The “UltraRunning Journal” North American Ultrarunner of the Yr Awards, which have been awarded since 1981, are arguably essentially the most prestigious awards in North American ultrarunning. In an effort to qualify, runners should both be from North America or reside there.
For the previous 16 years, I’ve been honored and privileged to be a part of the panel of voters that selects the award winners. This 12 months, I assumed it will be enjoyable to match my poll with the precise award winners and supply some evaluation and commentary.
Right here is the ultimate high 10 record for feminine North American Ultrarunner of the Yr:
Katie Schide (U.S., lives in France)
Courtney Dauwalter
Rachel Drake
(tie) Emily Hawgood (Zimbabwe, lives within the U.S.)
(tie) Megan Eckert
Courtney Olsen
Mary Denholm
Leah Yingling
Hannah Allgood
Marianne Hogan* (Canada)
*Included within the remaining high 10 and never on my poll.
Marianne Hogan waves to the gang after profitable the 2024 Swiss Canyon Path 111k. Hogan was the one lady included on the “UltraRunning Journal” awards record who was not on the writer’s record. Photograph: World Path Majors
Right here is the highest 10 from my poll:
Katie Schide
Courtney Dauwalter
Courtney Olsen
Rachel Drake
Mary Denholm
Tara Dower**
Megan Eckert
Hannah Allgood
Leah Yingling
Emily Hawgood
**Included in my poll and never within the remaining high 10.
Katie Schide was topped feminine North American Ultrarunner of the Yr. Photograph: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
In evaluating the feminine outcomes, a couple of issues popped out at me:
On my poll, I had Tara Dower in sixth place, and the panel didn’t have her within the high 10. My guess is that I gave vital weight to Tara Dower’s Appalachian Path quickest recognized time (FKT), whereas different voters didn’t. FKTs have lengthy been a problem to the panel. On the one hand, we’re instructed to not embrace them in our deliberations, however, alternatively, it’s my perception that we can’t keep away from contemplating them as a part of a runner’s whole physique of labor.
Resulting from my together with Dower on my poll, I didn’t embrace Marianne Hogan — she was eleventh on my record. Hogan was the one runner on both record that in the end made the highest 10 and was not on my poll.
After the highest two, Katie Schide and Courtney Dauwalter, my record differed so as from the panel in each area on the record. For instance, Courtney Olson completed greater and Megan Eckert completed decrease on my poll than within the remaining awards, whereas Rachel Drake and Emily Hawgood each completed greater within the remaining awards than they did on my poll.
Tara Dower after setting an general supported quickest recognized time on the Appalachian Path. Photograph: Pete Schreiner/@schreinertrailphotography
Right here is the ultimate high 10 record for male North American Ultrarunner of the Yr:
Hayden Hawks
David Roche
David Sinclair
Rod Farvard
Eli Hemming
Caleb Olson
Jim Walmsley
Harry Subertas (Lithuania, lives within the U.S.)
Ben Dhiman (U.S., lives in France)
Ihor Verys (Ukraine, lives in Canada)
Hayden Hawks (U.S.) lets out a yell in celebration on his solution to win the 2024 CCC. Hawks was topped male North American Ultrarunner of the Yr. Photograph: iRunFar/Kirsten Kortebein
Right here is the top-10 from my poll:
Hayden Hawks
David Sinclair
David Roche
Ben Dhiman
Eli Hemming
Rod Farvard
Haroldas Subertas
Caleb Olson
Ihor Verys
Jim Walmsley
David Sinclair on his solution to profitable and setting a course file on the 2024 Speedgoat by UTMB 50k. Photograph: Nils Nilsen
As on the ladies’s aspect, a couple of issues jumped out to me when evaluating my poll to the ultimate awards:
I flipped the Davids. I gave the second-place nod to David Sinclair due, largely, to the competitiveness of the races he ran. The panel, conversely, went with David Roche in second. I believe this was due largely to Roche’s unimaginable Leadville 100 Mile course file — which additionally received “UltraRunning” Journal North American Efficiency of the Yr — and maybe additionally on account of a slight bias on the a part of the panel towards longer distance races. All of Sinclair’s races had been within the 50k to 50-mile vary, whereas Roche had two world class leads to the 100-mile distance.
Whereas I had all 10 of the eventual award winners on my poll, I solely voted for 2 within the locations that they in the end occupied — Hayden Hawks in first and Eli Hemming in fifth. For all the others, they had been in numerous spots. It appears my largest misjudgements had been inserting Ben Dhiman fourth whereas he ultimately acquired ninth, and inserting Jim Walmsley tenth whereas he ultimately acquired seventh.
I believe with this 12 months’s awards, on the lads’s aspect specifically, we’ve seen the perimeter occasions change into normalized. Each Haroldas Subertas’s and Ihor Verys’s inclusion on this 12 months’s high 10 says to me that the yard ultras, the Barkley Marathons, and the 200 milers of the world are actually formally within the combine, and never simply stunt races as they had been seen to be just some years in the past.
The entire males are path centered and the ladies are extra blended. On the ladies’s aspect, you may have Megan Eckert and Courtney Olsen, who excelled on the monitor and the roads, whereas there’s no person within the males’s high 10, on both my poll or with the general winners, who raced totally on the highway and monitor. It’ll be attention-grabbing to see how this evolves within the coming years.
Ihor Verys wins the 2024 Barkley Marathons on his first try. Photograph: Howie Stern
John Medinger, the previous writer and proprietor of “UltraRunning Journal” who presides over this annual train says, “Annually we discover ourselves evaluating apples and oranges (or, as one voter put it: apples versus oranges versus pineapples versus bananas. And perhaps kumquats!) How does a quick 50k stack up in opposition to a stellar six-day run? A quick highway time versus a troublesome mountain run? Whereas these variables will inevitably inject a level of subjectivity, simply attempt to be as analytical and goal as you may.”
And, on the finish of the day, that is all for enjoyable anyway. Till subsequent 12 months!
Bottoms up!
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What’s your tackle these awards for 2024?
What would — or did — your poll learn?
