The Grand Slam of Ultrarunning
Utah’s Wasatch Front 100 Endurance Run was the final race in the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning, which also includes Old Dominion 100, Western States Endurance Run, Vermont 100 and Leadville Trail 100. Runners must complete three of the four 100-mile races and then finish the Wasatch Front 100 Endurance Run to become a Grand Slam finisher. The 2024 Grand Slam finishers include:
- Chris Calimano 109:59:29
- Phillip Sanderson 96:07:19
- Joshua Landvatter 104:26:44
- Bogie Dumitrescu 113:4:32
- Rich Hohman 116:38:46
- Tin Luu 117:08:51
- Eli Burakian 120:28:30
- Olov Berg 120:37:40
- William Henry 103:11:17
- Lance Parker 103:30:29
- Peter Smith 104:26:37
- Avery Matthews 108:05:27
- Oleksii Kononenko 108:22:26
- Antoly Ross 117:29:20
Dower Gets Appalachian Trail FKT
Tara Dower finished traversing the 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail (southbound) on September 21 in 40 days, 18 hours and 6minutes. This is the fastest known time (supported), besting Karl Sabbe’s (northbound) time of 41 days, 7 hours and 39 minutes in 2018. The trail extends from Maine’s Mt. Katahdin and follows the Appalachian Mountains to Georgia, including 465,000 feet of elevation gain and crossing through 13 states.
Wardian & Son Finish Marine Corps Marathon
On October 27, veteran ultrarunner Mike Wardian ran the Marine Corps Marathon with his son Pierce. At 18 years old, it was Pierce’s first marathon and he completed the race in 3:44:31.
Wardian said, “The race started easily and Pierce was moving really well, joking about dogs and signs. He started to get a little bit tight around 12 miles. We walked through the aid station at 14 miles and he got a bunch of GU chews in and then felt a little bit better until about 17 miles where we saw a friend we call “Boardwalk Mike,” who picked Pierce’s spirits up and helped us get to mile 19. We moved through Crystal City, around miles 21-24 very well. He used the crowds and thunderous support to rebound. Coming out of Crystal City we only had about 2 miles left and that’s when Pierce really had to bite down and figure out how bad he wanted the finish line. I had dreamed of this moment since Pierce was a baby and it was even better than I imagined.”
The Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington, Virginia, was also Wardian’s first marathon back in 1996, launching his lengthy running career.
Golden Tickets Awarded at Javelina
Despite the sweltering heat, the winning times at this year’s Javelina Jundred in Fountain Hills, Arizona were impressively fast with Golden Tickets to the 2025 Western States Endurance Run (WSER) on the line. In the men’s race, David Roche won in 12:45:04 and missed a course record by less than 2 minutes. Jeff Mogavero finished second in 12:54:31 and Dan Green was third in 12:58:04. In the women’s division, Riley Brady took the victory and finished seventh overall in 14:19:01, the second-fastest time in course history. Hannah Allgood finished second and tenth overall in 14:38:30, and Lauren Puretz completed the podium in third in 15:00:50. The top two in the men’s and women’s races—Roche, Mogavero, Brady and Allgood—all accepted their Golden Tickets to run next year’s WSER.
Leadville Course Record Falls
At the 41st annual Leadville Trail 100 Run, in Leadville, Colorado, David Roche took down Matt Carpenter’s longstanding 2005 record by just over 16 minutes, finishing in 15:26:34. Second place male went to Adrian Macdonald in 15:56:34, the now fourth-fastest time in race history. Ryan Montgomery finished third in 16:09:50. In the women’s race, Mary Denholm ran the second-fastest female time in course history winning in 18:23:48 and placing ninth overall, while becoming only the second woman (in addition to Ann Trason in 1994) to crack the 19-hour barrier. Zoe Rom finished in second in 21:27:41 and Julie Wright took third in 21:48:57.
In Memoriam
Ron Little, 1971-2024
Ron wanted to be remembered for how he lived and how he viewed the world – with joy, optimism and a gentle kindness that radiated outwards to form a sort of invisible umbrella of friendship. We all wanted to be under that umbrella. He was the president of the Coastside Running Club (located in Half Moon Bay, CA) and was the captain of the Tahoe 200 Sierra at Tahoe aid station for many years. Ron was also an accomplished runner himself, his last 100-mile race being Western States (2022) where he earned a sub-24-hour silver buckle. He had the athletic talent and the work ethic to succeed within our sport. However, we think his greatest talent was his ability to bring us all together. He truly enjoyed connecting with people no matter the differences in beliefs, experiences, personalities or age. Ron lost his battle with cancer this year but will live on in our memories and in the hearts of his wife, Jenna, and daughter, Claire.