of Jeffrey Seelaus (2:53:38) and Vadeboncoeur (2:53:51), with Ryan Root just seconds behind in fourth.
The win was especially meaningful after a string of setbacks. Lawrence had targeted this race since 2021 but was repeatedly derailed—by a blowup that year, a sacral stress fracture in 2022, and a torn labrum in 2024.
“This wasn’t a guarantee,” he told us. “It was almost more gratifying than my 50-mile world record because of how long it took to get here,”
Now that he has both a world record and a U.S. title, Lawrence is eyeing what’s next: a 100K world record attempt at Tunnel Hill in November, and a potential 50K World Championship bid—if the IAU confirms a venue.
Courtney Olsen wins first U.S. title with late surge, thoughtful defiance
The move came at mile 22. Sophie Seward surged ahead, and for a moment, Courtney Olsen let her go.
“I had a weird but self-knowing thought,” Olsen told The Ultra Minute. “Let her go. It might be in your best interest to have to work hard from a deficit.”
The gap didn’t grow. But it didn’t shrink either. For eight miles, Olsen stayed close enough to still have hope. In that space, she cycled through self-doubt and resolve, finally closing the gap with less than a mile to go—charging into a headwind to take the win in 3:16:45, a new course record and her first national title.
“I feel quite fortunate that despite all that mind-play, I was present enough to see an opportunity and have the means to take it.,” she said.
The win adds another big result to Olsen’s growing road résumé: a third at Comrades, a 50-mile world record at Tunnel Hill, and now the USATF 50K crown. She told us all three felt different:
Comrades felt like a movie, where I fell back in love with humanity. Tunnel Hill felt righteous & empowering - like look what I can do when the people who should believe in me don’t. Mad City felt like ok, I like this.
And yet, even after her 2023 season—which included breaking a 32-year-old world record—Olsen was quietly dropped by her sponsor. She’s been open about the pain and weirdness of that experience, writing back in January that she “was never acknowledged for Comrades or the 50 Mile WR.”
Mad City wasn’t meant as a statement. But it might still read that way.
“I try to look at it objectively,” she said. “But it is important to me that no one ever feels as I felt last year. I’m here to run, see what I’m made of, and make genuine connections with really cool people & hope that they’re also funny. Mad City was that for me.”
Afterward, she posted a photo in a t-shirt that read, “Road Ultras Are Cool.”
Hard to argue with that right now.
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For a detailed race recap, see ATRA’s feature.
Record rush at Gorge 100K
Over on the trail side of the sport, Adam Peterman dipped under eight hours with a 7:59:30 course record, outdueling Tracen Knopp (8:05:16) after the Alaskan threw a mid‑race haymaker on Wyeth’s technical switchbacks. 2:18 marathoner‑turned‑ultrarunner, and artsy Instagram poster, Philip Royer (8:19:30) rounded out the men’s podium. On the women’s side Shea Aquilano ran wire‑to‑wire in 9:14:49—20 minutes under the old record—with dual‑citizen (US and Canada) Jade Belzberg (9:27:39) and Klaire Rhodes (9:34:25) following. Aquilano, Peterman, Knopp, and Rhodes snag the first four spots on Team USA for September’s Worlds in Canfranc, while Belzberg opts to suit up for Canada. Notably, the top five men and top three women all beat the previous course records, turning the Columbia River Gorge into a résumé factory.
This one was ripe with stories, but there’s already been so much content produced around it, I figured I’d keep our write-up here brief. I also saw that Derrick Lytle and Jeff Garmire, who last teamed up at Black Canyon, dropped a Gorge recap like only they can do. Derrick’s edit is sharp and Jeff’s brand of comedy just hits for me, making this an instant favorite. If anyone asks me what happened at Gorge Waterfalls 100k last weekend, this is what I’ll send them:
Sponsorship News
As mentioned in our feature, Charlie Lawrence’s win at the USATF 50K Champs came just one day after announcing a new multi-year deal with Adidas—but it’s worth highlighting again just how unusual that deal is. Unlike most major brands, Adidas signed him specifically to focus on road ultras. He said Adidas sees a strategic opening: a chance to grab unclaimed road ultra world records and titles before other brands catch on. “Hopefully this is the first domino to fall,” he added. With his eyes now on a 100K world record attempt at Tunnel Hill, Lawrence might just be the right person to make that bet pay off.
