A UTMB trail running champion has been suspended from competition for two years and had her titles revoked for doping.

Joyline Chepngeno, 27, tested positive for triamcinolone acetonide, a banned corticosteroid substance used to reduce inflammation, after she won the Sierre-Zinal race in Switzerland.

At the end of August, Chepngeno made history as the first Kenyan to win the 31 mile (50km) OCC race at UTMB Mont Blanc.

But her UTMB title and the Sierre-Zinal gold Chepngeno she won earlier in the month have both now been stripped from her. China's Miao Yao is now recognised as the UTMB champion, and fellow Kenyan Caroline Kimutai has been upgraded to the Sierre-Zinal winner.

The Athletics Integrity Unit confirmed its decision in a statement posted to social media. It reads: "The AIU has banned Joyline Chepngeno (Kenya) for the Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance (Triamcinolone acetonide) for 2 years from 8 September 2025."

The AIU has stated that Chepngeno has accepted the decision and will serve her ban until September 8, 2027.

Chepngeno has also been dropped by her sponsor, Salomon, with immediate effect.

"These measures reflect our dedication to acting responsibly and maintaining trust with our athletes," reads a statement the company posted to social media.

"To all those impacted, competitors who race with integrity, organizers dedicated to the credibility of their events, athletes of our Salomon Pro Running Team roster aligned with our unwavering commitment on sporting rules, and the fans of the trail running communities who, like us, believe as much as we do in the spirit of the sport.

"We share our disappointment and reaffirm our commitment to defend the integrity and fair competition above all."

Advnture has reached out to Joyline Chepngeno for comment.

• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain
• The most comfortable trail running shoes: put your feet first with these lightweight, cushioned buys

A record number of runners from the group Black Trail Runners competed in this year’s UTMB finals as a result of the UK-based organization’s work to improve diversity and inclusion in trail running.

Sabrina Pace-Humphreys, co-founder of BTR, says the idea for drawing more black runners to the iconic trail race in Chamonix-Mont Blanc came to her six years ago when she was competing in the Gran Trail 50k Courmayeur and didn’t see any other women of color at the starting line.

“I looked around, and I thought to myself, ‘Wouldn't it be great to be here with other women of black heritage doing different races?’ Wouldn't that be amazing? Because at that time I was the only person I saw.’”

While the UTMB doesn’t gather ethnicity data on participants, research by BTR suggests fewer than one percent of entrants in UK trail races are black.

In 2020, Pace-Humphreys launched BTR with fellow trustees Sonny Peart and Phil Young, a registered charity that promotes the inclusion and representation of people of black heritage in trail running. This year, she herself competed in the UTMB finals, a 100-mile lap around Mont Blanc, for the first time, while six of her female peers and one male runner participated in other races in the week-long series.

“I’m so proud of everything we did and bringing more ethnically diverse people into the trail running world – that bigger societal, systemic change that ultimately is what I’m all about,” says the 47-year-old from Stroud, who has already raced in the UTMB Snowdonia and Arc of Attrition ultra marathons this year.

"Keep going until the race spits you out"

The brutally wet and freezing conditions during this year’s race, however, slowed the runners down during the first half and caused a last-minute safety diversion, which Pace-Humphreys says challenged every runner from the elites to back-of-the-packers.

“It put me into a massive energy black hole that I struggled for 50 miles to catch up.”

The runner missed the cutoff time for the Le Chapieux checkpoint at the 80-mile mark and was forced to abandon her effort.

“I really wanted to close the loop. I’m a type A personality, and I was never going to pull myself out. It was always going to be, keep going until the race spits you out.”

"There was more support around"

Despite her DNF disappointment, the grandmother of three says this year on the course felt different to her 2019 experience, which found her clinging to the side of a cliff after falling in icy conditions as white runners passed her by without offering to help.

“It still felt quite lonely," says Pace-Humphreys, who explains that the cutoff times mean runners are sprinting through aid stations, stopping only to eat and fill their water bottles, which doesn't leave room for camaraderie.

"But I felt that if something had happened where I needed help, there was more support around.”

“I was hallucinating from La Fouly to Champex-Lac, and in order to regroup myself, I stopped. There was a runner behind me, and he stopped too and asked if I was okay, and that was really beautiful.”

“It didn’t feel like pressure"

Pace-Humphreys says the strong presence of BTR in events in the lead-up to the race, and the successes of her peers, is also helping her cope with what’s known as “the ultra blues.”

“I’m very, very grateful to be able to experience the joy of being around other trail runners who absolutely did everything that they wanted to do.”

Those peers include Simbarashe Mugomba, who completed the 100-mile finals, and Juliette Denny and Serena Broadway, who both competed in the 100k CCC race.

Broadway, fresh off running the 300k Northern Traverse across the north of England, tells us that despite slippery conditions underfoot that slowed her pace, this experience was entirely different from her 2022 OCC race at UTMB, where she says she felt isolated.

“It didn’t feel like pressure, I just felt how lucky I am to be there with this group representing diversity on the trails.”

Rebecca Devereux was the sole member of BTR competing in the 50k OCC race, which was rerouted due to thunderstorms. A vet by profession, Devereaux enjoyed a podium finish earlier this year at the gruelling Montane Winter Spine 50k.

Grace Natoli, Angela Tomusange and Nethliee Smith all competed for BTR in the challenging ETC race, which takes runners up nearly 4,000 ft (1,200m) of vertical gain in just nine miles (15k).

“We did everything that we set out to do"

Though the presence of BTR at the event signals a move in the right direction for runners of color, Pace-Humphreys says she still didn’t see any black women around her at the starting line, and there’s still work to be done.

“It’s on us as changemakers to continue to try and get support to do the work and bring people from our communities,” she says of continuing to put pressure on UTMB organizers to improve diversity at the event.

“We’re the ones doing it. UTMB aren’t doing it. They are relying, in a sense, on the work that they do not support from a resourcing point of view, on us to do it.”

Pace-Humphreys says she’s received an “overwhelming” number of messages from followers in the past week who have been inspired by the BTR showing and now want to try trail running and experience the event.

“We did everything that we set out to do. You’re going to see a massive increase in members of Black Trail Runners at the UTMB next year, because in the end, the mountains don’t discriminate; it’s the system.”

While she’s not sure if she’ll return next year to compete, Pace-Humphreys says she will “absolutely” return at some point to finish the 100-mile loop. Stay tuned.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

This year's CCC race at the UTMB finals had one of the most competitive starting lineups of the week, with some elite runners choosing the shorter 100k distance over the 100-mile finals in order to be fresh for the World Championships in Spain next month. That meant the elite field was possibly even deeper than usual, but in the end, it was two Hoka-sponsored athletes who secured the top spots.

The forecast was for heavy rain during the race, which takes runners from Courmayeur, Italy, to Chamonix in France via Champex-Lac, Switzerland. However, while the 100-mile and OCC races suffered from stormy conditions, the CCC runners ended up experiencing some of the best weather of the week, and the skies were mostly clear for Friday's race, which dealt some of the fastest times ever.

• OCC 2025 results
• UTMB women's results
• UTMB men's results

Franceso Puppi's streak continues

In the men's race, Francesco Puppi's winning streak continued, with the Italian taking his place at the front from the word go. After winning this year's Canyons by UTMB 100k, Puppi was a favorite to win along with Eli Hemming (US), who had moved up in distance after winning last year's OCC. The pair quickly moved to the front of the race as the runners left Courmayeur, forming a big pack of more than a dozen runners that included American runners David Sinclair and Drew Holmen.

The group stayed mostly intact through the first half of the race, but at the halfway mark in Champex-Lac, Hemming started to lose time while Puppi moved ahead, alongside Sinclair.

By La Giete, at mile marker 41 (65k), Puppi had secured a five-minute lead over Sinclair, and American Jeshurun Small briefly found himself in third place. Jeshurun soon fell back, however, and the reshuffling continued for the remainder of the race with the exception of Puppi, who broke clear away and stayed out in front all the way back to Chamonix.

Puppi won in 10 hours, six minutes, and two seconds, the second-fastest finish ever behind Petter Engdahl, who set the record of 9:53 in 2022. It was Puppi's second time running the 100k distance.

Sinclair came in second in 10:13:42 and Holmen rounded out the podium arriving just minutes later in 10:16:15. Hemming ultimately just missed out on the top 10, placing 11th overall, while last year's winner Hayden Hawks moved up to the 100-mile race this year, despite an injury that kept him out of Western States, but DNFd after just 31 miles (50k).

Women sprint to the finish

The women's race started out looking like it might fulfill expectations, with the last three defending champions back for another shot at the podium. Last year's winner Toni McCann (South Africa) was near the front from the start, along with Norway's Yngvild Kaspersen (2023 champion), and France's Blandine L’Hirondel, who won in 2022 winner with the course record.

Kaspersen took the lead over the first climb, but soon dropped back due to an ankle injury, which ultimately saw her dropping from the race.

L’Hirondel and McCann stayed at the front and were joined by Poland's Martyna Młynarczyk, who took second in last year's race, and Spain's Anna Tarasova. However, at the 40k mark, McCann suffered a bad fall, which saw her limping into the aid station, clearly distressed. She withdrew from the race at La Giete, leaving Młynarczyk, L’Hirondel, and Tarasova to battle it out.

With only four miles (6km) to the finish, the race became heated, with Nordskar surging past Młynarczyk and L’Hirondel dropping back. In a sprint finish, however, Młynarczyk proved she had the goods, coming into Chamonix in 11 hours, 41 minutes, and 55 seconds. Nordskar arrived less than 20 seconds later and Tarasova came in less than two minutes after her. L’Hirondel settled for fourth place nearly 10 minutes later.

The win automatically enters Młynarczyk in next year's Western States, if she wants to race again and try to redeem herself after this year's DNF.

• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on teh trickiest terrain
• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures

Looking for the write up on the women's podium? Head to this article for all the details.

Stories of elite runners in the UTMB finals can often be divided into two narratives: those who triumphed, and those who DNFd. Yesterday, Courtney Dauwalter managed to write a new version of what success at the iconic race can look like, pulling off a top 10 finish despite a rare bad day on the course.

Dauwalter was back in Chamonix for the first time since 2023, when she won the race for the third time. Last year, her record fell to Katie Schide and ultra running fans were looking forward to seeing her try to settle the score this year.

Dauwalter started out in the lead, bringing up the front in a pack that included Ruth Croft and a rotating cast of other runners such as Abby Hall, Emily Hawgood, Camille Bruyas and Katarzyna Dombrowska. In torrential rain, climbing Notre Dame de la Gorge, she still had her characteristic smile on her face.

She looked more serious as she hunted for water at Lac Combal, but that was no surprise, given that she'd just endured snow, hail and winds at high altitudes. At the Courmayeur aid station, she looked more serious than usual, and soon it was clear the day was not going to plan.

On Saturday morning, we stood around the lake at Champex-Lac waiting for Dauwalter to come through first. Her family gathered nearby. Instead, the first female figure to make her way along the lakeshore was Croft, followed by Bruyas. When Dauwalter appeared a few minutes later, she was moving more stiffly than usual and her smile had been replaced by a grimace.

Over the next seven hours, Croft seemed to get faster, increasing her lead by 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour. Bruyas held her steady pace, and Dauwalter was doing more hiking than running by the time she reached Trient.

By 3pm, Croft's win looked all but settled, Bruyas a shoo-in for second, and while Dauwalter held third place for a couple more hours, it became increasingly clear that a podium spot was out of reach.

Many elite athletes would have chosen a DNF in order to preserve their UTMB Index, but Dauwalter instead showed us all what she's really made of by battling it out against the odds. She hiked, she ran, she stopped to pick up young fans and give them a hug.

In the end, Dauwalter finished what she started, crossing the finish line in an impressive tenth place in 25:50:38, grabbing a young fan by the hand and sprinting over the finish line with him.

"It was a really, really tough day out there," says Dauwalter, who says the support of her fans and team is what kept her going.

"I continued because a race this special is worth doing the full loop."

When asked what it was like to race against Dauwalter, this year's winner Croft says: "It was a privilege to get to race against her, finally, she's the GOAT. Always has been, always will be."

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

Looking for the results of the women's race? Head to this article for all the details.

Tom Evans has written the ultimate redemption story at this year's UTMB, taking an impressive win after two consecutive DNFs at the race.

The British runner dominated the race from early on despite a storm that challenged the runners with dangerous, wet and freezing conditions overnight, and resulted in a last-minute rerouting of the course to avoid the exposed Pyramides Calcaires section

"It's just the most incredible race and I think we were blessed with very British weather, we had snow, rain, and a bit of heat at the end," says Evans.

For the final hours of the 100-mile race around Mont Blanc, Evans kept company with American Ben Dhiman and fellow Brit Josh Wade, but started to eke out a wider and wider gap between himself and the other two runners, finally coming in at a spectacular 19:18:58, which is nearly 20 minutes faster than Jim Walmsley's 2023 record. However, because the course was altered due to weather, it's not yet clear whether the time counts as a new record.

"It was just a spectacular day when the mountains just threw everything at you, and the mountains will always win, and you just need to look after yourself and see who can get round the fastest," says Evans.

Evans' victory follows wins this year at Arc of Attrition and UTMB Tenerife. He worked with coach Scott Johnson, who also coaches Ruth Croft, the winner of today's women's race.

Redemption all round

Evans took third place at the race in 2022, but this win has not come easily. He DNFd in 2023 after getting lost and disoriented in the dark overnight, and then dropped out overnight again last year due to stomach issues. In 2023, he was mugged and assaulted on a training run for the UTMB Cape Town in South Africa, an experience he says he's been working with a psychologist to overcome.

"I am incredibly proud to have learned from my mistakes and executed a really good race."

Fellow Asics runner Dhiman, who also DNFd at the race in 2023 and 2024, ended up trailing Evans by over half an hour, taking second in 19:51:37. Colorado-based Dhiman has already won both the Lavaredo Ultra Trail and Grand Raid Ventoux this year.

Josh Wade landed third place in 20:05:06. Wade took 11th on the course last year and DNFd the year before, but he's hot off a podium finish at this year's Transgrancanaria and won the UTMB Snowdonia in 2023. The North Face-sponsored runner lives and trains in the UK's rugged Lake District.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

Looking for the results of the men's race? Head to this article for all the details.

Ruth Croft has snatched a commanding victory at this year's UTMB in tough conditions after surging ahead with around 25 miles (40k) to go.

The New Zealand runner, who came second in last year's race behind Katie Schide, was always a favorite for a podium spot, but with Courtney Dauwalter in the mix, we thought first place was all but settled when the pair took off from Chamonix on Friday evening in their first-ever face-off. However, the Adidas Terrex athlete's proven skill as an excellent closer allowed her to move into first place by the halfway mark and hold that spot with a comfortable lead for almost seven hours.

The runners battled challenging conditions overnight, including rain, hail, and snow, which caused a last-minute modification to the route to bypass the exposed Pyramides Calcaires section. Undeterred, Croft says she realized she had to be more aggressive from the start this year, and quickly moved into the lead, with Dauwalter just behind her, and this year's Western States winner Abby Hall taking up third position.

By the time the runners reached Notre Dame de la Gorge in torrential rain at the 33k mark, a bigger gap appeared to have opened up between Croft and Dauwalter, though the Colorado-based runner still had a big smile on her face at that point, and Zimbabwe's Emily Hawgood had moved into third place.

Just over five hours into the race, Dauwalter had moved to the front, and Poland's Katarzyna Dombrowska had taken up third place, a position she held onto through the Lac Combal aid station.

At the halfway mark at Courmayeur, Dauwalter was still in the lead, stopping at the aid station just long enough to put in some eyedrops, but she was moving slower than usual and looking more serious than usual. Moments after she left, French runner Camille Bruyas arrived in second place, followed closely by Croft in third, setting up a new formation of front runners that would last for the remainder of the night and into the morning.

A UTMB Triple Crowner

At Champex-Lac, we were expecting Dauwalter to come through first, but Croft caught us off guard by coming along the lakeshore six minutes ahead of Bruyas, while Dauwalter brought up the rear, seeming to be moving stiffly. Croft moved further and further ahead, arriving at the finish line in 22 hours, 56 minutes and 23 seconds,where she was met with a hug from men's winner Tom Evans, with whom she shares coach Scott Johnson.

Croft's win makes her a UTMB Triple Crowner, after she won the CCC in 2015 and the OCC in 2018 and again in 2019, and she celebrated at the finish line with a shot of peanut butter whiskey.

"It's taken 10 years to get to this point," says Croft, who explains that her DNF at this year's Transvulcania race in May due to hypothermia helped her deal with the conditions overnight.

