Trails to Tales
This week’s race results include Le Grizz, Kodiak Ultramarathons, Grizzly Ultra, and Moab 240.
The post Ultra Weekend Recap — October 12, 2025 appeared first on Ultra Running Magazine.
Getting good sleep before your ultra is crucial. Find comfortable, affordable accommodations near your race start.
The post Plugging Into the Chicago Running Scene appeared first on iRunFar.
When you open the AllTrails app and zoom in on Chicago, Illinois, running routes, you’ll see nearly 200 options across the city. Zoom in even further and you’ll find the beating heart of each neighborhood: solo runners hitting their coffee shop commute before work or running clubs going door to door to their favorite restaurants, like Cozy Noodles n’ Rice.
HOKA athlete Chef Tee is the chef-owner at Cozy Noodles n’ Rice in Wrigleyville. He started running casually just to stay in shape, but quickly got swept up into the running spirit that fuels the city.
In 2014, Chef Tee got a lottery spot in the Chicago Marathon and has raced almost every year since. In 2016 he skipped the race to watch the Cubs beat out the Indians in the World Series (understandable).
As his love for the running community grew alongside the finisher medals from the Chicago Marathon, Chef Tee decided to begin supporting the marathoners that he has spent hundreds of miles running with. During the Chicago Marathon, he offers a free carb-loading meal to all marathoners before and after the race at Cozy Noodles n’ Rice.
Check out Chef Tee’s video below, sponsored by HOKA. Then check out his favorite runs around the city.
As someone who has run hundreds of miles in Chicago, Chef Tee knows his way around the running routes in the area. Below are some top route picks from HOKA and Chef Tee’s favorite runs.
Take bite-sized chunks out of this 18.2-mile lakefront trail in downtown Chicago. The trail is paved asphalt or concrete and has wonderful lakefront views along the distance.
Trail Details
Southwest of the city, you’ll find this 4.2-mile loop, consisting of a wide gravel trail throughout. The trail is open year round and dogs are allowed off leash in some areas.
This trail is also a popular winter trail destination and is beautiful all year long.
Trail Details
Heading southwest from the city center, you’ll find this 8.2-mile loop trail, that’s primarily forested with smaller rolling hills. You’ll encounter stairs and multiple creek crossings, along with ponds and lakes.
This is a great trail run to get immersed in nature and out of the city.
Trail Details
Cruise the North Branch of the Chicago River up to Horner Park on this easy 2.8-mile run. The trail passes through multiple scenic areas and parks and crosses the Chicago River up toward Horner Park.
Trail Details
North of the city is a 7.8-mile trail through dense oak and maple forests and along the Chicago River. This is also an immersive nature trail and gives runners a break from the city.
Trail Details
The best way to get involved in the running scene in the Chicago area is to join a local running club or hit up the local running shops, like the HOKA Store at 746 N Michigan Ave. Then, after logging some miles, swing through Cozy Noodles n’ Rice and say hi to Chef Tee.
[Editor’s Note: This article is sponsored by HOKA. Thank you to HOKA for its sponsorship of iRunFar, which helps to make iRunFar happen and free for all to enjoy. Learn more about our sponsored articles.]
Plugging Into the Chicago Running Scene by Sponsored Post.
Long training runs mean muddy gear and dirty floors. Spend more time training and less time cleaning with automated cleaning solutions.
The post 14 Years of AJW’s Taproom appeared first on iRunFar.
Welcome to my annual anniversary column!
Ever since I started writing this column in October of 2011, I have taken some time each year to reflect back on the past 12 months and share a bit about what I’ve written here, in this very special place. I never thought when Bryon Powell suggested over beers in Virginia in September of 2011 that I turn my personal blog into a weekly column here on iRunFar that it would be a 14-year (and counting) journey. But, here we are!
Since last October, we have published 42 articles in this space. Three times a month, and sometimes four, I have had the chance to share my thoughts and reflections on the goings on in the trail running and ultrarunning world, and in my world. I am forever grateful to Bryon and Meghan for providing me with a space to find and maintain my voice.
On a professional note, 2025 was a year of evolution for me. In addition to my writing, podcasting, and coaching, I became the store manager of Sole Sports in Tempe, Arizona. As a result of this life change, I found myself moved to write a few columns about the running shoe industry, including Long Live the Local Run Specialty Store, The Runner’s Relationship with Shoes, and The Golden Age of Trail Running Shoes is Upon Us.
As I have for the past several years, I’ve written a monthly sub-series here in the Taproom. This year my focus was on Legendary Aid Stations, as I profiled some of the best aid stations in the trail and ultra community. From a long list of reader recommendations, I compiled a list of 11 legendary aid stations, including Rucky Chucky at the Western States 100 and Kroger’s Canteen at the Hardrock 100.
