Sub Hub Headlines - September 2025

September 2025

Author

Dani Emkay
September 08, 2025

WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME to the September 2025 edition of Sub Hub Headlines!

Excitedly yours, Dani and EmKay

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Upcoming Episodes - 2025 World Mountain Running Championship Preview

The Scoop: Short Trail Athlete’s on my TROY Watch By Dani Moreno

I’m now back home, returning from the beautifully organized, heart-filling, and at times wrenching chaos that is the UTMB World Series Finals in Chamonix, France. This was my fourth year in a row attending, and of those four, my second DNF. If you want to read more about my personal experience, head over to my Substack, The Trail Diaries.

Here, I won’t be focusing on my own professional career, but on another aspect of the sport I love: being a fan.

For me, this late-summer pilgrimage feels more and more like our Christmas and New Year’s rolled into one. On the brand side, I think they see it that way too—if you can make it through UTMB, you’ve done your job. Of course, this year we also have the World Championships in Spain just a few weeks away, but because UTMB is such a constant, I like to think of it as both the transition into “off-season” and the beginning of championship season.

If you’re a mega-fan, you may already know about TROY—the Trail Runner of the Year award—where fans, athletes, and industry voices vote for the top 10 performers of the season. This is its third edition, and I’m excited. The American bias in past years makes sense given the platform’s origins, but as one of the few short-trail-focused podcasts, I feel we’ve got a responsibility to spotlight athletes around the globe, and this is another effort to do just that.

My Top Picks as of early Sept 2025

These are the athletes I’d currently consider for my top ten TROY picks. But if I had to single out two standouts above the rest, Joyline Chepngeno and Francesco Puppi are my clear top picks.

On the women’s side, if there’s one athlete whose season has redefined dominance, it’s Joyline Chepngeno (Salomon – Kenya). She swept the Mont Blanc Marathon, Sierre-Zinal, and OCC in a single season—each one a deep and highly competitive event. That kind of clean sweep is historic. The only athlete who might challenge her is Ruth Croft—but when you compare Ruth’s Maxi Race wins to Joyline’s victories at Sierre-Zinal and Mont Blanc, Joyline’s résumé is objectively deeper. Updated Sept 9th. On the women’s side, my current frontrunners—no pun intended—are Judith Wyder and Miao Yao. While I don’t think the results from the Mont Blanc Marathon will be affected by the recent news about Joyline Chepngeno, Judith has had an incredible year, podiuming at every world-class race she’s entered, including Zegama, Mont Blanc Marathon, and OCC. My speculation is that her OCC result will be upgraded to 2nd place, which would mean back-to-back runner-up finishes there—though time will tell what UTMB decides to do. Another athlete who, would be most affected if UTMB retroactively alters the OCC results, Miao Yao stands out. She achieved a rare feat this year by successfully defending her OCC title at a UTMB World Final event. While TROY only pertains to the current year, I always admire when athletes return to defend a race they’ve already won. Doing it on slightly different courses only strengthens Miao Yao’s case as one of, if not the, best current 50k female runner in the world—especially considering her decisive win at Val d’Aran in early July.

On the men’s side, Francesco Puppi (Hoka – Italy) has delivered one of the most versatile and dominant seasons in recent memory, especially considering the global depth of talent this year. The World Championships results could still shake things up due to recency bias—but if Puppi lands on the podium there, his case becomes nearly unassailable. The only serious rival is Jim Walmsley (Hoka – USA)—a powerhouse with wins at Chianti 100k and OCC. Yet when you stack Puppi’s five wins against Jim’s two, spanning distances from marathon to 100k, the edge goes to Puppi. And his only “miss,” a 10th place at Sierre-Zinal, inarguably the deepest trail race in the world, also highlights his willingness to take risks and race frequently against elite fields. Combine that with his season-long consistency, and there’s a compelling case that Puppi’s year may just edge out Jim’s.

With all that in mind, here’s my current Top 10 TROY watch list:

Women (w/ top 2025 results)

  1. Judith Wyder (Hoka – Switzerland): 3rd OCC, 2nd GTWS Zegama, 2nd Mont Blanc Marathon - 2nd Place at OCC pending UTMB decision***

  2. Sara Alonso (Asics – Spain): Current 2nd in GTWS, 1st GTWS Zegama, 1st GTWS Kobe, 4th GTWS China, 5th OCC - 4th Place at OCC pending UTMB decision***

  3. Madalina Florea (Scott – Romania): Current GTWS leader, 1st GTWS Noli, 1st ETC, 2nd GTWS Broken Arrow, 3rd GTWS Tepec Trail

