With the arrival of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, many trail runners and ultrarunners are gearing up for big races. Among them are some of the historically hottest races in North America, such as the Western States 100, Badwater 135 Mile, Angeles Crest 100 Mile, and Wasatch Front 100 Mile.

Each year, runners scramble to find the best ways to prepare and plan for the heat they will encounter on race day. And, as with so many things in the sport these days, there is more information available than ever before about heat acclimation and cooling strategies.

Much of the information is grounded in science and research, such as hot water immersion, sauna protocols, and training in heat chambers, while others — such as running in three puffy jackets and sweatpants — seem to come from influencers hunting for clicks with little scientific basis. That being said, wherever you get your information, there is certainly a lot more of it these days than there was when I first came of age in the sport about 30 years ago.

Dr. Lind, Western States 100, and Heat Training

Back then, most of the reliable information about training and racing in hot conditions came from one place: the Western States 100 and its long-time medical director, Dr. Bob Lind. From the first official Western States 100 in 1977 until his passing in 2016, Dr. Lind maintained meticulous records of the runners and conducted countless medical studies at the event. From those studies, he developed what was, at the time, the pre-eminent heat-acclimation strategy for running in hot climates.

While seemingly never formally documented, Dr. Lind called it the “90-90-9” plan. Put simply, beginning about two weeks before race day, you were to run for 90 minutes at 90-degree-Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) heat for nine consecutive days. According to Dr. Lind’s theory, this was the minimum you should do to be prepared for the Western States heat.

But Dr. Lind did not stop there! He also realized that the Western States course features plenty of water along the way. Creeks to dunk in, springs coming out of the mountains, and even the occasional snow patch to aid in cooling. Dr. Lind implored runners to get wet in all of them. Of course, these days, race-day cooling methods have become an art form with runners, pacers, and crews working with Formula 1-style efficiency to apply ice all over the body. Heck, it’s even spawned an entire sub-industry of ice bandanas, ice vests, ice hats, and ice arm sleeves — things Dr. Lind couldn’t have seen coming 50 years ago.

Mental Heat Training

I believe there is one last area of heat management that remains less researched: the mental side. It seems to me that, regardless of how well our bodies are prepared and how well we can cool ourselves during the event, the mind is a powerful thing that can shut us down unless we are mentally prepared for the challenges of running in a hot environment.

Think about how demoralizing it can be to be stuck in a hot car in traffic on the freeway, or how helpless you feel when your air conditioning breaks down on a hot summer day. Years of mental programming have taught us that being hot is unpleasant and makes us tired, lethargic, and angry. We need to prepare ourselves for when that happens on race day, so that in the midst of that misery, we can summon the mental fortitude to not break down but rather accept our fate and know that this too shall pass. I am sure that that is what Dr. Lind would tell us to do!

Bottoms up!

AJW’s Beer of the Week

This week’s Beer of the Week is from Pittsburgh Brewing Company in Creighton, Pennsylvania. Old German Premium Lager is a classic American Adjunct Lager brewed in a German style.

It’s the kind of beer that’s great to sip on after a hot day working in the yard or a long grinding run across the Pennsylvania countryside. Smooth drinking and wonderfully thirst-quenching, Old German is a fantastic, inexpensive choice.

Call for Comments

• Have you had success with Dr. Lind’s heat training protocols?
• How do you prepare for hot races?

If You Can’t Take the Heat: Historic Western States 100 Heat Training Protocols by Andy Jones-Wilkins.

On June 21, Makena Morley, Tabor Hemming, and Tayler Peavey will all stand on the start line of the competitive and money-rich 2026 Broken Arrow Skyrace 23k. A day prior, Zach Perrin, and possibly Erin Clark, will have raced the Broken Arrow Skyrace 46k. A week later, Adam Peterman will line up for the Western States 100 — an event he won in 2022 — with Perrin as a pacer and Clark as part of his crew. All six are elite trail runners, and all six came out of a magical time at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) cross-country program in the mid-2010s.

Professional trail runners come from all different backgrounds — especially as distances get longer — but this high concentration of elites all emerging from the same CU Buffaloes program during the same years is worthy of note. While the CU running program has long been known for producing successful road and track runners, including Olympians Jenny Simpson, Emma Coburn, Dathan Ritzenhein, Adam Goucher, and others, and other CU runners preceded this group in transitioning to the trails, including Andy Wacker and Allie Avatar (née McLaughlin), this feels like the first big wave of trail specialists to emerge from the program.

So what came first? Did CU make future trail runners, or did the future trail runners all choose CU?

CU Cross Country in the Mid-2010s

Something special happened at the 2018 NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships. “I saw Dani [Jones] win and then looked, and here comes Makena. I looked again, and there’s Tabor, and Sage [Hurta-Klecker], and then Tayler. Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo. Every time I turned around, it was another Buffalo. I was overwhelmed.” Billy Nelson, the CU cross-country assistant coach from 2010 to 2022, beamed in his recollection of the race, held in Madison, Wisconsin. The CU women won the national championships by 38 points. They placed six women inside the top 30 in the six-kilometer race.

