Runners Ready to Rumble at the Golden Trail World Series Final

This article originally appeared on Trail Runner

Sophia Laukli has dominated some of the biggest and most competitive international mountain running races of the year, but she says she honestly has no idea how the last one will play out.

The 23-year-old American trail runner from Salt Lake City sits atop the standings of the seven-race Golden Trail World Series as the two-day final event gets underway on October 19 in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy. She's won three of the four races she's competed in and placed second in the other, making her the favorite to win this weekend's championship event and seal the overall series title.

In just her second year as a professional trail runner and her third year racing competitively, Laukli has been a nearly unbeatable force on some of the world's most iconic "sub-ultra" mountain races in the U.S. and Europe.Laukli won the 42K (26.2-mile) Mont Blanc Marathon on June 25 in Chamonix, France, then placed a close second in the 22K (13.6-mile) DoloMyths Race on July 15 in Canazei, Italy. She followed those up with a win at the 31K (19.2-mile) Sierre-Zinal mountain race on August 12 in Switzerland and a victory at the 13.3-mile Pikes Peak Ascent in Manitou Springs, Colorado, on August 16.

The GTWS final consists of a 5.4-mile "prologue" race on October 19 for the women and October 20 for the men, and a 16.5-mile mountain race on Saturday and Sunday. The results of both races will be figured into an athlete's championship placing. The mountain race will award 300 points to the winner, while the prologue is worth only 100 points.

The regular season portion of the standings was based only on an athlete’s top three performances, so Laukli tallied a perfect total of 600 points from her three victories. However, both races are important to Laukli's chances of winning the overall title because Switzerland's Judith Wyder is only 12 points behind her with 588.

"Like many of the races this year I have absolutely no idea what will happen," says Laukli, who finished second in last year's GTWS overall standings. "I'm more nervous because this one actually matters this time. To be honest, I don't know what my skills are as a runner, I always find out in the race. There's only one way to find out. I think I'll just stay with (Judith) and see if it's smarter to go at the end."

Spain's Malen Osa (488), Norway's Sylvia Nordskar (472) and China's Miao Yao (463) points are among the other leading international athletes racing, along with other top Americans Tabor Hemming (413), Anna Gibson (342), Rachel Tomajczk (303), Alicia Vargo (271) and Allie Ostrander (239).

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New Location, New Courses, New Racing Format

The races will be held in the foothills above the Italian Riviera. The 5.4-mile prologue will be run on a singular loop course with intermittent time-trial starts from the seaside town of Spotorno and climbs to the summit of 1,444-foot Monte Mao then sends runners hammering back down to the sea on a route that's half paved. The main 16.5-mile mountain race, which begins with a mass start in the village of Noli, sends runners on a course designed somewhat in the shape of a flower--with a series of small loops and sharp climbs and descents that reconnect to a center point dubbed the Fan Zone to optimize spectator viewing opportunities--and eventually finishing back in Noli.

"The race is a new format that's different from what we're used to," says Greg Vollet, the director of the GTWS, which is now in its fifth season. "It's five different loops to make it more spectator-friendly. You can see the athletes five times."

Every GTWS race now has a Fan Zone, where spectators are rewarded with swag like caps and cheering bells. By taking runners through the Fan Zone an unprecedented five times, the race course maximizes that concept this weekend. The organizers have also said the new course configuration also results in less environmental impact and requires only one aid station to be set up.

This overlapping, multi-looped format diverges from many of the iconic single-loop and point-to-point courses on the circuit. While it's a boon for fans, some athletes see two sides.

"I see how it's great from the spectator point of view," Laukli says. "On the other side, it's going to be mentally hard to basically go to the finish four separate times when you're not done. It's fun to do something new. I'm definitely nervous about getting lost, though, that part I don't love."

The punchy course takes athletes through a maze of singletrack, crushed gravel, and paved road through the steep hills looming from the ocean. The Mediterranean climate of this off-season beach town breeds trails tangled in greenery. And with most athletes not arriving until two days before the prologue, their course recon has been limited.

Last year, the GTWS Final was a five-day stage race with each race weighted the same. The men and women raced concurrently last year, but this year their races are separated on alternating days.

"We believed the women should have the same visibility as the men, so we separated the men's and women's races," Vollet says.

Switzerland's Remi Bonnet is the leader in the men's standings with three victories and 600 points, but Italy's Roberto Delorenzi (520), Spain's Manuel Merillas (516), the USA's Eli Hemming (514) and Kenya's Patrick Kipngeno (512) are within striking distance. Other American runners in the field include Meikael Beaudoin-Rousseau (318), Nicholas Turco (252), Darren Thomas (233) and Noah Williams (230).

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While the shorter climbs and technical descents do not cater to Bonnet's strengths on paper, he seems confident in his fitness and willingness to go to the well--well moderated with a sense of humor. When asked if the shorter hills would change his strategy of pulling away on the climbs, he sounded confident in his outlook.

"There is a lot of uphill in the race," says Bonnet, who was the men's GTWS overall champion last year. "I think the shape is good, so we'll see."

The Golden Trail World Series Final races will be broadcast live in 70 countries via EuroSport TV. You can watch it live in the U.S. via the livestream on the GTWS YouTube channel beginning at 10:30 A.M. ET on October 19-20 (prologue races) and 4 A.M. ET on October 21-22 (mountain races).

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