The Ultra Minute: Our Mountain Champs
Norris and Gibson win in bid for Worlds, Bonne breaks the unbreakable, and BPN’s ultra makes headlines, plus more from this week in trail & ultra
Issue 42
Norris Stuns with Comeback Win While Gibson Dominates at USATF Mountain Running Championships
Sunday morning, I tuned into the livestream of the Sunapee Scramble, this year's USATF Mountain Running Championships. My sons were excited to see the "running race," (their first since Cocodona) even if their enthusiasm occasionally drowned out the commentary. Between getting milk, making pancakes, and playing dinosaur we caught glimpses of runners navigating a slick, rain-soaked course: two laps totaling 9.3 miles and 3,300 feet of climbing (perfect conditions for some real mountain racing drama).
David Norris wasn’t planning to play catch-up, but early on lap one he lost a shoe mid-descent, setting up an epic comeback. "I lost my shoe on the first lap and had to get that back on, so I started the second lap playing catch up," Norris told me post-race via DM. On the second loop’s technical climb, Norris clawed his way into second place, then made his decisive move on the most technical downhill section. "I knew if I had a chance to create a gap before it became smooth service road, this was my chance," he said. He crossed the line in 1:09:55, clinching his first US Mountain Running Team berth. While there’s some great video footage of the race, I don’t think anyone captured his last minute downhill pass of Mason Coppi, which is a bit of a shame because I imagine it must’ve been quite incredible.
Crossing the line immediately behind Norries were Mason Coppi (1:10:00) and Taylor Stack (1:10:03), followed by Cam Smith (1:10:41). All four earned their spots on Team USA, edging out several pre-race favorites including previous champions and strong contenders like Andy Wacker (5th), Dan Curts (6th), and Christian Allen (fell on lap one and DNF).
In contrast, the women’s race was dominated by Anna Gibson, who entered Sunapee fresh off racing Zegama in Spain just one week earlier. Before the race, she wrote on Instagram: "Choosing to do Zegama a week before made [winning Sunapee] extremely unlikely." But Gibson showed it didn’t matter, overtaking early leaders Allie McLaughlin and decisively during the second lap, breaking the tape in 1:22:30. Gregory (1:22:53) and McLaughlin (1:23:05) secured second and third, respectively.
This is becoming a familiar storyline lately, but worth mentioning: both Norris and Gibson are SWAP athletes, along with several other top finishers, including Coppi, Stack (the entire men’s podium!), and Allie Ostrander (5th).
With Sunapee wrapped, here's the final Team USA lineup for September’s World Championships in Canfranc, Spain:
Men: David Norris, Mason Coppi, Taylor Stack, Cam Smith
Women: Anna Gibson, Lauren Gregory, Allie McLaughlin, and reigning World Champion Grayson Murphy (auto-qualified and did not race Sunapee).
More from the USATF Mountain Running Championships
Run the Whites posted short video recaps of both the men’s and women’s races that do a great job sharing how the races unfolded.
In her latest YouTube video, This Race Broke Me, Allie Ostrander gives a look at her trip to Sunapee and what it felt like to gut out a top-5 finish on limited run training.
Additional Results
Matthieu Bonne is the new 48-hour world champion and world record holder, running 485.099 km (301.4 miles) at the GOMU 48-Hour World Championship in Poland. He beat Yiannis Kouros’ 1996 “unbreakable” record by over 10 km and became the first to break the 300-mile barrier in the format. Bonne averaged 5:56/km (9:33/mile) for two days straight.
Kendall Picado Fallas and Kim Gottwald tied for the win at the BPN G1M Ultra, completing 56 laps of a 4.2-mile loop (235.2 miles). The race, held just outside Austin, went viral. According to this post, it generated over 30 million impressions and helped BPN add 50,000 Instagram followers in three days. Notably, they branded it as a “last man standing” event (arguably a clearer name than “backyard ultra”) and stacked the field with fitness influencers, which I imagine helped it reach such a massive audience. Despite the reach, I wouldn’t have known it happened if a few friends hadn’t messaged me days later, and if my wife’s uncle, who knows nothing about ultrarunning, hadn’t asked if I was there (given I live near the event’s venue). It seems the race also stirred controversy. On Lap 1, BPN posted (and later deleted) a photo showing a Border Patrol patch next to a jar of “Admit One” tokens. Commentary popped up on Reddit, Instagram, and the Singletrack Podcast, with some in the community seeing the image as politically charged. I hadn’t seen any public explanation, so I emailed BPN. They replied, saying the patch belonged to a runner and was unintentionally included. Once they realized how it might be interpreted, they took it down. You can read their full response here.