Nelson was a part of multiple national championships at CU, both as an athlete and as a coach, but called the 2018 women’s team the best. “We won the individual title, won the team title, and had six women finish as All-Americans,” Nelson boasted, with a strong emphasis on the six. “I wasn’t shocked, wasn’t surprised. It was a dominant run. They did exactly what they needed to do. They tucked in when they should, showed grit when they needed to, and pulled away in the last 800 [meters].” The CU women were so good that they would’ve won the team title even without individual winner Jones.

And now three of those CU cross-country All-Americans — Morley, Hemming (née Scholl), and Peavey (née Tuttle) — have all found their way onto trails. Morley, who has run a 2:30 marathon, won the 2026 Canyons 50k and the 2025 Kodiak 50k. Hemming was 10th at the 2023 Marathon du Mont-Blanc, has been in the top five at the Broken Arrow Skyrace 23k three times, and was in the top three at the Canyons 50k in 2025 and 2024. Peavey won both the USATF Half Marathon Trail National Championships and the USATF 50k Trail National Championships in 2025.

It’s not just those three, though. The CU cross-country teams of the late 2010s created several other successful trail runners.

Recent 2026 Canyons 50k third-placer Ryan Forsyth was at the 2018 NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships for CU too, finishing 11th in the men’s race. In 2017, Forsyth was 57th, and Peterman and Perrin were 89th and 107th. In 2015, Clark was 11th in the women’s race, leading the women to a second-place team finish.

CU Boulder Geography

Boulder, Colorado, doesn’t lack mountains, trails, or access to the outdoors, features that drew many of the group to the school. Most came from backgrounds that involved many outdoor activities, not just running.

Peterman, Perrin, and Morley all grew up in Montana. “I grew up in Missoula, just such a sweet place to grow up if you’re into running, biking, the river. When I was looking at colleges, I didn’t even look at schools in places that I didn’t want to live,” Peterman said. “Growing up in Missoula spoiled me.”

Morley echoed the sentiment. “Anyone who goes to school at Colorado,” she paused, “It’s outside. You’re in the mountains.” Nelson, the former assistant coach, excitedly remembered his runners: “Makena, Adam, they were geared to long distances, and they’ve got that Montana attitude, grit.” He then noted of Hemming: “She grew up on a ranch doing farm chores. She was successful at running. That’s pretty unique. She was very good from a challenging place.” Hemming said matter-of-factly: “You’ve got to look at where everyone was from. I think it’s where we all grew up. We didn’t all just run city streets growing up.”

Clark grew up in Eugene, Oregon, and moving to Boulder for college meant trading TrackTown USA for SingletrackTown USA. Still, her sentiment was the same as the others. “The location of the university makes a difference. Being in Boulder mattered to me. Those are the types of people who are interested in mountain life and tend to live or stay in a place that has good trail access,” Clark shared. “I grew up backpacking, liked skiing, did a lot of that with my family.  My high school would always do a cross-country camp each fall near Bend with a lot of trail running. I really liked that and think I gravitated to Boulder because of that.”

“All of them,” Nelson answered when asked who he recruited, and then explained what he looked for. “Elevation, fast times at elevation, down-to-earth guys.” He adds that Peterman and Perrin were already good friends. “We wanted talent, but where is the talent, and how does it fit with our culture?” Boulder’s geography attracted certain types of runners, and those runners created the culture that embraced trails and the outdoors.

Trail Running Influences

Each member of the group had a different initial introduction to trail running and ultrarunning. “Doing ultras seemed impossible to me, but one of my assistant coaches in high school was Mike Foote [three-time Hardrock 100 runner-up], so I was exposed to it early. Sometimes I’d do trail runs with him,” Peterman said of his pre-CU years.

Perrin noted the trail influence of living in Boulder: “There were just so many pros in the area, on trails, like Scott Jurek, Sage [Canaday].”

The trail influence came from within the CU program as well, mainly from Wacker, who raced for the team from 2007 to 2011. Nelson recalled, “Andy Wacker first branched out to the trails,” and Hemming remembers Wacker recruiting others to join him. “He contacted a lot of us post-collegiately, saying, ‘Hey, have you ever thought about doing this stuff?'” Hemming underscored that Wacker contacted everyone, trying to get them to consider trail running.

Hemming was already a two-time member of the USATF U18 Mountain Running Team while in high school. She recalled that the team’s initial reaction to trail running was lukewarm. “I think everyone thought it was a joke, if I’m being honest,” she laughed. “Why would you run trails if you could run fast on the track?”

