Who's the Best Ultrarunner in North America? Inside the Vote with John Medinger

The 44th annual Ultrarunner of the Year Awards are in, and this year delivered one of the deepest fields of women's performances in the history of the award. Buzz Burrell talks with John "Tropical John" Medinger, who has administered the vote since taking over Ultrarunning Magazine in 2003, about the full results, the voting process, and what made 2025 such a standout year. Katie Schide won North American Female Ultrarunner of the Year after victories at Hard Rock (course record), the World Long Trail Championship, and Madeira. Jim Walmsley took the men's title with four wins including the World Long Trail Championship, where he beat Kilian Jornet. Meg Eckert's 603-mile six-day world record earned Performance of the Year for women, while Charlie Lawrence's 6:07:10 100K on the track (sub-six-minute pace) took the men's honors.

John and Buzz discuss how the voting works, why Western States results carry so much weight, the new World Ultrarunner of the Year category, and the endless debate of comparing trail times to track performances. They also touch on Courtney Dauwalter's challenging year, the case for Ann Flower and Caleb Olson, and why some impressive performances still fall short of the top 10. 

TIMESTAMPS:

 0:00 Intro

1:40 Meet John Medinger

3:08 How the Ultrarunner of the Year Award works

10:04 Top 3 Female Ultrarunners of 2025

14:23 Katie Schide's dominant year 

17:00 Top 3 Male Ultrarunners of 2025

21:00 Jim Walmsley's undefeated season 

27:42 Performance of the Year: Meg Eckert's 603 miles

33:07 Why track performances won this year

42:11 World Ultrarunner of the Year results 46:58 Controversies and debates

52:16 The future of the award