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Broken Arrow VK Race Preview | The Steep Stuff Race Companion
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Broken Arrow VK Race Preview | The Steep Stuff Race Companion , With Guest Nick Tusa
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Previewing Broken Arrow Vertical Kilometer
Speaker 1Oh man . Ladies and gentlemen , welcome back to the steep stuff podcast . I'm your host , james Lariello , and we are joined today by a very special guest to preview the broken arrow sky race , vk 23 K and 46 K . Mr Nick Tusa , you want ?
Speaker 2to interview . Yeah , excited to be here , excited to uh chat about some upcoming races that we're both , I know , really excited about .
Speaker 1Dude , thanks for coming , man , I'm so excited that we finally we've been I feel like we've been spitballing about this for a long time . We kind of finally here to put this together . Um yeah , I'm just so excited to uh . This is like one of the biggest weekends in trail running , if not the biggest two weeks in trail running between broken arrow and then Western States , and there's a little bit of something for everybody . So I'm ready to uh , ready to get this kicked off , ready to get rolling .
Speaker 2How you been , dude I've been well , man , yeah , training a ton and uh , yeah , putting the miles in race this weekend . Yeah , finally , finally , kick off the racing season . Yeah , were you racing it ? I'm racing the great divide 25k in Colorado up at uh , mueller State Park , I believe it's called yeah so , yeah , get up to 9,500 feet and throw down . See how it goes . Let's go . Baby , I'm stoked man . I can't wait to cheer you on tomorrow . It's going to be it's going to be fun race .
Speaker 1All right , ladies and gentlemen . So we are here to talk about Broken Arrow . This is a specific Broken Arrow episode . We're going to kind of break these down into different episodes , so the first one we're going to talk about today is the vertical kilometer race . It's going to be taken place on June 21st 2024 .
Speaker 1This year is a little bit different , so it's a little bit earlier for start time . This year it's going to be a 9.30 start . Usually these races are sometimes 10 . Previous years has been 11 . So this year is kind of early . For those of you who are unaware . With the vertical kilometer , this race is about 4.8 K , which is about three miles um , with about 914 meters of climbing . You do the math on that . It's about 3000 feet of vertical gain in just three miles Um . This is also going to be a world mountain running vertical uphill race , um . And it does top out on Washtenaw peak , which is going to be overlooking the beautiful Lake Tahoe . So lots of storylines to talk about . Nick , let's get into this . What kind of storylines are you thinking ? Who's going to be there this year ?
Speaker 2Well , one of the big names that I got excited about seeing was Patrick Kipping-Yago . I mean , he won the first two Golden Trail events of the season so far and he is a back-to-back uphill world champion , so it's uh , he's gonna be a tough one to beat for sure , yeah , I mean he , he's got the background , he has the pedigree um yeah , he's a .
Speaker 1He's a phenom dude . He's only 30 years old dude . You know he's a 102 half marathoner . 102 dude is fast as shit . Um , he's also go . This is mind-blowing to me just because , like I like , I think the 10k is like probably my favorite uh distance um 29 minute 10k time .
Speaker 2So so fast I feel like you got to be sub 30 to win these vks oh , for sure it's yeah , gotta have that flat speed yeah so who else do you think is gonna um ? Yeah , and I think , like the reason that he is showing up is because of the the competition here , and I mean seeing some of the names like Jim Walmsley , eli Hemming , christian Allen , david Sinclair I mean these are just world beaters and these are people that I know he wants to throw down with for sure .
Speaker 1Straight killers , dude Killers . On the ladies' side , who's coming in ?
Speaker 2Ladies' side . Ladies' side . I got Grayson Murphy uh , anna Gibson uh , second last year at the VK .
Speaker 1Jade Bellsburg , uh , tabor Hemming . And another one I saw over there was Claire Rhodes . Yeah , very , very solid . Did you raise her last year ? She's Alaskan runner , right .
Speaker 2I think you might've . I think I remember seeing her name on a Zerk series .
Speaker 1Okay , I think you might have . I think I remember seeing her name on a zerk series . Okay , nice , yeah , she's a killer dude . Her , um , her partner , I believe , is racing as well , but it might be the 46k . Okay , I'm trying to remember . Um , is it tracen knopp ? If I remember correctly , he's gonna be out there . Yeah , he's another stud alaskan runner . So the alaskans are coming out to uh , get on this . Um , yeah , man , there's so many good storylines here , I've got got a few as well . Like , this is going to be jim walmsley's first race . Uh , in the united states , with the exception of a rate , the stampede we won't count that .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's actually technically got dq'd . Yeah , yeah , it shows on ultra sign up as like unofficial yeah , something like that which I'm I think that's hilarious . This is 2021 .
Speaker 1So that's wild . David Sinclair is back . I'm really excited to have him back on the start list since 2022 . He actually did race this year . He did throw down against Darren Thomas , the silver state 50 K . So , yeah , you got second place , so it seems like he's knocking off the rust guy Looks he's looking good man .
