Black Canyon 100K Preview | Golden Ticket Weekend

Tonight we continue our weeklong coverage of the double Golden Ticket race weekend with Freetrail's preview of the Black Canyon 100K.

Over the last 12 years, Black Canyon has grown into one of North America's most prestigious trail races. It now feels like the annual kickoff to the professional racing season — and the energy reflects it.

A Super Golden Ticket race again in 2026, Black Canyon has attracted some of the best athletes in the sport to battle across this classic desert course for a chance to compete at this summer's Western States 100.

We'll be live at 5:00 PM PT / 2:00 PM NZ with Tim Tollefson and EmKay Sullivan to break down the course, expected conditions, and top contenders heading into race weekend. We'll also be joined by a special guest.

Who is your pick to win?

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The Docket

Black Canyon course overview
Racing conditions
Women's contenders
Men's contenders

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Race Registration

Register for The Big Alta
https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx...

Register for Gorge Waterfalls
https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx...

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Sponsors

Osprey
Grab a trail running pack at
https://www.osprey.com/catalogsearch/...

NEVERSECOND Nutrition
Use code FREETRAIL25 for 25% off your first order
https://www.never2.com

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Freetrail Links

Website
https://freetrail.com/

Freetrail Pro
https://freetrail.com/freetrail-pro/

Freetrail Experts
https://freetrail.com/freetrail-experts/

Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/dylanbowman

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/runfreetrail

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@freetrail

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Dylan Bowman

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/dylanbo

Twitter
https://twitter.com/dylanbo

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-bowman-06174380

Strava
https://www.strava.com/athletes/

Tonight we continue our weeklong coverage of the double Golden Ticket race weekend with Freetrail's in-depth preview of Tarawera by UTMB.

Rotorua once again plays host to the 15th running of New Zealand's largest and most important trail race. For the second year in a row, four Golden Tickets to the Western States 100 are on the line, with many of the sport's top athletes toeing the line to secure their spot in Auburn.

We're going live at 5:00 PM PT / 2:00 PM NZ with Tim Tollefson and Dani Moreno to break down the course, expected conditions, and top contenders heading into race weekend.

• Tarawera course overview

• Expected racing conditions

• Women's favorites

• Men's favorites

Register for The Big Alta
https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx...

Register for Gorge Waterfalls
https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx...

Osprey
Grab a trail running pack at
https://www.osprey.com/catalogsearch/...

NEVERSECOND Nutrition
Use code FREETRAIL25 for 25% off your first order
https://www.never2.com

Website
https://freetrail.com/

Freetrail Pro
https://freetrail.com/freetrail-pro/

Freetrail Experts
https://freetrail.com/freetrail-experts/

Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/dylanbowman

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/runfreetrail

YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@freetrail

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/dylanbo

Twitter
https://twitter.com/dylanbo

LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-bowman-06174380

Strava
https://www.strava.com/athletes/

Tonight's live show begins a full week of Trailgating coverage of the 2026 Black Canyon and Tarawera double Golden Ticket race weekend. As usual, we begin the show with the Top 10 Storylines of around these two premier trail running events.

Tonight's docket: - Molly Seidel & Des Linden do trails - Analytics corner - Jenn Lichter's 100k debut - People who don't need Golden Tickets - World Record Holders at Black Canyon - Ruth Croft & Dan Jones defend Tarawera Crowns - Riley Brady defends Black Canyon course record win from 2025 - Athletes debuting with new sponsors - Rise of the Black Canyon 50k - Francesco Puppi's 100k dominance - will it continue?

Of course, we finish with the Strava file of the week!

Our full show schedule for the week is listed below. We'll be going live every night at 5pm PT!

- Monday 2/9 - Top 10 Storylines of Black Canyon & Tarawera (TONIGHT)

- Tuesday 2/10 - Tarawera Preview Show

- Wednesday 2/11 - Black Canyon 100k Preview Show

- Thursday 2/12 - Black Canyon 50k Preview Show & Golden Ticket Predictions

- Friday 2/13 - Tarawera Instant Recap Show

- Saturday 2/14 - Black Canyon Instant Recap Show

REGISTER FOR THE BIG ALTA - https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=130943

REGISTER FOR GORGE WATERFALLS - https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=129366

Sponsors:

Grab a trail running pack from Osprey - https://www.osprey.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=trail%20runnng

Use code FREETRAIL25 for 25% off your first order of NEVERSECOND nutrition at https://www.never2.com

Freetrail Links:

Website | https://freetrail.com/

Freetrail Pro | https://freetrail.com/freetrail-pro/

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/dylanbowman

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/runfreetrail/