Sub Hub Headlines - May 2024

May 2024

Author

Dani Emkay
May 01, 2024

WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME to the third edition of Sub Hub Headlines!

Excitedly yours, Dani and Emkay

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The Scoop: The Slingshot at Canyons 50k - By Dani Moreno

Dani Moreno winning the Canyons 50k - photo cred @evanperigo

First off, here’s the Strava link so you know what I’m referring to. Second, get ready for an in-depth analysis of my strategy and execution which played a part in my win at the Canyons 50k. I'll provide a sneak peek into my mindset, focusing on what I think made a different. Let's skip the training details, taper intentions, pre-race meals, and pretty much everything else.

Alright, heading into this race, I felt pretty confident about what the course had in store. A very fast net downhill, followed by a quick 2-3 mile climb, then rolling terrain for 15 miles, downhill segments that felt like they were on fire, a sharp climb, a serene trail along the river, and finally, a gradual 4-mile climb back home, including the notorious Robie Point ascent.

While I had this course layout in mind for about a week, visualizing it a few times during race week, these aspects weren’t exactly how I structured my primary race strategy.

When it came to strategizing for this race and discussing with my coach, we knew a few key things: the field was strong, and the race would start fast. I decided to commit to staying in sight of the front because I didn't want to let the leaders get more than a 90-second gap. I was confident I could close that gap if needed, with no less than 10 miles to go. Where I come up with these numbers is honestly just intuition and awareness of my strengths at any given time. As far as the moves I had planned based on certain situations, I will reveal as I go through the race.

Alright, Race day.

The gun goes off, and immediately it’s a race, which I loved. As we began climbing the first ascent, I felt my energy surge, and I thought to myself, “I am winning today.” However, as we crested the first climb, my mind started to question. I was expecting a faster collective push from all of us. Then, within seconds, BOOM, turbo engines blasted off, and we started booking it. We were moving well, and a move was made 2 miles in that I intentionally didn’t cover. I checked my pace, felt good, and knew I would need my climbing legs for the first big ascent, but more so for what came after. So, I gave the leaders some space and settled into 4th place. My teammate, Tabor Hemming, was positioned between myself and the front pack as well. I am very comfortable with space, especially at the start of races. Having completed two trail 50ks prior to this one, I’ve learned that while I shouldn’t let the race get away from me, it’s also not lost in the first 30 minutes.

Our pace the first 4ish miles of the race.

After the wickedly fast start, we crossed the river and began our ascent to the biggest climb of the race. I continued to hold back in 4th place, focusing on not losing any time on the climb. As we ascended, I timed the women in front of me and we were 20 seconds apart; we stayed that way nearly the entire climb. So, I stayed calm, focused on myself, breathed slowly, and started preparing for the single track ahead. I felt confident things would start to get interesting around mile 9-10 since I estimated this to be around our one-hour mark in the race. From my experience, when you start fast, if it’s barely or significantly faster than someone’s threshold, they usually start to feel it around the one-hour mark.

As we entered the singletrack, approximately 48 minutes had elapsed, and I had already consumed 70g of carbs. As soon as we hit the trail, I felt my body propel forward. All the speed work and climbing on tired legs seemed to pay off that day because as soon as we hit the singletrack, I not only managed to pick up the pace, but I also felt like I recovered from that grueling climb almost instantly. It was here that I began moving up fairly quickly and closed the 20-second gap almost instantly. I caught up to Jenn, who was leading, by mile 9 and followed behind her. Feeling really good, I wanted to make a move on an uphill. I ended up trailing her for about a mile before swiftly passing her. As I surged ahead, I picked up the pace around the next turns. It dawned on me that this was the moment, the time in the course where strategy would come into play, and that's when I went full throttle on "The Slingshot."

The Slingshot

Having discussed with my coach the day before, I had expressed my belief that I could “slingshot” myself around the back loop of the course. He agreed, noting the good climbing there. So, as soon as I passed Jenn and surged ahead, I made the immediate decision to maintain a consistent surge of energy, akin to an hour-long tempo within a race pace, and slam some nutrition bringing me to 200g/carbs total at 1:45. Every time I felt my mind easing up, I surged. Whenever the terrain leveled out momentarily, I surged. It was quick bursts, akin to being a marble in a groove, riding the hills like waves. The goal of the slingshot was to push the pace without overexerting myself but perhaps inflicting a bit more fatigue on others that they wouldn't feel until the final hour of the race.