  4. Anastasia Rubtsova (Neutral Athlete – Russia): Current 2nd Skyrunning Series, 1st Matterhorn Ultra, 1st Skychallenge Mexico, 1st Corendon Tahtalı

  5. Lucille Germain (NNormal – France): Current 3rd Skyrunning Series, 1st Skyrace des Matheysins, 1st Hochkönig Skyrace, 1st Monte Zerbion Skyrace

  6. Miao Yao (Salomon – China): 2nd OCC, 1st Val d’Aran, 7th Sierre-Zinal, 5th GTWS Great Wall - 1st Place at OCC pending UTMB decision***

    Other names to keep an eye on:
    Karoline Kimutai (Salomon - Kenya, Malen Osa (Salomon – Spain), Jenn Lichter (TNF – USA), Anna Gibson (Brooks – USA),

Joyline Chepngeno (Salomon – Kenya): 1st OCC, 1st Sierre-Zinal, 1st Mont Blanc Marathon As of Sept 9th, Joyline Chepngeno’s name has been removed after receiving a positive anti-doping test for the use of injected pain-killers, see post here

Men (w/ top 2025 results)

  1. Francesco Puppi (Hoka – Italy): 1st CCC, 1st Canyons 100k, 1st Transgrancanaria Marathon, 1st Lavaredo 50k, 1st UTMB Chianti, 10th Sierre-Zinal

  2. Philemon Kiriago (Team Run2Gether – Kenya): 1st Sierre-Zinal, 1st GTWS Noli, 2nd GTWS Great Wall, 2nd GTWS Broken Arrow

  3. Elhousine Elazzaoui (NNormal – Morocco): 1st GTWS Zegama, 1st GTWS Broken Arrow, 2nd GTWS Noli

  4. Patrick Kipngeno (Team Run2Gether – Kenya): 1st GTWS Great Wall, 1st GTWS Kobe, 3rd GTWS Broken Arrow

  5. Davide Magnini (Asics – Italy): 1st Mont Blanc Marathon, 1st Giir di Mont

  6. Luca Del Pero (Scarpa – Italy): Current Skyrunner Series leader, 7th OCC, 1st Calamorro Skyrace, 1st Acantilados del Norte, 1st Dolomyths Skyrace, 2nd Lavaredo 50k, 1st Gorges du Tarn Skyrace, 4th Zegama, 1st Transvulcania VK + Half Marathon

  7. Kristian Jones (Hoka – U.K.): 1st UTMB Snowdonia, 1st UTMB Arc of Attrition, 5th OCC

    Other names to keep an eye on:
    Jim Walmsley (Hoka – USA), Alain Santamaria Blanco (Open Team – Spain), David Sinclair (Craft – USA), David Norris (On – USA)

While this reflects a retrospective deep dive, there are still a few key upcoming events that will help finalize the TROY top 10: the World Championships, GTWS Finals, World Mountain Running Cup, and Skyrunner World Finals. So let’s keep an eye out on those results, and don’t forget to vote for TROY at Freetrail when the time comes!

Results Recap

In case you missed any action in the short trail space, we’ve got you covered. Here, we’ll share races worthy of attention in this niche corner of the sub-ultra trail running world.

