Let's Talk Trail Running

Play Fantasy Freetrail here . Links discussed in the show: Strava links to Jon Albon’s win in 2023 in 6:32:19 and Ruth Croft’s win in 2017 in 7:27:31. Jim Walmsley’s instagram post discussing Templiers and its atmosphere/importance in the trail running world. Ellie Greenwood’s Ultrarunning Magazine article about Grand Trail Des Templiers. French wikipedia page for Festival des Templiers. Runraid French Website describing in depth the history and stats around the race. Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Play Fantasy Freetrail here . Links Discussed in the show: Uphill Route strava file . 3.1 miles and 2,481 feet of climbing (5km and 756m). Up/down route strava file. 9.4 miles and 4,069 feet of climbing (15km and 1,240m). WMRA Women’s World Cup point standings . WMRA Men’s World Cup point standings . WMRA World Rankings (not the same as world cup standings). Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Play Fantasy Freetrail here: Fantasy.freetrail.com Links Discussed in Podcast: Alain SB Course record? Strava file from 2023 Race in 2:57:08 https://www.strava.com/activities/9907163798 Clementine Geoffray strava file from 2023 win: https://www.strava.com/activities/9903791813 Skyrunning YT video: Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Play Fantasy Freetrail here . Links Discussed in Podcast: UTMB Course Description per their website: Zach Miller Youtube Documentary by Billy Yang. Doug Mayer Book about the history and founding of UTMB. Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Play Fantasy Freetrail here . Links Discussed in Podcast: CCC course description per UTMB website. Strava file for Martyna M. 2025 CCC win . Strava file for Francesco Puppi 2025 CCC win . Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Play Fantasy Freetrail here. Links Discussed in Podcast: OCC course description. Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Links Discussed in show: Doug Mayer Trail Runner Mag article . Doug Mayer Run the Alps article for 50th anniversary of race talking to race legends both male and female. IRunFar 2026 Sierre Zinal Men’s Preview and Women’s Preview . Freetrail Instagram Sierre Zinal stats corner post thanks to Travis Loncar. Run the Alps article on first American and 1977 Sierre Zinal winner Chuck Smead. Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Play Fantasy Freetrail here . Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Play Fantasy Freetrail here . Links Discussed in Show: 2025 Zegama IRunFar recap by Deki Fourcin. Subhub Headlines Article with Zegama top 10 times. IRunFar Article on how to win the Zegama Marathon by Mallory Richard. Golden Trail World Series Youtube Recap from 2025 Race. List of past winners at Zegama. Zegama Weather Forecast . Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Author’s Note: Feel free to skip forward from 30:00 to about 32:30 into the podcast due to technical difficulties and apologies for some profanity. I thought the window that I was recording the podcast on had been closed but was mistaken. Once it was fixed I decided to keep rolling rather than restart 30 minutes in. My sincerest apologies! Links Discussed: Play Fantasy Freetrail here 2025 IRunFar recap by Deki Fourcin: https://www.irunfar.com/2025-transvulcania-ultramarathon-results 2026 IRunFar Preview by Justin Mock: https://www.irunfar.com/2026-transvulcania-ultramarathon-preview Peter Frano Strava File: https://www.strava.com/activities/14437004064/overview 46 miles, 14,000 feet of vert on Spanish Canary island of La Palma off the northwest of Morocco. Course Records: Men’s: Luis Alberto Hernando 6:52:39 in 2015 Women’s: Ruth Croft 8:02:49 in 2024 Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

The 6th Skyrunning World Series race of the year is here and it is a stacked field on both sides. Today we’ll discuss the favorites from both races as well as recap some happenings this past week from UTMB Canyons, MIUT 115k, and the London Marathon. Play Fantasy Freetrail here . Links Discussed in Episode: 2024 Race Recap Video on the Traditional Race route. 2022 Mens Course Record Strava File from Sylvain Cachard. La Pointe Pessey Youtube Documentary . Davide Magnini Presanella Salomon TV Documentary . Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

The final golden tickets for entry into 2026 Western States Endurance Run are up for grabs this weekend. Who would be the most exciting racers to add to the field that aren’t in yet? On the men’s side you’ve got to imagine it would be great to have previous winner Adam Peterman back in along with either Hayden Hawks or Zach Miller while on the women’s side Riley Brady could really add more zest to what is already an extremely spicy field in the women’s race. Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

The northern hemisphere trail season is fully here by now with a big weekend of racing that includes Madeira Island Ultra Trail 115k (MIUT) and Canyons by UTMB this weekend. Here is a race preview for MIUT 115k with a strong men’s field and a women’s field that should be a battle between a trio of favorites. Play Fantasy Freetrail here . Links Discussed in Podcast: 2025 MIUT IRunFar Race Recap . Freetrail Interview with Rod Farvard. Youtube video of Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz. Philipp Ausserhofer instagram profile . Vincent Esmiol Échappée Belle Strava File . Trail Talk Podcast Interview with Rebecca Horman. Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

A double whammy preview episode with two big sub-ultra races next weekend. One Skyrunning World Series race and one of Freetrail’s very own races with a nice prize purse thrown in. We’ve got Skyrunning World Series Champions and Golden Trail World Series Champions kicking off their season with their first races of the year at Calamorro Skyrace. Links Discussed in Podcast: Play Fantasy Freetrail Here. Luca Del Pero 2025 Calamorro Course Record Race Sara Alonso 2025 Calamorro Course Record Race Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Links discussed in show: Zaid Malek BBC Article IRunFar Chianti Race Recap from 2025. Kilian Jornet strava file from 2025 Chianti 120k race. Roberto Delorenzi strava file from 2025 Tenerife 47k race. Play Fantasy Freetrail here . Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Join me as I preview the first European race of the 2026 Skyrunner World Series season, including 3 of the top 4 men’s short trail finishers from worlds last year. I also discuss the results of the 2026 Transgrancanaria classic which saw a sweep from the Albons and some notable drops on both the men’s and women’s fields. Articles Mentioned on Podcast: Skyrunner Website description and Skyrunner Substack Preview from last year’s race. Transgrancanaria Recap from IRunFar. Play Fantasy Freetrail here . Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe

Question: What do last year’s UTMB winner, a 3 time Lavaredo winner, a 2 time CCC winner, and a dual winner of OCC/CCC have in common? Answer: They’ll all be lining up at this year’s Transgrancanaria start line for an early season show down- Tom Evans, Hannes Namberger, Hayden Hawks, and Jon Albon are all lining up at this early season classic to do battle. The women’s field includes two of last year’s podium finishers and a 2025 TROY top 10 finisher lining up for her first time in Sunmaya Budha. Articles Mentioned in Podcast: IRunFar 2025 Recap Play Fantasy Freetrail here Get full access to Robrunsround’s Substack at robrunsround.substack.com/subscribe