The Sentinel Hill Climb in Montana last week was a who’s who of Missoula based runners. Adam Peterman covered the 1,859ft of gain across 1.6 miles in a blistering 19:26.8 ahead of Jackson Cole (21:19.0) and Jeff Mogavero (21:28.7). Adam and Jeff line up at Western States in just a few weeks. Jennifer Lichter was the first woman in 24:41.8, ahead of Leah Handelman (25:57.9), and Megan Anderson (27:46.7).
Amelia Boone made a triumphant return to racing, winning the North Fork 50K after two years away from competition. The performance came after a long, injury-riddled layoff and marked the first time in years Boone said on Instagram that she felt the “confidence, trust in my body, and fire” that once came naturally. Next up: the High Lonesome 100.
Ricki Wynne won the Granite Peaks 80K and earned a spot on the Irish squad for the 2025 World Mountain & Trail Running Championships in Spain. Just days later, he got off the waitlist and into Western States.
Sponsorship News
Abby Hall, building toward Western States, announced a new partnership with Never Second.
Dan Curts, who just finished 6th at Sunapee Scramble and who I believe is racing Cannon Mountain this weekend, joined the Open Fuel team.
, a rising East Coast talent, signed with Mount to Coast and is racing Old Dominion this weekend.
Aimee Jacobs, based in San Antonio and targeting Leadville this summer, was named to the Injinji athlete team.
Shea Aquilano teased a sponsorship announcement in her Instagram story, so we’ll keep our eyes peeled there for more.
Other News & Links
Jim Walmsley has quietly withdrawn from Western States. To my knowledge he hasn’t made a public announcement, but I did see this video from Jason and Jenny Simpson who posted about going for a run with Jim in Flagstaff, and notably, Jim was on a bike. Jon Rea is out too, after revealing a sacral stress fracture. David Roche is still in the fight: he got a cortisone shot last week in a last-ditch effort to salvage his start. “Be smart, but don’t play scared,” he wrote. “Because scared money don’t make money.” Meanwhile, Kilian Jornet logged a monster training run last week: nearly 50 miles with 7,800 feet of vert in 6:02:44, averaging 7:18 pace (6:34 GAP), and is looking for a pacer at Western States. Yep, you could be the one trying to keep up with him through the canyons. NNormal is accepting applications through June 12 at this link.
Freetrail this week announced the launch of the Trail Running Hall of Fame, debuting at TrailCon in Palisades Tahoe on June 25. The inaugural class will be honored during a new awards show co-hosted by Sally McRae and Dylan Bowman, featuring 15 total honorees across categories like community impact, courage, and future talent.
Des Linden joined the Western States training camp last week as she prepares to pace Joe McConaughy from Foresthill to Rucky Chucky on race day. On Instagram, she called it “epic,” said her quads were toast, and said this was the first time she left a trail run thinking, “I might be able to do this.”
Rachel Entrekin is officially in for a 3-peat attempt at Cocodona 250, setting up a rematch with Courtney Dauwalter in 2026. She also shared a blog post centered on the Mary Oliver question, “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Her answer, in short: keep running. Ryan Montgomery and Adam Kimble also joined the party. And I came across koda.runz on Instagram last week, who is attempting to go from “couch to Cocodona” and documenting his training journey on Instagram.
The Mammoth 200 is officially a go. Permits are in and the inaugural edition is happening this year in the Eastern Sierra. A few entry spots remain, and volunteer sign-ups are open. A quick peak at the entrants list reveals some big names including one Tara Dower making her 200 mile debut (kind of like a marathoner making their 5k debut?).
We’ve been following Tyler Andrews’ Everest speed record attempt over the past two issues. This week, his season officially ended. After three summit bids, all turned around due to weather (and gear issues on the first), he’s heading home. “I’ve never been more exhausted and more sure that I left it all out there,” he wrote on Instagram. See iRunFar’s interview with him for all the details.
In a deeply personal update last week, Sabrina Stanley shared that she was recently diagnosed with early-stage ovarian cancer and underwent surgery to remove it. While it was caught early and no chemo is needed, a major second surgery is still ahead. She’s back to running and says the thought of a summer full of miles has never brought her more joy.
Blatten, a village in Switzerland’s Loetschental Valley, was destroyed last week by a glacier collapse. All 300 residents were safely evacuated, but the loss is total. UTMB Cares has donated €10,000 and is encouraging support through the Chaîne du Bonheur relief fund.
Tierra Libre Run just launched the BIPOC Athlete Fund, offering free race entries, mentorship, and community support for BIPOC runners across four Pacific Northwest trail events. Apply at tierralibre.run/fund.
Eric LiPuma has stepped away from the U.S. Long Trail Team to focus on CCC this year. In his place, Tyler Green will join the men’s squad headed to the World Championships in September.
