Brett Hornig and Jeff Colt join Finn Melanson on the Singletrack Podcast to recap the 2024 UTMB. We talk about the impressive, jaw-dropping performances of race winners Katie Schide and Vincent Bouillard, the standout achievements of the top 10 women, DNF culture in big-stage events, and the challenges of fueling during overnight races among other topics.
Timestamps:
– 03:53 DNF Culture
– 31:38 Comparing the Impressive Performances of the Women’s Top 10, The Potential for Improvement on the UTMB Course, The Future of Women’s Racing at UTMB, Shoutouts to Sabrina Stanley, Lucy Bartholomew, and Marianne Hogan
– 48:22 The Background and Future of Vincent Viet, The Compelling Nature of Unknown and Unlikely Winners, Balancing a Breakthrough Result with a Previous Life
– 01:23:14 The Presence of Prototype Shoes, The Evolution of UTMB into a Trade Show
– 01:31:25 Fueling Challenges in Overnight Races, Questioning the High Carb Fueling Trend
– 01:48:57 The Importance of Constructive Dialogue in the Sport, Improvements in the Coverage of the Women’s Race, Positive Changes Arising from Controversies, Receptiveness to Criticism and Growth
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18 Comments
Thoughts on this year's UTMB? Drop a comment below, we'd love to hear from you! – Finn
I love Haden’s cockiness ❣️I wish more Elite trail runners had the mental intestinal fortitude to talk the talk like Haden does❗️You know many Elite trail runners have immense confidence but there aren’t many that’ll call their shot like Haden…
I shared this on Freetrail, but my thoughts: (1) Eli Hemming's race was inspiring (I use this a lot — what I can I say, it is a great term for what we saw) — and I was hoping Tabor would end up on the podium and maybe would have had she not fallen; (2) the attrition in the men's UTMB race was wild; (3) Ludo with the Hardrock 100 win (and CR) and a top 5 at UTMB is ultrarunner of the year stuff; (4) Schide's run was inspiring, as she crushed — crushed — Courtney's CR; (5) Toni McCann is an inspiration — recovering from injury, etc. — and is set for a strong UTMB performance next year (if she wants to); (6) Sabrina Stanley's finish (top 10) was a GREAT grind it out result that I didn't expect; (7) Cody Lind needs to be on a podcast — I mean a top 10 finish at UTMB!; and (8) Hayden Hawks is awesome for this sport. Folks will talk about him calling his shot at CCC, but here is what I love: him giving a shoutout to the entire podium at the finish line. That exemplifies this sport to me. Also, I do not bet against Courtney at this point. Ever. You see the movie Casino? Yeah, you don't bet against Courtney.
Refreshing talk on DNF mechanics! I think there is a growing value in the conversation as we watch the sport professionalize. After just gutting out TDS, seeing grown men crying on the 6,200 ft. climb out of Bourg-Saint-Maurice, I contemplated very deeply what was driving me toward the finish in Chamonix. A lot of it seemed to come down to the extrinsic and intrinsic rewards I had cultivated for myself, and this probably becomes much more complex as you move up the field to the top runners. Would love to hear more deep diving into the topic!
Thank you for the valuable content as always! Wishing the Singletrack brand and channel continued success and growth!
If this were like professional climbing?!?? 😂😂😂
Can we get a Singletrack/CP top 10 movies episode sometime?
Can we get Tom Evans a Snickers sponsorship? Because he isn’t himself when hungry
Great discussion. Solid points around the DNF/ Index ramifications. Also not to detract from the fairytale storylines, but it’s an oversimplification to just call Vincent a Hoka employee or David an unsponsored coach. There’s plenty of context that matters as to why they outclassed the pros. I’ve seen a few “hot takes” taking digs at elites that seem to ignore that. World class regardless.
WRT prototype shoes, I thought I saw Agravic Speed Ultras with a different upper. Pau Capell showed some shoes in Instagram that looked like Altamesa 500 with a Vectiv pro 2- like upper.
What’s the dropout by elites in Marathon ? That could be a good proxy if you all think it’s a competitive / commercial thing vs just a hard race.
They won't be an environmentally friendly race or event until they go 100% vegan considering animal-agriculture is the leading cause of environmental destruction. Leading cause of deforestation, leading cause of biodiversity loss, leading cause of habitat loss, leading cause of river pollution, leading cause of temporary ocean dead zones, leading cause of large plastics in the ocean, the list goes on and this is JUST what they are leading in with no other industry coming anywhere near close. I was completely shocked to see half of the tables last year on CCC were animal products and they were even handing out veg broth to people at aid stations that was actually beef broth (I asked to see the ingredients on the packets)….. Finn please watch "Eating Our Way To Extinction".
How many ads can you fit on a podcast? Im all for people making profit, but this is just obnoxious
Thank You, this was a really fun and interesting show
OCC women's race was fantastic.
The barrage of pro DNF’s need to have some sort of consequence on their UTMB index.
Finn “Orange Mud Truther” Melanson
The 69th best runner in western would be some random dude named Steve. It's neat to have the potential for a crazy 'random baller upset'
I love listening to the three of you discuss issues, events and people within our amazing sport with your great insight, knowledge and experience. And I love the constant infusion of seriously funny observations. The issue bugging me right now is that the trail world championships and UTMB are so close in time together next year. I really wonder what we will see at UTMB, unless as one of you suggested, everyone runs OCC or CCC as a tune up.