Speaker 2So and another thing to add about him he actually just recently broke Jack Kenzel's uh Mount Shasta um ascent and descent on skis . Um , that's like 10 miles , 7,200 feet of gain . He did that in two hours , 16 minutes just absolutely insane .
Speaker 1That's a killer man , yeah .
Speaker 2So , like the uphill fitness , the it's there , it's there , yeah .
Speaker 1Oh man , I yeah there's and dude and he's a . He's another one Like I feel like he went through this year . It was interesting Cause I know he's most notably known um in the skiing like in the skiing world , as a like a skate skier , Nordic skier , and I feel like this year he's been really making a name for himself on the schema side and I don't know how that works . I probably should have done some research before this episode to learn a little bit more about how , because I know schema is an Olympic sport and we've got the individual , we've got the uphill things like that , and I don't know how that selection process works . So it's very possible that maybe he's trying to get in for that . So that's definitely a storyline for this year .
Speaker 1A few storyline for this year um , a few other storylines I've got is , like you said , patrick kip and yago returns the united states after a little bit of a layoff I think last year he was here for what pikes ascent and the mammoth trail fest . Um , cam smith is back . Um so excited to see him on the start list as well and coming back from injury I didn't realize how young he was either .
Speaker 1He's 28 , I believe he's my age , which I was like I thought he was like in his third .
Speaker 2Like I feel like he's my age , which I was like wow , I thought he was like in his third . Like I feel like he's been like a coach for a long time and someone that , like , a lot of people have looked up to for a while .
Speaker 1Dude , I look up to him . He's a killer .
Speaker 2He . I got him at six . I think he's . He's definitely going to put him in . He's won it in 2022 .
Speaker 1Um , dude , he put Eli on the ropes in the VK of eli . Yeah , yeah was watching that vk and um watching the live stream and they were just duking it out , going back and forth , you know , like eli would make a move and cam would cover , and it was just , it was amazing to follow along . So , um , yes . And then on this topic of eli and tabor , I'm almost 100 sure they will be racing the vk , so I'm pretty sure that will . I know they're definitely racing the 23k , pretty sure they're going to be doing the vk as well . You know , I would imagine , just based off and we'll talk about this in a little bit when we get to our picks based off of eli's recent fkt on bear peak that was an ascent I would imagine he's probably gearing up for a vk oh , he's ready to go .
Speaker 2That would make this .
Speaker 1That would make sense , yep yep , um and yeah , gray Grayson Murphy's back . I don't know if I said that already excited to see her race . Um , she had , you know , kind of an interesting and really fun debut of the season . Um , she didn't race in Kobe , but she did wind up racing in the Chinese race . Um , and dude what , what a high altitude , gnarly race that was . So .
Speaker 2I listened to her podcast about it and she said it was it was a battle up there . I mean , this early in the year , being at that high altitude is , oh my god , brutal yeah , you know what's funny , I had , uh , I had andy on yesterday .
Speaker 1Um , andy wacker and we were chatting and he , um , dude , he , he just seemed like so chill and nonchalant about the , about the . He was like , yeah you know , I ran up pike's peak a bunch and yeah , that's who didn't really bother me . I was like dude , you're just an animal . I was like I love this . He was totally relaxed about it , whereas , like to me , that would be like the first thing I'd be worrying about . Like , oh man , I gotta run above 10 000 feet . How am I adapted ? Uh , some people are just that fit man , you know he's been .
Speaker 2He's been here his whole life . Right , he's colorado born and bred . I'm pretty sure no , he's from north carolina . Okay , but he went to see you .
Speaker 1He went to see you went to see you two-time all-american . Uh , this is all fresh in my head because I talked to him yesterday , yeah um , yeah , two-time all-american . Um , and then dude . First trail race . He's been he's . I called him the godfather of sub ultra . I started thinking about this a little bit . He's like dude he's been racing sub ultra since 2013 .
Speaker 2Wow , that's wild like the longevity , yeah , like the beginnings of nike trail kind of yeah , yeah .
Speaker 1Well , I told him I was like , dude , the first time I learned about you was I'll never forget like when I first entered the sport was following along like those golden trail series races in europe and watching some fast dude in a nike kit , just like taking it out at sub five minute mile and just running past everybody and you know , just like taking it out super hot , and I was like I love that guy like that .
Speaker 1He was one of the few americans that were there like , yeah , early on , yeah , yeah , he kind of paid the way now he , um , you know , now he's running for solomon and this past year he got to go to the um uh make the solomon international camp , which was pretty dope . So that's gonna be a fun episode you guys are gonna like that one it's gonna be cool to talk about , all right , so let's get into it .