Bruyas, who finished second in last year's Hardrock 100, came along over half an hour later in 23:28:48, and Germany's Katharina Hartmuth passed Dauwalter after Vallorcine to round out the podium in 24:16:39.

Hartmuth is hot off a third-place finish at Hardrock this summer and is no stranger to the UTMB podium, having taken second in 2023 and third in 20233. Despite appearing overjoyed at the finish line, she admits she struggled with the weather conditions this year.

"I've never experienced such weather before," says Hartmuth.

"Trying to not get too cold and changing clothes all the time, it was just a logistical challenge."

As for Dauwalter, though many elite athletes in her position might have chosen to take a DNF to preserve their UTMB Index, the queen of ultra forged ahead to finish the course in tenth place, saying: "I continued because a race this special is worth doing the full loop."

"It was a privilege to get to race against her, finally, she's the GOAT. Always has been, always will be," says Croft of her opponent.

Read all about Dauwalter's remarkable finish here.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

US runner Jim Walmsley has won the OCC race at the UTMB World Series Finals after what turned out to be an epic battle on the 61k course.

The US runner was originally in the starting lineup for the 100-mile World Series event on Saturday, but changed to the 55k distance last week. There's been speculation that he is still being plagued by a knee issue that saw him drop out of this year's Western States, but he may also be saving his legs for the World Championships in September. Whatever the reason, the switch up threw a wrench in predictions for the top finishers, with a question mark over whether the race would still be an Italian showdown between Cristian Minoggio and Luca Del Pero or another Walmsley washout.

Stormy weather added even more excitement, as the route and start time were changed at the last minute to avoid more exposed sections in Chalet des Grands and La Flegere and add a couple of kilometers to the distance.

The runners set off after a two-hour delay at 10:15am local time in wet conditions, and about 30 minutes later, Walmsley was part of an early breakaway during the first climb along with Sweden's Petter Engdahl and Switzerland's Sam Hendry.

On the ascent up to Col de Balme at 38k, Minoggio started to claw things back, moving into third place, but Walmsley held the lead on the descent. It was at the Argentiere aid station with 10k to go that he explains things went a little pear-shaped.

Despite appearances, the day turned out to be hotter than expected, and Walmsley says he lost precious time hunting for hydration at the aid station.

“There was no water there, so it was a bit of a surprise. I was expecting to fill up one bottle before the climb."

While he was searching through bottles of sparking water and coke, Minoggio seized his opportunity.

“He just blew right past me," says Walmsley, who started to feel worried when the Italian was already 20 seconds ahead of him by the time he left the aid station.

“I think we played around a bit too much earlier.”

This is the first time the two runners have ever raced each other, and the Italian proved a worthy opponent to the UTMB and Western States record holder. The gap had widened to one minute with 8k to go, but Walmsley dug in and kept Minoggio in his sights.

With only around 1k to go, Walmsley made his move and surged past Minoggio, tapping him on the shoulder as he went. The pair proceeded to treat us to a sprint finish, reaching speeds of up to 21.3k per hour at one point, with Walmsley landing in Chamonix in five hours and 34 seconds and Minoggio arriving just 20 seconds later, where the pair shared a hug.

“Sorry, I was running past a lot of high fives, but I was definitely running scared all the way to the line," says Walmsley, who looked overjoyed at the finish.

The win means a €13,000 ($15,000) cash prize for Walmsley and marks the second year in a row a US runner has taken first in the race, after Eli Hemming won last year.

This was Minoggio's first time racing in the UTMB World Series Finals, but he's stood on over a dozen middle-distance podiums over the last year. Poland's Andrzej Witek joined the pair on the podium, coming in around three minutes behind them after a tight battle with Engdahl and Kristian Jones.

This year's OCC course took the runners over 3,487m of vertical gain between Orsières and Chamonix.

Women's OCC results

The women's race was no less exciting, with a deep field of podium contenders in the mix. The participants started the race running as a tight pack, with about seven runners taking the initial lead.

Switzerland's Judith Wyder and Spain's Sara Alonso got stuck behind a train for a couple of minutes, which proved long enough to make a difference in the outcome of their race.

By the 22k mark, defending champion Miao Yao (China) and Kenya's Joyline Chepngeno had moved into the lead, and we saw the runners looking for water on the course after missing the fountain in Martigny.

The pair slugged it out till the last couple of kilometers, where Chepngeno left Yao behind. The Kenyan's win looked like a sure thing until we saw her stop for stomach issues just shy of the finish, but she managed to hold it together, coming in first in 5:34:03.

“It was very hard for me, but I tried my best. I was having a lot of pain,” says Chepngeno, who is fresh off beating Katie Schide for first place at this year's Sierre-Zinal sky race.

Despite taking second this year, Yao came in 20 minutes ahead of her 2024 time and says she knows she ran better than last year.

Wyder managed to overcome her public transportation difficulties to scoop up third place, despite finding the altered course more challenging.

“This course definitely suits me less than the other one, it’s less technical, it’s more runnable,” says Wyder, who managed to come in 20 minutes faster than last year and, along with Walmsley, makes two Hoka-sponsored runners on this year's podium.

“I knew on the downhill I had to put my all into one pot and just go for it.”

You can view the full results of this year's OCC race here.

How to watch the UTMB finals

The UTMB finals take place over August 25 - 31 with the 100-mile finale starting on Friday, August 29. Once again, we'll be reporting live from the finish line in Chamonix, and you can follow all the action live at live.utmb.world in seven languages – French, English, Spanish, Chinese, German, Italian and Thai – with equal coverage of men's and women's race leaders.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

When Jim Walmsley showed up on the UTMB starting list earlier this month after dropping out of Western States due to a knee injury, the trail running world started gearing up for the possibility of another record – however, a last-minute change shows the ultra runner legend has now moved over to the OCC roster.

The Arizona runner, who still holds the course record for the 100-mile distance, which he laid down in 2023, will now compete in the 55k (34-mile) distance at the UTMB finals on August 28.

The characteristically reclusive runner hasn't commented on the change publicly, so it could all have been down to a clerical error, but most likely he's still being plagued by the same knee issue that saw him take a step back from the California race in June.

The OCC stands for Orsières-Champex-Chamonix and takes the world's best middle-distance runners up 11,236ft (3,425m) in elevation gain. Though Walmsley is highly regarded at the 100-mile distance, with course records at UTMB and WSER, he's proved himself to be lightning quick at the 50k distance too, with footage earlier this year showing him charging across desert terrain in the Mesquite Canyon 50k to another course record.

Unsurprisingly, he'll also be in elite company at the OCC, with Sweden's Petter Engdhal and Germany's Hannes Namberger in the mix, as well as his fellow countrymen Ryan Becker, Adam Peterman, and Michelino Sunseri. Last year's winner, Eli Hemming, and second-placed Francesco Puppi have moved up to the 100k CCC race this year.

Besides that big change, the roster for the 100-mile men's race looks largely unchanged, with this year's Hardrock 100 winner Ludo Pommeret still in the mix along with third-placed Germain Grangier, four-time UTMB winner Francois D’Haene, and Jeff Mogavero, who took fourth at this year's Western States.

Seeking redemption will be the UK's Tom Evans who's been unable to complete the race since taking third in 2022 but delivered an impressive victory at this year's Arc of Attrition, Rod Farvard, who DNFd at this year's Western States (but took second place last year behind Walmsley) and Hayden Hawks who also pulled out of this year's WSER due to injury, but placed third in the race last year.

Women's starters

The women's starting list has also seen some changes, with Marianne Hogan sidelined by an injury and Ida Nilsson revealing she's not yet fully recovered from WSER. The good news, however, is that Courtney Dauwalter is still planning on showing up in a bid to reclaim her crown from Katie Schide. She'll be running against the likes of Abby Hall, who's fresh off a Western States 100 win, while New Zealand's Ruth Croft is back for another stab, having taken second place last year behind Schide.

Even without Walmsley's earth-shattering speeds, it's all shaping up to be a brilliant end to the UTMB World Series, and once again, we'll be reporting live from the race to bring you all the news as soon as it happens.

How to watch the UTMB finals

The UTMB finals take place over August 25 - 31 with the 100-mile finale starting on Friday, August 29. Once again, we'll be reporting live from the finish line in Chamonix, and you can follow all the action live at live.utmb.world in seven languages – French, English, Spanish, Chinese, German, Italian and Thai – with equal coverage of men's and women's race leaders.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

Barring her ability to set course records at the 100-mile distance, you can almost never tell what Courtney Dauwalter is going to do next, and her latest move is yet another surprise. The Minnesota native is heading back to her home state to compete in a road marathon. Yes, a road marathon.

There have been signs that the ultra running legend, who's won every 100-mile trail race she's attempted since her 2019 UTMB win, is ready for a new challenge. First, she announced she was attempting her first 250 miler at the Cocodona back in January. That ended in a DNF after 108 miles.

Next up, she shared on her Instagram feed that she's been spending more time on her bike around the trails of Leadville, CO where she lives, and was working up to 100 miles on her road bike. Now, she's signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon set to take place in the Minnesota capital on October 5.

Dauwalter's participation in the 26.2-mile race isn't just a tribute to her home state – the Hopkins, MN native is competing as part of a "Best of the Midwest Invitational" field which is drawing eight women and eight men with ties to one of 12 midwestern states to compete in an elite field within the race, and there's some serious prize money at stake.

Dauwalter and other Best of the Midwest runners will compete for the dedicated prize purse totaling $20,000, in addition to being eligible for an overall professional prize purse worth $26,000 (with one prize awarded per gender).

Dauwalter has nearly five weeks to recover from the UTMB finals, which she's running at the end of the month in a bid to regain her crown from Katie Schide, before heading down to sea level for a challenge of a different kind.

How Dauwalter will fare on the tarmac in the sultry Midwest is just about anybody's guess. Will she trade her Salomon S/Lab Genesis shoes for the bouncier S/Lab Phantasm? The pacing at this distance will be a whole different ballgame, but on the plus side, she'll have the altitude advantage and it won't be her first rodeo at the race; she ran it in 2009 (where she came in number 126 out of 3,473 finishers) and again in 2012.

One thing we know for sure is that she's a determined athlete and she'll be running with a smile on her face.

• Best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain
• The best running poles: for ultra distance training, epic races, and fastpacking adventures

Tara Dower has made ultra running history for the second time, setting a new overall speed record on Vermont's Long Trail. She completed the 273-mile (439k) trail to raise funds for the Green Mountain Club, which preserves the historic trail.

Dower first sprinted into public consciousness less than a year ago when she delivered a new overall speed record on the Appalachian Trail. In September 2024, Dower hiked and ran from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain, Georgia in just 40 days, 18 hours and 5 minutes, 13.5 hours faster than Karel Sabbe’s 2018 record.

In March, she handed in another stunning time at the Black Canyon 100k, but June brought disappointment for the runner, who attempted her first Western States 100 but dropped out before the finish. Yesterday, her Instagram account revealed that she's back on top form, writing "She's done it!" with a photo of her embracing the trail sign at the southern terminus.

Running very long trails mostly by herself seems to be the perfect formula for the North Carolina native. She set off from the Canadian border on Saturday, August 16 at 10am and ran trail that follows the Green Mountain ridgeline all the way through the state to the Massachusetts border. Her time of three days, 18 hours and 29 minutes has to be confirmed, but once that happens, she'll hold the overall supported FKT, beating Will "Sisyphus" Peterson's time by nearly three hours.

The Altra-sponsored runner has previously worn the Altra Mont Blanc BOAs for long-distance races and pictures from the finish show she's still favoring the Utah-based brand's zero-drop approach to footwear.

Dower has set several FKTs including one on the 567-mile Colorado Trail in 2023 which she completed in eight days. She is known for using her running feats as fundraisers and publicly stated she intended to raise $10,001 for the Green Mountain Club; a fundraising page shows her effort has far surpassed that goal.

The Long Trail is oldest continuous footpath in the US, with 68,000 feet of elevation gain. Constructed between 1910 and 1930, it later became the inspiration for the Appalachian Trail and the two footpaths share 100 miles of trail.

• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain
• The best running backpacks: for everything you need on the move

For 31 years, Ann Trason's 18:06:24 course record at the Leadville 100 has stood as the time to beat – this weekend, it finally toppled as Anne Flower made her debut at the Colorado race and set a blazing new women's time.

The 35-year-old Colorado Springs resident surged ahead of Justin Grunewald with just two miles to go, arriving at the finish line on Saturday night in 17:58:19. That shaved eight minutes off Ann Trason's longstanding 1995 course record, and like Trason, placed Flower second overall behind David Roche. The closest any other female runner has come to Trason's time was in 2024, when Mary Denholm won in her debut 100 miler in 18:23:51.

Flower, an ER doctor, was not only making her debut in the high altitude race – it was her first 100 miler ever. However, she's been a regular at Colorado 50k and 100k events over the past five years, and came in first overall in the 2024 Javelina 100k.

Joining Flower on the podium were Imogen Ainsworth, 37, from Poncha Springs, CO, who took seventh overall in 19:36:42 and Lea Mulligan, 26, from Chattanooga, who placed ninth overall in 20:39:04.

Men's results

As if the women's race wasn't exciting enough, the men's race also delivered a stunning new course record, from none other than current record holder David Roche.

Roche blazed a whole new trail last year in the Leadville 100 when he finally broke the 19-year record set by Matt Carpenter only four months after a serious bike accident where he was hit by a car. He followed that with a win at the Javelina Jundred last November and then set his sights on this year's Western States, a race he said he intended to win.

His WSER dreams were dashed, however, with Roche dropping out around mile 62 mark, but it seems that by Saturday morning, he'd had enough time to lick his wounds and decided last minute to join the race. Back on familiar soil, Roche returned to familiar form and finished in 15:12:30, 14 minutes faster than his previous course record.

"11 days ago, there was zero chance I was going to race Leadville. I was still processing my very public failure at Western States. I just wasn’t ready," writes Roche on Instagram, who says it was his wife, coach Megan Roche, who convinced him to run.

"I genuinely didn’t think a record was remotely possible."

We'll look forward to Roche's race recap, where he'll no doubt share just how many running gels he consumed to hold that 9:07/mile pace.

Boulder resident Justin Grunewald took second place (and third overall) in 18:06:34, which will feel good after a couple of DNFs this year at Canyons Endurance Runs and Arc of Attrition by UTMB. Leadville local and Lake County High School cross country coach Pat Cade took third place in 18:25:23.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

Cape Town has been chosen to host the 2027 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, marking the first time the prestigious races will be held in Africa.

The 2027 races will be held between October 6 and 10, bringing runners from around the world to the challenging trails of Table Mountain and Lion’s Head, two iconic peaks that overlook the South African capital city, offering views of the Atlantic.

“There is surely no better backdrop to this prestigious event than our very own Wonder of the Natural World, the iconic Table Mountain," says Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, who also took the opportunity to warn aspiring competitors of the demands of the area's trails.

"Runners should not be fooled by her beauty and her fame – Table Mountain’s rugged trails and steep elevations will pose a stern challenge to elite runners and mass participants alike."

An estimated 1200 runners from more than 80 nations are predicted to compete in the championship races, with a further 2,000 runners joining the mass participation events.

Cape Town already hosts a race on the UTMB World Series circuit, the Ultra Trail Cape Town, due to take place this year on November 21 - 23, as well as the Cape Town Marathon and the Two Oceans Marathon, one of the most scenic ultras in the world. However, the news from the city's trails has not always been positive, with Tom Evans getting mugged during a training run for the Ultra Trail in November 2023, and a further three runners mugged during the race.

The World Mountain Running Championships started out as an annual fixture in 1985, while the World Trail Championships launched in 2007. The two events merged in 2021 and are held every other year. This year's races are scheduled to take place in Canfranc in northern Spain's Aragon Valley, September 25 - 28.

• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain
• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures

Now that the dust has well and truly settled on the Western States 100 course, new data has revealed that one shoe brand was far and away the most popular choice among the competitors: Hoka.

A survey of data that was collected by the running site iRunFar and analyzed by TrailRunningReview.com shows that a whopping 32.6 percent of runners at the race this past June were wearing Hoka shoes.

The data was collected via video from a point early on in the race, and found that of the 369 competitors, some 118 took to the course in Hokas. Of those runners, 7.4 percent ran in the versatile and grippy Speedgoat 6s, while six percent ran in the springy Hoka Mafate Speed 4s and another six percent the propulsive, carbon-plated Tecton X 3s.

The results put Hoka about as far ahead of next-placed brand as Courtney Dauwalter was ahead of Katie Schide in the 2023 edition of the race, which is a long and winding way of saying that, in comparison, Altra was seen on just 12.4 percent of runners’ feet.