Nelson also called out Mandy Ortiz as another early team inspiration. Ortiz was on the CU cross-country team between 2013 and 2016, just after she’d won the junior race at the 2013 World Mountain Running Championship in Krynica-Zdrój, Poland. Oritz continues to race on the trail to this day.

And the runners of the mid-2010s weren’t the first CU cross-country graduates to find their way onto the trails. Avatar finished fifth at the 2009 NCAA Division I Cross Country National Championships as a freshman and later won the World Mountain Running Championships Uphill race in 2022. Two-time Pikes Peak Marathon winner Seth Demoor was on that 2009 CU team, too.

Local Area Training

Everyone smiled at the memory of the team’s Sunday long runs. The 15 to 20 miles on Sundays were the highlight of the week.

“We were a high-volume aerobic program. We had four or five long run locations above 8,000 feet. That’s rare for a D1 program,” Nelson explained, and then listed out Magnolia Road, Rollinsville, Gold Hill, Switzerland Trail, and Sourdough Trail as their regular run options.

“Gold Hill, Magnolia, that’s 8,000 feet, and you’d gain a couple thousand feet on a run,” Perrin said of the routes that served as a precursor to his ultrarunning. “It’s not really a trail, but really hilly. I never thought about elevation gain back then, but it was like ‘Wow, this is a hard route.'”

“I think it’s imperative to have speed in trail, speed endurance. I did a lot of threshold training [in college], and I still keep that going and think that’s been super helpful,” Hemming said. “At CU, you learned how to run when you were tired. We did so many hard sessions back-to-back, and I think that lends itself well to trails. When you’re 50 kilometers into something, it’s like, ‘This feels like a week of training.'”

Peterman echoed the same idea. “How you feel in a trail race reminds me of how I felt doing Magnolia Road, that kind of run,” he said of the elevation and effort. “A staple at Colorado was doing long runs and a mid-week medium-distance run, always at six-minute [per mile] pace, or low six-minute pace. It was 12 to 15 [miles] for the men and 12 to 13 for the women. I carried that over to trail and found that to be really, really good. For years, the only workout I’d do was a medium-distance run: 90 minutes at six-minute pace. I’d change the terrain to make it harder, but that was my workout for four years.”

“The concept of that still holds true,” Clark agreed. “The idea was to run at the top of Zone 2. That was the goal, but to be realistic, we were always ending up in Zone 3.” Clark saw the workout transfer easily to trails: “The same idea — whether running at the same pace and staying at the top of Zone 2 or running that type of effort but on trails for 45, 60, or 90 minutes — that’s the type of effort you might end up with for a 50k or 100k race.”

Morley recalls the training plans put forward by head coach Mark Wetmore and associate head coach Heather Burroughs with a smile: “Mark and Heather’s training was a lot of grit and strength, so much strength. Not the most scientific, just really gritty training. I go back to some of that now as a trail runner.”

CU Running Culture

There was more to life in college than just running. “Escape on Friday after lift, camp on Friday night, have Saturday to just hang out in the mountains, be back in Boulder ready to go on Sunday,” Hemming remembered of the team’s collective outdoors mindset.

She grew wistful at a greater memory of the team dynamics. “We made a point as a women’s team, once a week, to all get together and make dinner, talk about other stuff. We were actually friends, which was really special.” Pressed for the dinner details, Hemming answered right away. “Hamburgers, that’s the ranch girl in me. A good homemade sourdough bun, black angus beef from a ranch, maybe some sauteed mushrooms.”

Peterman camped often, too, but recalled a freshman end-of-year misadventure along the 25-mile traverse of the peaks on the outskirts of Boulder as a highlight of his time at CU. “I was just looking at the Boulder Skyline all year, and I had a day off. It must’ve been finals week. I hiked that in sandals with one water bottle.” He admits that it went sideways. “Dude, it was so bad! I had to get picked up.”

Lifelong Relationships

A decade later, the CU runners still talk about the team and each other with fondness. Sometimes, they only see each other when lining up for races. Othertimes, as with the upcoming Western States 100, they crew and pace each other. In the case of Perrin and Morley, they’ve ended up as both partners and teammates, while Clark and Peterman are due to marry later this year. And when the circumstances come together, sometimes a group of them can even train together.

Clark, who lives in Missoula with Peterman, is happy that the friendships have endured, and appreciates that Perrin and Morley ended up nearby: “Zach and Makena were in Bozeman for a few years, three-and-a-half hours away. In the last month, they’ve moved to Missoula, and we see them at least four times per week. We’ve been training a lot together, and it’s been really, really cool to train together again. It feels full circle.”

Trail Running With the Buffaloes by Justin Mock.

The adidas Adizero Evo SL ($150) has become a road shoe phenomenon, and for good reason. It’s an incredibly lightweight, bouncy, versatile shoe with a sleek aesthetic and an affordable price. What more, really, can you ask for?

