The following report from USATF liaison Lin Gentling features the USATF 50 Mile Road Championships on October 27, 2024.
On a perfect day for running an ultramarathon, a very small field of national championship ultrarunners toed the line for the 2025 USATF 50 Mile Championship at Tussey Mountain in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania. The course is a 50-mile loop on 80% compacted gravel and 20% paved road. The route bends and climbs through Rothrock State Forest and Whipple Dam State Park with an overall elevation gain of 5,485 feet, more than a mile. Suffice it to say, this is not an easy road course.
From the start it would be a race between two men, 24-year- old Hans Troyer (Newnan, GA) and William Conner, 34 (Santa Clara, CA). Troyer, who won Bandera 100K earlier in the year breaking Jim Walmsley’s 2016 course record (however course was reported to be slightly short), and a 10th place showing at the very competitive 2024 Black Canyon 100K has struggled ever since.
Following Bandera, he endured a 2-week hospital stay with Rhabdomyolysis (kidney shutdown). But that was all behind him now. Conner’s race strategy was to “stay with Hans as long as possible,” because it is much more fun to run with others than to run solo.
Conner and Troyer stayed together for 50K, with Conner setting the early pace by clicking off 5:40 miles. One of the aid station volunteers described the duo as, “coming through smokin’ fast, didn’t even stop for aid.” At the 50K juncture, Conner told Troyer to go and race for the course record. Troyer seemed to still have a lot in the tank as he increased his lead over Conner with each aid station. In the end, Troyer crossed the finish line in a course record time of 5:16:14, with Conner taking the silver medal in 5:25:11. Both runners crashed the previous course record.
Conner, who works with a startup AI in charge of operations, summed up his Tussey experience by saying, “I was super glad I came out from California, I was happy with my performance and could not ask for a better day for weather. But the highlight of my race was sharing 31 miles with Hans.”
Troyer chimed in that Tussey was a, “beautiful flow with a great mix of uphill and downhill. I owe most of my race to Will. This was my first solid race since my kidney issues,” (Editor’s note: Troyer was testing a new nutrition plan, which he had been on for only 2 weeks. It seemed to work perfectly for him).
Troyer went on to say, “I am learning from my mistakes. I am nothing special; I just put in the work and believe in myself. Don’t ever give up on your dreams.”
Taking the bronze medal was Rowan Haffner, 20, Portchester, NY, in 9:19:13.
Winning the women’s 2024 50 Mile Championship was Luana Pesco Koplowitz, 69, Flemington, NJ, in 12:01:43. USATF Championship results from the event can be found here.
Of special note was the relay team of 8 senior runners, “The Old Men of the Mountains” doing the 50 mile relay. All were over age 65 and included 104-year-old George Etzeiler. Complete results from the event are available here.
Race directors, Mike Casper and Nick Bodner did a tremendous job orchestrating a festival of races during the weekend. Pre and post events served the runners extremely well, commending them and the volunteers for their runner-centric focus.