The Denver-based running brand is known for its low-to-zero drop and wide toe box in models like the Mont Blanc BOA beloved by Appalachian Trail champ Tara Dower, who put up a good fight at this year's race but DNFd at the 73-mile mark.

Annecy-based Salomon takes 7.7 percent of the pie, and Nike, which hasn’t previously been known for paying much attention to trail, was in fourth place at 6.3 percent and on the feet of overall winner Caleb Olsen, who raced in the new Ultraflys. Brooks, an early pioneer of trail running shoes, has slipped down in favor, coming in sixth place after burgeoning Adidas Terrex.

What’s perhaps more interesting is that brand representation at the starting line doesn’t seem to translate to representation at the finish. While the data collected doesn’t reveal who was wearing what, we can say with some certainty that only one person on either podium was wearing Hokas, and that’s second-placed Fuzhao Xiang who was powered to the finish by the yet-to-be-released Rocket X Trail. Winner Abby Hall and third-placed Marianne Hogan were running in shoes from their sponsors at Adidas Terrex and Salomon.

On the men’s podium, Hoka runner Jim Walmsley looked a dead cert to grab another podium in his Tecton X 3s, but he dropped out of the starting line up a couple of months before the race, leaving Caleb Olsen, Chris Myers and Kilian Jornet to take home the three winning buckles in shoes from Nike, Brooks and NNormal respectively.

What can we learn from this? That Hoka is officially a household name and that there’s no such thing as the perfect running shoe, probably. Read all the results at iRunFar and check out our guide to which Hoka trail running shoes are best for you.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

Sierre-Zinal is one of mountain running's most iconic trail races, and the course proved to be a worthy opponent for Katie Schide this year, as the runner managed to take third place on the podium just seconds ahead of the next runner.

Fresh off a win at Colorado's Hardrock 100 race in July, the Maine native headed to the Swiss Alps for the 31k course, which takes runners up a steep 7,220ft (2,200m) climb from the start and ends with a 3,600ft (1,100m) vertical drop in the Valais Alps.

It wasn't Schide's first time on the course; she ran it back in 2021 in an elites-only edition during Covid while testing out an early prototype of the On Cloudvista shoes that she's now back in after returning to her original sponsors earlier this year. In that race, she didn't get close to the podium, so she knew how hard it was going to be, writing to Instagram last week: "I really can’t think of a more competitive trail race out there. A perfect place to be humbled by some crazy fast ladies."

In the end, she shaved nearly 20 minutes off her previous time, coming in at 2:58:32, but it was a tough battle for the podium, with Switzerland's Maude Mathys coming in only 25 seconds behind her. Mathys still holds the women's course record and has won the race four times since it began in 1974.

The real story from the race, however, is the many victories enjoyed by Kenyan runners this year. In the women's race, Joyline Chepngeno's downhill skills gave her gold for the second year running with a time of 2:54:50, just seconds slower than last year's win. Caroline Kimutai started out in the lead but got swallowed up by Chepngeno and took second place, coming in less than a minute behind the winner.

In the men's race, Kenyan runners dominated the entire podium with Philemon Kiriago taking his third win on the course in 2:28:45, though he failed to touch Kilian Jornet's course record. Less than 30 seconds later, Patrick Kipngeno joined him at the finish line after another extremely tight battle with Michael Selelo Saoli, who took third place only five seconds behind him. Italy's Francesco Puppi was further down the list, taking 10th place.

The race was the final event of the Golden Trail World Series, before the Ledro Sky Trentino Grand Finale on October 9 -12. Check out the full results of Sierre-Zinal here.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

An ultra runner has been killed during a race in Romania after a violent storm broke out, causing the event to be cancelled as other participants required evacuation from the course.

The unidentified runner is said to be a man in his 50s who was competing in the Bucovina Ultra Rocks 88k race on Saturday, July 26. According to a Facebook post from the Department of Emergency Situations, which you can view below, a runner called emergency services at 9:47pm to report that the man had been caught by a falling tree at around 63km into the course in the area of the Giumalău Massif.

A multi-agency response was launched, however, rescuers encountered difficulties reaching the scene as the road was blocked by trees. Crews reached the man at around 11:25pm but were unable to resuscitate him. Approximately 23 other runners on the route had to be evacuated to mountain cabins or back to the start point for safety. Some were suffering mild hypothermia but none required hospital treatment.

In an official statement, race organizers call the storm "extremely violent" and say it occurred without any weather warning.

"Weather conditions were continuously monitored. At decision points, the available meteorological products did not indicate a severe, localized escalation in the Giumalău area. The phenomenon developed suddenly and locally."

As soon as they received news of the storm, they immediately suspended the race, and cancelled a shorter event due to take place on Sunday.

"Runners were located through the live‑tracking system and contacted by phone using the data provided at registration, then directed to assistance points, shelters, and safe areas."

The storm was part of a destructive weather system that has caused widespread damage across eastern Romania, with floods killing three elderly people, damaging buildings and sweeping away cars.

Bucovina Ultra Rocks consists of eight different distances from 5k to 100 miles and is part of the Europe Trail Cup 2025 circuit.

• The best running jackets: beat the wind and rain on your run with these ultralight offerings
• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures

This past May, images of ultra runner Stephanie Case breastfeeding her newborn daughter while eating a slice of watermelon at an aid station during the Ultra Trail Snowdonia 100k have become the stuff of trail-running legend. Her resilient approach to the race – and subsequent win – marked one of the biggest comebacks we’ve seen in the sport, and may help redefine what’s possible for new mothers.

The 39-year-old Canadian – a human rights lawyer during the week, and founder of the charity Free to Run – has been competing at the ultra distance level for over 15 years, and her illustrious career has seen her take the podium at some of the world’s toughest races. However, after a second-place finish at the Hardrock 100 in 2022, she all but disappeared from the trail circuit.

In the years between then and her now-famous Snowdonia finish in Wales, the Canadian endured a tough three-year fertility journey, which brought multiple miscarriages and IVF failures. At the end of 2024, all that ended when Case and her partner, ultra runner John Roberts, welcomed their daughter Pepper.

A return to the trail

For some runners, the new arrival might have spelled an even longer break from competitive running, but a few months after giving birth, Case signed up for a return to Colorado’s Hardrock 100 in July and decided to do the Snowdonia race as a training run. At the time, she didn’t know if she’d still be breastfeeding when race day came around.

“That isn’t something you can necessarily predict – so it just wasn’t a factor I considered. I figured I would just manage. As long as Pepper was fed, that’s all that mattered,” she tells me.

Case worked with coach Megan Roche (the five-time US national champion who’s married to ultra runner David Roche) to train for the race post partum, and when the big day grew closer, she realized she wasn't going to have finished breastfeeding in time. Undeterred, she obtained special permission from UTMB Snowdonia race organizers to ensure that her crew was allowed access to the checkpoints where she would need to feed Pepper.

On May 17, Case showed up ready to take on a course that would present her with 20,700ft (6,300m) of climbing in Wales’ most famous National Park, with Pepper in her arms, and there was just one slight hitch with her plan.

“A volunteer told me that I couldn’t come into the registration area as it was only for runners,” recalls Case, who describes the misunderstanding as humorous and praises organizers for giving her such good care. As soon as she cleared up the confusion, Case was fast-tracked through the check-in process.

“A volunteer also came up to me right away to ask if I needed any help with my bottles or if I wanted any food to eat.”

A late start and an early finish

When the 4:30am start time rolled around, the elite runners took off from the National Slate Museum, but, having lost her elite status over the previous years, Case didn’t start for another 30 minutes.

“Knowing that I was starting in the last and third starting wave, I didn’t think I could have any performance goals.”

Ordinarily, a runner trying to reach the podium would attempt to make their aid station stops as short as possible, but Case had no choice but to stop and periodically breastfeed Pepper, and she thinks it may just have been the psychological reframing of the race that gave her a competitive edge that day.

“Knowing that I needed to fuel properly not just for me, but also for Pepper, probably made me a lot more focused than I would normally have been,” says Case, who took a running gel with 40g of carbs every half hour in addition to her watermelon slices and carb drinks to keep moving. But she also says she ran with a different attitude than in previous races.

“I ran with joy. I was just so happy to be back out there without any pressure, and I think I ran well because I was relaxed.”

“I purposely didn’t want to know where I was in the race so that I wouldn’t rush Pepper’s feeding time at the checkpoints.”

In the end, no one was more surprised than Case when she crossed the finish line in first place less than 17 hours later, four minutes ahead of the UK’s Lauren Graham and 13 minutes faster than third-placed Kimino Miyazaki of Japan.

“I did not expect to win at all,” says Case of receiving the startling news at the finish line.

A lesson for breastfeeding runners

Back in 2019, British ultrarunner Jasmin Paris won the 268-mile Montane Spine Race (finishing first overall - beating all the men), even after stopping at aid stations to express milk for her breastfeeding baby. This and Case's incredible victory have been a lesson for the trail running community as a whole, helping to bring more awareness to women's needs in long-distance events.

“Racing while breastfeeding is undoubtedly more complicated, but it doesn’t have to hold you back,” says Case, who went on to take fifth place in a hard-fought battle at this year's Hardrock.

“With the right kind of support and guidance on nutrition to keep up your milk supply in training, and with a bit of flexibility, patience and a good sense of humour, there is no reason why you can’t compete while breastfeeding.”

• The best women’s running tops: for cool and dry runs on the trails or roads
• Best women’s running shorts and skorts: for tackling trails and singletrack paths

When you've got the spirit of Courtney Dauwalter, you don't let a DNF get you down for long. The queen of ultra running has brushed off her famous Shortneys and announced her return to the UTMB finals this year.

In an Instagram post dated July 22, the Colorado resident says she'll be back in Chamonix for the iconic 100-mile loop around Mont Blanc on August 29 after a year off.

"Can’t wait to try to bring my best to this 100 mile loop around Mont Blanc. See you in a month, Chamonix!"

Dauwalter and the race have a fair amount of history. She took her first crack at the punishing course in 2019 and delivered a decisive victory, taking first place a full hour ahead of Sweden's Kristin Berglund.

When the race returned after the pandemic in 2021, she shaved nearly two hours off her previous time and threw down in first place, setting a new women's course record of 22:30.

Her 2023 time wasn't as fast, but still placed her comfortably in first place, well ahead of Katharina Hartmuth, and for a while, it looked like she would remain the undisputed queen of the event. But in 2024, Dauwalter was busy chasing other 100-milers with different scenery, including the Hardrock 100, Mt Fuji 100 and Transgrancanaria (all of which she won), and Maine native Katie Schide came along and pinched her crown.

At the finish line, Schide confirmed her goal had been to beat Courtney's record, which she did by 21 minutes. Then, a few weeks ago, she also bested Dauwalter's record in Colorado at the Hardrock 100.

Initially, it seemed Dauwalter might be happy to hang up her 100-mile hat and chase greener pastures with her bid to run the 250-mile Cocodona in Arizona back in May. That attempt fell short, with the star dropping at the 108-mile mark, but it looks like she's rebounded and has her sights set on reclaiming her UTMB title.

We were hoping to see Schide return for the ultimate Chamonix showdown this year, especially after she said she had also hoped to crack the 22-hour mark, but the 2025 starting list has just been released, and so far, Schide is nowhere to be seen. Her legs may just need a bit more rest after Hardrock.

As always, we'll be reporting live on the finals from the finish line, and whatever happens, we doubt we'll be bored. The UTMB finals are August 28 - 31 and will be streamed live on live.utmb.world in seven languages – French, English, Spanish, Chinese, German, Italian and Thai – with equal coverage of men's and women's race leaders.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

We might be more than halfway through the year, but that doesn't mean the UTMB World Series is finished adding to its 2025 events calendar. In the past three years, the number of events on the circuit has doubled, and now the trail running giant has announced two new races to take place in California and China at the end of the year.

When we spoke to Executive Director of UTMB International Florian Lamblin back in February, he told us to expect nine new races this year, and now we know that includes the Ultra-Trail Shudao in Sichuan Province and Hoka Pacific Trails in California.

"From the previously inaccessible trails of California's Santa Ynez Valley to the culturally rich landscapes of Guangyuan in Sichuan, both events offer unique journeys that celebrate the essence of trail running - a deep connection between sport, nature, and local heritage," says Lamblin, who adds that both events have been added to meet growing local demand.

Read on for everything we know about these two late additions to the UTMB circuit and how you can earn running stones for your chance to compete in the UTMB finals in Chamonix-Mont Blanc next year.

Ultra-Trail Shudao

First on the calendar is the Ultra-Trail Shudao which takes place on November 8 and 9. Trail running has been growing at an exponential rate in China and elsewhere in Asia, so it's no real surprise to see a fifth UTMB World Series event added in mainland China. The country ranks third globally in terms of UTMB Index holders, with over 80,000 Chinese runners holding a valid UTMB Index.

The Ultra-Trail Shudao offers 100K, 50K, and 20K distances that take trail runners across misty rice terraces, alpine meadows, bamboo forests, steep ridgelines, and the legendary Shu Roads, which comprise an ancient network of mountain paths that were vital to China's early development.

It sounds idyllic, but don't be fooled into thinking that means easy. Trail running star Fuzhao Xiang, who's just off her second consecutive second-place at Western States calls the geography "treacherous."

"I'm especially excited at the thought of running on Jianmen Pass and Cuiyun Lang, tracks full of the historical heritage of the Three Kingdoms Saga. This resonance with history is something no other race can give," says Xiang.

Race packs will be co-created with local artisans and emphasize local culture, while participants will also enjoy discounted access to the “Shu Road ICH Experience” tour route, including Jianmen Pass, Tangjiahe Nature Reserve and post-race recovery at Zengjiashan Ski Resort.

Priority registration for UTMB Index holders opens today and general registration begins on July 24 at https://shudao.utmb.world.

Hoka Pacific Trails California

Next up, the Hoka Pacific Trails California is scheduled to take place on November 22 and 23 with 50km and 25km distances. What makes this race really stand out is that the course takes place on land that's previously been inaccessible to runners – because it's on a private ranch.

The course takes runners through mountains, pastures, dramatic cliffs, vineyards, and olive groves all within Rancho San Fernando Rey, a 30,000-acre ranch 25 minutes from the Santa Ynez Valley that boasts more than 100 miles of roads and trails.

“Our rugged, mountainous terrain rising above the Pacific Ocean offers a trail experience like no other, while our thousands of years of Native American, Spanish, Mexican, and American history are still deeply prevalent in this land," says Race Director Dillon Osleger.

Presumably, competitors can extend their trip to factor in a little vintage wine tasting post-race.

Priority registration for Hoka Pacific Trails California by UTMB is open now, and general registration begins July 24 at pacifictrails.utmb.world/register.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

A female Scottish ultra runner has finished a 100-mile race so far ahead of the next competitor that she was home before he arrived at the finish line.

Anna Rutherford, 43, was competing in the first Castle to Castle Rat Race this weekend, which took runners from Bamburgh Castle in the northeast of England to Edinburgh Castle in the Scottish capital.

The runners set off at 7am on Saturday, July 18, and by the midway point, Rutherford, a lawyer and mother of three, had passed the male frontrunner and went on to spend the final 50 miles running alone.

Rutherford tells the BBC she even stopped to check on a man who was lying on his back on a golf course – he turned out to be stargazing – and still made it to the finish line in an impressive 17 hours, 23 minutes and 11 seconds.

The runner says that after arriving at the finish just after midnight, she went straight to bed at home in Peebles, less than an hour's drive from the center of Edinburgh, meaning she was almost certainly tucked in by the time male winner Danny Castro arrived in 19:18:11.

In response to a post on Facebook by race Rat Race Adventures, Rutherford praised the organizers' attention to women's needs along the route, including female-specific toilets with sanitary products: "MASSIVE congrats to RatRace for catering for women so well! I hope that came across - I was blown away!"

The last time we wrote about Rutherford, she had set a new FKT on the 214-mile Southern Upland Way, completing the cross-country route in 62 hours, 34 minutes, and 55 seconds – 17 hours quicker than the previous fastest female. That feat came only nine months after giving birth to her second child.

• The best women’s trail running shoes: for speed on tough terrain
• Best women’s running shorts and skorts: for tackling trails and singletrack paths

The dust has just about settled on the brutal Hardrock 100 course, which saw nearly 150 runners take on 102 miles of treacherous terrain in Colorado over the weekend, and once again, it was an action-packed race.

The legendary trail running race takes the hardiest runners on a loop of the San Juan mountains, starting and ending in Silverton. The course is highly technical and highly high, with a cumulative vertical gain of 33,197ft (10,118m), a high point of over 14,000ft (4,267m), and an average elevation of about 11,000ft (3,352m).

Some of the world's best ultra runners (or at least, the ones that weren't in California for Western States) have been training in the Rockies for weeks or even months to prepare for the course, which changes direction every year. If you were off-grid this weekend, read on to find out what you missed.