The Adizero Evo SL is the first edition of the shoe, and though adidas has since released several variants, this is a review of the original. One could classify it as a daily trainer, a tempo or workout shoe, and maybe even a race shoe. They’re also stylish enough to wear around town. That breadth of characterization underscores its one-of-a-kind versatility, and for its price, it’s one of the best values you can find. Although it doesn’t have a carbon plate, the premium foam gives it the responsiveness needed for either racing or training. The simple, clean aesthetic even makes it wearable around town. It is a true road shoe, though, with an outsole that does not perform well on unpaved surfaces, so save it for those solely road runs. Since it doesn’t have a plate, it provides a more natural ride than similar trainers and suits all types of gaits and footstrike patterns, but its stability is limited.

The Adizero Evo SL has a stack height of 38 millimeters in the heel and 32 millimeters in the forefoot for a 6-millimeter drop, with an actual weight of 7.9 ounces (223 grams) for a U.S. men’s 9. The shoe’s light weight, reasonable price, and lively ride have earned it a spot in our Best Cushioned Road Running Shoes guide.

Shop the Men's adidas Adizero Evo SLShop the Women's adidas Adizero Evo SL

Adidas Adizero Evo SL Upper

The upper of the adidas Adizero Evo SL is an ultra-breathable engineered mesh. I ran most of my miles in these shoes in the winter, and I could feel how easily they allowed air to pass through — which, of course, is a great benefit in warmer temperatures. These will be a tremendous summer shoe. Because the mesh is so thin, it’s natural to have concerns about the upper’s durability, but I’ve put nearly 400 miles on a pair with no tears or unexpected signs of wear.

It took a few runs to nail the lockdown, but once I did, I had no issues with fit. It felt streamlined and secure throughout the heel and midfoot, and the not-too-wide, not-too-narrow toebox fit my foot well. Height-wise, the toebox has a bit more volume than expected, to the point that wearing a thicker sock might not be a bad idea. Some people might prefer a more secure fit in the toebox for racing, but I wouldn’t consider it a dealbreaker, especially if the alternative is paying $100 more for a shoe with similar performance features.

To me, the biggest weaknesses of this shoe are relatively small ones: the tongue and laces. The tongue isn’t secured with an internal midfoot wrap and often slid down or to the side mid-run, and I had to stop to readjust it several times. The laces are thin and finicky, and they came untied a few times, especially during the first few runs. For whatever reason, I didn’t have much trouble with them once I had a lot of miles on the shoes.

Any discussion of this shoe’s upper is not complete without mentioning its clean, understated aesthetic. While style is subjective, the crisp design of these shoes, with adidas’s classic three stripes taking center stage in multiple colorways, makes them a trendy lifestyle shoe, too. You could wear them around town without a second thought.

Adidas Adizero Evo SL Midsole

The midsole is perhaps the most stunning part of the adidas Adizero Evo SL. Made from a thick slab of Lightstrike Pro — the same premium foam found in the adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4, the brand’s top-tier racing shoe — the midsole is supremely light, lively, and responsive. The first time I ran fast in these shoes during a set of strides on the road, I was struck by how much easier it was to pick up the pace relative to a normal pair of trainers.

These shoes were my go-to pair this winter for a marathon training block. I ran everything from easy doubles to one-kilometer repeats on the track to 20-mile marathon workouts in them, and they performed well throughout the entire range, proving to be a lightweight, bouncy companion for hundreds of miles.

While I opted for a pair of the aforementioned Adizero Adios Pro 4 for the marathon itself — you can learn more about the shoe in our Best Marathon Running Shoes guide — the Adizero Evo SL could absolutely be a race-day shoe if you don’t want to shell out $250 or more for a pair of super shoes. Although they don’t have a carbon plate and lack the extra propulsion of specialized racing shoes, their ride is comfortable and energetic enough to be a race-day option, especially for a 5k up to a half marathon. At about half the price of many super shoes, they’re a great value.

This is not the shoe to wear, however, if you have concerns about stability. The relatively high stack height, combined with the lack of structure in the midsole, results in little to no support.

Sometimes we can get lost in stack heights, geometries, and foam types, and we forget that one of the best indicators of a good running shoe is how you feel running in it. The midsole of this shoe simply makes it fun to run in.

Adidas Adizero Evo SL Outsole

The adidas Adizero Evo SL has a Continental rubber outsole, with three pieces of rubber strategically placed to provide durability in key areas. There is a large patch at the front of the foot and two pieces at the heel, all with elongated oval cutouts. Rubber covers the majority of the outsole, with some exposed foam in the middle of the foot, and more in a stripe going down toward the heel.

