The HURT 100 Mile in Hawai’i and the Montane Spine Race in the U.K. couldn’t be run in two more different climates, but those extremes are at the top of this week’s column. We’re sprinkling in the Coldwater Rumble group of races and the Houston Half Marathon among other favorites too.
HURT 100 Mile – Honolulu, Hawai’i
Named as an acronym for the Hawaiian Ultra Running Team (HURT), the five-lap run is exceptionally technical in the rainforest above Honolulu. There’s 20 stream crossing and 24,500 feet of elevation gain along the way too.
Women
Alyssa Clark dominated the women’s run. She finished in 24:35, and that was hours ahead of everyone else. Clark won the Moab 240 Mile last year and the Lake Sonoma 100k too. Katherina Laan was second in 26:46 and race local Teresa Allman ran 28:00 for third. .
Men
Nate Jaqua, the race’s runner-up back in 2020, won this year’s race in 23:14. The time was 37 minutes back from his earlier finish. Nathan Cogswell and Eric Wesolowski were second and third in 25:57 and 26:00, respectively. Cogswell’s a Hawai’ian local but appears to have been racing HURT for the first time.
Montane Spine Race – Pennine Way, United Kingdom
The point-to-point adventure goes for 268 miles, once in the summer and once in the winter. Additionally, the Spine Challenger South race runs for 108 miles at the same time, and the Spine Sprint runs for 46 miles. There are two additional races in this large, five-event week, which includes some 500 entrants from 22 countries in total. The races sold out within three minutes of registration opening.
Spine Race
It’s early. At the time of this writing, Claire Bannwarth (France) leads the women’s race, with just over two hours on Hannah Rickman (U.K.) in second. Last year’s winner, Elaine Bisson (U.K.) was up front with Bannwarth early on, but dropped from the race at Hebden after 12 hours.
Claire Bannwarth leads the 2023 Spine Race women’s race. Photo: Spine Race
Damian Hall (U.K.) currently leads Kim Collison (U.K.) in the men’s race and they are ahead of John Kelly’s male course record at this early point in the race. Collison and Hall pushed an aggressive pace a year ago but both dropped late in tremendously challenging conditions.
Kim Collison and Damian Hall lead the 2023 Spine Race men’s race. Photo: Spine Race
Spine Challenger
Sarah Hodgson and Rory Harris won the Spine Challenger race. The two finished the 108-mile winter epic in 33:26 and 26:25.
Spine Sprint
Louise Venables (U.K.) set a new women’s course record in 11:39, and Jon Shield (U.K.) was nearly an hour ahead of everyone else as men’s winner in 8:10. The Sprint ran for 46 miles.
Additional Races and Runs
Redding Marathon – Redding, California
Ultrarrunners dominated! The women’s winner was ultrarunner Roxanne Woodhouse in 3:38. For the men, Ian Sharman and Chris DeNucci took to the roads for a wet and windy marathon. The pair of ultrarunners finished in 2:43 and 2:54, for second and third place in the men’s race. The men’s champ was Blake Zufall in 2:36. Full results.
Coldwater Rumble – Goodyear, Arizona
Aravaipa Running’s big weekend at Estrella Mountain Regional Park included race distances up to 100 miles. Kelly Teeselink and Jeff Browning won the long race in 20:17 and 18:07, and Natalie Horn and Don Reichelt were fastest over 52 miles in 9:33 and 8:14. It was Browning’s 27th 100-mile win. Alison Baca was the 52k women’s winner in 4:05, and men’s leader Matthew Deyo finished in 4:10. Full results.
Wildcatter 50k – Graham, Texas
Jessie Winnett and Alyssa Babb finished the 50k together in 7:31, and Pieter Steenkamp was the first man of the small field of 10 finishers in 5:27. Full results.
Houston Half Marathon – Houston, Texas
Whether as a half marathon or a full marathon, Houston’s one of the country’s fastest races. Qualifying standards for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon stand at 2:37 for the full and 1:12 for the half for women, and 2:18 for the full and 1:03 for the half for men and a pair of trail runners just missed those marks. Emkay Sullivan ran 1:13 in the women’s half marathon. Sullivan’s registered for next month’s FOURmidable 50k in California. Fernando Cabada, age 40, ran 1:04 in the half marathon. A former national class road runner, he’s now a sometimes trail runner and ultrarunner with a third place at the 2021 Caumsett 50k among his ultra finishes. Full results.
Frozen Gnome 50k – Crystal Lake, Illinois
Rachel Burke won for the fourth time, and her 5:16 finish was her fastest. The time also threatened a course record that dates back to 2013. Todd Gunter topped the men’s group in 4:26. Full results.
Rachel Burke, the Frozen Gnome 50k women’s winner. Photo: Jennifer Thorsen
Todd Gunter, the 2023 Frozen Gnome 50k men’s winner. Photo: Jennifer Thorsen
Rocks and Roots 50k – Alum Creek State Park, Ohio
It appears that there were no women’s 50k finishers, and Brian Briones beat out Harvey Lewis for the men’s lead with 4:29 and 4:35 finishes. Full results.
Phunt 50k – Elkton, Maryland
Codi Januszkiewicz and Jake Landon won the two lap 50k in 5:01 and 4:26. Full results.
Swamp Stomper 50k – Millington, Tennessee
Dannon Eubanks and Siyan Cao came out of the swamp the fastest in 5:55 and 5:00. Full results.
Cold Rock 50k – Ellenboro, North Carolina
It looks like there were just seven finishers at the first-year event. Joseph Hiatt was first in 5:43, and there were no female entrants. Full results.
Bear Bait Ultras – Milton, Florida
The 50k leaders Ericka Bitz and Logan Elliott finished in 5:41 and 4:18, and 50-mile winners Anna Armfield and Tommy James clocked 8:31 and 7:30. Full results.
Long Haul 100 Mile – Land O’Lakes, Florida
Amanda Richmond and Kalo Axsom went 19:47 and 15:18 for the wins. Full results.
Call for Comments
- What other results and information can you share from this January weekend in trail running and ultrarunning?
- “Ultrarunning Magazine’s” (North American) Ultrarunners of the Year reveal is underway, with spots four to 10 having been announced at the time of this writing. If I was a betting man, I’d guess that Marisa Lizak will be the biggest oversight when the full rankings land. She had two standout runs at the Desert Solstice Track Invitational in the voting window. She ran 151.89 miles over 24 hours late in 2021 and 156.58 miles over 24 hours in December 2022, and both were inside the voting window. The latter run ranks third-best all-time for Americans, trailing only Camille Herron and Courtney Dauwalter. She was also second at Spartathlon. What do you think of the rankings so far?