After the slingshot, we encountered what turned out to be my favorite part of the course—some hefty rollers and longer downhills to match. At this point, I still felt good, and I knew there were two course challenges left: the bomb down to the river and back out, and then the grind back to the start. I kept up with my eating and drinking, and my next focus was to smoothly navigate the descent to the river because deep down, I knew that ultimately, the person with the strongest climbing ability would prevail. Though I wasn't sure how much time I had on 2nd and 3rd, I guessed it hadn't changed much. Despite that, I controlled my pace downhill and used the connection to the next climb as a way to build momentum. Then, as I emerged from Mammoth Bar, I began to work the uphill with the intention of not getting too comfortable with power hiking at some points. I was also careful not to burn my matches, exerting just enough effort to counter any time someone may have gained on the downhill.Here’s the strava segment for that section.

Before I knew it, I was out and beginning to descend along the Confluence Trail back along the river. Here, I pushed while maintaining focus on running with good form, prioritizing efficiency over sheer force. As I navigated this trail, I ran with a sense of urgency. Jenn and Tabor are very fast, so I kept telling myself, "Save one more bullet." I had studied last year's splits, and asked Jesh to confirm, and it wasn't until after Hayden and Jesh came out of the loop that Hayden finally pulled away. So I mentally prepared myself that if anyone came onto me as we emerged back on the road I would be ready to push through this last part too.

Exiting the loop, I somehow missed the timing mat and had to backtrack a few seconds. I was relieved I hadn't gone too far before people started yelling at me to come back. I looked back and didn’t see any and I quickly grabbed some water because we still had roughly 30 minutes of racing left. Let me tell you, cramping 30 minutes out is no joke, and someone can make up a lot of time on you quickly. So yeah wasn’t risking that. haha.

Entering the final stretch, the intensity heightened, and it became pure grit. No strategy, just pushing hard and steady, and whatever I did, I tried not to hike. Running along the river, I remained vigilant, bc I was slightly worried someone would still catch up to me. It was here I performed my out-of-body ritual, a practice I do finishing most races, visualizing the pain actively leaving my body and my mind taking full control. It literally took all my pure will to keep my pace up. I did this the entire climb from the river to Robie Point. And when it came down to it this sufferfest of a finish ended up adding 2 minutes to my lead on this section alone.

After that, I didn’t let up. I leaned forward, tackled that last little hill that felt like a mountain, and then leaned forward all the way home to the finish, ultimately crossing the line in first place with a time of 3:52.

When all was said and done I averaged 90g/carb/ hour. Eating a majority of it in the first 2.5 hours and then baby birding it the rest of the time. Something I need to work on before Zegama. Maybe that last climb would’ve hurt regardless but maybe eating more later could have maybe helped it feel less death march-y. Now that I am removed I think it’s possible to close that last bit closer to 30-31 minutes. Would I race this next year? maybe right now I am good to leave it alone haha. However, I am now convinced the women’s winning time can still go faster, a sub 3:50 is possible. And I would be stoked to see that or maybe I will do it myself if I am tempted to give it another go.

Congrats to everyone who competed! Thanks for the women who I shared miles with and for an honest and very hard fought race. Last but not least thanks to the race organization and volunteers.

Sub Hub Stories : Roberto DeLorenzi

Roberto Delorenzi on his way to winning Calamorro Skyrace. PC: @_guaresti_

Roberto Delorenzi is a professional trail runner for Brooks based in Switzerland. Last year, Roberto finished his season by winning the Skymasters, putting him in fifth place overall in the series, as well as finishing in the top ten of Golden Trail. He is off to a hot start this season, running sub-29 in the 10,000m on the roads and winning the first two Skyrunner World Series races at Acantilados del Norte and Calamorro Skyrace. He is currently ranked number one in the Skyrunner World Series, but is also about to open up his Golden Trail World Series season in Kobe, Japan. Roberto is racing well and gaining confidence with every win. We are excited to see where his season takes him. We asked him some questions about racing and training below. We hope you enjoy getting to know Roberto a little more.

What have you done differently in training since the end of your 2023 season? 

I did almost the same training that I did at the beginning of 2023. From the beginning of December 2023, after a 2 week season break, I focused my training on flat running. I did 3 weeks of training camp at altitude in Tenerife from 22 December to 12 January and after that some 10km races and a half marathon to test my flat shape. Then all of March I came back to Tenerife to do another training camp at altitude. 

What I changed from last year is just the amount of kilometers in the week. In the first 3 months of 2023 I did 1600 kilometers, this year 2400 kilometers, and without any injury my shape is really at top level. My training focus was December,January, and half of February almost only flat with just 2-3 trail runs a week and then the second half of February focus on trail.