The outsole performs best on dry pavement. In the rain, the lack of tread is definitely noticeable. On my only foray onto gravel in these shoes, I was more mindful of my steps to avoid large pieces of rock and other on-the-ground obstacles that I wouldn’t have given a second thought to in slightly more rugged shoes. They were fine for the 10-mile gravel run, but I wouldn’t make a habit of wearing them off road.

I’m not sure whether it’s due to my landing pattern or an inherent issue with the shoe’s durability, but the outsole began to show wear near the heel after about 120 miles. It never affected the shoe’s performance, but I’m curious to see if it happens on my second pair.

Adidas Adizero Evo SL Overall Impressions

The adidas Adizero Evo SL is a pretty remarkable shoe. With a premium foam, one-of-a-kind versatility, and clean design, it’s one of the rare shoes that checks nearly all the boxes of what I look for in a running shoe. It can handle easy runs, track workouts, and long runs with equal aplomb, and it’s so breathable and lightweight that it just feels good on the feet. Because this shoe outperforms many others at higher price points, and it looks good doing it, it’s found a place in our Best Cushioned Road Running Shoes guide.

I’m typically skeptical of things that get a lot of hype, but these shoes exceeded the already high expectations I had before running in them and quickly became one of my all-time favorite pairs of running shoes. They were nearly perfect marathon training shoes this winter, and I’ll be putting more miles on another pair no matter what my next race is. No shoe is for everyone, of course, and if you are seeking a shoe with a lot of stability or an outsole that can handle regular miles on light trails, there are better options. But, for lots of fast and fun road miles, these are hard to beat.

Shop the Men's adidas Adizero Evo SLShop the Women's adidas Adizero Evo SL

Call for Comments

• Have you run in the adidas Adizero Evo SL before? What are your thoughts?
• What do you value most in a road shoe?

Our Favorite Cushioned Road Shoes

Check out our Best Cushioned Road Running Shoes article to learn more about our current favorite cushioned road running shoes.

Adidas Adizero Evo SL Review by Robbie Harms.

There is a gap between having a disability and finding a community that truly understands your experience that can make it feel isolating. There is a gap between sustaining a life-changing injury, receiving healthcare, and returning to everyday life that can make recovery really hard. It’s societal: a lack of infrastructure, a lack of funding, a lack of thought. It’s in these gaps that organizations like Achilles International and people like Brandon Stapanowich step forward.

When I chat with Stapanowich on a Monday morning, I think our conversation will mainly center on his work with the Pikes Peak chapter of Achilles International. The organization helps people with disabilities participate in athletic programs and create social connections, and Stapanowich started the Colorado Springs-based chapter in 2014. Stapanowich organizes weekly running sessions and more for the community.

But he opens our conversation by telling me he’s got a day off from working at a school as a physical therapist, where he provides individualized assistance to students with significant motor impairments. In other side notes, he tells me he coaches his son’s soccer team and has been a running guide for a few of his friends who are visually impaired during their projects and races. He’s looking forward to summer vacation, but the mild winter in Colorado has him really worried about climate change. Stapanowich’s capacity to care is instantly evident. Ultimately, it is life-affirming and inspiring.

Achilles Pikes Peak

When Stapanowich finished the 2013 Desert RATS 50 Mile in third place, he was narrowly out-kicked by Michael Oliva, with whom he later became friends on Facebook. When his competitor posted photos from his work helping to set up the Achilles chapter in Denver, Stapanowich — who has a deaf brother — was intrigued. The ethos of promoting running for everybody aligned with what he did professionally, so he asked Oliva how he could start a chapter that hosted group runs himself. Stapanowich remembers, “Michael told me, ‘You know, you just pick a time, pick a place, and show up and be consistent, and people will come.’” Of course, in the beginning, there were weeks when Stapanowich would turn up and be the only person there. But over time, the group grew, and now around 20 people turn up to run regularly.

“You get people from such broad experiences in life,” says Stapanowich, “and running is that unifying thing.” Stapanowich explains that some people join each week just to get a little bit of exercise for the day, some want to be healthy for their grandkids, and others purely seek the social interaction. Some people have been with the group for over 10 years, maintaining consistency from middle school, high school, and through to adulthood. They start off wanting to be able to just run three miles without having to take a walking break, and develop toward completing races. “It’s rewarding to see that development in people,” Stapanowich says.

Achilles International has 29 chapters in the U.S. and a similar number worldwide, spanning Oceania, South America, Europe, South Africa, and Scandinavia. But, says Stapanowich, “I think for whatever reason, different chapters have kind of a different profile.” The Pikes Peak chapter is open to people of all ages and backgrounds, and Stapanowich says that it’s not unusual for the socialization after the run to be longer than the run itself. He says, “The store’s closed, it’s dark, it’s a parking lot, but people are just still hanging out and talking. And I think that’s just as important — if not more important — than the physical benefits.”

