If I Were a UROY Voter - 2025 (Men)
I am not, but what if?
With the 2025 trail and ultra racing season coming to a close, I thought it would be a fun idea to think about (and provide reasoning for) who I believe to have had the most successful years in sport.
UltraRunner of the Year (UROY) is an honour that’s been given by Ultrarunning Mag since 1981 to the top 10 men and women in the sport. Currently, an international panel of a few dozen voters in the sport (my understanding is that they are a combination of pro athletes, race directors and notable members of the ultrarunning media) submits their ranked picks for the award, with the following general guidance given for their voting: (1) results that are included in UROY voting are only to be derived from ultra-distance races; (2) emphasis is to be placed on the level of competition encountered at the races in each runner’s “resume” (i.e., placing on the podium/top 5 of an internationally competitive race should be valued higher than an outright win at a race with a shallower racing field); (3) head-to-head results are important to consider when ranking runners against each other in the top 10, as a runner that has beaten another runner head-to-head in a race should more often than not place higher in the overall rankings (although there is some leeway for judgment calls here); (4) UROY encompasses all ultradistance efforts, inclusive of trail and non-trail running (i.e., road and track ultra running, including but not limited to fixed distance or timed events); (5) the only runners to be considered are residents of North America or citizens of Canada, USA or Mexico.
From a disclosure perspective, I am not (currently!) an official voter for these awards, and that while my knowledge certainly skews towards the trail side of ultrarunning, but I do my best to keep an eye of important milestones in the non-trail side of the sport. Feel free to roast me, correct me (on anything I’ve missed or excluded) or share your own takes in the comments.
In ascending order, here are my takes on the top male UROY for 2025, with my lukewarm reasoning included:
Chris Myers (Colorado, USA; Salomon) - Golden Ticket with a third place finish at Black Canyon 100k, and easily ran away with the win at the more regionally competitive Gorge Waterfalls 50k. Tenth at the Western States Endurance Run (WSER, aka “States”), in the strongest field in race history. Gave Chris the edge over a some of of my fringe picks for the competitive depth of States + Black Canyon (vs. Tyler Green, who finished higher at States, but also third at the less competitive Hong Kong 100k, with Tillamook Burn back-to-back being impressive but less competitive than Chris’ Gorge 50k result; vs. Adam Peterman, who had podiums at CCC and Broken Arrow 46k, which just a bit less overall competitive depth than Chris’ combination of States + Black Canyon).
Ben Dhiman (France, US-expat; Asics) - strong year of predominantly mountain ultras, highlighted by a win a MIUT 115k, a second place at Trail Andorra 105k and a third place finish at La Diagonale des Fous (DdF). Finished season with a strong second place finish in the rolling local SaintéLyon 50 miler. DNF at UTMB, despite running with the lead pack through the first half of the race through Courmayeur. A fantastic year that I think I would’ve ranked higher with a second win at any of the above mentioned races, or a top 5-10 finish at UTMB. Above Chris for his win at a slightly deeper MIUT race and for a strong competitive result against a small yet highly elite field at DdF.
Caleb Olson (Utah, USA; Nike Trail) - string of podium finishes at three Mad Moose 50ks (Arches Ultra, Moab Red Hot and Behind the Rocks) and a win at the Red Mountain 50k. He then raced the non-premier distance in the 85k at the Madeira Island Ultra Trail (MIUT) (the 115k is the premier distance), where he took second. The crux of Caleb’s season was a debut performance at States, where he finished fifth in the fastest debut time in race history (14:40:12), now the eight fastest time in race history. He wrapped up his year finishing just outside the top 10 (12th) at CCC at UTMB. Gave Caleb the edge here over Ben and Chris for the increased competitive depth of participating in both States and CCC, and overall success given the volume of racing he did this year.
Eli Hemming (Colorado, USA; Adidas Terrex) - back to back early season wins at the Black Canyon 60k and Big Alta 50k; both more “local” races but beat out some more notable American ultra names at Big Alta. Impressive win at the Canyons 50k against a moderately deep field. Year was highlighted by winning at Orsieres-Champex-Chamonix (OCC) 55k at UTMB, becoming the first American in race history to do so. Was on course record pace in season-closing race at the JFK50, before dropping down to 5th in his 50-mile debut. His historic win at OCC elevates above those I’ve ranked below him, but his ceiling is still capped for me this year by not racing more international level ultras.
Mathieu Blanchard (lives in France, but is a Canadian citizen; Salomon) - two wins at MaXi-Race and La Diagonale des Fous, both of which had small but very strong elite fields. DNF at UTMB, but a top result here (or at another internationally competitive race) could have easily bumped him onto my UROY podium.