Tragedy on the course

Starting with the bad news, this year's race sadly saw the death of a runner. Just three hours into the race at around 9am on Saturday, July 12, San Juan County Sheriff's Office received a search and rescue call about a medical emergency at Little Giant Basin near Gold Lake.

The runner, who has been identified as 60-year-old Elaine Stypula of Michigan, collapsed on the course and was pronounced dead at the scene, just six miles (10km) into the course.

Photographer Howie Stern, who was there to cover the race, shared on Instagram that he had been involved in efforts to resuscitate Stypula.

"I won’t be posting from this year’s race as my heart is just broken and my mind in a daze."

Stypula, a divorce lawyer, was an experienced ultra runner whose Instagram page shows her competing all over the world, from the Alps to South Africa. This was her first time attempting the Hardrock course. Stypula's cause of death has not been released.

Women's results

Moving onto happier news, Katie Schide has made no secret of her ambitions to best rival Courtney Dauwalter's records at some of the world's most iconic races. Last year, she shaved 22 minutes of Dauwalter's UTMB finals course record and publicly stated at the finish line that beating Dauwalter had been one of her goals.

Earlier this year, Schide, 33, and her partner Germaine Grangier announced they'd left their sponsors at The North Face and returned to On and it seems like those CloudUltra Pros are doing their magic for the Alps-based runner, who has been training in the US for months.

Schide decisively delivered her win in Colorado, keeping pace at the front of the race from the start and handing down a new course record of 25:50:23 – that's 35 minutes faster than Dauwalter's 2023 performance and placed the Maine native sixth overall.

"There’s a reason Hard is in the name," wrote Schide on Instagram.

"Proud to have made it back to Silverton. Definitely won’t be forgetting this one anytime soon."

It was Schide's first time on the course, but her victory comes as a shock to no one. Meanwhile, Manon Bohard's second-place finish took a few by surprise, but perhaps it shouldn't have. The French runner took first in the 100-mile Le Grand Raid De La Réunion in 2024 after all. She came in more than three hours behind Schide, followed a couple of hours later by Germany's Katharina Hartmuth, who took third place for the second year in a row.

Stephanie Case, who was tipped for a possible podium spot, missed out this year, taking fifth place.

Men's results

Over in the men's race, it was nothing short of a French invasion, led by Ludo Pommeret, who did it again, taking Hardrock gold for the second consecutive year, despite failing to break his own course record.

"I said it was hard to do it better, and it was hard to do better," says Pommeret in a post-race video about his 22:21:53 finish, which was about 50 minutes slower than last year's performance.

That said, he enjoyed some good company on the trail, as he was paced by Jim Walmsley and Vincent Bouillard.

Pommeret has now completed (and won) the full Hardrock course in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions. The win comes just a couple of months after the runner took second place at the Grand Raid.

In second place, Montreal-based Mathieu Blanchard clocked in at 23:44:23 for his debut at the race, and we don't blame him if he's still a little tired after being the first to finish the brutal 600k Yukon race in -40°F temps this winter.

Grangier, another first-timer, rounded out the podium, coming in 20 minutes later, which we're sure will help him forget about a couple of disappointing DNFs over the last year at the Grand Raid and UTMB finals.

Zach Miller had hoped for redemption after dropping out last year due to appendicitis, but failed to make a dent, coming in just one minute ahead of Schide after what he describes as an "epic duel" over the final climb and descent.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain
• The best running backpacks: for everything you need on the move

Excitement is building ahead of this year’s Hardrock 100, the 30^th edition of one of the world’s most legendary trail races. This weekend, many of trail-running’s brightest stars will be putting themselves through the wringer in an attempt to emerge victorious on the infamously brutal course high in the San Juan Mountains. Separating them from the finish line is 102.5 miles (164km) of technical trails, dirt roads, surprise mountain hazards and 33,197ft (10,118m) of elevation gain.

There’s no Courtney Dauwalter this year, while American ultrarunning’s current golden boy Jim Walmsley will be pacing rather than competing. Nevertheless, a glance at the names on the start line suggests that there’ll be plenty of drama and more than a few stories to come out of the 2025 race.

If you want the see the action as it unfolds, you can follow runners via the live GPS tracking and live aid station splits, as well as by following the Mountain Outpost team’s live YouTube steam.

Women's race: Schide's Hardrock debut

In the women’s race, all eyes will be on American Katie Schide following a stellar 2024 in which she won both the Western States and the UTMB. This will be her Hardrock debut and many consider her to be the woman to beat, particularly as her great rival Courtney Dauwalter – winner of the last three women’s races – won’t be on the start line this year.

Reports suggest Schide, who calls the village of Saint-Dalmas-le-Selvage in the French Maritime Alps home, has been training in the US since mid-May. It’s clear her focus has been well and truly on this race.

However, there’s a glut of talent among her competitors, including Stephanie Case, the Canadian who finished second at Hardrock in 2022. She made headlines in May this year when she romped to victory in the women’s race at UTMB’s Ultra Trail Snowdonia (UTS) 100k. It’s a story reminiscent of Jasmin Paris’ legendary win on the brutal Winter Spine Race in 2019, as Case stopped to breastfeed her six-month-old daughter Pepper while at the aid stations.

Case – who is the founder of the charity Free to Run, which seeks to empower women from all cultures to take up the sport – had struggled to race at an elite level during a challenging, three-year fertility journey, during which she suffered miscarriages and IVF failures. However, her victory at UTS suggests a remarkable return to top form from an individual who clearly possesses spades of resilience.

Another athlete to watch is German runner Katharina Hartmuth, who finished 3^rd last year and was 2^nd to Courtney Dauwalter at 2023’s UTMB. This will be her first race since an incredible win at the 2024 Tor des Géants. Then, she set a new course record of 79:10:40, becoming the first woman in history to finish the TOR330 in under 80 hours, beating the previous record held by Britain’s Sabrina Verjee. She’s had her injury battles since but comes into the race looking sharp once more.

Men's race: can anyone stop Ludo?

French athlete Ludovic (Ludo) Pommeret appears to be the man to beat in the men’s race. He set a course record of 21:33:06 on his way to victory last year and, despite turning 50 this year, will take some stopping – especially considering he’ll be paced by the last two winners of the legendary UTMB: Jim Walmsley and fellow Frenchman Vincent Bouillard.

As well as winning last year’s race, Pommeret was the 2022 winner of the gruelling Ultra-Trail Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie (TDS), a 92-mile (148km) race that’s held as part of the wider Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc event. In April this year, he finished 2^nd at the Grand Raid Ventoux by UTMB (GRV) 100-mile race, behind countryman Matthieu Simon.

Another Frenchman, Mathieu Blanchard, is expected to mount a challenge, however, fresh from finishing second in Wales at the UTMB’s Ultra Trail Snowdonia (UTS) 100k. This UTMB veteran was in great form last year, winning three major races, including the 100-mile Le Grand Raid De La Réunion – La Diagonale Des Fous, though he recorded a DNF at UTMB. Meanwhile, yet another Frenchman, Germaine Grainger will be looking to build on his success at the Chianti Ultra Trail by UTMB 100k race.

There’s an emerging story in the form of Kenyan-born elite American runner Zach Miller, who had to pull out last year due to an emergency appendectomy just a week before the race. (He had still been willing to give it a shot but race organizers decided against it.) This was following a fruitful 2023 where he’d won the 100-mile Tarawera Ultramaraton in New Zealand and finished 2^nd to Jim Walmsley at UTMB.

His do-or-die approach to racing means he’s one of the less predictable competitors in the field. Will he power to victory, as he did when he became the first American to win the Ultra-Trail Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix (CCC) in 2015? Or, will he implode, like at the 2018 UTMB when he pushed too hard in an attempt to overcome eventual winner Xavier Thévenard and ended up in a rescue helicopter?

Only time will tell…

What is the Hardrock 100?

Officially known as the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run, the Hardrock 100 is a 102.5 mile (165km) ultramarathon that takes place in Southern Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. It’s a region renowned for its high, rugged peaks and mining heritage. In fact, the run salutes the toughness and perseverance of the hardrock miners who once lived and worked here. It was first held in 1992 and featured just 18 participants, but has since grown to become an iconic event in the world of trail running.

It’s not a run for the faint-hearted. It entails in the region of 33,000ft (10,000m) of elevation gain on dirt roads, tracks and cross-country trails. Runners will move through several climate zones and remain at altitudes between 7,700ft and 14,000ft (2,350 and 4,250m) throughout.

By no measure is it your average run. Official course description guidance states: 'There are many hazards on the Hardrock course! Including but not limited to; falls on snow, scree, talus and cliffs, fast moving water, wildlife encounters, rock fall, altitude sickness, lightning, cold and heat'.

The route is a loop linking the historic mining towns of Silverton, Telluride, Ouray and Lake City. Just to keep the runners on their toes, the direction is reversed each year. Finishers won’t cross a standard finish line either, instead they’ll plant a kiss on a mountain goat-emblazoned hunk of rock to end their race.

Hardrock legends

Many of trail running’s most legendary characters have been victorious at the Hardrock 100. Widely regarded as the greatest mountain runner in history, Spaniard Kilian Jornet shares the record for most male race wins with Utah-based ultra runner Karl Meltzer. Both have won five times: Jornet in 2014, 2015, 2016 (tied), 2017 and 2022; Meltzer in 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2009.

The last three women’s races, in 2022, 2023 and 2024, have been dominated by one runner and one runner alone: the great Courtney Dauwalter. Her 2023 victory was her second step towards her historic Triple Crown, winning the prestigious trio of Western States, Hardrock and UTMB in a single year.

However, when it comes to course legends, she’s still got some way to go to top fellow American Betsy Kalmeyer’s haul of five victories in 1996, 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2006. US runner Diana Finkel also enjoyed a period of dominance, winning the race four times on the bounce between 2009 and 2011, before another American, Darcy Piceu Africa, won three in a row, in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

How to stream the race

You can watch the live broadcast throughout the event via the three videos below. Each covers a different section of the race:

• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain
• The best running backpacks: for everything you need on the move

A major date in the UTMB World Series calendar, the Hoka Val D'Aran saw many mountain running elites vying for the podium and places in the 2026 edition of the main Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc. The trails of the Pyrenees saw their fare share of drama, as well as challenging weather conditions.

Stormy forecasts forced organizers to alter the race routes across all distances in order to ensure the safety of participants, staff, volunteers and spectators. Nevertheless, all those gathered were treated to a festival of trail running that saw some of the sport's biggest names deliver.

The shortened Peades d'Aigua (PDA) saw Chinese running sensation Maio Yao take victory in the women's race, despite admitting that she'd found the downhills "really tough", according to a Run247 report. Italy's Nadir Maguet was victorious in the men's race, over eight minutes ahead of second placed Leonard Mitrica from Romania.

Having been cancelled due to storms in 2023 and 2024, it was great to see the main Torn dera Val d'Aran (VDA) race take place this year, albeit in a slightly curtailed form due to the stormy forecast. On the altered 88 mile (142km) course, Belgium's Laura Van Vooren emerged victorious in the women's race, holding off the challenge of China's Yuanyuan Wu, with a time of 20:26:37. France's Arthur Joyeux-Bouillon ran an impressive 16:25:48 to take the win in the men's race.

In the shortened Camins d'Hèr (CDH), Norway's Mari Klakegg Fenre romped to victory in the women's race, over an-hour-and-a-half ahead of second placed Spaniard Amaia Razkin Medrano. The men's race was a closer run thing, with France's Baptiste Coatantiec beating Spain's Manuel Anguita to the finish line by less than four minutes.

What is the Hoka Val d'Aran by UTMB?

Comprising seven individual races, with distances ranging from 6 miles (10km) to 101 miles (163km), Val d'Aran has been the European Major of the UTMB Wold Series for four consecutive years. It sees over 5,000 participants from more than 80 countries take part.

The setting is the spectacular Pyrenees, the mountain range that runs along the border between Spain and France. Val d'Aran itself is an Atlantic-facing valley in the heart of the range. It's often cited as being 'the Essence of the Pyrenees', with its lush forests, 10,000ft (3,000m) peaks and rich cultural heritage.

The seven races of the meet include the Torn dera Val d'Aran (VDA), Camins d'Hèr (CDH), Peades d'Aigua (PDA), Experiència d'Aran (EXP), SKY 15K Promesas and SKY - Baqueira Beret.

The VDA, CDH and PDA are the three that enjoy the highest profile. The 100mi (163km) VDA is the flagship event, a grand tour of the Val d'Aran that entails over 32,000ft (10,000m) of elevation gain. It's a challenge that's equivalent to that of the legendary Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc.

The 68 mile (110km) CDH takes the runner into some of the Val d'Aran's wildest and remotest areas while exploring its mining heritage. Meanwhile, the 34 mile (55km) PDA is a stunning run through the mountains of Naut Aran, taking in Colomérs, a stunning glacial cirque.

• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain
• The best running backpacks: for everything you need on the move

It may be one of the world's most legendary trail races, yet keeping the adrenaline flowing for all 100 miles of the Western States Endurance Run is no mean feat. British runner Fiona Pascall cited an unlikely source behind at least a tiny bit of her success in finishing 5th in the women's race on her debut on the course.

Pascall posted on Instagram to reflect on the race, thank her crew and ponder whether it was being charged by a bear that helped her get through the notorious canyons. In her post, she said: "I'm not sure if it was the ice keeping me cool or the adrenaline from being charged by a bear that made the canyons better than expected, but getting through them feeling ok was an amazing feeling."

She didn't expand on the exact circumstances of the incident, or how long it lasted though, going on to thank the pacing services of Ian Sherman and the miraculous impact of using ice in the California heat.

What's next for Pascall?

The younger sister of 2021 Western States women's race winner Beth Pascall, Fiona bagged her 'Golden Ticket' after winning UTMB Chianti in March, a race in which she held the lead for several hours. This followed on from a fruitful 2024, when she won the 100-mile Julian Alps Trail Run in Slovenia, following on from her win at the Arc 50 – Arc of Attrition race on England's Cornish coast in 2023.

A Salomon UK ultra-runner, she lives in the Quantock Hills in England's southwest and fell in love with long-distance mountain running after taking on the Bob Graham Round in the Lake District National Park, a classic fell running challenge.

She and Western States 2025 winner Abby Hall will undoubtedly lock horns again at this year's Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc in August. After winning Chianti, Pascall now has secured entry to both the 2025 and 2026 race. We'll be watching closely come August, that's for sure.

• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain
• The best running backpacks: for everything you need on the move

While her ultra running colleagues were trying (and failing) to break her Western States record, Courtney Dauwalter proved she's back on top form in the Dolomites with a win at the 120k Lavaredo Ultra Trail by UTMB.

The Colorado-based runner maintained an easy lead on the Italian course over Alyssa Clark (US), Marina Cugnetto (Italy) and Karolina Wierzchowiak (Poland) for the majority of the race, crossing the finish line in 14 hours, 14 minutes and 40 seconds, just five minutes shy of Rosanna Buchauer’s 2024 course record.

"She looks like she ran a 5k," jokes one follower on an Instagram post from UTMB showing Dauwalter looking fresh as a daisy.

First place is where you can usually find the 40-year-old star, but this one follows a disappointing – and very unusual – DNF at the Cocodona 250 in May. Dauwalter is best known for handing down course records at the hundred-mile distance in her trusted Salomon S/Lab Genesis shoes, so it's not a shock to see her smash half that distance, but good to see her back.

Not long after Dauwalter, Clark arrived in second place in 14:43:51 and Wierzchowiak rounded out the podium more than two hours later with a finish time of 16:19:57 after Cugnetto dropped at around 90k.

In the men's race, it was another US runner, Ben Dhiman, who took the win and laid down a new course record in 11:49:16. We previously saw the Pyrenees-based runner take first in the Grand Raid Ventoux by UTMB 100k in April. He was followed by Raul Butaci (Romania) in second place and Italy's Andreas Reiterer for third.

The Lavaredo Ultra Trail by UTMB was launched in 2007 and takes trail runners across a UNESCO World Heritage Site, gaining over 19,000ft (5,800m) in elevation over 75 miles.

• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain
• The best running poles: for ultra distance training, epic races, and fastpacking adventures

Looking for the men's results? Find them here.

It was a tale of redemotion for Abby Hall at the Western States 100 women's race as the runner returned from a serious injury to deliver one of the fastest times ever.

Not long after the 100-mile race took off from Palisades Tahoe Ski Resort on June 28, the 34-year-old quickly found her place near the front in a tight pack that included Ida Nilsson (Sweden), Eszter Csillag (Hungary) and Martyna Mlynarczyk (Poland). Much like men's winner Caleb Olson, Hall made her way to the front around the halfway point and maintained it till the end, arriving at Placer County High School in 16 hours, 37 minutes and 16 seconds, 11th overall.