Stapanowich has been leading this group for 12 years, with others taking over at different times, and he is confident that with or without him, the group will remain a cornerstone of the community in the area. Watching this group grow into its own self-sustaining entity has been rewarding. Seeing the need for a group like this in the community was the driving factor at the beginning, but now that Stapanowich has two children of his own, he’s finding motivation in wanting to set a good example for them. “I think parenting is such an interesting challenge,” says Stapanowich. “How do you teach your kids how to be a good citizen in the world? I think there’s a lot more power in demonstration, rather than just telling them. So hopefully they see this, and they get some perspective on the variety of experiences that humans have.”

When I fumble for a more articulate way to simply ask, “Why are you so helpful?” Stapanowich relates it back to being a good role model. In his early life, his own parents set an example as caregivers to his maternal grandfather, and they instilled the lesson that helping others is important. He sees that growing up — especially with a deaf brother — he simply learned that people have differences, but that shouldn’t set them apart. It’s something that he and his wife, Melissa Stapanowich, have been reflecting on more recently since she started a running program in a juvenile detention center. “You know, we’re just people at the end of the day,” says Stapanowich, “and it’s about just coming together and recognizing that we’re more similar than different.”

Early Years

Stapanowich grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his brother and parents before the family moved to Asheville, North Carolina, to be closer to his grandfather. The exposure to the mountains and wild places of North Carolina had a big impact on him, but the grip of running hadn’t yet taken hold. Stapanowich grew up playing soccer and remembers being a relatively strong player until his first year of college, when he recalls spending more time on the bench. Whether he got burned out by collegiate soccer, humbled by it, or it simply felt like more of a job than a choice, the sport lost its appeal. He transferred to a different school — one further in the mountains — and he started running.

In terms of his career path, though, he didn’t know what he wanted to do, nor what to study at college. He considered pursuing audiology, inspired by his brother, but ultimately opted for exercise science. He says that many people with that degree end up becoming physician’s assistants or physical therapists, but being able to offer physical interventions appealed to him more than a pathway in medicine. “Once I started physical therapy school,” says Stapanowich, “the sports injury side of the field wasn’t as engaging to me.” Once he realized he could work with kids as a physical therapist, the pathway was clear: “You know, a lot of times kids aren’t going to just do three sets of 10. You have to make it fun. You have to make it engaging. And so that’s been a great career for me.” He started his work in a clinic and now enjoys engaging with kids in their everyday environments: on playgrounds, in hallways, and during physical education classes.

Relationship with Running

Providing this care in a way that is engaging and enjoyable, rather than the rudimentary practice usually associated with physical therapy, is key to understanding Stapanowich’s approach to sport as a whole, and perhaps even his general outlook. It seems that for Stapanowich, everything is filled with childlike wonder. “I think that’s another thing running gives us,” he says. “You can run to compete, but I think the majority of us aren’t competing for podiums. We’re competing because, on some level, it is fun.” He goes on to say, “If you can distance yourself from the watches and the results, and just run for the sake of being out there and get back to that exploration and that joy, I think it is the best thing I’ve found for play as an adult.”

When Stapanowich first got into trail running, he enjoyed that it felt like counterculture. “I hadn’t heard of 100-mile races until I moved to Colorado,” Stapanowich says, “and then I met up with some local groups, and there are these guys in their 40s, 50s, and they look just like regular people, but they’re doing these incredible, super-human endeavors and running hundreds of miles. And I think there was a part of that which appealed to me, that it seemed so niche, and that it still does.” Stapanowich explains other reasons why the sport appeals to him now: “I think there’s a special challenge that you can get from spending long days in the mountains. I think they’re relatively safe challenges. We’re not moving at high speeds. It doesn’t feel like an adrenaline-seeking sport, but you still have that struggle and that accomplishment. And that is a fulfilling experience.” It’s not just the physical benefits that Stapanowich enjoys, and says, “Just to have the time out there, to think, to not think, to be removed from the modern distractions, I think that’s harder and harder to come by. And that’s definitely something that still draws me to it. There’s a lot of peace out there.”

A lot of peace. It’s funny that something so good for our mental and physical health could be considered counterculture. Stapanowich muses, “I wonder if the world would be better if we focused more on this stuff than the other things that kind of get in the way, and are more associated with being an adult?” This is where he draws so much reward from his work. While he values being able to do things with his body — challenging it and seeing growth — he also loves being able to help a child explore their environment and expand their opportunities in this way, too. The same goes for having access to wild spaces. As a parent, Stapanowich has been reflecting anew on childhood. His son is involved in youth sports, but he also has free playtime, during which he can decide how and where he wants to play. “You know, safely,” asserts Stapanowich, “but without always having close supervision, or having structured rules around it — giving that freedom for exploration.”