Katie Schide, 2024 Trail Runner of the Year and Ultrarunner of the Year, and her partner Germain Grangier have left The North Face and re-signed with On, marking a return to the brand that gave them their pro start in 2018. Freetrail broke the news on Instagram and followed up with a longform podcast where the couple said On’s trail line has caught up, and that testing a prototype super shoe (a used prototype, might I add) was a key factor in the decision. Look for them in the new kit at Madeira Island Ultra-Trail next weekend and at Hardrock 100 in July.
Courtney Coppinger has signed with Open Fuel, joining a growing U.S. roster that also includes Will Murray. The South African brand, which expanded stateside earlier this year, is backing Coppinger as she kicks off her Golden Trail World Series season at Kobe Trail in Japan this weekend. Instagram
Vaida Nakrošiūtė has joined the Satisfy Pro Team. The Lithuania-born, London-based runner has podiums at Ultra X events and last weekend finished 8th at the UTMB Desert Rats 50K.
Other News & Links
La Sportiva has launched the Sanitas Challenge to celebrate the release of the Prodigio Pro—and it feels like the Chipotle Challenge effect in action. That viral January contest offered free burritos for a year to whoever ran a tiny Tempe, AZ Strava segment the most times in 30 days (aka the Local Legend). This challenge is offering: $1,000 cash for both the fastest male/female times on Boulder’s scenic Sanitas Clockwise Loop, plus $1,000 / $500 / $250 for the top-3 Local Legends. With prizes for outright speed in addition to the local legend, and the Boulder location, I’m interested to see if this catches on.
TrailMix’s
broke the news this week: Salomon and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports are teaming up to take the Golden Trail World Series global, with WBD set to handle broadcast and streaming across Eurosport, TNT Sports, Max, discovery+, and more. The new partnership will distribute GTWS coverage to 100+ countries, including iQIYI (China) and Fox Sports (Australia), and aims to position the sport for Olympic inclusion down the line. It’s unclear how defined that Olympic path really is, but it’s cool to see some movement. One downside (and I suppose cost of that maturation): it looks like full GTWS livestreams may no longer air on YouTube, which—let’s be real—is the best place to watch. Read more at the official press release.Rosanna Buchauer, Tim Tollefson, and Ida Nilsson have been elected to the PTRA Board, replacing outgoing members Corrine Malcolm, Kaytlyn Gerbin, Adam Merry, and Nancy Jiang. Tollefson and Nilsson bring big-race experience, while Buchauer has been an active voice on athlete issues. Corrine and Kaytlyn were founding board members and will stay involved in advisory roles. Read more on the PTRA site.
REI has retracted its endorsement of Doug Burgum for Interior Secretary, issuing an apology to members and launching a new coalition called Brands for Public Lands with The Conservation Alliance. The group’s stated focus: supporting policies, not people. Their first demands include public transparency from the Department of the Interior and preventing large-scale sell-offs of public lands.
According to
, the National Park Service has lost more than 12.5% of its full-time workforce in just 80 days, with an estimated 2,400–2,500 employees taking voluntary buyouts and another 1,000 probationary staff fired in February. A deeper 30% payroll cut may be coming. The impact will be felt across visitor safety, maintenance, and ecosystem protection—all while Secretary Doug Burgum has ordered parks to stay fully open. Siler notes the total savings amount to just 0.003% of the federal budget.Broken Arrow Skyrace, in partnership with Arc'teryx, has launched a major inclusivity initiative to make its event more accessible to historically underrepresented communities. Nearly 100 athletes from 19 California-based affinity run clubs will receive support for travel, race entry, and gear.
