Last updated: 19-Oct-18
Thank you to all of you who took part in the voting for the 2017 Blogger Awards. Ultra running has really grown over the years and as testament to this we had a total of 108 bloggers from around the world who took part in our contest. We had over 10,000 visits to our voting page.
We have 14 very deserving winners out of our shortlist of 62 ultra running bloggers.
Our Finalists
Firstly, we’d like to announce the seven finalists who are as follows:
| Blogger | Blog |
| Jason Friedman | A Muddy Pair of Heels |
| Jeff McCarthy | Run Eat Repeat |
| Marcus Barton | Speedy Lizard Racing |
| Stephanie Case | Ultra Runner Girl |
| Linda Doke | Rockhoppin’ Trail |
| Liam Martin | Ginger Running Man |
| Alistair Flowers | 26.2 and Beyond |
Our regional winners
We are also pleased to announce the winners for each region as shown below:
| Africa Winner | |
| Linda Doke, Rockhoppin’ Trail |
| Europe Winner | Europe Finalist |
| Nuno Gião, Off the Beaten Track | Randall Wharton, Rand Runs |
| North America Winner | North America Finalists |
| Sarah Lavender Smith, The Runner’s Trip | Jason Friedman, A Muddy Pair of Heels |
| Marcus Barton, Speedy Lizard Racing | |
| Stephanie Case, Ultra Runner Girl | |
| Dane Rauschenberg, See Dane Run | |
| Eric Shranz, Ultrarunner Podcast |
| UK Winner | UK Finalists |
| Jeff McCarthy, Run Eat Repeat | Alistair Flowers, 26.2 and beyond |
| Liam Martin, Ginger Running Man | |
| Robbie Britton, Train as one | |
| Audrey McIntosh, Audrey McIntosh | |
| Kate Driskell, Relentless Tenacity |
Our Overall Winner
And our winner overall is Sarah Lavender Smith for her blog The Runner’s Trip.
Many congratulations to Sarah who wins a Suunto Spartan Ultra Sports Watch and is the overall winner of the 2017 RunUltra Blogger Award and to our overall and regional finalists and other regional winners as follows: Jeff McCarthy (UK) Nuno Gião (Europe) and Linda Doke (Africa).
Sarah is extremely generous in sharing her knowledge, learning and top training tips and we recommend you have a read of her blog.
Here is a highlight from one of Sarah’s recent blogs “Four Phases to Structure Your Training Season for a Top-Goal Ultramarathon”:
“This is the time to establish or re-establish consistent weekly training. Consistency is key! Everyone is different, so please don’t think this is a one-size-fits-all recommendation; but, generally speaking, a good, solid training week for long-distance running features:
- At least four, preferably five or six, runs.
- Three of those runs should be more challenging runs; typically: (1) a midweek run with speed intervals to develop cardiovascular fitness and running economy; (2) a midweek run longer in duration than other midweek runs and including hill work for strength and fitness; and (3) a weekend long run at a relaxed but efficient and sustainable pace to develop endurance, cultivate patience, and practice troubleshooting, refueling and rehydrating over long distances.
- The other runs during the week should be shorter, relaxed easy runs at a conversational pace. Schedule these between your harder days. These easy-run days help you adapt to the stress of the hard days and make progress. One of my favorite sayings is, “Make your easy days easy, and your hard days hard.” Read more.
We encourage you to explore each of the blogs from our entrants and finalists who have some amazing stories to share of their ultra running adventures. The quality of the blogs this year has been astounding so do check them out. They are an inspiration to us all.
A big thank you to everyone who took part in the contest, and to our thousands of voters. We enjoyed reading your blogs and we wish you a very successful ultra running year.
Run Well!