Speaker 1We can can talk about the ladies' side as well . I know I kind of already talked about Grayson and Tabor . Anna Gibson , who's last year's champion from the VK , is actually coming back as well . We've got Ellie Mack returning , who's a past VK champion , and then another top 10 to watch out for is going to be Anna Mae Flynn . I just talked to her last week . She is fit , she's ready to go . Last year she had an amazing performance , took fifth um , and she's coming second before , so she's been on the podium of this race in 2017
Mountain Running Race Predictions
Speaker 1. Um , yeah , we're gonna . We're gonna talk about her a little bit . I'm excited to uh , I'm excited for where her season , her season's gonna go . Um , yeah , man , maybe we could jump into , we could jump in the storylines , we could jump into pics .
Speaker 2Now , let's get it , let's do it sure , yeah , let's get into pics . We could . Let's start with the ladies . Okay , um , so I . So I got Grayson Murphy winning it .
Speaker 2Uh , I think her and um on a Gibson are gonna , are gonna go at it , um , but I just feel like Grayson , you know , when she shows up to a race , healthy and fit , like I don't know who can beat her , honestly , okay , she's yeah . And then , uh , jade , third , since she was second last year , I think that she's going to be able to um , to put something in pretty good effort . Uh , tabor and fourth , and then wrapping up , wrapping up the top five . I have claire rhodes and fifth , smart , and then just a few kind of like outside top 10 or not outside the top 10 , outside of the top five , um , I , I with a vk . I think this can be anyone's race . I mean , this is like we said , this is a deep field . I also have Anna Mae Flynn , ally McLaughlin , I think . Even if she is not fully healthy , I still think that she is one of the best in the world and that she can show up and place top 10 .
Speaker 2Hell yeah , Lindsay McDonald and Rachel . I don't know how to pronounce her last name that well , but I think it's like Tom .
Speaker 1Yeah , tom , tom , tom , tom , tom Jack , I believe that's how it is . Yeah , okay .
Speaker 2Yep , and I know that she's . I've seen her with a USA kid a lot and she throws down some .
Speaker 1Merrill runner yeah , she's amazing .
Speaker 2So Laura Hamilton who won the Kendall Mountain last year , won the Kendall Mountain race . So I think that she's got a good uphill and , yeah , she'll be pretty good .
Speaker 1Dude , I love it . There's lots to get into here , so I as well . I have Grayson in first , I think if Grayson can show up healthy . So have you checked her Strava ? I have not , so her Strava is kind of interesting . I don't know if we're getting a full picture on , like what's , what's kind of going on there . Um , a couple back to back 40 mile weeks , followed by like three . Two weeks ago she had a 75 mile week . Um , I'm not really like I said , I don't know if she's posting everything . Um , the runs look clean , runs look strong . I it's very difficult Cause I know , if you're like me , like I'm a black box on .
Speaker 2Strava .
Speaker 1So it's very hard to read . Am I healthy ? What am I doing ? What am I doing with this ? So I know not all athletes post everything , so I'm kind of interested to see like , what the storyline is there with . You know what's going on .
Speaker 1If she's healthy , which I believe she is , she's going to be very hard to beat on that start line . I mean Gray animal , I mean she's two times or she's 2023 world mountain running champ in the up down , in the vertical , okay , she's , oh wait , no , in the up . I think it's up down and I think she is she , the vertical champion . She was third in the vertical , yeah , but she was podium , and then she was the two-time um mountain running champ in 2021 , 2023 um for the usatf . So , um , she's only 28 years old and the crazy thing is is like she's 28 years old and like I was talking to Andy yesterday and like he's already got her as one of his goats , if not like could could very well be one of the best female sub ultra runners , if not the of all time , and already 28 years old . So there's a lot of storylines to talk about there . I mean like she's already had a storied career . I know she's dealt with I wouldn't say injury , but she's dealt with some health stuff .
Speaker 1At the end of last year , especially like following Cirque series , brighton , after she absolutely dominated that race . I know she she , you know had some stuff that she was pretty she talked about on Instagram and she was pretty open with it . So it's amazing that she's kind of ready to be back on a start line . We've seen a race already this year and she's kind of calling her way back and , you know , and ready it's , it's it's really fun . I mean , I feel like she's , you know , this amazing prototypical runner where she , this girl , comes out of college . She's an amazing NCAA athlete , she's on the track and she's on the trail and now all of these people coming up in the sport want to be just like her . Um , yeah , she's amazing . I'm so excited to see what she can do .
Speaker 2So it's , it's gonna be cool to see her back on start line yeah , I feel like a start line without her is not like a true start line . I agree it's exciting 100 especially broken arrow .
Speaker 1I know last year she was like out there um , but just didn't , didn't want to brace him and now I think this is her first broken this is her first broken arrow , yeah yeah .
