Montrail Ultra Cup

After such a spectacularly fun weekend at Western States, I’m finding it difficult to pull myself from my current state of recovery-bliss long enough to put together a race report. Of course, eventually I’ll collect my thoughts (and my photos) enough to share all the details. But in the meantime, I thought I’d share one of the many moments from the weekend that stand out for me.

It’s this moment right here:

After the top ten men and women finishers are honored at the Western States awards ceremony, Montrail presents awards to the top five men and women in the Montrail Ultra Cup. I was lucky enough to take 4^th female.

For me, entering the Ultra Cup just made sense because I’d planned to run all these races anyway, and entry into the series was free. (Special thanks to Craig Thornley for emailing Where’s Waldo participants after the race and reminding us to sign up!)

Points series are fun because they comprise a slightly different set of elements than the individual races themselves. They can allow someone like me an opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with the elite women. In no way am I trying to be self-deprecating here, but if you look at my race finishes compared with those of the other 4 women, they are all much faster than me. It’s a simple fact.

Only the first three places get cash prizes (although 4^th and 5^th do get some sort of prize package), but I got all the award I needed just getting to stand up there with Meghan, Amy, Pam and Helen. I was totally honored to be included among such amazing and talented women, and in such a prestigious setting.

Thanks, Montrail, for sponsoring the series, and congratulations to all the participants!

Pam and Amy congratulate me. What awesome women!