***indicates an athlete who has previously served a doping ban

August 2
Pitz Alpine Glacier Trail - Golden Trail World Series

Women

  1. Naomi Lang - 1:49:51

  2. Malen Osa - 1:50:20

  3. Andrine Benjamin - 1:52:20

Men

  1. Timothy Kibett - 1:32:43

  2. Samwel Kiprotich - 1:32:47

  3. Taylor Stack - 1:33:40

August 2
PizTriVertical

Women

  1. Andrea Mayr - 39:25

  2. Bemedetta Broggi - 41:36

  3. Gloria Chebet - 41:59

Men

  1. Andrea Rostan - 33:36

  2. Andrea Elia - 34:08

  3. Michael Galassi - 34:26

August 3
FlettaTrail

Women

  1. Gloria Chebet- 1:40:35

  2. Tereza Hrochova - 1:41:32

  3. Andrea Mayr - 1:44:06

Men

  1. Leonard Chemutai - 1:27:07

  2. Elija Kamau Kariuki - 1:27:45

  3. Martin Nilsson - 1:28:11

August 9
Sierre Zinal - WMRA World Cup Race and Golden Trail World Series

Women

  1. Joyline Chepngeno - 2:54:49

  2. Caroline Kimutai - 2:55:31

  3. Katie Schide - 2:58:30

  4. Maude Mathys - 2:58:56

  5. Oria Liaci - 3:00:20

  6. Laura Hottenrott - 3:00:30

  7. Miao Yao - 3:01:35

  8. Susanna Saapunki - 3:02:29

  9. Anna Gibson - 3:05:25

  10. Joyce Njeru - 3:06:03

Men

  1. Philemon Kiriago - 2:28:45

  2. Patrick Kipngeno - 2:29:08

  3. Michael Selelo Saoli - 2:29:14

  4. Adrien Briffod - 2:32:06

  5. Paul Machoka - 2:33:00

  6. Martin Nilsson - 2:33:52

  7. Domonik Rolli - 2:34:07

  8. Andreu Blanes - 2:35:19

  9. Elhousine Elazzaoui - 2:35:29

  10. Francesco Puppi - 2:37:49

August 16
Tamalpa Headlands 50K - USATF 50K Championships

Women

  1. Taylor Tuttle - 4:03:05

  2. Caroline Alcortta - 4:06:24

  3. Ellaney Matarese - 4:10:01

Men

  1. Cole Campbell - 3:31:43

  2. Liam Meirow - 3:32:25

  3. Spencer Ferguson-Dryden - 3:32:29

August 23
Velika Planina Uphill Race - WMRA World Cup Finals

Women

  1. Susanna Saapunki - 61:43

  2. Benedetta Broggi 64:32

  3. Kirsty Dickson - 64:33

Men

  1. Richard Omaya Atuya - 50:21

  2. Josphat Kiprotich - 51:14

  3. Philemon Kiriago - 52:18

August 24
Šmarna Gora 10K - WMRA World Cup Finals

Women

  1. Gloria Chebet - 49:55

  2. Valentine Rutto - 51:02

  3. Courtney Coppinger - 51:09

Men

  1. Philemon Kiriago - 40:47

  2. Josphat Kiprotich - 40:55

  3. Richard Omaya Atuya - 41:07

August 23
Matterhorn Ultraks Extreme - Skyrunner World Series

Women

  1. Anastasia Rubtsova - 4:14:59

  2. Maria Christen - 4:23:26

  3. Lucille Germain - 4:23:48

Men

  1. William Boffelli - 3:25:06

  2. Manuel Merillas - 3:30:06

  3. Lucien Mermillion - 3:31:19

August 23
Cirque Series Alta

Women

  1. Alexa Aragon - 1:14:39

  2. Annie Dube - 1:16:45

  3. Janelle Lincks - 1:17:33

Men

  1. Mason Coppi - 1:00:36

  2. Anthony Williams - 1:03:55

  3. Griffin Briley - 1:05:02

August 27
ETC by UTMB - UTMB Finals

Women

  1. Mădălina Florea - 1:30:55

  2. Maria Fuentes - 1:37:18

  3. Naomi Lang - 1:38:17

Men

  1. Alain Santamaria - 1:21:07

  2. Cesare Maestri - 1:22:23

  3. Maximilien Drion - 1:23:36

August 28
OCC by UTMB - UTMB Finals (alternate course due to weather)

Women

  1. Joyline Chepngeno - 5:34:03

  2. Miao Yao - 5:35:13

  3. Judith Wyder - 5:38:22

  4. Maude Mathys - 5:45:43

  5. Sara Alonso - 5:50:26

  6. Ida Amelie Robsahm - 5:52:28

  7. Rosa Lara Feliu - 5:55:54

  8. Ikram Rharsalla - 5:56:21

  9. Jazmine Lowther - 6:02:56

  10. Elisa Morin - 6:03:19

Men

  1. Jim Walmsley - 5:00:35

  2. Cristian Minoggio - 5:00:55

  3. Andrzej Witek - 5:04:08

  4. Petter Engdahl - 5:05:08

  5. Kristian Jones - 5:05:50

  6. Adam Peterman - 5:06:19

  7. Luca Del Pero - 5:07:46

  8. Antonio Martinez - 5:10:21

  9. David Norris - 5:12:33

  10. Sam Hendry - 5:17:43

August 30
Cirque Series Grand Targhee

Women

  1. Jane Maus - 59:25

  2. Alexa Aragon - 1:00:08

  3. Jamie Brusa - 1:02:59

Men

  1. Mason Coppi - 49:49

  2. Joseph DeMoor - 51:47

  3. Jackson Cole - 53:27

Current Series Rankings

***indicates an athlete who has previously served a doping ban

WMRA World Rankings - The WMRA World Series events concluded this last month with their World Cup Final in Slovenia. Kenya took most of the top ten places on both the men’s and the women’s side of the final world rankings. The women’s rankings see a couple of different countries represented, while the Italian men clearly take the rest of the spots.