Speaker 1So there's so much to be stoked about , and it's not , you know , like this is not just an , your normal vk , like this is a much um for those of you that have actually been out there , on course , and I can't wait for you to go out and finally experience this in the next year or two dude um , last year I was out there and the the courses , especially this year there's going to be so much snow , so it's going to be a similar probably a similar go to last year um , so they cut out those steps , cut out the steps , so there's going to be
Speaker 1snow on the course . It's going to be gnarly , um , I would imagine . So I did do a pretty deep dive into the course and it seems , it appears that they haven't really changed much from last year . If not might be actually be the same exact course that they used . And if that is , then the way it works is it's a mass start . I don't know if you've watched the . Yeah , when you watch the live streams , like we are , we're all going out at once . Um , and not only is it a mass start , but it's basically straight up the hill like you're going up to , you're hitting a 20 to 40 percent grade almost immediately within the first like fifth of a mile . So , yeah , it's , it's gonna , it's going to be , it's going to be interesting , nice and steep . There's a lot to go on there . Um , all right , so I'll kind of get into my picks as well . We can talk about a few of the other things . Um , so I do have Grayson at first . I'm , I'm , I'm , I'm slinging , slinging with my second place . I'm , I'm going , I'm going .
Speaker 2Tabor Hemming second uh , and I think there's a lot to unpack with that .
Speaker 1I think tabor , um well , we know tabor's healthy . Um , we know tabor's been racing amazingly . Um , I think tabor's extremely fit . There there's a lot of a . You know , they kind of allude a lot both in their social media and when they do post stuff on strava , and just from conversations , like you know that they're doing steep stuff .
Speaker 1Um , pun intended there with the steep stuff podcast um , you know like , uh , you see them on the flat irons . They're coming out to boulder . You see eli running , you know , for the f for the bear peak fkt . I didn't ask , but I would imagine taber would have run bear peak too so she uh , I watched their their youtube video yeah , and uh , she just didn't effort up .
Speaker 1An effort up green wait was it the same one he cut his head at . Cut his head on um not the exact same trail . No , second same video . It would have been the newest video . Okay , I must have missed it just came out all right , I missed , sorry , guys , but yeah , they .
Speaker 2They were chatting about their um , their volume as well , and they've been both putting in consistent um 100 plus mile weeks . So they are , they're fit , and I think I made these picks the other day . So , honestly , I kind of want to agree with you and maybe bump Tabor up , and the reason for that is because she's raced a bunch this year already . I mean , anna Gibson has you know . I mean she's been on the track . It's just . How is that going to translate ? It seemed to translate well last year . Will it translate again ?
Speaker 1We'll see , I don don't know it's a good storyline for me , I think , and you gotta remember too is like taber's not new to the vk
Trail Running Race Predictions and Analysis
Speaker 1she ran . She was third in the vk at broken arrow in 2022 . She ran 51 minutes , fucking solid time . Um , she's also the 20 . I don't know if people know this . She's the 2022 us mountain running national champ as well um that , like that was her first like kind of like breakout season where everybody started learning like out east who they were yeah , it was .
Speaker 1I'm sure it was at whiteface I think it was at whiteface so yeah , some amazing stuff there .
Speaker 1Um , so I do have tabor is my second place pick . Um , no-transcript , the women's field . Other than , like Grayson , the women's field doesn't look a heck of a lot different this year versus last year . Um , well , grayson and Tabor . Tabor was on the list last year but didn't race . But , in my opinion , I think anime's got all the tools to win all right . Well , she , she could possibly win this race , but if not , all the tools to definitely make it on the podium , I don't see why she shouldn't be able to do that . Um , some of the things about anime as well . Like I said , fifth in 2023 , second in 2017 dude , she's also got a second place .
Speaker 1The pikes ascent in 2017 oh , wow um , like I said , she's she's got all the fast twitch . She's an uphill killer . I you know , like I said , she's an amazing human too . Like it's a little home cooking bias , but like just spending time with her and like realize , like just understand , like what an amazing person she is and like just how inspiring she is , I can't help but not put her on my podium . Um and fourth , I am going to go with Anna Gibson , um champion in 2023 . Um , another killer , absolute killer . She's coming off of like an absolutely astounding track season . Um , I you know , I don't know , I think it's it's different for different people . I know , if it were me coming off a track season going onto the trails , I would struggle , but I'm not Anna Gibson . Anna Gibson is far superior of an athlete than I'll ever be .
Speaker 2So she could who knows , she could shock the hell out of us and just go win the damn race . I think there was some strategy with her just picking the vk and not racing the 23k . Yeah , I think that's like coming off the track . I would imagine the pounding on like the downhill would be very tough to handle and you're not used to that at all . So I think the vk was kind of just like a safe bet for her , just like I'm just going to use my pure fitness attack this mountain .
Speaker 2We'll see . And also her not running the 23K . See , I've never ran a back-to-back VK in a race , so I don't know if people hold back a little bit , knowing that they have to race the following day , or is it the following second .
Speaker 1Well , so if you're in the 23K , 23 case , Sunday Sunday and 46 case Saturday and the VK is . Friday Friday Friday nine , 30 .
