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My picks for the North American Ultrarunner of the Year!

December 15 2015, 7:13 pm

Keep in mind folks, I am a trail runner biased towards the 100 mile race.  In the meantime, go like my Facebook athlete page for more info on my own endless career.

MALE ULTRA RUNNER OF THE YEAR

  1. Seth Swanson, strongest overall performances, but how can someone win Ultrarunner of the Year and not win a race?  Seth can
  2. Zach Miller,  Best performances in strong fields. CCC in France, and NF50 wins over super stout fields, along with Transvulcania in 5th
  3. Brian Rusiecki,  durability factor, although he did not race against the best often, his times show he’s super fast and durable
  4. Bob Shebest, durability factor again,  He didn’t have a bad race
  5. Rob Krar,  One great race was not enough, and he DNF’d at Sonoma, that hurt his chances.
  6. Ian Sharman,  A great 100 miler runner, certainly my bias, but he also DNF’d
  7. David Laney,  Some great performances, but not enough against US comp
  8. Joe Fejes,  Joe should be harder, so we can all say I am biased towards trail runs. 🙂
  9. Chikara Omine,  slips under the radar every year, never goes away from California, he should
  10. Alex Nichols, his DNF at the NF50 hurt a higher ranking

FEMALE ULTRA RUNNER OF THE YEAR

  1. Magdelana Boulet,  More races than anyone else, only one bad race at the NF50, won all but one other, where she ran 2nd
  2. Camille Herron,  definately the standout road runner this year, men or women, but did not race many US women on other terrain
  3. Katlyn Nagy,  Had as sick year at long races, Spartathlon and her 153 miles in 24 hours,  but not diversified enough “for me”
  4. Aliza Lapierre. Standout season, with great finishes.
  5. Bethany Patterson, Finally back on the scene, Bethany did not race all over the place, mostly east coast, but like Rusiecki, solid in every run
  6. Kathleen Cusick,  I’d say a standout year for her, and likely to improve again next year
  7. Kaci Lickteig,  Great performances, but not quite at the top level, other than Western States. Second was solid there, but the time was not all that fast.
  8. Ellie Greenwood, Not enough races.
  9. Hillary Allen,  Great performances, not enough races, she’ll be higher next year.
  10. Stephanie Howe.  Good early season, DNF at the NF50 swayed my vote a bit.

MALE SINGLE BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

  1. Mike Blalik Tunnel Hill 100, anything under 13 hours is ridiculous
  2. Tony Migliozzi Qatar 50k world champion,  Who the hell is Tony Migliozzi?
  3. Alex Varner Quad Dipsea,  His performance here is stout in a race as old as Dipsea, Only 28 miles, so hardly an ultra, but the time is amazing
  4. Sage Canaday Speedgoat,  If anyone has run Speedgoat, Sage’s times the past 3 years have smoked sttellar fields,
  5. Rob Krar Western States,  A fast time under 15 hours in the heat. Krar repeated as champion, and obviously beat a sick field to boot

FEMALE SINGLE BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

  1. Camille Herron World 100k champion,  Need I say more, then….
  2. Camille Herron World 50k champion,  She repeated at 50k…..
  3. Kaitlyn Nagy 24 hour world champion  151 mi.  Another World champion win!
  4. Devon Yanko. Javelina 100,  I was there, saw it, I got chicked, and Devon ran a super smart and speedy race
  5. Megan Kimmell NF50.  Did not surprise me she won here, had she broken the record, I would have voted higher.