A Family FKT

Stapanowich is an accomplished trail runner himself, with podium performances at the 2020 HURT 100 Mile and 2023 High Lonesome 100 Mile, and he’s running the High Five 100 Mile this year. But perhaps his biggest ultrarunning endeavor was setting a supported fastest known time on the 1,175-mile Mountains-To-Sea Trail in 2022. The route crosses North Carolina, and he completed it in 23 days, 13 hours, and 28 minutes. He was supported by his wife and then 11-month-old son, Felix. They met him every 10 to 20 miles for resupplies, with Melissa managing food, laundry, and the day-to-day logistics. The FKT is a remarkable achievement, of course, but a huge amount of acknowledgment must go to Melissa for caring for both their infant son and her ultrarunning husband for more than three weeks. Stapanowich says that when they reflected on it together, she saw it as a special adventure for all of them. “She really cherished that bonding time with [Felix], spending all day with him every day and exposing him to a variety of things, different travel, different foods.”

It was very much a family endeavor, as is evident in the film they made about the achievement, “From the Mountains to the Sea: A Family FKT.” In the film, what really strikes me is Stapanowich’s propensity for positivity. When he begins to tell the audience about how the weather has changed, and it’s really rainy, one might believe he’ll go on to say how challenging the day is becoming. Instead, he tells us how many animals and insects have come out because of the rainfall, and how green everything is. His justification for this admirable outlook is that the U.S. East Coast is so different weather-wise from Colorado, and all the humidity, bugs, and itchy plants were part of the experience. With the rainfall came lush greenery and bright orange newts. It’s about perspective: “There’s not good or bad, there’s just different,” says Stapanowich.

The Future

It’s clear that Stapanowich is on a trajectory aimed at helping others: He will continue to endeavor to be a good role model to his young children; he will continue to help children through his physical therapy work; and he will continue to help the Pikes Peak chapter of Achilles International thrive. On a personal level, he is looking forward to getting back to having some ultramarathon adventures of his own, but he highlights the spiritual experience as the main draw nowadays. “Of course, you’re going to be out there and trying hard and doing the best you can,” he says, “but at the end of the day, it’s not about how quickly you finish it, just finishing it will be an accomplishment.”

What does the future hold for Stapanowich as a person? He says he’s looking forward to “just being embracing of the mystery of things. I think as adults, it’s tempting to think that we know everything, and we’re experts in this field or that field, but I feel more comfortable saying, ‘I really know very little about the world, and I’m just here to learn and explore and enjoy the journey.'” It sounds like a marvelous way to approach an ultramarathon, a gorgeous way to approach parenthood, and a lovely way to exist in a community: with childlike wonder.

Call for Comments

• Do you have a Brandon Stapanowich story you can share?
• Have you been involved in Achilles International or a similar program?

Childlike Wonder: A Profile of Brandon Stapanowich by Lydia Thomson.

Hans Troyer, Robert Pkemoi, Toni McCann, and Ruth Croft were among the top stars to race on the last weekend of May. For top runners, this weekend’s races were likely preparation for bigger contests later this summer.

MaXi Race – Annecy, France

Tour du Lac 100k

The big event happened on mountain trails around Lake Annecy. French men swept the marquee 100k podium. Hugo Deck won for the second straight year with 9:48 on the clock. Théo Detienne was second in 9:56, and Yannick Noël took third in 10:10. Deck was 35 minutes faster than in 2025. Cody Lind (U.S.) was just off the men’s podium in fifth in 10:29.

Toni McCann (South Africa) won big in the women’s race. She was over an hour faster than everyone else with an 11:25 winning time. Anna Llewellyn (U.K.) and Blandine Orsini (France) were second and third in 12:28 and 12:30.

Demi Tour du Lac

The short course was 57k. Simon Paccard (France) was first in 5:16, and Samuel Ponce (Andorra) and Dimitri Morel-Jean (France) finished next in 5:26 and 5:29.

Ruth Croft (New Zealand) scored a repeat win in the women’s race in 6:20. Louise Serban-Penhoat (France) and Anaïs Guillot (France) were second and third in 6:32 and 6:38.

Full results.

Twisted Fork Trail Festival – Park City, Utah

It rained, and there were some pretty incredible finish pictures of mud-caked legs. In the 68k, it was Liam Fleming winning over Gavin Prior and John Raneri. Fleming finished the 42-mile race in 5:25, and Prior and Raneri got there in 5:31 and 5:38. Fourth-place Cade Michael came in at 5:51, and he will get two mentions this week. Only 32 seconds separated women’s winner Rachel Drake from runner-up Kristin Johnson. The two were both in at 6:39, and third-place Becca Bramley finished in 6:57.

Hans Troyer won the 30k ahead of Caleb Olson. Troyer finished in 2:02, and Olson was 63 seconds back in 2:03. Sean O’Connor was less than a minute behind Olson in third at 2:04. Olson was third in last year’s race in 2:04. Elizabeth O’Connor won for the women in 2:21, and Sarah Humble and Kodi Kleven got on the podium in 2:24. Humble beat Kleven by eight seconds.

