Here are my picks for North American Ultrarunners of the Year and Ultra Performances of the Year:
UROY:
- Female: Courtney Dauwalter
- Male: Jim Walmsley
Note: Some say it was a weak year for male UROY, as Jim had only 2 ultra wins and a DNF at UTMB, but he was/is clearly the top male ultrarunner in North America. I actually applaud Jim for maintaining a reasonable race schedule.
UPOY:
- Female: Camille Herron - Desert Solstice 24-hour (162.9 miles)
- Male: Jim Walmsley - Western States 100 course record (14:30)
I really think Camille's 24-hour record will stand for generations. It is an insane record.
I don't get why it would be a weak year to win only two ultras - especially when one is considered the "Super Bowl" of them with Western and it was done on a hot day in record form. When you compare this to the marathon world, a top marathoner winning two majors is considered an over the moon sort of year. With more "speedsters" coming to the mix, the number of times a top guy is going to win 6 of these in a year is going to be limited ... unless we are just expecting those two year careers again.
ReplyDeleteI actually agree with you, GZ. And it wasn't his fault TNF 50 in SF was canceled. As much as I really like Courtney, her race schedule is insane and in some ways I feel UROY is rewarding what is to me an unsustainable demand on a human being. When you look at what happened to Roes, it is unnerving watching Courtney race the way she does. She is so talented and I hope she's in the sport a long time.
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