Before all the excitement of this weekend’s Desert Solstice, our in-house data scientist, Matt Abbott, worked on making sense of the historical data. Billed as a “competitive ultrarunning track meet” designed for record setting and qualification for the national 24 Hour team — this year’s race did not disappoint! Here, Matt breaks down the event and makes some predictions about the athletes to watch along the way.

It’s the 2nd Annual Keep Trail Running Weird Awards!!! We want to celebrate the end of a record-setting year spotlighting the everyday runners and racers with five data-based awards and five fun community awards.

? This is where you come in — nominate and vote for your fellow trail runners (or yourself!) to win one of these community awards and its USU prize package! To make things even sweeter, our friends at Run the Alps are raffling off a trip in 2023 to one lucky person who submits a nomination or a vote. ?

Check out all the details here and lets keep trail running weird!

Photo by Kim Strom

Want to trail run from Chamonix, France around Mont Blanc, or through Italy’s Dolomites, or maybe a Grand Traverse of Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland? Our partner, Run the Alps can take you there. 

Run with a licensed, expert guide, or go self-guided on a schedule that works for you. 

Want to race? Take part in one of a dozen famous Alps trail races, through Run the Alps’ race partner program. 

See trip dates and availability right now at Run the Alps. 

? Quad Factor: A November study looked at 16,518 ultramarathon finishes to determine what factors set varied finishers apart. David Roche has a look at the surprising takeaways. 

? Meat Sweats: Is there a role for protein during exercise? Matt Laye at Ultrarunning Magazine takes a look.

? Local Charm: Imagine: no starting gun, no timing mat, no official start line. “The worse the website the better the race,” Zoë Rom writes in this story about the simple joys of small local events.

? TROY: The Freetrail team opens voting for the first ever “Trail Runner of the Year” award. (Voting closes December 20, with the winners announced in early January). “Part of our mission is to give more shine to the professional athletes,” says Dylan Bowman.

*So after you vote in KTRW for your friends, you can vote for your favorite pros in TROY!

? Let them Play: Many Afghan women can’t leave their own homes without a male escort — let alone go to school or play sports — but regressive social norms haven’t stopped Zeinab Rezaie. Gear Junkie introduces us to the first Afghan woman to finish an Ironman triathlon.

? Long Read: In 2013, journalist Christopher Solomon traveled to Chamonix to write about Kilian Jornet for The New York Times Magazine. It was the first major magazine treatment for the endurance champion… and it’s worth a revisit.

? Video of the Week: Adventure sports filmmaker Jordan Manoukian provides this snowy ridge run.

➡️ Lastly, here’s what we’re reading, watching, and listening to this week.