Speaker 2But knowing that she's just running the VKs , it's just going to be an all out , Just go like yeah , we'll see . Yeah , yeah .
Speaker 1I , I'm excited , I can't wait to follow along . And then in fifth place I've got Allie's biggest fan , like I . Just you know she's a local Colorado Springs girl . Um , absolute killer she's been . She's won this race before . Uh can absolutely win it again .
Speaker 1I know she's kind of struggling and this isn't you know , she . She was pretty open and her quote that she gave it to us . She's been struggling a little bit with some injury . Um hasn't run too . Anna Kobe , which she also would , almost with the exception of she , fell back a little bit . She almost damn well won that race as well . But that said , I think she could do it . You know , like I said , she struggled with some injury . She doesn't know which race she's going to specifically do , but she has signed up she will be out there . So if she does race it , I will never count out Allie Mack . She's , like I said , fifth place pick . So there's some other athletes that are coming out . I love that you threw out the name of Lindsay McDonald . I think Lindsay is a little slept on . I think she's a little underrated and she's an absolutely stellar athlete . All right , one person you didn't mention that .
Speaker 1I think is a sleeper for . She's a sleeper top 10 . I think she gets her way into the top 10 is jessica breyo oh , actually I did have her I just I didn't .
Speaker 2Yeah , she , I was taking a look at her ultra sign up that she doesn't like . Not , she doesn't miss podiums very often doesn't miss podiums . Very often she's jim's partner , his wife I mean all that training in france , all that good vertical dude , lots of skiing she was doing lots of vertical .
Speaker 1You know , I didn't know this either , but she's listed on and I don't know if people even know this , but , like she's listed on Hoka's website as a Hoka athlete , which I wasn't aware , I did not know that she was on the Hoka team Dude , and she very well backs it up . She's like an extremely solid , solid runner . I like that Trying to find where I like wrote down some of some things about her . Um , canyons 25k in 2022 , she took . Second speed goat 25k in 2021 she took . She won it second at the nice 50k in 2023 .
Speaker 1Like you said , she doesn't really miss much and she's been doing it like when they're in france , you know they're . You know jim was doing a ton of uphill ski races , which means I would have imagined jess would have too . Um , I just don't know . You know they weren't very a ton of uphill ski races , which means I would have imagined Jess would have too . Um , I just don't know . You know they weren't very public with what they did and a lot of that stuff is hard to get ahold of if you're looking for information . So I'm going to put her anywhere from five to 10 . I think she definitely sneaks into the top 10 without a doubt .
Speaker 2You know , uh , I think I think her and Jim are going to have like just so much stoke being back in the States , being back like around their people and stuff like that , like not saying France , like I'm sure they had their their group in France with France full on all that stuff , but but coming back like home in a sense , like I think that's going to give them a little extra .
Speaker 1Dude , I agree , I agree . Yeah , field looks looks insane . I we have some , just some incredible talent coming out , so all right . So let's go over to the men's picks . I'll let you take it away with who you got in your top five for men and we'll go from there awesome .
Speaker 2Um , I have patrick kip and yago taking it , uh , followed by eli hemming , third , jim walmsley , fourth , christian allen and fifth , dav Sinclair . Okay , left out a few very notable names . I mean you're going to with a field this deep ? I mean I could go on and on here . I mean Cam Smith has a chance at it . You know he was first in 2022 . Darren Thomas won in 21 .
Speaker 1Yep Second place last year Second place last year .
Speaker 2I also didn't realize how young he was , too he's 30 , only I don't know if he's that 29 maybe . I think something like that I , I don't know , I don't know why another colorado springs guy ? I see his name on like segments throughout colorado , like throughout all of colorado he's got the second .
Speaker 1No , he's got the third , because second would be joe . Now , uh , third on the incline , I'm pretty sure he's third .
Speaker 2Yeah , that's wild , yeah , crusher and I mean chad hall can't leave him out . Um mckell . He was ninth uh ninth of the vk in 2022 , I believe . I think last year he just the 23k . Yep um joseph demore , I gotta throw up there . Yep um local out of um fort collins . I don't think he's raced a lot of these races before , but I've seen him at gopro games a bunch , and this is tyler mccandles yeah , shout out to him fast guy fast , fast road guy , so have you ?
Speaker 1did you get to race him yet , or have you ?
Speaker 2um , I don't , I know . I know he does like those gopro races he did .
Speaker 1He did it out with joe last year for um . What was that race that you ? I think you're doing it this year the um ? Oh my god , what is it ?
Speaker 2it's the uphill that's in jackson rendezvous , yes , rendezvous , hill climb , dude him and joe duked it out and they both went under the course record last year .
Speaker 1I did see that . Yeah , I see that .
Speaker 2So yeah , he , I mean , he could very well be right up there . Uh , sam hendry .
