USATF‘s Mountain Ultra Trail executive committee is pleased to announce the 2025 USATF 50km Road Team who have been selected to represent their country competing in the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) 50km Road World Championship to be held in Delhi, India, on 7 December 2025. An estimated 200 of the world’s top 50km ultra runners representing more than 35 countries will compete. Thank you to ATRA board member and USATF 50km staff member Lin Gentling for providing this release.
Heading up the team are two current 50-mile world record holders: Courtney Olsen and Charlie Lawrence. This will be Olsen’s 4th national team competing at the 50K and 100K road distances and Lawrence’s 2nd US team also at the 50K and 100K road distances. Olsen was the top US woman at the 2024 100K world championship, also held in India, finishing in 10th position and along with 2025 team member, Allison Mercer, led the US women’s team to the bronze medal. Lawrence is just coming off of a 100K personal best in 6:03:47at the Adidas’ Chasing 100 exhibition and time trial run on August 26.
Courtney Olsen on the roads in 2024.
Team USA women
Allison Mercer, 42, Marietta, GA
Courtney Olsen, 37, Bellingham, WA
Lindsay Kostelnick, 35, Flagstaff, AZ
Alexandra Niles, 42, Montclair, NJ
Sophie Seward, 28, Terre Haute, IN
Melissa Tanner, 44, Baltimore, MD
Charlie Lawrence for the win at the USATF 50km Road Championships in course record time.
Team USA men
Charlie Lawrence, 30, Boulder, CO
Steven Mance, 41, Washington, DC
Ryan Root, 33, Boulder, CO
Jeffrey Seelaus, 30, Walpole MA
Team Leaders will be Lin Gentling (Rochester, MN) and Meghan Canfield (Corvallis, OR).
Team selection
The team was selected based on 50K and marathon qualifying times run during the qualifying window from 03/02/24 – 09/01/2025. Athletes must have met for men a sub 3-hour 50K (31 miles) or a road marathon of 2:22 or better. While the women must have run a 50km in a sub 3:33 or a road marathon in sub 2:45. Qualifying races were run in USATF sanctioned and certified 50km and marathon races. Olsen and Lawrence earned their berths on the team by winning the 2025 50km national championship in Madison, WI (April 12, 2025) in the qualifying time. Mercer, Seward, Kostelnick, Root, and Seelaus also qualified at the 2025 50km championships, Tanner qualified based on her time running the 2023 50km world championships, Niles at the 2024 Dismal Swamp 50km in Chesapeake, VA, and Mance qualified at the 2024 Marine Corps 50km.
Team USA women earn silver at IAU 50km World Championships in 2023.
Brief history on the Championships
The inaugural 50km World Championship event took place in Doha, Qatar in December 2015. This included men and women’s races with individual and team elements. The team titles were decided by the three best combined times set by a nation’s runners at the competition.
In 2015, Camille Herron and Tony Migliozzi won the individual gold medals. The next 50km world championships were held in 2016, again in Doha, Qatar. Tony Migliozzi won the individual championship with Tyler Andrews taking the silver. Team wise, Team USA men took silver in 2015, Team USA men won gold in 2016 and women took the silver, and Team USA women took the silver medal in 2019. COVID canceled the world championships in 2020 and 2021. At the 2023 50km World Championship, the US women took the silver medal with Andrea Pomaranski taking silver while the US men placed 4th. With high success in previous editions, it is expected that the 2025 50km team will once again be strong contenders for the top spot on the podium.
Editor’s Note: Read an article entitled USATF: What is its Role in Mountain Ultra Trail Running here.