Women’s

Ranking

Men’s

🇬🇧 Scout Adkin 

1

🇰🇪 Philemon Kiriago

🇰🇪Valentine Rutto

2

🇰🇪 Paul Machoka

🇰🇪Gloria Chebet

3

🇰🇪 Michael Selelo Saoli

🇰🇪 Joyce Njeru

4

🇰🇪 Richard Omaya Atuya

🇨🇭Andrea Mayr

5

🇰🇪Josphat Kiprotich

 🇰🇪Philaries Kisang

6

🇮🇹 Andrea Rostan

🇬🇧Elle Twentyman

7

🇮🇹 Andrea Elia

🇮🇹Benedettta Broggi

8

🇮🇹 Tiziano Moia

🇫🇷Nelie Clement

9

🇰🇪Kevin Kibet

🇬🇧Kirsty Skye Dickson

10

🇮🇹 Alberto Vender

🏔Golden Trail World Series Top 10 - With the regular season now finished, Golden Trail takes a break in the month of September until their series finale in October. Below are the rankings after Pitz Alpine Glacier and Sierre Zinal.

Women’s

Ranking

Men’s

🇷🇴Mădălina Florea ➡️

1

🇲🇦 Elhousine Elazzoui ➡️

🇪🇸 Sara Alonso ➡️

2

🇰🇪 Patrick Kipngeno ➡️

🇪🇸 Malen Osa ➡️

3

🇰🇪 Philemon Kiriago ➡️

🇰🇪 Joyce Njeru ➡️

4

🇰🇪Micahel Selelo

Saoli ⬆️

🇰🇪 Caroline Kimutai ⬆️

5

🇮🇹 Daniel Pattis ⬇️

🇺🇸 Lauren Gregory ⬆️

6

🇺🇸Taylor Stack ⬆️

🇪🇸 Rosa Lara Feliu ⬇️

7

🇨🇭Roberto Delorenzi ⬇️

🇰🇪 Philaries Kisang ⬆️

8

🇮🇹 Cesare Maestri ⬇️

🇬🇧 Naomi Lang ⬆️

9

🇨🇭Dominik Rolli ⬆️

🇯🇵 Takako Takamura ⬇️

10

🇫🇷 Pierre Galbourdin ⬇️

🏔Skyrunner World Series Ranking - While many of the other series are taking time off for the month of September, Skyrunner has two races happening this month. The rankings below are from the first 16 of the 24 races this year. While there isn’t a ton of movement up top, many athletes have fallen out of or hopped into the top 10 in the last month.

Women’s

Ranking

Men’s

🇷🇴 Denisa Dragomir***➡️

1

🇮🇹 Luca Del Pero ➡️

 🇷🇺 Anastasia Rubtsova ⬆️

2

🇵🇪 Jose Manuel Quispe ➡️

🇫🇷 Lucille Germain ➡️

3

🇫🇷 Frederic Tranchand ➡️

 🇪🇸Naiara Irigoyen⬇️

4

🇪🇸 Manuel Merillas ⬆️

 🇫🇷 Iris Pessey ⬆️

5

🇪🇸 Alain Santamaria ⬇️

🇪🇸Patricia Pineda ⬇️

6

 🇸🇪 Martin Nilsson ⬆️

🇪🇸 Marta Martinez ➡️

7

🇨🇭Roberto Delorenzi ⬇️

 🇪🇨 Blanca Llumiquinga ➡️

8

🇮🇹 Daniel Antonioli ⬆️

🇵🇪 Rosalia Zegarra ➡️

9

🇮🇹 Alex Oberacher ⬇️

🇫🇷 Alice Bausseron ➡️

10

🇮🇹 Gianluca Ghiano ⬆️

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Trail Training Tip

With the summer mountain season wrapping up, September is all about the reset. Take the lessons from your big climbs and races and shift the focus to:

  • Easy aerobic miles → rebuild the base without burning out.

  • Strength & mobility → add durability before winter.

  • Reflection → what worked, what didn’t, and what’s next.

Think of it as your bridge month, stepping off summer’s high and laying the groundwork for your next big block.

Sub-Ultra Athletes of the Month

At the start of 2024, we set out to highlight the best in Sub-Ultra trail running—not just at year’s end, but all year long. Through our Athlete of the Month series, we celebrated standout performances, rising stars, and unforgettable moments that shaped the sport. Now, in 2025, we’re keeping the momentum going and adding something new: Special Mentions: athletes who may not be in the monthly spotlight but still deserve a serious shoutout.