My week is almost the same every time: 14 trainings a week (90% running). It was really almost the same preparation that I did at the beginning of last year with a little change. Last year in March I had a little inflammation that stopped my running for almost 20 days. This year that did not happen.

Do you often train for road races during the winter?

2024 is the 4th year in a row that I based my training on flat running in the winter season. I saw that it gave me a lot for my trail races, so I will do it also in the next upcoming years. 

I would say that just 3 months I’m training on flat and also competing in flat races, the other months I focus on elevation gain and flat is only for some long runs and interval sessions.

What are you looking to improve in the 2024 season?

I want to improve in doing more injury prevention exercises. I’m always super motivated in running, so in that I know I don’t need improvements but I know that especially in summer I’m not always motivated in doing exercises. So I want to improve that because this year I’m planning on running 7000-8000km in the whole year (more or less 1000km more than in 2023) so it’s really important to work a lot on injury prevention exercises.

And for sure, like every year, I want to improve in everything, but especially in technical downhills.

Speaking of racing, I want to improve my last year’s rank in the Golden Trail World Series. Top 5 would be super, maybe also top 3 if this year goes off like it started. I would love also to win the Skyrunner World Series. 

Did you decide to compete in the Skyrunner series after winning the Skymasters race last year? 

Actually, no. Last year I also competed in the series but without the real goal to win it. I just did 3 skyraces that I already knew, knowing that not all of them suited me (like Matterhorn Ultraks Extreme was too technical for what I was training for). So last year I think before the final I was ranked just in 9th place, but after the win in the final I gained 5 positions and I finished 4th. So no, I was already planning last year to compete in 2024 on both the Golden Trail World Series and Skyrunner World Series. The win last year finally just gave me the confidence and the motivation to train for winning this year’s Skyrunner World Series, and after the first 2 wins of the circuit I’m heading in the right direction.

Will you also be trying to compete in the Golden Trail World Series? What other races do you plan to run in?

Yes, I will compete in The Golden Trail World Series. I’m traveling right now for the first 2 stages in Asia. So my Golden Trail races this year will be:

  • Kobe Trail

  • Four Sisters Mountain Trail

  • Marathon du Mont Blanc (not sure yet)

  • Sierre-Zinal

  • Tatra Sky Marathon

  • Headlands 27K

  • Mammoth 26K

  • Ascona Locarno Golden Trail Final (this year is at my home, 20min car from where I live in Switzerland)

And like I also wrote before, my goal is to improve my 6th place at the final last year, so top 5 would be my goal. And I would really love to win a race in this year’s circuit. I trained a lot in altitude so the race in Tibet I will give my best to try to win it, I think it suits me really well. The first stage in Japan is not the best for me, but the second race is. 

Results Recap

Men’s podium at Canyon’s 50k

🇪🇸Calamorro Skyrace - The second race of the Skyrunner World Series happened in Benalmádena Spain on April 6. The race was HOT - both in competition and in temperature. Both men’s a women’s course records fell and the Spanish women once again dominated. Check out our episode with Sara and Julia about their insane back and forth race.

  1. Roberto Delorenzi - 2:25:40

  2. Antonio Martinez - 2:34:47

  3. Luca Del Perro - 2:36:55

  1. Sara Alonso - 2:59:08

  2. Julia Font Gomez - 3:00:42

  3. Naiara Irigoyen - 3:09:30

🇦🇷Patagonia Run (Marathon) - This marathon took place in the San Martín de los Andes in Patagonia. The podium saw a sweep of Argentinian athletes on both the men’s and women’s side.

  1. Joaquin Narvaes - 3:22:33

  2. Hugo Rodriguez - 3:35:25

  3. Ignacio Samuel Reyes - 3:42:31

  1. Roxanna Paola Flores - 4:16:36

  2. Florencia Soledad Iuorno - 4:37:29

  3. Ruth Irene Oñate Guerrero - 4:43:49

🍷Lake Sonoma Marathon - Lush rolling hills, beautiful lake views and a bottle of wine for finishing. Lake Sonoma Marathon and Trail Sisters Half was mostly dominated by North Face (the race sponsor) athletes, but saw some other athletes new and well known on the podium.

