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(Photo: Broken Arrow Skyrace)
It's quite the trail running schedule this week in Tahoe...
🏃♀️ This past weekend: Broken Arrow Skyrace — a Golden Trail World Series event & the U.S. qualifier for the Mountain Running World Championships
🏃♀️ This upcoming weekend: The historic 100-mile Western States Endurance Run
🏃♀️ And in between: TrailCon — a massive trail running conference
P.S. If you're going to be in town for all the trail fun, don't forget to join us tomorrow, Wednesday, for a FREE women's speed-networking trail running lunch
And it all started with a surprise winter storm that brought lightning strikes and snow during the Broken Arrow 46km on Saturday, forcing the event to be canceled mid-race and 390 of the runners to be evacuated off the mountain 😲
Before the day got scary, only 76 seconds separated the elite women's podium of Jennifer Lichter, Helen Mino Faukner, and Dani Moreno, and all three broke the previous course record — and we love to see this kind of all-out going for it!
⛰️ In the vertical ascent (which, yes, is what it sounds like): Anna Gibson capped off a busy month with a win (and 12-year-old Pema Franchi Antelme 🇪🇨 was 5th)
⛰️ And then the Golden Trail World Series 23km: Joyce Njeru won on a course that's no joke
PLUS: Cross-country skiing gold medalist Jessie Diggins did all three races for the Triple Crown 👑
Now: Who will win Western States?
Up next: The oldest 100-mile race in the world, from Tahoe up and over the mountains to finish in Auburn, California.
The contenders: Six of last year's top ten women are back — led by Fu-Zhao Xiang 🇨🇳, who took second last year with the third-fastest time ever and could become the first Chinese athlete to win. Eszter Csillag 🇭🇺 took third the last two years and will look to be on top this year. Emily Hawgood 🇿🇼 has consistently been on the podiums at the world's top races (here and in Chamonix) and won Canyons 100K earlier this year on part of this same course. Fan favorite Heather Jackson 🇺🇸 (7th last year) is also coming off perhaps the craziest schedule of the top athletes, winning the Unbound XL 350-mile gravel race at the start of the month.
FOLLOW ALONG: The race starts at 5 a.m. PT on Saturday, and we'll be on-the-ground with coverage from the mountains
3. Physical play in the WNBA splits fans
Women's sports have always been physical. Female athletes have always been athletes first. But as new fans pour into women's sports, this has now become a divisive point.
Last week, a fight broke out during the Connecticut Sun v. Indiana Fever game: Sun's player Jacy Sheldon fouled Caitlin Clark; everyone started pushing and shoving. It was then followed, in a subsequent play, by a hard foul against Sheldon from Clark's teammate Sophie Cunningham. There was a fight, players were ejected.
This happens in basketball.
Yes, the WNBA has always been a physical league. Yes, Clark has probably been getting the brunt of some of that physicality, as is often the case with high-profile rookies. (See also: Candace Parker's rookie year.) Yes, fans and coaches can argue about what refs should or shouldn't call — that's what fans and coaches do.
But, what's been unique this season is the venom that much of Clark's new fanbase is directing at opposing players. And, the racial undertones it has taken on. Sophie Cunningham is in her seventh year in the league; she's not new, she's always been an aggressive player, and she's also been known to be much more politically conservative than many of her teammates. Now, she's gained nearly 1 million followers and appears to be leaning into the controversy — showing back up from her suspension wearing a shirt that said "tres leches" (translated to "three milks") with photos of the three white players on the Fever team 🤔
THINK ABOUT: How to talk about women's sports
But if you'd rather listen to your Feisty sports news...
Have we got the podcast for you.
Dropping this Thursday, with a special first episode from our live panel event on the future of women's sports, The Feist is a brand new women's sports podcast covering your favorite sports with your feistiest friends.
We'll bring you the latest news from the sports you care about, interviews with athletes and experts, and feisty analysis on what's happening that you need to know.
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