In addition to my Legendary Aid Station series, I also continued my occasional series on running and aging. As an aging athlete myself, I think my personal experiences in the sport and some of the things I have learned along the way have been helpful to others. From this year’s running and aging series, I particularly enjoyed writing a tribute to my friend Henry Bickerstaff and a reflection on trying new things as a seasoned ultrarunner in An Old Dog Learns New Tricks.
In my own personal running journey, I completed two incredible events in the past year. First, in October, I returned to the Javelina 100 Mile, 17 years after I first ran it. I wrote about it in Who Says You Can’t Go Home: Running the 2024 Javelina 100 Mile. Then in May, I dove into the deep end and ran the Cocodona 250 Mile for my first 200-plus-mile event. I reflected on that life-changing experience in Once in a Lifetime.
Finally, as I have done for the past several years, back in January, I released a set of predictions for 2025, some of which seem to have come to fruition and some of which have not. Such is the nature of these things.
Here’s to another year here in AJW’s Taproom. Thank you all for reading.
Bottoms up!
This week’s Beer of the Week comes from Alesong Brewing and Blending in Eugene, Oregon. Touch of Brett is a hoppy, farmhouse-style ale that straddles the line between sour and bitter. Brewed in the classic Saison style, Touch of Brett tips the scales at a healthy 6.4 ABV and carries a smooth finish. Perfect after a nice long day running on the nearby McKenzie River Trail.
14 Years of AJW’s Taproom by Andy Jones-Wilkins.
Training for ultra marathons often takes you to remote locations. Stay connected with reliable mobile internet wherever your training takes you.
The Copperfield 5K Cold Run, set for October 11, 2025 in Louisville, KY, is adding extra excitement to this year’s event with a color-changing finisher medal designed and produced by X T-shirt.
Medal Tells the Story
The medal, shaped like a house to reflect the Copperfield neighborhood, transforms under sunlight:
Indoors it appears cool and neutral.
In sunlight it shifts to a warm red body with an icy blue “Cold Run” panel.
The color transition mirrors the race’s name and its support for Cold Capping therapy, highlighting both the energy of the runners and the cause behind the event.
“We wanted the medal to feel alive and meaningful,” said Ryan Zhu, founder of X T-shirt. “Its transformation under sunlight connects the race experience with the community’s spirit and the purpose it serves.”
Race Information
The Copperfield 5K Cold Run is a neighborhood race that supports Cold Capping, a treatment that helps chemotherapy patients preserve their hair.
Date: Saturday, October 11, 2025
Location: Copperfield neighborhood, Louisville, KY
Register: https://runsignup.com/Race/KY/Louisville/Copperfield5kColdRun
About X T-shirt / Magic Race Shirts
Who We Are
X T-shirt creates interactive race apparel and medals, including glow-in-the-dark, color-changing (UV reactive), and sweat-activated (hydrochromic) technologies. Our mission is to transform standard race merchandise into memorable experiences that enhance participation, sponsorship, and community engagement.
Runner Feedback
Runners consistently highlight how these products add fun and motivation to events. See runners real reactions here: Magic Race Shirts & Medals Runner Feedback.
Free Design Service
Every race is unique. We provide free design services, tailoring shirts and medals to match each event’s theme — from 5K to marathons — ensuring every piece of merchandise feels like part of the story.
Free Samples
We also provide free samples so race directors can see and feel the quality before making decisions. Learn more at MagicRaceShirts.com.
The post Copperfield 5K Cold Run 2025 Debuts Color-Changing Medal appeared first on Running USA.
Long training runs mean muddy gear and dirty floors. Spend more time training and less time cleaning with automated cleaning solutions.
The post The North Face Athletes at the 2025 Trail World Championships appeared first on iRunFar.
At the end of September, athletes from around the world gathered in Canfranc, Spain, for the 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. Unlike most trail and ultra races throughout the year, this was a chance for athletes to represent their countries on the world stage. It’s a unique format for racing, and several The North Face athletes had strong showings on the Pyrenean trails.
The biennial championships, comprising four major races across four days, are one of the biggest events on the off-road running calendar and attract many of the top athletes from around the world. The North Face had athletes running in two of those four races, both the Trail World Championships Short Trail and Long Trail. Both race routes were held on much more technical terrain than traditional trail races, and many athletes likened the courses more to skyrunning — with ridges, exposure, and endless rocks — than the more manicured trails that many events are gravitating toward.
