Jessica Griffiths 571 posts 0 comments

The USA Track & Field Mountain Ultra Trail (MUT) Running Council of long distance running has named the 2021 USATF MUT Runners of the Year. Thirty-seven talented MUT runners from twenty different U.S. states received nominations. After reviewing international and national race results, fifteen MUT executive committee members, made up of elite athletes, coaches, administrators and race directors from a dozen USATF Associations, cast ballots for this year’s awards.

Natalie Cook of Flower Mound, Texas and Riley Hough of Fenton, Mich. captured first-place titles at the 42nd Eastbay Cross Country Championships (ECCC) National Finals. Race conditions at Morley Field, Balboa Park in San Diego were ideal with mostly firm terrain, sunshine and temperatures reaching 62 degrees.

On Saturday, December 11, 50 athletes and eight teams from Colorado competed in the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida. It was a beautiful day as runners from all corners of the country took a trip to the sunshine state in the hopes of returning with a national title.

Strava just published their annual year in review presentation, which outlines what all of us 95 million Strava users suffer through each week. Both athletically suffering through hard workouts and long adventures. But also occasionally suffering through what others post on their timelines. Perhaps most notably, we get our annual reminder that Strava as a company still struggles to grasp how years and calendars work.

What sets trail running apart from your everyday road running is your focus. Rather than thinking about hitting your PB or queuing up the perfect playlist to match your stride, getting off-road is all about being immersed in your environment. From the ever-changing terrain under your feet to the attention-grabbing sights around you, trail running always takes you somewhere new.

If you’ve ever woken up with burning quads the day after a hilly race, you can probably blame all the downhill pounding. Although running uphill may feel more difficult from a cardio perspective, going downhill well is challenging—and a lot harder on your body.

US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson broke the internet last summer when she was suspended for testing positive for cannabis use after her 100m win at U.S. Olympic Trials. USATF and World Athletics received some backlash as there is little scientific research on whether cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) hinder or help athletic performance. A new study out of the University of Colorado Boulder hopes to shed some light on how cannabis, which is now legal outside of sport, impacts exercise.

Qualifying standards for the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials have changed dramatically. The announcement came at the USA Track & Field annual meeting. Men will need to run 2:17 and women will need to run 2:37 in a qualifying marathon. While the men's time only dropped by one minute, the women's time is a full 8 minutes faster than the previous qualifying time.

It was an American sweep atop the podium at the 2021 Ultra-Trail Cape Town (UTCT) in South Africa where Courtney Dauwalter and Jim Walmsley won without challenge from the rest of their respective fields, but certainly faced the challenges of the race’s unforgiving terrain.