That's over an hour behind Courtney Dauwalter's 2023 record, but it makes Hall the fourth fastest woman in WSER history, and it's a massive six hours faster than her 2021 debut at the race.

Hall has been sidelined by a knee injury for the last two years, but things started to look up for the Flagstaff runner last year when she won the Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko by UTMB 100k in her Agravic Speed Ultras.

"Two years ago, she couldn’t toe the line due to injury, today, she owns it. What a way to come back," writes an Instagram post her her sponsors at Adidas Terrex.

Hall initially missed out on securing her golden ticket a this year's Black Canyon Ultras, but when EmKay Sullivan announced she was pregnant a few weeks later, Hall learned she was heading to Western States after all.

What else went down?

Chinese runner Fuzhao Xiang was no doubt hoping for the win after taking second last year with the third fastest women's finish in history, but once again she found herself runner-up up, coming in 10 minutes behind Hall in 16:47:09 and nearly half an hour behind last year's time.

Taking third place, Canada's Marianne Hogan managed to pass Nilsson at the last minute and find herself on yet another podium in 16:50:58.

It wasn't all good news in the women's race, however, as the course got the better of Riley Brady, a favorite to win, who dropped at Forest Hills after nearly 13 hours. Tara Dower hung on till mile 73 but dropped at Ford's Bar after 16 hours. Csillag, Mlynarczyk and Heather Jackson all dropped earlier in the race.

As usual, this year's course saw runners and bystanders navigating everything from hard-packed snow to scorching temperatures, with the mercury reaching the 90s yesterday afternoon. The warm weather meant the river was low enough for the runners to cross on foot (holding onto a rope) rather than being ferried across in rafts.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

Looking for the women's results? Find them here.

Caleb Olson snatched victory at the Western States 100 men's race with one of the fastest times ever, while the legendary hundred miler proved predictably unpredictable for several runners tapped for a possible podium.

The 29-year-old was in the front pack as it took off from Palisades Tahoe Ski Resort on June 28 and kept a blistering pace for the first half of the race. After dropping fellow American Chris Myers in the canyons, he ran solo for the final 45 miles, looking "cool, calm and collected" in an Instagram post showing him fording the American River at mile 78, and coming in at 14 hours, 11 minutes and 25 seconds. That's only two minutes behind Jim Walmsley's 2019 record.

The Utah runner is relatively new to the scene, but threw down the fastest debut ever at WSER in 2024 and made headlines again in February when he set a stunning new course record at Transgrancanaria wearing a shoe prototype that's rumored to be the new Nike Ultrafly.

What else went down?

Colorado's Chris Myers, also 29, managed to hold onto second place and came in just behind Olson in 14:17:39, also one of the fastest times ever on the course and besting his 2024 time by an hour.

After Jim Walmsley dropped out of the race five weeks ago due to a knee injury, all eyes swivelled to Kilian Jornet, who was making his return to the race after a victory 14 years ago. Though he took third place after staying towards the front for the duration of the race, his time of 14:19:22 is more than an hour and 15 minutes faster than his last win, so clearly he's got faster over the years – the problem is, so has everyone else.

Jornet quickly took to Instagram to congratulate Olson and Myers, writing: "The beauty of stepping outside your comfort zone is that nothing’s guaranteed. What an incredible intensity from start to finish - running one hour and 15 minutes faster than I did here to win 14 years ago, but today even that wasn’t enough."

Was there carnage?

As usual, there was plenty of carnage to be had on the course, with David Roche turning out to be one of the first casualties on the men's side. Roche, who last year finally broke the longstanding Leadville 100 record and then won the Javelina Jundred, had stated publicly he intended to win the race at his debut, even launching a YouTube series called Road to Western States to chart his journey. In the end, the heat proved too much for the Colorado runner, who dropped at Foresthill after around 10 hours on the course.

Similarly, last year's surprise UTMB winner Vincent Bouillard had flown to California to try the race for the first time after taking third place behind Walmsley and Jornet at this year's UTMB Chianti. The French runner made it nearly 14 hours on the course before DNFing at Green Gate.

You can view the full men's results here.

As usual, this year's course saw runners and bystanders navigating snow as well as scorching temperatures, with the thermostat hitting the 90s yesterday afternoon. The warm weather meant the river was low enough for the runners to cross on foot (holding onto a rope) rather than being ferried across in rafts.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

Among the many 100-mile trail races across the world these days – and let’s face it, there seems to be one a week – one reigns supreme as the most prestigious, and that’s California’s Western States Endurance Run.

Western States isn’t the biggest trail race in terms of competitors – it sees just a few hundred runners compared to the thousands who compete in the UTMB finals in Chamonix. It’s tough, but perhaps not as tough as the Tors de Geants or the Marathon des Sables, just to name a couple of gruelling ultras. It doesn’t offer a prize purse to the winner, and while that’s not unique in the world of trail running, if you wanted to make bank, you’d be better off angling for the Run Rabbit Run 100, which awards the first-place finisher $15,000.

So why is Western States such a big deal in ultra running? In this article, we took a look at this iconic endurance race, from its unlikely origins to the details that make a silver belt buckle one of the most coveted finisher prizes in ultra running.

What is the Western States Endurance Run?

Western States (WSER) is a 100-mile trail race that starts in Olympic Valley at the base of Palisades Tahoe ski resort, travels southwest, and finishes on the running track at Placer High School in the gold rush town of Auburn. Most of the terrain between those two points is remote and rugged, taking competitors over 18,090ft (5,500m) of ascent and 22,970ft (7,000m) of descent.

The highest point on the course is at Emigrant Pass, at 8,750ft (2,667m), and participants have to ford the American River at mile 78 (when the river is too high, they are ferried across by raft). But to understand why the WSER is such a big deal, you first have to understand the origins of this race.

Half a century of endurance

Western States claims the distinction of being the world’s oldest 100-mile trail race, and since no one has come along to challenge that title, we’re going to assume it’s true. To run in the Western States, therefore, is to take part in one of trail running's seminal events. In fact, this race predates the very concept of trail running, Hoka, Salomon, hydration vests, and everything that’s come to represent the sport as we know it today.

This historic race, which makes up one-fifth of the Grand Slam of Ultra Running, follows a portion of the Western States Trail (which goes from Salt Lake to Sacramento) in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. The route was originally used by native Americans for trade before the pioneers and gold rush miners used it to move between California’s gold fields and Nevada’s silver mines.

The first race along the route wasn’t a foot race; in 1955, the first Tevis Cup (officially known as The Western States Trail Ride) was held. This equestrian race required competitors to complete the route in under 24 hours to be considered finishers. According to an article in the Reno-Gazette Journal, the first time anyone attempted to run the race on foot was when a group of Fort Riley soldiers tried it in 1972. Of the 20 who started, seven finished.

In 1974, runner Gordy Ainsleigh became the first to complete the race on foot in under 24 hours, and in 1977, the first official Western States Endurance Run foot race was held concurrently with the horse race, with just 16 runners competing. Just like the horse race, runners had 24 hours to finish, and of the three who ran the entire 100 miles, only Andy Gonzalez made the official cutoff. The following year, a sub-30-hour category was added, and the foot race was moved a month earlier so as not to clash with the equestrian race.

By 1978, the race had a board of directors, aid stations, and drew 67 runners, including the first woman finisher, Pat Smythe. In 1980, a lottery system was implemented to limit numbers. Western States has now run every year for nearly 50 years, with the exception of 2008 (poor air quality due to wildfires) and 2020 (COVID).

The current record holders for WSER are Jim Walmsley, who arrived at the finish line in 14:09:28 in 2019, and Courtney Dauwalter, who punched in at 15:29:33 in 2023. Trail running legend Scott Jurek holds the men’s record for consecutive victories with seven wins between 1999 and 2005. Ann Trason has won the race 14 times and held the women’s course record of 17:37:51 (set in 1994) for 18 years, until Ellie Greenwood achieved a new fastest time in 2012.

Today, WSER is just one of hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of 100-mile races across the world, but more than any other, it allows today’s runners to feel they are connected to trail running history. Those who complete the course in under 24 hours receive a handcrafted silver buckle, while the sub-30 finishers get a bronze buckle, and since 2021, all finishers receive a Running Stone to enter the lottery for the UTMB finals.

Striking gold

One of the reasons a place in Western States has become so desirable is scarcity. Because a section of the course runs through the Granite Chief Wilderness, race organizers have agreed to a cap of just 369 runners to retain permission to continue. Not all of those places are up for grabs via lottery, however.

Each year, the top 10 men and women are invited back for the following year, bringing the number of available spots down to 349 (if every runner accepts), but there are also up to 28 spots (14 each for men and women) that are given away at select Golden Ticket races, which include the Black Canyon 100k, CCC at UTMB, Javelina Jundred, Canyons Endurance Runs 100k, Tarawera 100k and the Chianti Ultra Trail by UTMB. Basically, in these races, the first-placed man and woman receive automatic entry into the race. If they choose to pass, as Francesco Puppi did after winning the 2025 Canyons by UTMB 100k, the ticket goes to the next-placed runner.

So that brings the total number of lottery tickets down to only 321, making each space highly competitive. To enter the lottery, you have to have completed a qualifying race in the 12 months before the lottery application period. Consequently, it can take years – and by some accounts decades – to earn your spot in the race via lottery.

An elite field like no other

It’s true that many big trail races attract a lot of elites, but if it seems like Western States has an abnormally high volume of elite runners, that’s probably because it does.

Thanks to the Golden Ticket process and the invitation of previous year’s top 10 finishers, more than 10 percent of all entrants are, by definition, elite runners. This means that this particular race is especially competitive, and practically no matter who is racing, the event is always an exciting showdown.

Elite runners will often make the trek to the race even if they are not competing, and the town of Auburn is overrun with the best in the field in the days leading up to the race.

Not for the faint of heart

If you were paying attention to the course stats, you’ll have noticed that WSER entails more downhill than it does uphill, but make no mistake, that does not mean it’s an easier course than other Grand Slam races.

While it’s true that the total elevation gain of the course is significantly less than that of the UTMB or Hardrock 100 (by around 14,000ft) and it lacks the high-altitude terrain of races like Hardrock and Leadville 100, the organizers of WSER warn that the course differs from other major races substantially, and is not to be taken lightly.

The highest point on the course is reached within the first five miles, which means that right out of the gate, you’re climbing 2,550 vertical feet (777m). Meanwhile, over 18,000ft of ascent is nothing to scoff at – that’s more than climbing Mont Blanc. The variation in altitude also means that runners frequently encounter snow and temperatures over 100°F (37.7°C) in the same race.

The real challenge though is the remoteness of the course, which passes through high mountains and deep canyons that can only be reached by foot, horse or helicopter. That means that training runs on the course are more risky, and runners are warned not to attempt the river crossing as part of their training.

On the course, you’ll need to be mentally prepared for at least one night very far removed from the nearest town, and you shouldn’t expect crowds at regular intervals cheering you on like at other races. You might, however, encounter rattlesnakes, mountain lions or bears, like Jim Walmsley in 2018 (not that it slowed him down).

Finally, those downhill sections, which are an inevitable part of most races that also go up, can be up to 16 miles long with grades of over six percent, and these can be savage on your quads and knees.

How can I watch this year’s Western States?

You can follow all the action live at the Western States 100 YouTube channel with commentary and increasingly great footage and coverage.

• Best trail running shoes: tough footwear for technical terrain
• The best running poles: for ultra distance training, epic races, and fastpacking adventures

Kilian Jornet's final race before taking on the Western States this week didn't quite go to plan, with the ultra running star falling foul to illness on the short but steep climb.

Jornet flew to the US last week in preparation for the iconic 100-mile Western States Endurance Run in California. On Friday, he planned to warm up with the Broken Arrow Sky Race Ascent, a 2.15-mile (3.46k) race that gains a fearsome 1,800ft (349m) of elevation. Jornet says the course is just like a route back home in Norway, Nesaksla, that he's "been running for years."

However, the Nnormal founder posted on Instagram that the long journey from Europe to the west coast had thwarted his ambitions, and he ultimately arrived in 23rd place.

"A cold after traveling meant the body didn’t cooperate to go full gas, but that happens in this sport."

Race organizers were forced to make last-minute changes to the course due to gale-force winds at the Washeshu Peak summit, re-routing the finish to KT22, but this didn't seem to pose any issue for US runners, who dominated the podium.

A splendidly mulletted Christian Allen had a great day out, coming in first in 23:49, followed closely by 16-time USA National Champ Joe Gray (24:12) and Cam Smith just seconds later to round out the podium in 24:24.

In the women's race, it was another US runner, Anna Gibson, who took gold, arriving just seconds after Jornet in 23:49, followed by Kenya's Joyce Muthoni Njeru (29:06) and Canada's Jade Belzberg (29:23).

While those runners bask in the glory of their excellent performances, Jornet has now fully turned his attention to WSER, which kicks off this Saturday at 5am Pacific. Jornet's return marks 15 years since he last ran at the race, which he won in 2011.

The Spanish running legend says he's already feeling better having completed an "easy recon" of a 15-mile section of the course.

"Cooler weather than what’s expected for race week! Legs feeling good, and happy to be rediscovering these trails after all this time."

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain

After an incredible record-breaking summit season, Everest has been on many an adventurer's minds. But if a trip to Base Camp seems out of reach, don't despair - you might just get a chance to race there!

British outdoor brand Inov8 is challenging its community to run or hike as much ascent as possible between June 23 and July 6 in order to win an adventure trip of a lifetime to Nepal and participate in the iconic Everest Marathon. The winner will be selected from those who sign up to the brand's Natural High Everest Challenge.

The Everest Marathon is an annual trail event in Nepal's Khumbu region, home to Earth's highest mountain. The race starts from Everest Basecamp, at 17,598ft (5,364m), and attracts runners from across the world. It always takes place on Everest Day, May 29, paying tribute to the first ascent by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. The race is a hugely tough undertaking, run at altitude and heading downhill from Base Camp along rough tracks and trails.

At the end of the Natural High Everest Challenge, all the ascent clocked up by participants will be logged to reveal how many times the Inov8 community has managed to scale the equivalent height of Everest, which stands at 29,032ft (8,849m). Inov8 has teamed up with adventure travel company KE Adventure to provide one lucky winner with a 19-day group guided trip from Kathmandu, including entry into the race.

Runners and hikers can share photos of their progress on social media using the hashtag #INOV8NaturalHigh. The winner will be selected at random, regardless of how much elevation they've clocked up.

In a press release, Inov8 produce and marketing director, Michael Price, said: "We've all felt the natural high that sport gives us – it’s such a positive, natural drug.

“Let’s come together as one global community and take on this uplifting challenge... Can we climb (Everest's) height every day for two weeks and amass over 100,000m? It's a big ask, let’s aim high.”

The winner will also receive up to £1,500 towards the cost of flights to Kathmandu and an Inov8 kit bundle. All participants who submit their total elevation at the end of the challenge will also receive a gift voucher code for the Inove8 website and the chance to win other prizes.

• The best trekking poles: take the pressure off when you're out on the trails
• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain

The first runners have crossed the finish line at Britain's "most brutal" trail running race, and women are dominating the overall podium.

Anna Troup took first place in the 286-mile Montane Summer Spine race, arriving at the finish at around 9pm on June 18 when she clocked in with an impressive time of 84 hours, 56 minutes and 37 seconds – well ahead of every man on the course.

“It’s wonderful to see so many familiar faces – and to feel the warmth of this community again," says Troup.

Jon Shield started the race from Edale to the Scottish borders with an early lead, but Troup's steady approach slowly picked off all other competitors. The Lake District-based runner is no stranger to the Summer Spine podium; she won the women's race in 2021 and 2022, when she set a new record of 78:57:49 that still stands today. But this win marks a triumphant return for the 55-year-old, who has spent the best part of three years rehabbing a foot injury.

Posting on Instagram in April, Troup says: "It has been 2.5 years of Wattbike and weights rooms and trying to stay motivated and fit while my foot has mended. It has been 2.5 years of hope and dashed hopes of almost mended, then broken again."

Six hours after Troup's triumph, Irene Kinnegim came in to grab the silver medal in another tale of runner's redemption. The Dutch runner has previously taken first female and fourth overall in the 2023 Winter Spine Challenger North but DNFd at last year's summer race. This year saw her hold off Shane Morgan for the final 20 miles of the race to secure second place.

Morgan takes men's first and third overall with a time of 91:45:56, while Dominic Gill and Tom McBain have rounded out the men's podium. At the time of publication, we're still waiting to see which woman will take third.