Speaker 1Yeah , uh , garrett corcoran um there's like 30 , 30 fucking people that could win this race it's crazy .
Speaker 2And then I just listened to your podcast with um kieran yesterday and that was amazing and I think he's gonna come ready to go . Um andy wacker even though if he's been , I sounds like he's maybe dealing with a little something right now , but the dude's been here before .
Speaker 2This is nothing new to him he can throw down , uh , but just like a couple notes on on the top five there . Um , david sinclair he was second in 2021 , uh , first at the rut vk in 22 and then again I just mentioned he just broke jack kenzel's record up and down shasta .
Speaker 1So dude sinclair is .
Speaker 2Sinclair is an animal dude , yeah , so stacked man um , yeah , all right , so to speak , on that .
Speaker 1There's just like a lot of storylines here that we can go into . Like the first things first is like kip and yego's here , and I think the fact that , like he's like a world champion , like we're finally at this level now with broken arrow , where this vertical kilometer race is getting like world champions on both the men's and women's side , is like wild , and especially in american soil . Um , we've also got jim walmsley here . Um , one of you know , one of the best to ever do it at this point , especially , you know , on the men's side , for , uh , the ultra running scene . I think jim has slept on when it comes to these short races . I did , I mean , I did a a literal fucking analysis on this to like , to like to break this down . Um , I even went like deep and dark into strava and these strava segments . Um , did you know ? So ? Jim was third as series and all in 2019 , behind killian um , and I believe it was petra mamu . So he's got wheels , dude , we all know he's got wheels . I mean , that's like , but he ran a 231 , 53 , okay , which is bizarre .
Jim Wamsley and Trail Running Predictions
Speaker 1Why I think Jim Wamsley wins this race is the Strava segment I sent you called the KMV official course , which , if you guys are unaware of what this is , it's a full vertical kilometer in Fulay , switzerland . That's 1.24 miles and 3,254 feet . To do the math on that , it's a 49% grade . All right . Wamsley ran it . He's eighth overall in the Strava segment . All right , he went . So basically eighth overall in the 3141, . He's like a couple minutes . He's like a minute behind , a little less than a minute behind Killian who has 2951 .
Speaker 1Okay , on this VK . And Remy's got the world record in 28.49 . All right . So Jim is just a couple minutes off , less than that , off the vertical kilometer world record . He was supposed to run race Joe and Patrick last year and a bunch of other killers in Innsbruck at the VK race , which a lot of people are unaware that he was supposed to be at the VK race . And he was also supposed to be at um at the do the long course in Innsbruck . Um , I think he's just bizarrely slept on . I think he's he's overlooked because he's , you know , known as this long trail , utmb guy . Um , and then the other thing was that people don't know know like it was .
Speaker 1Maybe like somewhat publicly noted is dude , he almost went for in in chamonix they have a vk course like right there in town . He almost went for that record the week of utmb to go see if he could break that and then go win utmb and get the utmb record . He didn't do it but it was considered yeah . So I don't know , dude , I this is in my honest to God opinion . I think this is power moves . I think Jim comes out . I think he smashes his fucking waist and absolutely makes Patrick and everybody else look absolutely silly . I really do . I think I've got Wamsley for first . I'm going to go with Christian Allen , who we're going to get into too . For second , I've got Kip and Yago .
Speaker 1Third , I've got Kip and Yago third , I've got Eli fourth , which is wild because that would probably be the lowest Eli has ever finished in a race .
Speaker 2Literally .
Speaker 1Like I don't even know if it's possible . And then Chad I got Chad Hall in fifth and I think Chad Hall is an absolute animal . We'll unpack this a little bit . So I talked about Walmsley . Hyped up Walmsley , I really do . I think Jim wins this race . I and I think , dude , I think he goes and wins western states . I think . Do you think he breaks ?
Speaker 1the course record I don't think he breaks the course record . Maybe I don't know , I don't know how much snow is up there , but I can . I can tell you this and it's hard to say , like talk about like course records when it comes to vk races , especially because now , like this , this course has changed a bunch of times and I don't even know what the broken arrow vk course record is now , just because it's a different , different course , like last year's . I think it's like the same course as last year . But , um , that said , I do think , jim , I think once you reach and I don't , I don't know , I just see this in other athletes that once you in adjacent sports , once you get to that level like look at courtney , for example , she's probably the best version , best I um , you know , version is , once you get to that level , you don't really fall off that level . Courtney hasn't , like you know , hasn't like fallen off at all and and there's no like signs that's gonna happen .
Speaker 1Katie shud's another great example last year got second at western states . She's won utmb . You know , dude , ever since she won utmb , like she's been on like a rocket ship to the moon , you know , and like she's kind of like at this another level that you kind of unlock , and I wonder if , like , once you do get to that top level of the sport , it's very easy to hold onto , or you're just fighting so hard to keep that ? Um yeah , I don't know . It's like the old saying with these UFC fighters Once you become champ , you automatically get 40% better , and it's because people fear you . Whether they're fighting you or whether you're on the start line , people fear you . So I don't know . It's interesting to see . I have talked to quite a few people that are on the start line , that are going to be out there , and I think a lot of people are very excited to race Jim and potentially beat him . I . I think a lot of people are very excited to race Jim and potentially beat him .
