Among the highlights of the weekend, iRunFar lists Henriette Albon (Norway), Tove Alexandersson (Sweden), Jim Walmsley (United States) and Manuel Merillas (Spain) among the runners competing across multiple races around the world.
At the Tsaigu Trail, the 105k event was contested on mountain courses in eastern China, with a total prize money of 1.2 million renminbi (RMB), or around $170,000. The 105k winners took home 130,000 RMB (≈ $19,500), while the 50k winners received 70,000 RMB (≈ $10,500).
In the women’s 105k at the Tsaigu Trail, Fu-Zhao Xiang (China) took a commanding lead in 13:30. iRunFar notes that she finished seventh at the Western States 100 earlier this year, before stopping at UTMB in August. Behind her, Ling-Jie Chi and Jing-Yan Chang were respectively second and third in 14:09 and 14:13.
At the Javelina 100 Mile, held in Fountain Hills (Arizona), the race brought runners together on a five-lap format and was a Golden Ticket event, with two automatic places for the Western States 100 in 2027. Despite a race day with showers, iRunFar says the finishing times rank among the fastest in history, possibly thanks to cooler-than-normal temperatures.
Among the women, Heather Jackson won the Javelina 100 Mile in 13:48, finishing one second ahead of Carla Molinaro (United Kingdom) (13:49). iRunFar reports that Jackson, the winner in 2023, joined Molinaro late in the race. Third place went to Katie Asmuth in 14:06, and the first six women all came in under 15 hours.