Nick Fowler is back on the PCT, announcing yesterday from the southern terminus that he was starting a supported FKT attempt and had assembled quite the all-star crew.
Terignota, the startup trail apparel brand known for its affordable kit, published a full breakdown of its financials after six months in business.
Podcast & YouTube Highlights
Mountain Outpost was at this year’s Western States Training Camp and has been rolling out brief (10-15 min) interviews they conducted on site with top athletes. So far I’ve watched the interviews with Rod Farvard, Sierra DeGroff, Joe McConaughy, and Emily Hawgood, and I see they’ve since posted one with Dan Jones, which I’m looking forward to. Highlights so far: Rod is adamant the deciding move will be at Robie Point, Sierra is racing Badwater the week after Western, Joe is grappling with whether to run for a top 10 or go for the win, and Emily seems super chill and confident.
Last week, David Roche dropped a video recapping his dominant win at the Quad Rock 50 Mile, his final tune-up before Western States. My goodness he looks fast and dialed. Assuming his race goes well, I could easily see him having the fastest aid station stops at Western this year, which probably shouldn’t be understated. Last year I remember Rod Farvard spending considerably less time than Jim, which forced Jim to repeatedly play catch up.
Hans Troyer’s latest YouTube video, Training for Western States 100 Pt. 1, was a fun watch. It opens with a scene making light of his disappointment that he won’t get a chance to race his idol, Jim Walmsley, at Western later this month, and then we see Hans finally make the drive up to the north Georgia mountains to train. His sponsor, Hyperlyte Liquid Performance, also just teased a film about Hans dropping June 9th.
Earlier this month Anna Gibson joined Women of Distance to talk about balancing track and trail, finding joy post-collegiately, and why she believes success starts with curiosity, not specialization. I’m currently planning a summer family vacation and have been trying to figure out which mountain town to go spend time in. After hearing Anna talk about growing up in Jackson, that’s at the top of my list.
Stephanie Case joined the Freetrail Podcast after her Snowdonia 100K win just six months postpartum. A great follow-up to our feature in last week’s issue.
dropped another Trail TMZ episode where he captures the latest trail running dramas and controversies. In this one he covers the cancellation of Unbreakable 2, Camille’s cryptic posts, and the Black Canyon course cutting controversy.
Speaking of Jeff Garmire, Jeff Pelletier shared a 50 minute behind-the-scenes look at pacing Garmire at this year’s Cocodona 250.
And while we’re on the topic of Cocodona, Max Jolliffe and his partner, Mackenzie Ross, joined Sally McRae on her Choose Strong podcast to recap Max’s race.
Marianne Hogan, a favorite for Western, joined the Take Off Your Shoes podcast.
Mike McMonagle joined Ultrarunning Sam on Hometrails Podcast to talk about racing Ultra Trail Snowdonia.
Lastly, Roots Running had me on their pod last week to talk all things Ultra Minute. Thanks to the hosts, Sean and Al, for the fun conversation and for getting me pumped up about East Coast ultrarunning.
That’s it for this week! On the personal front, I’m two weeks out from having thrown my back out while picking up my kids. My goodness, that is no joke. Fortunately, I’m moving good now and haven’t had any symptoms in my legs. I’m looking forward to getting some light runs in again soon and working on ways to prevent it from happening again.
Special thanks to Joe Viger and Nancy Hobbs for the photos in this week’s issue.
See y’all next week,
Ken
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100% Jackson hole is so prime for mountain adventures and family time. Tons of wildlife, tons of good stuff to do with family (hiking, scenic rafting, whitewater rafting, cute downtown) and miles of epic trails and ascents to sneak away to
I apologize for this being so critical.
Given the people declaring themselves good for the sport, I cant help but assume the trail running hall of fame will heavily favor the US professional side (along with their personal friends) and not the actual sport, which exists around the world and has for a couple hundred years before anyone made a profession from it.
I will never forget someone on the FKT judging board not knowing what selfsupported means. Or the person on the Western States broadcast proudly calling themselves an encyclopedia of ultrarunning and a few minutes later saying Gordy Ainsleigh showed the world a man can run 100 miles.
It also appears they don't know the hall of fame has already existed for more than 20 years, and while maintained by the modern almanac of the sport, was actually started by an organization and not just by someone with a strong media presence.
https://ultrarunninghistory.com/hall-of-fame/
As par for the course as it can come, they don't acknowledge or have apparently invested any time in consulting the current steward of the hall of fame, but instead choose to make their number one point of gratitude go to...a clothing brand.
Their sport is money. THE sport is running.
I feel very dissociated from people who know so little of the sport outside of where they can make money and who think the evolution of the sport is in how corporate it can become. I don't think these people mean harm or have bad intentions; I just think they're ignorant about topics that don't directly benefit them and they're ok with that.