The year-end Top 10? That’s still happening. But until then, we’re here to celebrate the athletes who keep pushing the limits of what’s possible one performance at a time.

photo cred: Ryan Thrower

Miao Yao (updated Sept 9th, 2026)

Miao Yao accomplished a rare feat this year, winning OCC for the second year in a row and establishing herself as a back-to-back champion at the UTMB World Final. The last athlete to achieve this was Ruth Croft, with her consecutive OCC victories in 2018 and 2019. Miao’s performance further cements her status as one of the greatest 50k runners in trail running history, and we can’t wait to see what she sets her sights on for the rest of the season. She also earned this win after earning a hard fought 6th place at Sierre Zinal.

Jim Walmsley

Jim has had a year of hits and misses! While he is usually an athlete who focuses on longer distances, Jim has been known to compete in some of the more iconic 50K and below races like Sierre Zinal, Speedgoat and going for the VK world record. This year he had an unforutnate drop out for Western States due to injury, and because that injury was still lingering over the summer he made a last minute decision to drop down from UTMB to OCC for the UTMB series final of the 50K distance, ultimately winning the race by less than a minute. While some would say that the lengthening of the race helped Jim, I think there was no way he was going to be beat. Jim has been third at Sierre Zinal in a year where Kilian Jornet and Petro Mamu (who has since been caught doping) were racing - so he is no stranger to competing well in these shorter and faster events. It was excited to see Jim grimacing coming down the final stretch of the race to take the victory and that’s one of the most excited finish line photos I think I’ve ever seen of him. Bravo, Jim!

Jim breaking the tape at OCC by UTMB. PC: Ryan Thrower

USA Championship and Selection Races

Two more championships remain, with the World Championships occurring end of September in Spain.

DATE

CHAMPIONSHIP

RACE

LOCATION

August 16

USATF 50K Trail Championships

Tampala Headlands

Marin, CA

Novemebr 8

USATF Half Marathon Trail Championships

Moab Half Marathon

Moab, UT

Looking Forward

The big focus of September for many athletes and fans will be the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships hapenning in Canfranc Canfranc, Spain at the end of the month. Here in the States we have some iconic races on the calendar for those who won’t be making the trip across the pond as well as a few Skyrunner races abroad.

  • Saint Jeoire Skyrace — September 6th | Saint Jeoire, France
    This Skyrace is a new addition to the Skyrunner series and will have already taken place by the time our newsletter comes out. The 30KM race in the Haute-Savoie region of France has a mix of double track, single track and plenty of rocky terrain to keep runners guessing.

  • Grigne Skyrace — September 20th | Pasturo, Italy
    This 42KM race with almost 12,000 feet of vert is a classic skyrace. Athletes are required to be adept on mountain terrain as well as carry a helmet for parts of the course. The terrain is technical, wild but also beautiful and is sure to be one of the longer races in the series.

  • A’Basin — September 6 | Arapahoe Basin, Colorado
    The 9.4 mile race with 2,411 feet of vert is known to be one of the faster Cirque Series races of the season. With some ski road ascents and descent involved, it attracts a lot of talent and newer athletes to the trail scene. This year we will likely see a lot of Team USA’s mountain team showing up to get a last minute tune up in before heading over to Spain.

  • Crystal — September 20th | Crystal Mountain, Washington
    Crystal is a new addition to the Cirque Series lineup - and we love to see a race in a bit of a different area of the US than Cirque Series of previous years. The race is 7.7 miles with 2,544 feet of gain up to 6,861 feet above sea level, where runners will be gifted with beautiful views of Mount Rainier before the long descent down the mountain.

Other U.S. Races

  • The Rut — September 12-14 | Big Sky, Montana

    Daniiiii

  • Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon — September 20th | Manitou Springs, Colorado
    If you’ve never made it out to Manitou Springs for this iconic race, you have got to put it on your bucket list. There isn’t another race in the world that I can think of with such easy and fast access to the top of a 14er! Whether you decide to just tackle the ascent (half marathon) or run back down to the bottom once you’ve taken out your lungs, the Colorado red dirt will stay with you for a while.

  • trailfest. — September 19-21 | Mammoth Lakes, California

    Over the last 4 years, this race has become a mainstay in the U.S. With waitlists akin to Broken Arrow, trailfest. has offered a fall short trail festival for athletes of all abilities! The Dragon’s Back Ascent, 50K and 26K make up the main events of the weekend, but be sure to hang around in the evenings for plenty of athlete talks a films. Enjoy the Eastern Sierras while also drinking some good coffee and eating a donut or three.