The Montane Summer Spine course winds through the Peak District, Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland National Park, Hadrian’s Wall, and the Cheviots, taking ultra runners over 32,000ft (10,000m) of ascent in a non-stop race through exposed moorlands, challenging paths, and unpredictable weather conditions.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best GPS watches: feature-packed timepieces to keep you on course

Fourteen years after winning the Western States 100 in 2011, trail running legend Kilian Jornet is coming back to California to take another swing at the iconic race.

Though Jim Walmsley and Haydn Hawks both recently dropping off the 2025 roster may have dampened overall excitement a little, many trail running fans will still be tuning in to see Jornet compete against the likes of Cocodona 2025 winner Dan Green, UTMB 2024 winner Vincent Bouillard and Leadville 100 record holder David Roche, who has pulled no punches in his intentions to win.

It's going to be a highly competitive men's field in a race which Jornet calls "a founding piece of the sport" of trail running, and there's no doubt he's going to give it his all. The Spaniard's team recently reached out to us to share all the details of how he's preparing for his return to Western States.

Turning up the thermostat

Just because recent years have seen Jornet summit Everest without supplemental oxygen, throw down countless FKTs and course records (including at the UTMB, on Denali and Mont Blanc) and climb all 82 4,000m Alpine peaks in just 19 days, doesn't mean he won't face any challenges training for a straightforward race in California.

These days, the runner lives in Norway (with his wife Emelie Forsberg), where he says it rarely reaches 70°F (20°C). At Western States, it's not uncommon for race-day temperatures to exceed 100°F. Needless to say, he's putting an emphasis on heat training.

"It’s hard to train for hotter environments training normally," says Jornet, so he's been warming up his home gym to 110°F (45°C) and for the last 10 weeks has been doing three long (2 - 3 hour) sessions indoors, sometimes wearing waterproof clothing to keep his body from cooling itself naturally.

During these sessions, he tracks his core temperature, sweat rate, and sodium concentration to see how his body is responding.

Zone 1 (and technical days "for fun")

In the years since his 2011 win, Jornet and Forsberg have had two children, plus he's co-founded the running shoe brand Nnormal, so he admits that life and training look a little different these days.

"With kids, there’s less time to train and a much more marked routine, and I want to spend time with the kids, so basically the bigger part of the training is when they are at kindergarten, and weekends is very short sessions when they’re resting."

That said, he says he still prioritizes long, slow runs above everything else to build up his base fitness.

"I always do a long aerobic base period for 3 - 4 months with moderate to long distance journeys. That’s a must for me."

Jornet runs wearing the Coros Apex 2 Pro watch with the Coros Heart Rate Monitor, which he says is "more precise and comfortable" and during long efforts he pays particular attention to his average heart rate and Effort Pace, which he says is his favorite Coros metric. Most importantly, he keeps his heart rate low – around 80% of his training is spent in Zone 1, which Coros designates as recovery.

"I like being alone and in my thoughts, just hearing the nature," says Jornet of his long sessions.

Most of the rest of the time, he trains in Zones 2 (Aerobic Endurance) and 3 (Aerobic Power) which is where he operates on race day.

"Then for fun I always like the technical days in the mountains. Also some uphills here that I repeat often and serves as training and to see how is my fitness."

A little bit of data, a lot of patience

Like most elites, Jornet says he doesn't get bogged down by metrics and in fact trains "mainly based on feel," primarily using his heart rate data when things aren't going well in his training.

"I look at data to see where the problem can be."

That said, when he's doing a session to target on a specific adaptation, he will look at other data: if he's training for high altitude, he looks at metrics like blood oxygen and heart rate variability and for neuromuscular training he finds data like cadence, length of stride, and contact time helpful.

Finally, he says, patience is an important part of his training and something he recommends to other trail runners:

"Be patient for the long game. Adaptions come over years of consistent stimuli. So do something that is sustainable and enjoyable for you."

Learn more about Jornet's training at Coros. This year's Western States Endurance run takes place over June 28 and 29. You can follow all the action on YouTube.

• The best GPS watches: feature-packed timepieces to keep you on course
• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures

Race organizers at the world's most iconic trail running event have announced an innovative new scheme to cut carbon emissions, by incentivizing runners to choose low carbon travel.

In 2026, runners in the UTMB Mont-Blanc will receive recommendations for the most carbon-efficient travel route to the Chamonix area based on their home location. Those who follow the suggestions will be rewarded with a 30% bonus in the highly competitive lottery draw for the 100-mile race as well as the shorter-distance CCC, OCC and ETC races.

Organizers say the initiative is part of a four-pillar plan, developed in collaboration with Protect Our Winters and the Pro Trail Runners Association, to offset the carbon footprint of the event, which takes runners on a 100-mile loop around Mont Blanc and draws tens of thousands of people to Chamonix.

“As witnesses to climate change, we’re taking action to protect the environment that we cherish. Given the overwhelming impact of transport in our carbon footprint, collective action is essential to achieving results," says Isabelle Viseux-Poletti, UTMB France Events Director.

UTMB organizers report that 79% of runners come from inside Europe, and 60% of those participants travel to the area by car despite available rail services. The race, which serves as the finals for the UTMB circuit, has been capped at 10,000 entries to manage impact, but a 2024 carbon audit for the event revealed that if organizers want to reduce emissions, they need to look at transport to and from the event.

Conducted by Utopies consultancy, the report revealed that approximately 88% of the event’s total emissions are generated by transport, with 86% of those emissions linked to travel to and from the Chamonix area.

"As organisers of an international event, we have a duty to provide real, practical and motivating solutions that support more sustainable travel habits no matter where people are coming from. We want each person to understand the impact of their travel choices and feel empowered to reduce it,” says Viseux-Poletti.

Race organizers say the system will account for the unique travel realities in each country, "ensuring a fair and equitable approach for all participants regardless of where they live."

Runners will also receive exclusive discounts on rail travel between Paris and Geneva.

The initiative is part of an overall commitment to reducing carbon emissions by 20% by 2030 and involves required financial contributions from all stakeholders. UTMB organizers say they will release a carbon report every year with updates.

Private cars are already banned from 80% of key course locations, which are accessible exclusively via UTMB Mobility shuttles, and in 2025, runners will have access to the UTMB Go app for help planning their journey to the area and managing local travel with the lowest possible carbon impact – all without needing a car.

The event has previously come under fire for taking on car company Dascia as a title sponsor, but in 2024, trail running shoe brand Hoka assumed that role after Jim Walmsley threw down a new course record in 2023, sporting a pair of the Hoka Tecton X 3s.

• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain
• The best running poles: for ultra distance training, epic races, and fastpacking adventures

With Jim Walmsley dropping out of this year's Western States, Kilian Jornet's chances for another win are looking better than ever, and now the Spanish ultra runner has a unique opportunity for someone who thinks they can keep up with him.

Posting to Instagram this week, Jornet announced that he's seeking a runner to pace him for one 20-mile section of the iconic 100-mile California race. Jornet says you need to be fit (which seems an understatement) and "up for the challenge," and to be considered, you'll need to fill out this form and supply your Strava profile along with details of your two best race results.

In return, the lucky runner will receive a two-night stay at the race, from June 27 to 29, and a full running kit including shoes from NNormal, the brand co-founded by Jornet. If you think you've got what it takes and want the chance to keep a running legend company on the course, applications close Thursday, June 12th at 23:59.

Jornet punched his ticket to the WSER at the UTMB Chianti Castles 120k in March, where he came second to Walmsley after running an average 12k/hour pace. His return to the race has garnered a lot of excitement in the running community – he debuted at WSER in 2010, taking third place, then returned for the win the following year.

With Walmsley out of the way, 2024 silver medalist Rod Farvard is now being billed as a favorite on the men's side, while China's Fu-Xhao Xiang, who took second place last year, is the runner to watch in the women's race.

The action kicks off at 5am on Saturday, June 28, and yo'll be able to watch the race live on YouTube.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures

Global trail running events powerhouse, UTMB Group, is considering adding a third UK event to its 50-strong World Series.

The UK already hosts UTMB events Ultra-Trail Snowdonia in Eryri National Park and Cornwall's Arc of Attrition, which launched earlier this year.

Speaking to SportsPro, Florian Lamblin, the UTMB World Series Director, had this to say of the UK: "It's one of the most dynamic markets in trail running," and that "it has become the fifth biggest market in the world, after France, China, the US and Spain".

Reports suggest that the UTMB is eyeing up potential ultra events in the Lake District, Peak District, Scotland or Ireland, all places with rich mountain running heritage. The Lake District in particular is thought of as the spiritual home of fell running and has produced some of the nation's greatest mountain runners, while the Scottish Highlands boasts an almost endless skyrunning playground.

It's also reported that the UTMB is in talks with the likes of the BBC and Eurosport in the hope that future events will be broadcast to the British public.

Does UTMB improve local events?

We spoke to trail running author and Advnture contributor Jen Benson about what this would mean for the UK's trail running scene. As someone who has run both the Arc of Attrition and the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia since they were taken over, as well as attempting Ultra-Trail Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie (TDS) and who has covered the main Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc as a journalist, she knows the UTMB operation better than most.

She said: "As such an established force in the ultramarathon world, UTMB brings with it a wealth of experience, expertise and resources. Some worry races lose their uniqueness when they’re bought by UTMB, but in my experience that hasn’t been the case. There have been issues, mostly due to the rapid rate of expansion of UTMB, but the organization does listen and does make changes for the better.

"UTMB races have a big event feel and this, along with the opportunity to gain a place at the World Series Finals in Chamonix, is hugely appealing to many runners. For those who prefer smaller races with a more local vibe, there’s a fantastic range to choose from right across the UK".

UTMB's rapid growth

The UTMB World Series has grown apace with trail running's rising popularity. With the prestigious Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc as its centerpiece, the French UTMB Group has been steadily acquiring some of the most legendary trail race events across the globe to form a part of its roster.

Runners who complete the events in the World Series gain Running Stones, which enable them to apply for the main UTMB races in Chamonix. The more Running Stones an applicant has, the more chance they have of gaining a place.

However, the main event in Chamonix is just the tip of the iceberg, as there are many superb events across the world. These include Ultra Trail Whistler in Canada, the iconic Californian duo Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run and The Canyons Endurance Runs, Eiger Ultra Trail in Switzerland, South Africa's Mountain Ultra Trail and New Zealand's spectacular Tarawera Ultra Trail, just to name a few.

What events could UTMB attempt to acquire?

Typically, the UTMB Group doesn't invent whole new events. Instead, it acquires previously existing events that have the status and solid foundations to join the UTMB family. Both the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia and Arc of Attrition started out as independent events, before joining the UTMB World Series in 2022 and 2025 respectively. While some runners are critical of a larger organization swallowing up local races, others point to the fact that the UTMB brings the expertise required to help the events to grow in a sustainable way that wouldn't have otherwise been possible.

So, what other UK running events could the UTMB Group be eyeing up for adoption? While no one at UTMB has named specific events they are considering, here are a few of the possibilities.

Note that the following is conjecture only.

England's Lake District National Park hosts a range of trail and fell running events, too many to name in one go here. Among the most iconic are Montane's Lakeland 50 and 100 ultra trail races that take place in July. With UTMB hosting the Arc of Attrition in January and Ultra-Trail Snowdonia in May, this would spread the calendar out nicely. The Lake District also hosts the Altra 13 Valleys Ultra in late September, an event that celebrates the national park's 13 unique dales and vales.

The Peak District also hosts many ultra and trail events, such as the Maverick Peak Merlin, which explores the region's famous gritstone edges, and the many races of Peak District Challenge event in September.

Perhaps the most obvious candidate in Scotland would be the Skyline Scotland event, organized by Ourea Events, who also run the legendary Dragon's Back. This event embodies the skyrunning ethos, previously hosting renowned events like the Ring of Steall Skyrace and the Glen Coe Skyline, races that count the likes of Kilian Jornet, Jasmin Paris and Emelie Forsberg as previous winners. The potential stumbling block here is that the Ben Nevis Skyline race is currently part of the Salomon Golden Trail Series, very much a competitor of UTMB, albeit with more of a focus on shorter distances.

As for Ireland and Northern Ireland, there are many potentially suitable events that take place across its many mountain ranges. The Mourne Way Marathon in Northern Ireland boasts several trail and ultra races that explore the range that inspired C. S. Lewis' Narnia. In Ireland, Limerick's Ballyhoura Mountains are home to the Ballyhoura Trail Ultra Marathon, with three race distances. Then, there's the Kerry Way Ultra, which explores Ireland's most mountainous peninsula.

A Canadian trail runner has achieved an incredible feat by winning Britain's biggest ultramarathon, despite stopping to breastfeed her baby along the way.

Stephanie Case, who started the Ultra Trail Snowdonia 100km in the UK 30 minutes behind elite competitors, didn't expect to take the top spot, having lost her trail-running ranking during a tough fertility journey.

The race, which includes 20,700ft (6,300m) of climbing, kicked off at 4.30am GMT for the runners with elite bibs. However, Case, who stopped to meet partner John Roberts at aid and refueling stations along the route to breastfeed six-month-old daughter Pepper, manage to catch the elite women. Incredibly, she completed the 103k distance in a time of 16:53:22, beating the UK’s Lauren Graham and Hoka athlete Kimino Miyazaki of Japan.

"My goals were to enjoy myself and make sure Pepper was fed at aid stations. As I no longer have a UTMB index, I started in the last wave, 30 min after the leaders. Sure, I had hundreds of runners in front of me, but I could go at my own pace in blissful ignorance of my placing," Case revealed afterwards in an Instagram post.

"It truly was like riding a bike - every kilometre that passed reminded me that I hadn’t lost a thing over these past three years. In fact, I have gained way more joy and strength from this sport as a mom than I ever did before. While it broke my heart to leave little Pepper at the aid stations, I wanted to show her - both of us - how amazing mom runners can be."

Case, who had lost her elite status due to a tough, three-year fertility journey, was intending to use the race as a warmup for the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run in Colorado, which takes place July 11, 2025.

She had endured recurrent miscarriages and multiple IVF failures, questioning at times whether it was her stressful career in the humanitarian aid sector that was interfering with her dream to have a child. She asked in an emotive social media post: "I’ve given up running and racing in trying have a family with my partner. Do I have to give up my job too?"

Case is now very much looking to the future and it seems that she's in great physical and mental shape.

"Whether you are thinking of being a mom, are pregnant, or are a new mom yourself, don’t be afraid to keep setting big goals for yourself. Everyone has an opinion about what new moms should or shouldn’t be doing, and that doesn’t open up a lot of space for 'out there' ideas like running an ultra," she said.

"Should I spend this much time away from my baby? Is it harmful for my body? What about my milk supply? My coach @drmeganroche helped me navigate these questions and the social pressures that come with being a new mom runner, but we need to work together to remove the pressure in the first place and provide more support."

• The most comfortable trail running shoes: put your feet first with these lightweight, cushioned buys
• The best women’s running tops: for cool and dry runs on the trails or roads

A new documentary follows the unusual story of an ultra running dog who embarked on a 100-mile trail race.

SuperNova: the 100 Mile Dog, which you can watch below, tells the tale of Nova, a 7 year-old Hungarian Vizsla and her ultra running Dad, Evan Birch as the pair attempt to run the Orcas Island 100 race in Washington state this past February.

A former emergency responder, Birch took up running as a means to cope with work-related stress and when Nova was just four months old, she started to run with him. As his distances increased, so did Nova's.

“It was never intentional. But we've just grown together in those distances, and it's a different kind of bond. That's the best way I can describe it," Birch told us earlier this spring when we spoke to him about the adventure.

The 18-minute documentary tells the story of how Birch and his partner Cassie Hawrysh cooked up this wild plan and follows the three from training through the big race. It isn't just for dog lovers – anyone who loves running and stories about people up to big things can enjoy it and it makes for some great holiday weekend viewing.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best running backpacks: for everything you need on the move

A trail runner collapsed and died while competing in a California half marathon, which took place during a heat advisory.

Organizers of the Boney Half Marathon, SoCal Trail Events, confirmed the death of Spencer Cabral in an emailed statement to Advnture, saying that the runner was airlifted from the course to Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks on Saturday, May 10, where he was later pronounced dead.

"We're heartbroken by this tragic incident, and send our deepest condolences to the family," says Event Director Daniel Weissauer.

A cause of death for Cabral has not yet been released, but a heat advisory was in effect for the area that day, with temperatures as high as 103°F (39.4°C) predicted. Local news outlet the VC Star reports that a Fire Department spokesperson confirmed Cabral was one of four runners taken to the hospital with what appear to be heat-related illnesses.