Speaker 2So I think he's this . I won't . I'm not going to say he's going to win , but I think he's the scariest person on that start line , just cause he's terrified of him .
Speaker 1Yeah , I wouldn't want to race him Um , or I would , and I it's the last I'd see him is on the start line , and that's it . Um , yeah , pick christian allen , who you had , I believe in fourth uh , yes okay , I think that's .
Speaker 1These are these . Yeah , christian allen's an absolute like . I think he's um . In my opinion , that's he's the future of trail running . I mean , he's young , he's 25 years old . Um , he's a byu grad , just finished up college . This past year um ran 215 low at cim and that was after blowing up , and still ran 215 low . That was and that was his olympic trials qualifier . Um , there's strava's looking super fresh . Uh , he just like absolutely demolished a segment on grandeur peak . Um did . He ran a 42 , 33 um up . So the grand , the peak itself , or the peak itself grandeur is very well known in the area Ran a 42.33 . The next closest time was 48.09 . Okay , yeah , and this is a 3,345 foot 25% grade Strava segment . It's about 2.542 miles . So it models it's similar elevation profile . Broken Arrow is a little higher up , but the altitude is not going to bother Christian , I don't . I mean he's , he lives in Salt Lake or lives in the greater Salt Lake area . So I have him . Dude , he could win , he could win the race Now .
Speaker 2Has he done a VK before ? Yes , oh yeah , that's something I didn't even mention , okay , Okay , absolutely .
Speaker 1I mean , you've raced him at , uh , probably a couple of the cirque series races . Yeah , yeah , alta , exactly , um , he's the fastest mullet in the wasatch dude , this kid's kid's an animal , uh . So , yeah , I , I am very , very excited to watch him . Uh , against the best in our sport . I mean , I even was talking to andy about him yesterday and was like like I'm just this kid's biggest fan and he's a nice dude . Like I've talked to him on instagram , we're going to have him on the podcast , yeah , just to really like what I want the future of trail running to be . Yeah , and he's like another one of these hybrid athletes . This guy's on the trail and he's on the track , so I'm just excited for what he's able to do . And then in third place , yes , patrick Kipanjago . I think Patrick comes out . I think Patrick has a great race . I think he does very well . I guess I see him anywhere from third place to first . I don't think he slips anything below that . He is also going to be running in 23K , or at least he's on the start list for it .
Speaker 1Yeah , I don't know , dude , I think there's this thing too , that when people you got to remember when you come to america from another country . I know he . He is kind of back and forth between austria and kenya , so I don't really know where he's at . Like I said , he's not , he doesn't have a strava , so it's . And if he does , I haven't been able to find it . So you don't , you don't really know like these people come over from the other countries , just like we go over to other countries to race . Your diet changes , your sleep changes , like all these different . So it depends on , like , how early you come out , how well you can adapt .
Speaker 2I mean , I know this is a full-time job , so I imagine that they're coming out probably at least a week before I would imagine Now . Do you know if is he coming out with anyone else ?
Speaker 1I know he usually has some of his buddies show up or no really Phil Monson on the start list , at least I don't know if any of their other teammates are on there , but not that I was aware of .
Speaker 2Cause I know that they always like what I . What I love about him and his team is like they always race together , like they're . They're very much like team oriented , like you always see , like the first two go at hot and like sometimes they'll drop each other , but like that's like part of like the team aspect of it and I really like that and you know you're so many good things to talk about there
Previewing the Broken Arrow VK Race
Speaker 2.
Speaker 1People race VKs too , like . One of the things I loved is that , like um anime kind of opened up a little bit . I got to get her podcast out earlier , maybe I can get it out before . Um this , this like preview drops just because , like she went into a lot of inside baseball and how to race a VK and like there's a lot of strategy to it . You know , like , are you just going fully anaerobic from the start and just gassing out and hold on for dear life , or are you starting a little more , you know conservative and just kind of picking people off as you go ? And you know it's there's a lot of different strategies that you can employ . I mean I , yes , it's a three mile race and people think you're going balls to the wall from the start and kind of , yes , you are , but there's still some strategy involved , especially , like you know , at the front of the race , if you're making moves and trying to cover moves . Like moves are being made and you need to be aware of that . So , yeah , I think there's a lot to it . Um , there's a lot of like , just like I said , so many good storylines here .
Speaker 1Then in fourth I can't believe I'm putting him in fourth place is eli . He wins . I want to put him as the one for everything . Um , I think eli is . He's the only reason I put him behind christian allen , which is wild to me . If there's a longer race , I would put eli to win , I think christian and jim , and I just think like eli's been racing a lot longer stuff now he did get the bear peak fkt . He took off stage very recently . That was what he ran at 32 , something like that .