  1. Rod Farvard - 3:14:23 (great tune-up for a win at Canyons 100k)

  2. Gus Gibbs - 3:23:20

  3. Tommy Sullivan - 3:24:39

  1. Brittany Charboneau - 3:41:23

  2. Abby Swift - 4:05:39

  3. Hillary Allen - 4:06:10

🍷Lake Sonoma Trail Sisters Half

  1. Ruby Lindquist - 1:48:50

  2. Jeanine Seaver - 2:13:03

  3. Sarah Thacher - 2:14:01

🏜🐀Desert Rats 50K - the second American UTMB race in the 2024 season took place in Fruita, Colorado. Athletes wound through desert single track with views of the Colorado river and the desert mesa. Another group of 50K athletes secured their spot for the 2025 OCC, while the 21K athletes ran blazing times! Where are these so called rates?

  1. Justin Grunewald - 3:40:55

  2. Matt Vira - 3:42:11

  3. Jacob Banta - 3:57:59

  1. Helen Mino Faukner - 4:14:42

  2. Allison Baca - 4:26:07

  3. Karis Scroggs - 4:56:02

🏜🐀Desert Rats 21K

  1. Eli Hemming - 1:22:44

  2. Brian Whitfield - 1:23:08

  3. Jeshurun Small - 1:23:19

  1. Jaycie Thomson - 1:49:37

  2. Tabor Hemming - 1:40:53

  3. Gabriella Brinkley - 1:42:33

🌲Gorge Waterfalls 50K - Daybreak Racing’s iconic race through the Columbia River Gorge brought plenty of competition to Oregon. If the races weren’t excited enough, the views from the live stream and live updates were absoutely breathtaking….ALMOST stealing the show. Chris Myers and Rachel Drake did some quicker races leading into their Western States build, to show some versatility.

  1. Chris Myers - 3:51:01

  2. Dylan Humberger - 4:02:36

  3. Jared Forman - 4:07:36

  1. Sarah Biehl - 4:26:20

  2. Tara Fraga - 4:37:05

  3. Lauren Puretz - 4:38:52

🌲Gorge Waterfalls 30K

  1. Matt Daniels - 1:55:34

  2. Liam Mierow - 2:02:33

  3. Andrew Rylaarsdam - 2:04:03

  1. Rachel Drake - 2:17:49

  2. Hannah Osowski - 2:20:53

  3. Claire Devoe - 2:22:32

🇯🇵Kobe Trail (GTWS) - The first race of the 2024 Golden Trail World Series and a new stop in Japan! Many were worried that the early start to the season might see less than ideal performances, but everyone was at the top of their game. Patrick Kipngeno collects his first Golden Trail win and Maude Mathys returns from Achilles surgery in dominant fashion!

  1. Patrick Kipngeno - 2:22:17

  2. Joey Hadorn - 2:23:26

  3. Elhousine Elazzoui - 2:28:43

  1. Maude Mathys - 2:52:08

  2. Sara Alonso - 2:58:34

  3. Theres Lebeouf - 2:58:38

🇨🇳Four Sisters Mountain Trail (GTWS) - The second race in the 2024 Golden Trail World Series and another new addition to the schedule. This high altitude race start at 10,000 feet and peaked out close to 14,000. With a big climb and descent in the beginning and a more runnable climb to finish, this was bound to be fast. We saw Grayson Murphy in her debut Golden Trail event pick up a first podium spot.

  1. Patrick Kipngeno - 1:59:10

  2. Elhousine Elazzoui - 2:05:39

  3. Daniel Pattis - 2:05:51

  1. Joyce Muthoni Njeru - 2:25:27

  2. Maude Mathys - 2:29:44

  3. Grayson Murphy - 2:34:26

🌿Canyons 50K - The UTMB North American Major happened for a second year in a row in the so-called Endurance Capital of the World - Auburn, CA. The weather was perfect! Mostly dry and cooler than last year, it was perfect for ripping some California carpet. The top 10 athletes in the 50K get automatic entry into the 2025 version of OCC.

  1. Eli Hemming - 3:25:23

  2. Daniel Jones - 3:28:03

  3. Cole Watson - 3:32:51

  1. ✨Dani Moreno✨ - 3:52:24

  2. Jenifer Lichter - 3:57:49

  3. Tabor Hemming - 3:59:44

🌿Canyons 25K

  1. Talon Hull - 1:25:29

  2. Richard Skogsberg - 1:31:04

  3. Eric Hamel - 1:32:06

  1. Bailey Cossentine - 1:55:52

  2. Amanda Wiggenhorn - 1:58:55

  3. Natalie Chergwin - 2:01:41

Not even close to a sub-ultra but we can probably forgive her. ✨EmKay✨ was second at the Canyons 100K (her debut no less) and earned a Golden Ticket 🎫 to the Western States 100. Listen to our most recent episode for a recap of the weekend.