Emkay Sullivan, who earned a Golden Ticket at Black Canyon 100K in February, has deferred her Western States entry due to pregnancy. Under the race’s pregnancy deferral policy, she’ll retain eligibility for a future start. The ticket now rolls to Abby Hall, who finished 5th at Black Canyon and called it “a beautiful passing of the baton” after Emkay personally called to share the exciting news with her. Emkay also talked about the decision on the latest episode of The Sub Hub Podcast.
- has announced RUNHER Magazine, a new quarterly print mag focused on women’s running—and the only one like it in the U.S. It’ll spotlight women, trans, and non-binary athletes with bold design and longform storytelling. Mateo is sunsetting The Rundown and moving that Substack list to support the new venture. I just checked the Kickstarter—it’s already cleared the $20K goal and is over $31K and counting.
The Bear 100 announced on Instagram that the Twisted Fork 68K—recently revived by Finn Melanson (of Singletrack) and Jules Campanelli—has been added to the Bear Tag Series. Read more about the series here.
Strava is acquiring Runna, the UK-based app known for its personalized training plans and run coaching. The deal aims to shore up one of Strava’s biggest gaps—training guidance—while Runna keeps operating as a standalone app, at least for now. More on The Verge and DC Rainmaker.
Podcast & YouTube Highlights
Cocodona fans, clear your schedule. This week, Aravaipa dropped 250 Miles Unfiltered, a full-length film that promises to stitch together the best moments from the 2024 Cocodona Chronicles series. I haven’t watched yet, but it’s top of my weekend list.
Finn Melanson, Brett Hornig, and Jeff Colt chop it up in the latest Long Run Archives episode, with great insight into the Gorge Waterfalls 100K and some fun detours (including the LeBron 5-minute mile debate). Jeff, who finished 4th at Gorge, shares the details of how the men’s race played out, and seemed super impressed (rightfully) by Tracen Knopp’s 2nd place performance. And hey, Finn name-dropped The Ultra Minute when talking about Des pacing Joe at States, so that was cool.
Jane Maus gets the two-part spotlight on Women of Distance. In part one, we get to know the La Sportiva pro and newly hired Mountain Sports Nutrition RD. Part two is a deep dive into fueling strategies for female endurance athletes, including how Jane prepped for her second-place finish at Lake Sonoma 50 Mile this past weekend.
New on YouTube: Bargain Boys Media, a channel out of Huntington, WV that just launched this week and already has four videos up following Dan Green’s build toward Cocodona 250. The vibe is sort of Boulder Boys meets Hans Troyer. Other names in the crew include Ryan Ramsby, Caleb Bowen, and Logan Kerby.
Speaking of Hans, he’s back with his first video since Way Too Cool 50K: Training for the Canyons 100K, which is next weekend btw. Peep the browser tabs (8:36) when he shows his laptop screen (hat tip
).SunGod’s latest “Behind the Lens” episode follows Ruth Croft and Hayden Hawks as they ease back into training after winning Tarawera.
Reads of the Week
While our feature explores whether road ultras are having a moment, Tabor Hemming offers the counterpoint in “Bye Bye Boston”—scrapping her Boston plans after realizing the roads were burning her out. “I forgot how track and road running used to make me feel like I was holding my breath instead of breathing it all in.” She’ll race Canyons 50K instead, which she says she’s “fired up for”—and honestly, that’s way more exciting than seeing her run Boston.
makes the case that trail—not track or road—is where the sponsor momentum’s headed. Though he’s not talking about road ultras specifically, it makes for an interesting companion read to both our Charlie Lawrence feature and Tabor’s piece.
A light and fun one to close us out: squeezes in an overall FKT on the Joshua Tree Traverse between a work trip and a flight—then casually posts the story a year later.
Alright y’all, I’m out of words and out of time. Tomorrow is my wife’s birthday, which means it’s time to press publish, go get a haircut, and spend time with her.
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Ken
Love this road coverage. Mad City Ultras puts on a great road race.
Another great round-up of awesomeness. Thanks Ken!