Excelling in these courses required the right combination of technical skills and endurance, and several The North Face team members did exactly that.
Thanks so much to The North Face for sponsoring iRunFar’s coverage of the 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships!
Short may have been a bit of a misnomer for the 2025 Trail World Championships Short Trail event, a 45-kilometer (28 miles) race featuring more than 3,600 meters (12,000 feet) of elevation gain on the storied CanfrancCanfranc Marathon course. With a 1,400-meter (4,600 feet) climb straight out of the gate, which was followed by a technical descent and three more major climbs, the route rewarded fitness, pacing, and the ability to move smoothly and efficiently over difficult terrain. The North Face’s rising star Ruby Lindquist — who said she loved the course — ran a steady race throughout the day to take home 11th in 5:57:07 as the second American finisher in a competitive women’s race. She was within a minute of 10th place.
“Usually I can tell before races when I’m warming up how my body’s feeling, and if it’s going to be a decent day or not. Unfortunately, sometimes I just feel really laggy, but when I was warming up before this race, I was feeling pretty good,” Lindquist said. “And when I started, the first two hours felt really good.” Lindquist went on to explain, “I couldn’t figure out if it was just the adrenaline or if I actually felt good.” Adrenaline or not, Lindquist took full advantage. “I kind of just rode it the whole race. I was fortunate to have a really good day.”
Lindquist, 26, was a member of The North Face’s Athlete Development Program, which provides funding and education for athletes to accelerate their careers in outdoor sports. She signed a contract with The North Face after the program concluded last year.
“The North Face was the first group who helped me believe that I had a future in this,” Lindquist said. “I think that they really supported me at a time where I was at the very beginning of this career, where I didn’t even know if this could be a thing.”
This run was perhaps the Alaskan runner’s biggest result on the world stage and capped off an impressive year. She won the Big Alta 28k in March before finishing second at Mt. Fuji Kai 70k a month later.
“Leading into [the Trail World Championships], my biggest drive was just that I’ve never competed on a stage that big, and I always had this feeling, if I do compete on a world stage, I could do pretty well,” Lindquist said. “But you just don’t know if you haven’t done it.”
She added, “Representing your country at the world championships is a pretty incredible and special honor.”
One of the unique aspects of the Trail World Championships events is that there’s also a team competition, with the times of the top three athletes from a nation adding together to form a final team time. Lindquist was the second American to finish, and was therefore a scoring member of the silver-medal winning women’s Team USA for the Short Trail.
In the men’s race, The North Face runner Seth Ruhling battled back from a tough start to finish as the fourth American and 32nd overall in 5:27:04. Ruhling ran a course record at the Black Canyon 100k in February before placing sixth at the Western States 100 in his 100-mile debut. The Trail World Championships Short Trail was a far cry from the much flatter and smoother California trails that Ruhling had spent the start of his year excelling on, but in a field of nearly 200 men containing some of the top technical runners in the world, Ruhling’s result shows incredible versatility.
Fellow The North Face runner Johnny Luna Lima, competing for Brazil, finished 70th in 5:46:39, and American Michelino Sunseri finished 81st in 5:53:11.
While the Trail World Championships Long Trail race was only 81 kilometers (50.3 miles) in length, many of the top men were estimating finish times of nine to 10 hours. That is to say, the terrain on the mountainous loop around Canfranc, with 5,078 meters (16,600 feet) of elevation gain, was relatively slow and remarkably technical. Reaching the same high point as the prior day’s Short Trail and completing the route of the World Mountain Running Championships Uphill race, which took place two days before, there was no shortage of vert, rocks, and challenges.
Zach Miller, one of the biggest names in American trail running and a perennial fan favorite for his candidness and all-out racing style, made it to as high as 10th place more than halfway through the race before finishing 18th in 9:44:01.
“I still haven’t sat down and jotted all my thoughts, but I’ve been telling people I’ve had mixed feelings about my about my performance,” Miller said. “What I don’t have mixed feelings about is that the course itself was really cool. The race that they put together this year was a very proper mountain race.”
Early on in the race, Miller was asking about the positions of his teammates and was visibly excited to hear how well everyone was doing.
“Our team was very good this year. All the guys on it are very good runners,” Miller said. “So I was like, ‘Well, I’d at least like to really try to score for the team.’ I was the third guy for our team, even though I would’ve liked to have been higher up in the field, I did score, so I was happy about that.”
Miller’s top-20 finish came just two months after his fifth-place finish at the Hardrock 100. Miller was part of the Team USA men’s team that also placed second at the Trail World Championships Long Trail in 2023, when Miller placed sixth overall, sandwiched between two other Team USA runners.