The 15k was competitive too. Christian Allen ran 57:15 to get ahead of Hawk Call and Seth Sonerholm. Call and Sonerholm finished in 61:18 and 65:55. It was a repeat win for Allen after last year’s 55:39 finish. Alexa Aragon won for the women in 69:11, with Oakley Olson second in 72:26 and Sarah Hutchings third in 72:54.

Full results.

Swiss Canyon Trail – Couvet, Switzerland

The event brought some 3,000 runners across five distances to a region near the French border. In the long course 111k, Ramon Manetsch (Switzerland) beat Ionel Manole (Spain) and Aleix Toda (Spain). The three were only 17 minutes apart, with Manetsch winning in 10:31 and Manole and Toda in at 10:40 and 10:48. The lead three women were nearly as close too. Marjo Liikanen (Finland) finished in 13:10, and Azara García (Spain) and Jasmin Nunige (Switzerland) were second and third in 13:25 and 13:29.

Clovis Chaverot (France) and Manon Campano (France) won the 81k in 7:12 and 9:07.

The 51k had Clément Durance (France) and Beatriz Parrón (Spain) as its winners in 4:03 and 4:46.

And in the 31k, it was Titouan Haan (France) and Kim Schreiber (Germany) who won in 2:25 and 2:51.

Full results.

Mountain Ultra Trail by UTMB – George, South Africa

Tahirinirina Jeannot Avotraniaina (Madagascar) won the 104-mile MUT Miler men’s race in 23:53. Women’s winner Lodelia Kombrink (South Africa) was fourth overall in 26:07.

Daniel Claassen (South Africa) and Kerry-Ann Marshall (South Africa) won the MUT 100k in 10:29 and 13:00.

Full results.

Additional Races and Runs

Trail En Vallée D’Aure – Saint-Lary-Soulan, France

French runners Olivier Bauzil and Lucie Legendre won the 40k in 4:18 and 6:05, and Robert Pkemoi (Kenya) and Charlotte Fumard (France) were best in the 23k in 1:57 and 2:48. Pkemoi, who was fifth at the Zegama Marathon two weeks ago, was the lone non-French runner to podium across all of the event’s race distances. Full results.

Pacifico Ultra 50k – Palmdale, California

For the men, Cody Leventhal won in 4:11, and women’s champ Clara Caspard scored a $500 course record bonus in 4:37. Full results.

North Fork 50/50 – Pine, Colorado

The 50-mile winners were Tripp Hipple and Lindsey Benkelman in 7:24 and 9:52, and Matthew Vira and Ann Miller were best in the 50k in 3:50 and 4:42. Vira won last year’s race in 3:48. Full results.

BolderBoulder 10k – Boulder, Colorado

There were some 54,000 people running on the roads in Boulder on May 25, 2026, for the annual Memorial Day event. In the pro race, Andy Wacker was seventh in 29:51. In the citizen’s race, Cade Michael ran 33:07, Josh Eberly ran 33:36, and Chris Mocko was in at 33:43. For the women, Janelle Lincks got into the top 10 in 36:03. Full results.

Smith Rock Classic – Terrebonne, Oregon

All of the 50-mile and 50k course records were broken at this year’s race. Alec Carne and Rachel Hawkins won the 50 miler in 7:07 and 7:55, and Cully Brown and Ellie Clawson won the 50k in 3:52 and 4:27. Full results.

The Full Mo 50k – Sheridan, Indiana

The sixth annual race ran from the corn fields to the city. Mark Weghorst repeated as men’s winner in 3:08, and Alison Ray won for the women in 3:33. Both times were new course records. Full results.

Mohican Trail Run – Loudonville, Ohio

Prolific 100-miler Alec Cline won the men’s race in 18:04, and Brenda Johnson won for the women in 19:04. Cline won last year’s race in 17:51. Full results.

Worlds End Ultramarathon – Forksville, Pennsylvania

The 100k and 50k races went through the Endless Mountains in the Loyalsock State Forest and Worlds End State Park. Jesse Stauffer and Kaylee Frederick were best in the 100k in 11:50 and 12:24, and Michael Busada and Emily Fisk won the 50k in 4:48 and 6:22. Full results.

Rabid Raccoon 100 Mile – Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania

Racing on an eight-loop course, Alex Minor was a major winner. His 15:42 finish was over five hours better than second place. Stephanie Kos won for the women in 22:04. Full results.

Call for Comments

Next weekend, it’s time for short courses to shine. In Colorado, there’ll be the GoPro Mountain Games. New Hampshire’s Sunapee Scramble will host the USATF Mountain Running Championship. And in Slovenia, there’s the European Off-Road Running Championships.

This Week In Running: June 1, 2026 by Justin Mock.