Speaker 1Yep right 33 , I think it was 33 , something like that .
Speaker 2Yeah , um and I mean that's a uh , it's right under . The final climb up to bear is 1700 feet in a little less than a mile . So like he's , yeah , it's . That's similar to a good chunk of the course .
Speaker 1So yeah , I don't know it's . It's a very tough . Is there tough picks , man and I ?
Speaker 2know , with this , with this course , I mean , how much hiking do you think that there's going to be ? Are these guys running the entire ?
Speaker 1I think you're running . I think you're running probably .
Speaker 2With the snow , with the cutout steps , you're still able to .
Speaker 1I would say all right , so not everybody . But I'll tell you Jim is going to go out there with his wizard sticks and fucking eliminate people and he'll run . I guarantee he'll run with the wizard sticks Patrick's no wizard sticks , but he'll run . I think Eli runs it , I think Christian runs it . I've got Chad Hall in fifth . I think your top . The crazy thing is there's like 30 dudes that could win this race . I say the top 15% , maybe 10% are going to be running the entire course .
Speaker 2It's going to be a good pack up front .
Speaker 1That's going to be course , you know it's gonna be a good pack up front . That's gonna be for sure , for sure . Yeah , it's gonna be , and I wonder , like how the move is made , like because you are like in this race in particular , like there is a slight downhill section , a small flat to downhill section on it as well , on the profile and then you start climbing again , um you know , to the summit , which is wild .
Speaker 1Yeah , I'm excited so I've got like my what I would consider my top 10 back half . The first person on that list is going to be Karen Ney , hands down . Just met with Karen . We had him on the podcast . This guy is fit , he's ready to rock and roll . He gave me some good quotes about how comfortable he feels and excited he is . I'll even I'll even kind of break down this quote right now he goes I'm feeling really , really good about broken arrow . This is my fourth time back and I'm excited to see where I stack up . It's always been a good bellwether for the upcoming season . So kieran is fit , he's ready to rock and roll . Um , there's no reason why he shouldn't be in the top 10 of this race , dude , he's so fucking tall . He's like like now , granted , I'm not a very tall person myself , I'm like five , six on a good day . But like Kieran is jack , like I was like whoa , like six like six four .
Speaker 1He's really tall . So I was like , all right , this makes sense to me as like , like his one stride is like probably five of mine . Um , yeah , I've never ran with him before , but yeah , anyway , let I'd put them pretty similar . I don't know how much Darren Thomas has improved . It's kind of difficult to say . Eli smoked that field at Big Alta and I think he beat Darren Thomas by like was it like 10 to 15 ? It might have been more than that , which is wild for that caliber of race .
Speaker 1So I would imagine Darren , he had been coming back from an injury . So I would imagine , you know he he just beat David , uh Sinclair , um at silver state 50k . I think Darren is ready to rock and roll . Um , he got second last year . Dude , he's a really good vertical runner . Like I said he's , he's top five on the um on the incline . So I know I'm kind of rambling here , but like I , I it's hard to keep out Darren .
Speaker 1I've also got Cam Smith as well , um , another top 10 incliner Um . So you know he's going to be one of the best climbers in the world . And his last injury , it's funny . So he did have a knee injury but he's been back from that for a while . His last injury was like a like I think it was like a shoulder or something that he so it's not like his legs are not where they need to be . So I would imagine Cam to show up pretty damn fit . I've got Andy Wacker in there as well . I think , andy , you can never bet against Andy . I've got Joe Damore and then a sleeper , simone Gosselin , interesting One of Jim's training partners from Beaufort in France .
Speaker 2Wow .
Speaker 1That's a pull I didn't see that one . Simone Gosselin , who's also running Western States , so him and Jim went 1-2 at the Nice 100K last September October .
Speaker 1Yep , september , yeah , so yeah , I've got Simone in there . So he just joined the ON team . I know he came over from the development team which was Cetus Matrix , so it's like a development team . But , dude , you gotta remember he's a ski mountaineer and he's euro and , like those european , like those european runners just know how to wax us when it comes to uphill stuff . Um , even at altitude , I mean , you gotta remember , like beaufort in france , I think , sits at like three or four thousand feet , like broken air was not that high . The highest point is like eight thousand feet or something like that , which is like we're sitting here at 75 , so like yeah , or 7 000 , so I don't know , I I think I don't think the altitude's a problem . I think the dude's got an opportunity to absolutely show up in the top 10 of that race . Um , and yeah , that's all I got cool yeah , cool , wow , broken over uk everybody .
Speaker 1I think we , uh , yeah , all right . Uh , yeah , all right . Well , uh , we're going to end this one . We're going to move on to the 23 K guys . I hope you enjoyed this one Steep stuff podcast VK . Thank you .