Trail Training Tip

“A lot of it comes down to belief in the process and what you’re doing.” - Rick Floyd on what is most important in a coach-athlete relationship

Sub-Ultra Athletes of the Month

As we waved goodbye to 2023, we cooked up a plan for future years: ending the year with a bang by handpicking our top ten Sub-Ultra athletes. But hey, why wait until December to start the celebration? Every month, we're spotlighting athletes whose performances have dazzled, impressed, or just put a big grin on our faces. So while it might not be a perfect match for our 2024 list, it's sure to sprinkle some fun along the way!

Our picks for performances April 2024.

Patrick winning Kobe Trail GTWS - photo credit: @colinolivero

Patrick Kipngeno

It didn’t take us long to agree that our men’s athlete of the month is Patrick! Has a new king of the GTWS arrived? Patrick showcased his climbing prowess and versatility, not only securing his first Golden World Trail Series win but claiming two in a row. Kobe was reported to be the most technical race ever featured in the Golden Trail World Series, while China featured high-altitude, high-octane racing along ridgelines and, from the looks of it, a lot of stairs. From what we know, Patrick won’t be racing in the series again until Sierre Zinal, whereas the current champion, Remi Bonet, will make his series entrance at the Mont Blanc Marathon before the two meet in early August. We already can’t wait to see what these two can do locked and loaded against each other.

Joyce winning Four Sisters GTWS - photo credit: @justingalant

Joyce Njeru

On the women’s side, we chose Joyce Njeru, another outstanding runner who clinched her first GTWS win ever! After securing second place at Sierre Zinal last year, Joyce had yet to claim the overall crown, but in China, she left nothing to chance. Despite mounting a strong charge in Kobe, she was eventually passed in the final 5km and dropped back to fourth. However, at Four Sisters, she dominated with a 4-minute lead over second-place Maude Mathys. Her next race will also be at Sierre Zinal, where she will face competitors such as Grayson Murphy, Madelina Florea, Judith Wyder, Sophia Laukli, and more!

Looking Forward

As we get closer to the summer season and our favorite trails start to melt out (!!) some of the most iconic races of the year are also opening up. With races like Zegama and Skyrace de Matheysins, it’s sure to be a wild ride.

Zegama is Zegama - photo cred - @adventurebakery

Skyrunner World Series started the season with two races in Spain - Acantilados del Norte and Calamorro Skyrace. The series will be moving to France for the month of May, starting with the SkyRace de Matheysins on May 5th. The series will continue in France just a few weekends later with the SkyRace Gorges du Tarn on May 18th. The following weekend, Skyrunner will travel to Mexico, where the Orizaba SkyRace will happen on May 26.

The third race of the Golden Trail World Series will take place at Zegama-Aizokorri. This historic race takes the runners through Basque country in the Pyrenees of Spain. Sara Alonso (a local to the area) and Sophia Laukli,are slotted to take to the starting line are returning for one hell of a battle. Our very own Dani Moreno will also be traveling over to compete. Robbie Simpson is notable Zegama debutante along with many other men with previous podiums finishes.

The second edition of the European Athletics Off-Road Championships is happening May 31-June 2 in Annecy, France. Many countries are holding their championships to determine who will make the team while others have already selected a team off of merit. The championships will include an uphill mountain race, an up-down mountain race and a 62KM trail race as well as U20 races. The format is similar to the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships without the notable distinction of a “short” (usually around 42K) and “long” (usually around 80K) trail race - instead having one race seemingly in the middle of the two distance.

Some races happening in the US in May include the Mount Sentinal Hill Climb, Breakneck Ultras (marathon and half), Tillamook Burn (20M, 50K, 50M), Quad Rock (25M, 50M), and many more! Check out the ATRA race calendar for an extensive list of upcoming races.

USA Championship Chronicles

All USATF Championships we will be following this year, and you should too.😉

DATE

CHAMPIONSHIP

RACE

LOCATION

June 16

USATF Team Selection

Broken Arrow 46km

Palisades Tahoe, CA

July 7

USATF Vertical Mountain

Loon Mountain

Lincoln, NH

July 13

USATF Mountain

Cirque Series

Snowbird, UT

August 3

NACAC Championship

TBD

Villa del Carbón, Mexico

August 17

USATF 50km Trail

Headlands

Marin, CA

August 25

Challenge Stellina

Challenge Stellina

Italy

September 28

USATF Marathon Trail

Birkie Trail Festival

Hayward, WI

November 2

USATF Half Marathon Trail

Moab Half Marathon

Moab, UT

November 16

USATF 10kmTrail

Dirt Circus

Bentonville, AR

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