"The "UltraRunning Magazine" North American Ultrarunner of the Year (UROY) awards, which have been presented since 1981, are arguably the most prestigious in North American ultrarunning, recognizing runners from or living in the region. For the past 17 years, I have been honored and privileged to serve on the panel of voters that selects the award winners. Each voter has their own system for ranking runners, and the final results always include some surprises."
"There were two runners who made the final list, but were left completely off my ballot: Seth Ruhling and Mathieu Blanchard. I weighed Drew Holmen's third place at CCC and win at the Lavaredo Ultra 80k ahead of Ruhling's domestic results at the Canyons 50k, Black Canyon 100k, and Western States 100. Additionally, I was very impressed with Kilian Korth's dominance of the 200-mile distance in 2025 - where he won all three of the triple crown events - which gave him my eighth-place vote over Blanchard."
"The biggest discrepancy in my ballot was with David Roche, whom I had 10th, and the panel had fourth. I suspect this resulted from the way I weigh DNFs in my calculations. Roche's DNFs at Big Alta 50k and Western States weighed heavily in my ranking. I placed Hans Troyer ahead of Ben Dhiman, which went against the panel's vote. I was simply impressed with Troyer's depth and breadth of performances in 2025 and felt he deserved a spot on the podium, especially after his dominating"
The UltraRunning Magazine North American Ultrarunner of the Year awards recognize North American runners and are decided by a multi-member voter panel with individualized ranking systems. Voter rankings often diverge, producing surprises in final top-10 lists. Comparison of one ballot with the official men's top-10 reveals two runners in the final (Seth Ruhling, Mathieu Blanchard) omitted from that ballot. Differences arose from weighting of specific race results, international versus domestic performances, and distance specialization—Kilian Korth’s sweep of 200-mile triple crown events elevated his placement. DNFs for David Roche and perceived depth from Hans Troyer influenced respective rankings.
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