“I’ve been in world championships for a number of years now and I think this one was hands-down the most competitive one I’ve been to,” Miller said. “Which also made it very fun, because even though I was hoping to be higher up in the in the finish rankings, those guys out front just ran faster than I was thinking it was going to go, which was very impressive. The competitiveness was really cool, because all day long you were just battling.”
Tracen Knopp, another The North Face athlete competing for the U.S., used an impressive second half of the race to finish 25th in 9:58:03 in his debut at the world championships. Knopp, from Alaska, methodically moved his way up throughout the race, from 42nd just before 30k to 31st by 65k. He continued to pick off more runners in front of him to finish 25th.
“I thought Tracen did quite well,” Miller said. “The world championships are a challenging, competitive format, and a top 25 for him — that was strong work.”
Miller and Knopp’s finishes meant two of the top four runners on the second-place American men’s team were The North Face athletes, impressive performances on a true mountain course that tested every aspect of a runner’s skill, perseverance, and dedication.
Paddy O’Leary, the charismatic Irish runner for The North Face, had an admittedly tough race in the Long Trail but gutted it out to the finish. He was 109th in 12:13:32. Though his performance in this race wasn’t what he had hoped for, he still had an impressive 2025, with a top-25 finish at Transgrancanaria Marathon and a fourth-place finish at the Big Alta 28k.
In the women’s Long Trail race, The North Face had two athletes competing for their countries. Germany’s Ida-Sophie Hegemann, who thrives in races with lots of elevation gain, finished 28th in 11:57:46. American Klaire Rhodes was 35th in 12:15:39, just two months after she placed fourth at the Eiger Ultra Trail 41k.
[Editor’s Note: This article is sponsored by The North Face. Thank you to the brands for their sponsorship of iRunFar, which helps to make iRunFar happen and is free for all to enjoy. Learn more about our sponsored articles.]
The North Face Athletes at the 2025 Trail World Championships by Sponsored Post.
Traveling to your next 100-miler? Find the best deals on rental cars to get you to the starting line without breaking the budget.
Host Scotty Sandow sits down with UltraRunning Magazine columnist Jared Beasley, an author and journalist who never expected to find himself embedded in the sport of ultrarunning and just wrote a new book called The Endurance Artist.
The post Jared Beasley & The Endurance Artist appeared first on Ultra Running Magazine.
Traveling to your next 100-miler? Find the best deals on rental cars to get you to the starting line without breaking the budget.
You’ve probably heard the old guidance that long runs should be run at one to two minutes per mile slower than your marathon pace. This guidance came from coaches and elite runners in the 1960s and 1970s—the first running boom in the U.S. And it worked at the time because the average marathon finish time was three and a half hours (over an hour faster than today).
But then the second boom in running occurred in the 1990s and 2000s, with the bulk of marathon finish times between 4:30:00 and 5:30:00. Marathon pace for a five-and-a-half-hour marathoner is 12:36 minutes per mile. Using the old 1-2 minutes slower per mile rule for long runs, the runner would never do any running (only walking), or if they did, it was uncomfortably slow.
The concept of endurance training related to marathon pace continues to cause great confusion. So how is an athlete to determine running pace if the 1-2 minutes slower than your marathon time rule no longer stands? It’s all based on training zones and your relative race pace at various times.
The post How to Determine Running Pace appeared first on RUN | Powered by Outside.
Getting good sleep before your ultra is crucial. Find comfortable, affordable accommodations near your race start.
This article explores how these athletes—and their coaches—navigated the critical stretch between those summer “A” races and the World Championships using smart recovery, strategic training and data-informed decisions to peak again when it mattered most.
The post How Elite Ultrarunners Transition Between “A” Races appeared first on Ultra Running Magazine.
Traveling to your next 100-miler? Find the best deals on rental cars to get you to the starting line without breaking the budget.
This week’s ultramarathon race calendar includes Le Grizz, Indiana Trail 100, West Virginia Trilogy, Midstate Massive Ultra Trail, and Grizzly Ultra.
The post What’s Up in Ultra This Weekend — October 11, 2025 appeared first on Ultra Running Magazine.
Training for ultra marathons often takes you to remote locations. Stay connected with reliable mobile internet wherever your training takes you.
The new Mafate 5 represents a significant departure from its predecessor, dropping the “Speed” designation and embracing an even more cushioned, comfort-focused philosophy that prioritizes long-distance protection over technical agility.
The post REVIEW: Hoka Mafate 5 appeared first on Ultra Running Magazine.
Training for ultra marathons often takes you to remote locations. Stay connected with reliable mobile internet wherever your training takes you.