The 13.1 mile (21km) race was one of several distances during the event in the Santa Monica mountains, which had been rescheduled from February when it was cancelled due to rain. Race volunteer Donnie Evans wrote on Instagram that the temperature was already 72°F (22°C) at 8am when the race began.

In its official statement, SoCal Trail says it takes extra precautions during extreme heat, including staffing aid stations with medical staff, doubling water supplies, providing ice, sponges, and misting systems, and enforcing hydration requirements.

"At SoCalTrail, the safety and well-being of our runners is always our highest priority."

A GoFundMe page has been established to support Cabral's family with funeral expenses.

Just one day later, a hiker died from heat-related illness on an Arizona trail. In that incident, rescue crews urged people to stay off the trails during the hottest part of the day, between 10am and 4pm, carry a liter of water for every hour you plan to be on the trail and be aware of the symptoms of heatstroke.

• The best hiking water bottles: stay hydrated at camp and on the trails
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

The Cocodona 250 might have been a disappointment for Courtney Dauwalter, but the desert race turned out some big success stories, including new course records on both the men's and the women's sides.

All eyes were on Dauwalter as the reigning queen of ultra attempted her first 250-mile race, and at the 100-mile mark, she was in the overall lead. After 20 hours and 108 miles, however, Dauwalter DNF'd, pointing to what she called "total body shutdown" at the 108-mile mark.

"The questions and curiosity about running those additional 150 miles to Flagstaff will have to keep hanging around a little bit longer," says Dauwalter.

Right around that 100-mile mark, West Virginia's Dan Green pulled into first place and mostly maintained it till the end, except for a brief time when he stopped for a nap and South Africa's Ryan Sandes passed him.

In the end, Green maintained his impressive 13-minute/mile average for 256 miles and threw down on the punishing course, delivering a new record of 58:47:18, trimming more than an hour of Harry Suberta's 2024 time.

"Fueled by fire, grit, and an unshakable will, he didn’t just run the race—he redefined it," say race organizers Aravaipa Running. Sandes arrived a couple of hours later to take second place in 61:21:04, and Edher Ramirez of Las Vegas closed out the podium with a time of 63:10:13.

Britain's Subertas had been an early pick to win after taking first place last year, but an early injury slowed him down and he ended up arriving in fifth place. Max Joliffe made headlines too but for the wrong reasons – he became ill during the race and ended up in the hospital in Flagstaff.

Despite Dauwalter's disappointment, the women's race was no less exciting, with last year's winner Rachel Entrekin taking the win for the second year in a row in an astonishing 63:50:55.

That's a massive 10 hours faster than last year for the unsponsored Alabama physical therapist, and places her fourth overall, only 40 minutes behind the third-placed man. It also places her firmly on the list of runners to watch.

California's Lindsey Dwyer claimed second place in 79:35:28, 13th overall, and Colorado's Sarah Ostaszewski finally made the podium in third place in what was her fourth Cocodona 250, placed her 15th overall. We think it's safe to say this has been a Cocodona to remember.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

Courtney Dauwalter's Cocodona 250 dreams came to an end a short while ago, according to her team.

The ultra running queen, who announced her 250-mile intentions in January, made it to mile 108 before pulling off the course. She started out strong despite challenging weather conditions, including hail and rain, and at the 100-mile marker, footage showed her leading overall as she cruised into Prescott.

Only eight miles later, however, the 40-year-old called the race, with crew members updating her Instagram page with the following: "Well, shoot. Court finished her run this morning at mile 108. She’s doing fine and very thankful for all the cheers both in person and from afar."

Dauwalter's supporters were quick to send their support, with the Salomon team commenting: "So proud of you for taking a big swing at a new challenge! That’s where greatness is found. You’ve inspired us all."

West Virginia's Dan Green has been in the lead since just after sunset Monday night, and is currently nearly at the 200 mile mark. South Africa's Ryan Sandes is holding second place, two miles behind Green, and 2024 women's winner Rachel Entrekin is currently holding strong in third place. However, at this distance, anything could happen.

The Cocodona 250 takes runners across extremely varied terrain from the Sonoran desert to the 9,301ft summit of Mount Elden and through the largest ponderosa pine forest in the world. The course is 91 percent trail (45 percent of that is singletrack) and nine percent pavement.

We're nearly 27 hours into the race at the time of publication, and most of the 309 starters are still on the course. The runners have 125 hours to finish, so pull up the livestream and settle in for a long show.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

At the 100-mile marker, Courtney Dauwaulter would typically be celebrating her race victory, but this time, she's got another 156 miles to go on the Cocodona 250 course.

Back in January, the reigning queen of ultra running announced she was leaving the 100-mile distance behind for a few months to try her hand at the 250-mile distance. On Monday morning at 5am, she took off along with 308 other runners in a race from Black Canyon City north of Phoenix to Flagstaff, Arizona.

"250 miles, let’s go!!! What will it take? What problems will come up? What new friends will we hallucinate? How much fun will we have? How much bigger will the cave get? Can I tell a joke at mile 240 with the correct punchline? Only one way to find out. See ya in Flagstaff!" wrote Dauwalter on her Instagram page before taking off.

The big news out of the gate was the weather: the runners were greeted with hail and rain shortly after taking off, proving a big mountain to climb in addition to the actual Bradshaw Mountains that the runners had to contend with just a few miles into the course.

True to form, Dauwalter, 40, who is a favorite to win, has been cruising along and smiling for the cameras. At the 77.5-mile marker, the runner had taken the overall lead, and video shows her coming into Prescott at sunset to fanfare and high fives as the overall race leader, with race organizers Avaraipa Running calling the moment "history in motion."

That was four hours ago, and while it looks like those S/Lab Genesis shoes might be working their magic once again, West Virginia's Dan Green has since taken the lead, putting about a mile on Dauwalter. The 28-year-old took third place in last year's Javelina 100, so he knows a thing or two about racing in the desert, but at this distance, anything can happen. In other race updates, Harry Subertas, who was a favorite to win the men's race, has reportedly had a fall and has dropped back to 11th place.

The next few hours will see the runners racing through the night in what will hopefully be more forgiving weather conditions. The Cocodona 250 takes runners across extremely varied terrain from the Sonoran desert to the 9,301ft summit of Mount Elden and through the largest ponderosa pine forest in the world. The course is 91 percent trail (45 percent of that is singletrack) and nine percent pavement.

We're nearly 20 hours into the race at the time of publication, and runners have 125 hours to finish, so pull up the livestream and settle in for a long show.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

The stakes were high this weekend at the Canyons by UTMB 100k race as the last of the golden tickets to Western States were dished out. In the end, the unusually cold and rainy weather didn't seem to dampen the runners' efforts, as Emily Hawgood set a new course record in the women's race, while Francesco Puppi took did the same in his first 100k attempt.

The race started in the historic gold rush town of Auburn, which calls itself the “Endurance Capital of the World," and took runners over 12,300ft (3,750m) of elevation gain in the northern California foothills of the Sierra Nevada range. This year, the 100k race was a Western States Golden Ticket race, with the final six tickets to be shared between the top three male and female winners.

Hawgood took gold in the women's race with a new record of 9:46:44, but the win was hard-fought as the Zimbabwe runner struggled to shake a persistent Marianne Hogan from start to finish. In the end, a last-minute surge from Hawgood proved just enough to get her over the line in her Agravic Speed Ultras exactly four minutes ahead of the Canadian, calling it the "biggest trail fight of my life".

Keely Henninger took third place, but since Hawgood already has her ticket to the June race, Hogan, Henninger, and fourth-placed Erin Clark secured their spots for June's Western States.

Meanwhile, in the men's race, Italian Francesco Puppi took his first stab at the 100k distance and grabbed an early lead in the first half of the race. He held it till the end, coming in at 8:04:36, more than 20 minutes ahead of Hans Troyer and breaking the previous course record by 40 minutes.

"Having no experience with the 100k distance was both an advantage and a disadvantage. The first because I had no idea how hard it would get (mentally, that’s a huge advantage, because the fear of pain prevents you from digging extremely deep), the second because obviously it would have allowed to play my cards a little bit better," says Puppi.

The runner, who signed with Hoka earlier this year, turned down his golden ticket to focus on other projects, while fourth-placed Jeff Mogavero already has one, so the remaining three tickets went to Troyer, Hannes Namberger (third place) and Ryan Montgomery (fifth).

With all Golden Tickets now awarded, all that's left to do is wait for the Western States itself to roll around. The race kicks off on June 28 in Olympic Valley and ends in Auburn, and we'll see some of the most exciting endurance runners today battling it out, including Jim Walmsley, Vincent Bouillard, Kilian Jornet, David Roche, Tara Dower, Toni McCann and Hayden Hawks. You'll be able to live stream the entire race at the WSER Youtube channel.

• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain
• The best trail shoes for ultra runners 2025: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures

After taking eight months off from ultra-distance trail racing, Katie Schide showed up in Madeira over the weekend to deliver a decisive victory at the World Trail Majors.

"A little dream of mine for a while now," says Schide of the 118k Madeira Island Ultra Trail race, which gains almost 19,700ft (6,000m) in elevation as it crosses the Portuguese island from west to south.

Schide previously raced the course back in 2019, when she came second to Courtney Dauwalter, and says, "there was a lot that went wrong." The last couple of years have seen the runner focus on bigger races like the UTMB finals and Western States, but after winning both of those in 2024, she clearly decided the time was right to come back for another go.

The weather conditions in the Atlantic weren't exactly favorable when the runners took off on Saturday night, and the runners faced cold temperatures, wind and rain, but that didn't seem to faze Schide. In her typically composed and efficient style, Schide had dropped Slovenia's Martina Klančnik Potrč by 12k into the race and maintained her strong lead throughout. As the weather cleared, she finished in a strong 14:20:56, more than two hours ahead of second-placed Potrč and only an hour slower than her partner Germaine Grangier, who took fifth in the men's race.

France's Mathilde Dujon rounded out the women's podium, while over the men's race, Paul Cornut-Chauvinc (France) took the win in 12:54:52, followed by Portugal's Miguel Arsénio and Romania's Raul Butaci in third.

Maine native Schide currently lives in Zurich, where she's working on her PhD in geology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Her win in Madeira comes just two weeks after she and Grangier announced they had left The North Face after three years of sponsorship and returned to Swiss brand On. That means she's finally ditched the Summit Vectiv Pro running shoes that she's worn for several big wins in recent years – images suggest she might have embraced the Cloudventure Peak 3 in their place.

The World Trail Majors is a new global competition series for ultra runners that launched in 2024. The non-profit series is for amateur ultra runners, but also a way for elite runners like Schide to win prize money. The race circuit entails 12 race,s including the Transgrancanaria, Black Canyon Ultras and Mt Fuji 100.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• Best women’s running shorts and skorts: for tackling trails and singletrack paths

Leading trail running brand Salomon has teamed up with Warner Bros Discovery to broadcast the Golden Trail World Series circuit for 2025. The multi-year partnership means you'll be able to enjoy the leading short-distance trail running circuit from anywhere in the world.

This guide explains how to watch the Golden Trail World Series in 2025. We also explain how you can use a VPN to watch your usual coverage if you're away from home.

Live coverage of the series will be broadcast across WBD’s premium linear channels, including Eurosport (Europe) and Discovery+ and TNT Sports (UK and Ireland), as well as live and on-demand streaming via streaming platforms Max (US) and FloSports (Canada).

Live streaming of the GTWS comes in addition to broadcasts of around a dozen races in this year's UTMB World Series, giving you even more access to the world's top trail races.

Watch the GTWS in the U.S. and Canada

In the US, you can watch the 2025 GTWS via streaming on Max, and in Canada you can watch it on FloSports.

Traveling outside the U.S or Canada? You can still watch live as usual by using a quality VPN like NordVPN, which allows you to access the streams as if you were sitting on your sofa back home. Find out more below.

Use a VPN to watch the Golden Trail World Series from anywhere

If you’re traveling overseas during the GTWS, geo-blocking restrictions mean you probably won't be able to watch as you usually would back home.

That doesn't mean you have to miss out, however. All you need to do to watch as if you were back home is get yourself a VPN (Virtual Private Network) – assuming it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs, of course. A VPN creates a private connection between your device and the internet, meaning the service can’t work out where you are. As an added bonus, the info going back and forth is also entirely encrypted.

In a competitive field, the knowledgeable people at TechRadar put NordVPN at the top of the podium.

Watch the GTWS from the UK and Europe

Thanks to the new deal between Salomon and Warner Bros Discovery, viewers in the UK and Europe can now stream all nine races of the 2025 GTWS exclusively on Warner Bros Discovery’s streaming services.

In the UK and Ireland, that means TNT Sports, which you can access via a subscription to Discovery+ Premium. It will cost you £30.99 per month in the UK and you’ll also get access to Champions League and Premier League football, Premiership rugby, cycling and loads more top sporting action. Alternatively, TNT Sports can be added to your Sky, BT, EE or Virgin Media TV package – costs vary by platform.

In Europe, you can watch the 2025 GTWS live streams on Eurosport or via the Discovery+ platform.

And don’t forget, if you’re going to be traveling away from home during any of the GTWS events, you can use a VPN to watch your usual service as if you were back home.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Golden Trail World Series schedule

• April 19: Kobe Trail, Japan
• April 26: Great Wall, China
• May 17: Golfo dell Isola, Italy
• May 25: Zegama-Aizkorri, Spain
• June 22: Broken Arrow Skyrace, US
• June 29: Tepec Trail, Mexico
• July 2: Pitz Alpine Glacier Trail, Austria
• July 9: Sierre-Zinal, Switzerland
• October TBD: Grand Finale, Garda Trentino, Italy

Annecy-based Salomon first brought the GTWS to live television in 2023 with Eurosport, which Salomon Global Chief Brand Officer Scott Mellin says was a milestone for trail running.

“The GTWS is a highly entertaining, TV-ready format with races lasting around 2 hours, featuring steep climbs and technical descents as well as a 'flower' format that allows spectators to see more of the race and better engage with the athletes," says Mellin.

“Salomon is one of the most successful, most recognizable and growing sports brands,” says Patrick Maitrot, Head of International Sales & Partnership at WBD Sports Europe.

“We are confident that our combined sports and storytelling expertise, coupled with WBD’s production capabilities, unmatched global scale and proven track record of elevating sports, will support the continued growth of trail running through greater international exposure than ever before.”

Salomon has been making headlines recently as trail running season ramps up for the year. Earlier this month, the brand unveiled its new running team featuring some of the best trail runners on the planet, including Courtney Dauwalter and Mathieu Blanchard, who have both claimed multiple podiums wearing their S/Lab Genesis and S/Lab Ultra shoes between them.

In February, the running shoe brand also announced a study suggesting that carbon plates may have no benefit for trail runners, not long after the release of its ultra plush, plate-free S/Lab Ultra Glide.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

Imagine being told you cannot run. Picture this scenario playing out not because you are injured, or you haven’t entered an event by the cut-off date, or you don’t have the right kit or anything like that – but simply because of who you are. Can you envisage feeling like you dare not leave your own house and do something as normal, natural and innocuous as going for a run around your neighborhood?

Try as I might, I can’t. Running is something I’ve taken completely for granted my whole life. I always think of it as the most accessible of all the adventure sports. But that’s my unconscious privilege speaking. Talking to Fatima and Sada, while running around the streets of East London, I finally fully realise just how lucky I am to be able put on a pair of road or trail shoes and go out for a jog whenever and wherever the hell I want to. I never even have to pay it a second thought.

There have been a smattering of scenarios during the decades when, while running trails deep in a dark wood or finding myself vaguely lost in a dodgy looking side street of an unfamiliar big city, my danger-detecting radar has twitched, and I’ve felt a bit out of my comfort zone. But that’s it. For so many people around the world, especially women, this kind of footloose freedom is completely inconceivable.

The fight for the right to run

Fatima and Sada are ambassadors for Free to Run, a charity founded by ultrarunner and human rights lawyer Stephanie Case in 2014, which aims to empower girls and women through involvement in outdoor sports (most often running, but also hiking and camping escapades). They organise programs in several countries – particularly places scarred by conflict and riddled with gender inequality.

Free to Run is active in Iraq and Palestine, and had been working in Afghanistan until developments in 2021 forced them to dramatically change tack. Now, with participation in outdoor pursuits impossible for women in the Taliban-controlled country, clandestine indoor fitness programs and virtual initiatives are supported.

The not-for-profit programs include one run by Sahira Hassan in Duhok, Iraq, who trains and mentors groups of young Yazidi women from an ethno-religious minority community that has faced years of persecution. Through group running, these women find support, strength, inspiration and a sense of fulfillment and achievement.

Sahira has coached several as they prepared for and competed in the Erbil International Marathon. In 2024, one of her team, Dima, placed in the top five overall in the half marathon distance – a genuinely groundbreaking achievement.

