It was a nice little tuneup jaunt for Flagstaff’s ultrarunning megastar Jim Walmsley. Friday morning in Tahoe, he finished second in the Broken Arrow Skyrace Vertical Kilometer, covering the 4.5-mile, 3,100-foot-elevation-gain climb in 37:49.
The winner was Kenyan Patrick Kipngeno in 36:21. Losing to Kipngeno is nothing shameful. He is a pro mountain runner, based in Austria, who won the 2023 World Mountain and Trail Running uphill title and has lost only two races since 2020. He specializes in short distances and steep courses.
Walmsley, on the other hand, is training for much, much longer races. He’ll be back at the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run — he’s the course record holder — in less than two weeks and then will try for the double later this summer at UTMB.
Flagstaff’s Najim Mahmoud, 27 and relatively new to the trail scene, finished 11th in Friday’s VK in 40:39.
Flagstaff’s Jessica Brazeau (Walmsley’s wife) was the fifth woman and 45th overall in 48:59, and Williams’ Rachel Tomajczyk was the sixth woman in 50:09. Flag’s Lindsey McDonald, who is part of the Arivaipa Racing Team, was the 21st woman to finish in 53:54.
Leave a Reply