2025 PAUSATF MUT Grand Prix schedule: at last!

I know, I know, this is coming late, especially for ultra runners who need to plan their seasons a year or more in advance, between the time it takes to ramp-up before a 100-miler for instance, and the big races whose registration opens, if not closes too, 6 to 8 months in advance!

It took so long this year that two volunteers even reached out to assist: special thanks to Bethy Ronces and Shiran Kochavi. I have to admit that one of the reasons for me to procrastinate was that meniscus fracture which got in the way of my passion for running. When it actually gave me so much free time... But the mind wasn't there. Anyway, that was an opportunity to share more about the complexity of the exercise although I realize I've written so much on the topic since I took over the LDR MUT Chair job from Bill Dodson in 2017.

Enough chatting, let's disclose that 2025 calendar, then some commentaries and rationale. Where S: Short L: Long | E: East W: West

• 1. S | E | 1/11: ITR No Hands Half
• 2. L | E | 2/1: PA Jed Smith 50K
• 3. S | E | 3/22: ITR Knickerbocker 35K
• 4. S | C | 4/5: Brazen Diablo Half
• 5. S | W | 4/20: CTR Horseshoe Lake 30K
• 6. L | W | 5/10: PA Quicksilver 100K
• 7. L | E | 6/7: PA Silver State 50K (NOT 50M)
• 8. L | E | 6/14: Cool Moon 100M
• 9. L | W | 8/3: Scena Skyline 50K
• 10. L | W | 8/16: Tamalpa Headlands 50K [National]
• 11. S | W | 9/6: PA Stevens Creek Reservoir Trail Half
• 12. L | W | 9/27: Scena Dick Collins Firetrails 50M
• 13. S | W | 10/4: PA Star City San Bruno Mountain Trail Half
• 14. L | W 10/11: BAUR Ruth Anderson 50K & 50M

And now for the design notes:

• MUT stands for Mountain, Trail and Ultrarunning, three different sports into one! Not to mention that ultrarunning spans multiple terrains (trail, road, track), an infinite range of distances beyond the marathon mark, two key formats (distance or time-based), flat or hilly course profiles. Just that variety should be enough to explain why we have 14 events. If that seems like a lot, we had more than 21 when I took over, even when the only focus was on Ultra...
• Back in 2018, working with our previous scorer, Nakia Baird, we started integrating Trail (sub-marathon) and Mountain events. We then started this year, 2004, to group a sub set of 4 these events into a "Sub-marathon trail" sub-series. We are expanding that list to 6. And will add the missing specific rules to govern that sub-series into our rule book as soon as possible. Note that, while the "shorter" sub series is scored separately, all events get scored into the single original and overall MUT series (shorter and longer events together).
• Our USATF Pacific Association geographic area extends from San Luis Obispo, California, in the South East, to Reno, Nevada, in the North East. While most of our participants and participating clubs tend to orbit the Bay Area, we want to give opportunities to all our PA members to race closer to home: 5 events in the East, across Short and Long formats, 1 more Central (Mount Diablo) and 8 around the Bay.
• Then a range of very traditional events in respect to the ultra pioneers who made our Pacific Association such a renowned player in ultra running, as well as newer and popular events.
• 5 events put by PA clubs. For the other organizations, note that it takes investment from them to comply with eligibility criteria to be included (paid USATF sanctioning, course certification for Road races, certificate of insurance, USATF membership, Safe Sport training and certification, discounts offered to previous year champions, potential accommodations to ensure enough PA members can register). Not every organization is up to it, we are grateful to these partners and individual Race Directors stepping up years after years!
• On the SilverState / Cool Moon back to back. Not ideal after SilverState got moved due to permit reasons. But it's their 40th birthday milestone and PA Club-organized which has priority. Short of tapering, a 50K at altitude can provide some acclimatation, right? Not everybody has to run the 14 events either, you need at least three scores to be eligible for an award, and we'll pick your best seven scores at the end of the season.
• You'll also note that we are blessed with a local National Championship again this August, such a treat, huge kudos to Victor Ballesteros, the Race Director. Make sure not to miss the opportunity to grab one of the many national honors available across the 5-year deep Masters age groups.
• The rest of the calendar is designed not to overlap with other known MUT Nationals. As for avoiding conflicts with our other LDR Road and XC Grand Prix, yes, that's an intent, but that makes the overall design way over-constrained, mathematically speaking.

With 2025 and our first event around the corner, I'm posting this on Facebook for those still on that platform, if some have questions. Also sharing the calendar with the team Captains and will update the official website tomorrow.