I came across Sahira’s story while editing a new edition of Lonely Planet’s Epic Runs of the World book. I felt chastened – not just by the contrast between my own obliviously carefree approach to sport (and the opportunities my daughter happily has as she begins her own running journey) and the breathtakingly steep challenges the girls and women being led by Sahira face before they’ve even lace-up a shoe – but also by how little I’d thought about this before.

Digging a bit deeper, I discover that Free to Run is supported by runners all around the world, who take part in races and challenges to raise awareness and funds for the organization, and I’m keen to get involved.

On a sunny spring morning, I meet with several of these supporters, along with Ericka from Free to Run, James from Untamed Borders (who helped Free to Run organise the sadly now-cancelled Marathon of Afghanistan, the country’s only mixed-gender sporting event), plus Fatima and Sada. We rendezvous in the On running store on Brushfield Street, before heading out for a pre-breakfast shakedown run ahead of the London Landmarks half marathon, in which most people present are competing the following day.

Spitalfields is a vibrant multicultural suburb, and the concrete walls, bridges and underpasses are colorfully adorned with street art referencing many of the conflicts and struggles that form the backdrop of Free to Run’s initiatives. The roads around the market, which will be full of hustle and bustle within the hour, are gloriously peaceful at 7.30am, providing the perfect environment for a gentle urban jog and jabber – an experience that turns out be the most educational and thought-provoking run of my life.

• Pair your shoes with the best trail running socks
• For optimal comfort and temperature control, choose the best running top
• The best trail-running shorts make every outing enjoyable

From fleeing in fear to running for fun

Brimming with excitement about the upcoming challenge, Sada would never have dreamt when she was growing up in Iraq that one day she would be running for fun, let alone to find peace of mind. Her home, back then, was on the outskirts of the much-storied and myth-enveloped city of Babylon, famous for the Hanging Gardens that ranked among the seven wonders of the Ancient World, and the mythical Tower of Babel. Just over 50 miles (80km) from Baghdad, it’s a place steeped deep in history and culture, but for much of the 1980s, ’90s and early 2000s, the entire region was war-torn and dangerous.

“The only running I did as a child was running for my life, away from the noise of explosions,” Sada says. “It wasn’t until years later, after I came to London, that I saw people going running because it was something they actually wanted to do. For leisure!

“For a while I just watched them. And then eventually I decided to try it. I bought some gear, and now I actually describe myself as ‘a runner’. Whenever life gets a bit much, and my head is full of worries, I go for a run and it really clears my mind. I’ve done several marathons, and I got involved with Free to Run because I want girls living where I grew up to see that women can run. It’s so much harder to deny the rights of women when they are more visible.”

Trail blazer

For Fatima, the path that led her into running was the arduous route she had to take to school each morning. As a little girl living in a mountain village in the Jaghori District of Central Afghanistan, 4,000 meters above sea level, she had to walk for an hour along mountain roads to get to school each morning.

“Once I arrived late, and as a punishment I was beaten on the hand with a stick,” she tells me. “My hand was freezing cold and it was agony. I swore it would never happen to me again, and from that day on I always ran to school to make sure I got there in good time.”

This proved to be an excellent training regime for a pursuit that has helped shape the rest of her life. Fatima, who is from the Hazara community in Afghanistan (a Shia Muslim ethnic minority that suffered severe persecution over several decades), came to Britain with her family in 2008, when she was 14. Very quickly a teacher recognised her extraordinary strength in cross-country running, and she went on to compete twice at county level in the English Schools’ Athletic Association Cross Country Championships.

Now, besides working as a nurse and fitness trainer, Fatima is a highly accomplished ultra runner. She has just returned from the 150km Trans Sahara marathon in Morocco, and last August completed the CCC, a brutally tough 100km race through the Alps from Courmayeur via Champex-Lac to Chamonix (part of the UTMB), one of the only Afghan women to ever compete in such an event.

A deep passion for the sport is evident in her eyes and the large smile that lights up Fatima’s face as we chat about the running challenges she has taken on and the races she has in her sights for the future, but she remains acutely aware that, for girls and women back in Afghanistan, even the idea of going for a short jog is utterly unthinkable. Since the Taliban regained control of the country in 2021, girls have been prevented from attending school at all, and the opportunity to take part in sporting activities has evaporated. Women in Afghanistan can no longer work, study or simply go running – things we consider as the basics in life.

And so she re-issues the challenge that so stumped me when we first spoke: “Imagine being told that you can’t run, just because of who you are.” Women are no longer allowed to train for professions, let alone work out for fun or fitness. “My cousin was in her fourth year of a medicine degree, and she was forced to stop studying,” Fatima explains. “The resilience and courage of the women of Afghanistan to keep going through life inspires me to continue my running journey in hope of raising awareness, and for their voices to be heard.”

To this end, Fatima is currently running races, events and challenges in 26 cities around the world – one for every letter in the alphabet, to raise awareness about Free to Run and the great work it does. You can follow and support her progress on Instagram and contribute to her goal via this JustGiving page.

As we say goodbye and disperse, punters start strolling in off the pavement to peruse the Swiss-designed running gear on display in the On store, and I have to resist the urge to start shouting about how lucky we are to be able to simply pick a pair of shoes off the shelf and head out for a run. I’ll never take it for granted again.

If you missed out on tickets to the Love Trails festival in the Gower Peninsula this summer, don't worry – the festival has announced a new event to take place in Croatia this fall.

After three successful years in Wales, the Love Trails brand is bringing its unique non-competitive adventure festival to the Adriatic Sea, with five days of curated running and hiking experiences from challenging technical trails to scenic coastal routes.

"No finish lines, no pressure, just epic routes and an unbeatable atmosphere," say the organizers of event, to take place on the island of KRK where a mountainous coastline meets the Adriatic Sea.

Participants can start the day with breathwork and sunrise sea swims, recover from running and hiking with open-air music, or lose the trail shoes and go rock climbing, sea kayaking and wild swimming.

Love Trails Croatia takes place from September 30 to October 5, and ticket packages include accommodation. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, April 9 at 11am GMT. You can sign up at lovetrailscroatia.com for early access.

To reach Krk, you can fly into Rijeka Airport or travel by bus or car over a bridge from the mainland. Make sure to read our expert guide on how to pack for an active vacation without checking a bag before you go.

• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain
• The best hiking sandals: breezy footwear for casual walks

It's been 10 days since the gruelling Barkley Marathons crushed every one of its victims, and the runners are finally recovered enough to share their thoughts on this year's race. Some, like Australia's Isobel Tait, explain that sickness that kept them down, while Colorado-based Chris Fisher noted the heat and pace, but UK-based American runner John Kelly has a rather more philosophical take on things.

The ultra runner was the only one of 40 starters to complete three laps of the course at Frozen Head State Park, which founder Gary "Lazarus Lake" Cantrell made more difficult after last year saw a record number of finishers (five) including the first-ever woman (Jasmin Paris). So there wasn't a winner exactly, but Kelly – who has completed three Barkleys – definitely came the closest and those punishing 60 miles in 39 hours, 50 minutes earned him the most dubious "Fun Run" in trail running

But despite yet more photos showing Kelly's shredded legs posted to Facebook, Kelly has come out in defense of the race.

"Barkley isn't sadistic. If anything, it's existentialist," says Kelly in response to what he calls the "armchair experts" who have been calling it intentionally impossible.

"Barkley is a satire. All races are absurd, as are other sports, and art, and music, and most things that give us joy or meaning," he continues, saying that for him, Barkley is no less absurd than five people try to put a ball through a basket on a court with random lines drawn on it

"All of these things are absurd. None advance society, provide fundamental needs, or ensure the survival of our species. Most things that make life worthwhile are inherently not worth anything. Their value and meaning come only from what we give them, or from contributing to things that do matter."

As for his performance? Kelly, who in January ranked fifth in the brutal Montane Winter Spine Race, says he's not upset about not finishing, even if he was hoping to tie Jared Campbell for the most finishes ever.

"It's an opportunity I hadn't had there in a while - to push myself until there was nothing left, to now be searching for what I could do better and how I could go farther. That, to me, has meaning."

That said, it wasn't all mellow rumination for the runner. A few days before this post, he revealed how the course beat him up, snatching a glove and both flasks from his Ultimate Direction hydration pack, which then got caught on a tree and broke. He lost a BOA fastening off his La Sportivas, which look a lot like the Jackal IIs and his headlamp went into low battery mode. Still, we can't say for sure, but it sounds like Kelly might be back next year for another lesson in humility.

Meanwhile, a new documentary, which you can watch below, gets into the details of the chaotic race as it chronicles Jasmin Paris' historic 2024 finish, which she pulled off with less than two minutes to spare and in a pair of very old Inov-8 Mudclaw G 260s. She describes how she chanted the names of family members to get her to the finish and how it felt realizing she only had eight minutes left to complete the course and it's well worth a watch.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

Just two months after smashing the Arc of Attrition course record, ultra runner Tom Evans was back on the UTMB World Series podium this weekend with another big win.

The British runner took first place in the 14th UTMB Tenerife, following a 110k (68 mile) course through volcanic Teide National Park. Evans arrived at the finish line in Puerto de la Cruz in 12:32:20, more than 45 minutes ahead of Spain's Manuel Alexis Martin Lorenzo and over an hour in front of third-placed Jean-François Cauchon of Canada.

So pleased was the former British army captain with his performance – his total rest time on the course was just one minute eight seconds – that he stopped just before the finish line to give a victory dance, before continuing on and delivering his signature salute at the finish.

"It's an incredibly special island. Amazing people, amazing scenery. Yeah, I just had such an amazing journey and adventure today," says Evans, who explains it was his first trip to the Spanish island.

Evans looks to be back properly on form after a rocky couple of seasons. In 2022 he placed third in the UTMB finals, followed by a second place at Black Canyon then winning both the UTMB Snowdonia and Western States in 2023. However, he then suffered two disappointing DNFs in the UTMB finals in 2023 and 2024, and was mugged at knifepoint in South Africa on a training run between those two races.

At the beginning of this year, however, he announced he'd inked a new deal with Asics and just two days later became the first the first runner to break the seven-hour barrier at the UK's Arc of Attrition. Those Gel Trabuco Max shoes seem to be working.

In the women's race, Spain's Estel Roig Fortin took first place in 15:16:32 followed by Latvia's Linda Boldane and Switzerland's Mélanie Delasoie. South Africa's Toni McCann took first place in the 24k race, writing to Instagram, "20k races don’t get enough credit. That was hard!!"

The tough course takes runners over 20,862ft of elevation gain (6,359m) from the coast through volcanic peaks and rock formations before a steep descent through pine forests back to the sea, and below-freezing windchill conditions were forecast for the higher elevations during the race.

The UTMB Tenerife was the latest race from the series to be streamed live, with the next one on the schedule the UTMB Australia May 17. Head to our article on UTMB live for the full 2025 schedule.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

Black to the Trails, a trail running event for black people, people of color and white allies, is returning to Dunstable Downs in the Chiltern Hills this May. Billed as "the world's most ethnically diverse trail running event," runners of all colors and ages can sign up to compete in one of four distances and experience some of the most beautiful trails in the South East.

"It's unlike anything that's been seen before," says Black Trail Runners co-founder and race director Sabrina Pace-Humphreys, who helped launch the event in 2023 after seeing very little diversity at trail running events, from participants to organizers. She says she hopes the annual event will become the rule rather than the exception across all trail running events.

"It's a lot of work, but when you're standing there and you look out and you see in reality the vision that you always wanted to see, that you always needed, which is people of all ethnicities coming together, enjoying the trails, that's the dream, right?"

The event has sold out for two years running and typically sees 70% people of color and 70% female runners in attendance.

This year's event will have a 1k, 5k and 10k distance plus the new and improved Scotch Bonnet 10k, which Pace-Humphreys describes as "undulating," with registration starting at £4 while under 16s attend for free. The races have staggered start times so you can take part in more than one event if you have the steam.

Adidas Terrex is the official sponsor of the event, and this year, you can test out their Agravic Speed, Agravic 3 and Agravic GTX models on the trail while you're there.

It's not just the ethnic representation among the participants that makes Black to the Trails different from other trail events – Pace-Humphreys explains it's also a celebration of black heritage and culture and an opportunity to sample food and music you might not ordinally get at other festivals.

"We have food for the culture there. So you're not going to get a burger van, but you are going to get a chicken van. You are going to get a Caribbean food van. You are going to get a sugar cane juice van."

Black to the Trails 2025 will take place at The National Trust’s Dunstable Downs and Whipsnade Estate on Sunday 11th May, with the first run starting at 10am. You can register at blacktothetrails.co.uk.

• The best trail running shoes: get a grip on the trickiest terrain

Jim Walmsley has won the UTMB Chianti 120k race in a ferocious time just shy of 10 hours after carving out a major lead over Kilian Jornet and Vincent Bouillard at the 50k mark, putting his disappointing DNF in last year's UTMB finals well and truly behind him.

"It was really, really hard. Super muddy all day," says Walmsley, still looking fresh as a daisy at the finish line despite an average 12k per hour (7.4 miles per hour) pace. He's been scouting out the course in rainy conditions for the past week and says it was useful for today's wet conditions.

"It wasn't easy for me but very, very rewarding," says Walmsley.

The runners took off from Radda at 4am local time and the three leaders – the last three winners of the UTMB finals – ran as a pack for several hours. At the 3:42:00 mark, however, Walmsley took advantage of a long, runnable descent and cleanly dropped Jornet and Bouillard, putting to bed any fears that his performance at the Mesquite Canyons 50k was a fluke.

After running neck-in-neck with Bouillard for the entire race, the goat himself Jornet surged ahead to take second place some 28 minutes behind Walmsley, with Bouillard arriving just seconds behind him.

"I was a bit stronger on the uphills, he was passing on the downhills," says Jornet of the battle, who says the race was more technical than he expected.

"It was great to win with Jim doing a master class on trail running."

Jornet was plagued by TFL pain for more than half the race, while Bouillard battled GI issues.

"For sure there was more pressure," says Bouillard of racing against ultras biggest stars, and of his new status as a Hoka-sponsored runner.

"The sport can be so incredible and the competition is great when you're around such amazing humans."

Ultimately, the pair have bagged their golden tickets for Western States, something Bouillard says will be outside his comfort zone, and the three will race together again in June.

Bouillard and Walmsley were both running in the same Hoka Tecton X prototype with super soft soles and big bounce while Jornet was racing is in his Nnormal Kjerag 2s which have better lugs than the first edition for gripping on the muddy terrain on the course today.

In the women's race, Britain's Fiona Pascall played the long game and crossed the finish line first in 12:34:59 after holding the lead for several hours. She's now punched her ticket to Western States, the very race which her sister Beth won in 2021.

Finland's Johanna Antila took second place and Spain's Azara Garcia de los Salmones took third.

Abby Hall got off to a strong start but was slowed down after a toilet break and has been in fourth for the second half of the race. Fabiola Conti who started out strong dropped out.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best hydration packs: on-the-go refuelling for your runs

The 2025 Barkley Marathons has ended without a single finisher as the new course picked off every last runner over a 40-hour period.

After Jasmin Paris made history in 2024 by becoming the first woman to complete the 100-mile course – something founder Laz said would never happen – the course was made harder than ever.

It worked.

The 40 runners who start at Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee have just 12 hours to complete each 25-mile lap, and this year only nine made it to the second lap in time. Keith Dunn, who provides the only commentary of the obscure race via X, announced no runners had completed the second lap within 24 hours.

However, three exceptionally tough runners continued to fight on for the Fun Run (and that's Type 2 fun, if you're wondering), which is achieved if you manage three laps within 40 hours. John Kelly, who was going for his fourth finish, made it in time in 39:50:27, while Sébastien Raichon tapped himself out without finishing the third loop and at last report, Tokyo's Tomokazu Ihara was still out on the course somewhere.

Dunn had earlier reported that navigation was more of an issue than usual on the overgrown and poorly marked trail, probably owing to the fact that they're not allowed to use their GPS watches, or any GPS navigation at all for that matter.

"Seems a few people this year had ‘follow a veteran’ as their navigation plan. It didn’t work out for them. laz was unimpressed and described that mindset in strong words," says Dunn, later reporting that "a runner may be running down Hwy 62."

No finishers is nothing new for the race, which has seen zero finishers over a dozen times since the first race in 1986, however recent years have seen an uptick of finishers with an unprecedented five in 2024.

In the end, the only winner of this year's Barkley Marathons was the Barkley Marathons itself.

• The best trail shoes for ultra runners: these robust and comfy rides are built for serious outdoor adventures
• The best running poles: for ultra distance training, epic races, and fastpacking adventures