David Sinclair (Vermont, USA; unsponsored) - course records at both the Broken Arrow 46k and Speedgoat 50k, both with nationally competitive fields. Both races have courses that have been revised in recent years, but David’s average pace throughout both eclipses that of the previous records on both courses by a significant margin. Closed his season with a substantial course record at the JFK50, a mark which has been previously held by a number of the biggest North American names currently in the sport. Above those below him for being undefeated in the calendar year, but tough to rank too much higher due to lack of international depth in the races competed in.
David Roche (Colorado, USA; unsponsored) - historically fast second place at the legendary Crown King 50k to open the year, and a similarly fast win at the Silver Rush 50 mile, both the second fastest marks in race history. Broke the longstanding course record at the Leadville 100 mile, and doubled back two months later to win a Golden Ticket at the Javelina Jundred 100 mile. I originally had David a notch or two higher, mostly based on the historical significance of the Leadville record, but I feel that given the limited depth of competition, that result is more of a “Performance of the Year” candidate. Ranked above Sinclair because of because of success at a variety of ultra distances, despite a record that at Leadville that I might rank a touch lower than Sinclair’s JFK mark. A notable result in an internationally-competitive field would’ve made David a lock for a top spot for me.
Rod Farvard (California, USA; HOKA) - slow start to the year at a deep field in the Black Canyon 100k, but bounced back with an incredibly strong win in the deepest field the Canyons 100k has seen in it’s decade of racing. Parlayed his win (and Golden Ticket) here into a legendary battle for first (and ultimately) second at what has to be the deepest field WSER has seen to date. Rod tried to run it back at CCC, but came up short, ultimately finishing in 15th. I think with a podium (or win) there or at Black Canyon, I think he’d be in contention for UROY.
Jim Walmsley (Arizona, USA; HOKA) - probably a controversial take putting Jim this high, given that Jim only had one race finish in 2024 (with a win at States). Interestingly, I’ve only found a handful of examples of runners that have received UROY recognition with no less than two finishes in a calendar year. No matter where Jim finishes in UROY voting this year (assuming he does crack the top 10), it will be the first time anyone will have made the UROY top 10 with only a single ultramarathon result. I think, from a head-to-head perspective, (for me) it’s hard to put Jim below Rod, because Jim beat Rod head to head, and by a notable margin, but Rod has more results in competitive fields this year than Jim. I could easily be swayed to swap them given that Rod has raced more, but Jim WON the most competitive race ever held on American soil. Maybe this simply belongs in a “Performance of the Year” category, and we drop Jim from the top 10 altogether?? Jim’s one of my favourite athletes in the sport, so it’ll stay here for the time being.
Hayden Hawks (Utah, USA; HOKA) - has to be UROY, and to me, it’s not even close. Wins at Black Canyon 100k (course record), CCC and KAT100 by UTMB, an incredibly strong third at States, and a second place at Julian Alps by UTMB. Incredible breadth of racing distances predominantly in nationally or internationally competitive fields.
Fringe Top 10: Adam Peterman, Tyler Green, Rajpaul Pannu
General comments:
My bias towards trail ultramarathon should be evident here, but in fairness, I don’t think there have been any performances on the track or road by North American men this year that have warranted substantial media attention (not meant to be derogatory, just an opinion). No new World or American records have been set at the time of publishing this, and even if they still do come to fruition at Desert Solstice, Across the Years or at the 100k World Championships in Bangalore this coming weekend, I don’t think there are enough results on that individual’s resume to warrant a spot here unfortunately. Rajpaul Pannu running under 12 hours (11:58:01) at the USATF 100-mile championship at Jackpot Ultras is certainly notable (and deserving of consideration for a “Performance of the Year”), and paired with either a better result at Javelina or an additional result in a competitive field (Desert Rats 100k excluded) would’ve put him on the list for me.
I think that there are “tiers” within the top 10 and I’m really only confident about my placement of Hayden as the “hands down” UROY. For me, tier 1 is Hayden, tier 2 is #2-5, tier 3 is #6-8 and tier 4 is #9-10, and I think I could be swayed to flip flop roughly within these tiers, but at the end of the day, I just put them down in an order that felt good enough. Thankfully, if I were an actual voter, I’d have a few dozen other voters to smooth this out for the final ranking.
My biggest quibble would be to swap David R and Rod. I think David’s Javelina result compares to Rod’s Canyon’s win, and then David’s Leadville result is on par or possibly better than Rod’s second at WS. So that leaves them neck-and-neck, and then when we compare the rest of the results I think David’s are compelling (Silver Rush and Crown King) whereas Rod’s were just ok. I’m not sure what to make of Jim’s year. One race. A phenomenal result no doubt, but just one race. I think I’d leave Jim off the list this year and bump everyone up a spot, though he’d be in the running for performance of the year.
Great post! Interesting that 2 unsponsored athletes made it pretty high up! Although David R is certainly choosing to be unsponsored and David S is signing with craft. Strange year in which I would almost argue the performances of the year are more Competitive than the trail runner of the year seasons