While most runners break down the year according to competitive seasons, it seems like athletes are continuously heating up the trails. Running Times made a list of the highlights of the past 12 months:

January
Technically the Across the Years multiday race started in 2013. But it finished in 2014. The long distance men’s race was a six-day thriller between Joe Fejes (Hoschton, Georgia) and Greek legend Yiannis Kouros and the two titans totaled 555 and 550 miles, respectively. Fejes’ result marked a new American record on a non-track surface.

February
Matt Laye (Sausalito, California) upstaged course record-holder Ian Sharman (Walnut Creek, California) to win the Rocky Raccoon 100 in Texas. Laye’s 13:17 finish is fourth on the race’s all-time charts. “I’m still surprised at how smooth everything went,” Laye said. “Part of it was probably beginner’s luck, being naïve to it with no preconceived notions. I also had a lot of advice. Ian Sharman helped me a lot and it was definitely nerve-wracking to be racing him. I ran scared for 40 miles.”

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March
Emily Harrison (Flagstaff, Arizona) threatened the U.S. 50K record with a 3:15 first-place finish at the Caumsett 50K in New York. She finished just more than a minute off the North American record that has stood since 1983. Harrison grew sentimental in reflecting on the day. “It took a while for the reality of what I had run to set in. Looking back I am so happy my family got to be there to witness the race first hand,” she said. “They've weathered both the special races and the tough races with me, so it's meaningful they got to see this one, too."

April
Zach Miller (Colorado Springs, Colorado) won the Lake Sonoma 50 by boldly running from the front and holding off many of the sport’s stars. His 6:11 eclipsed Sage Canaday’s year-old course record. Remarkably, Miller’s victory came when he was still training on a treadmill while working on a cruise ship.

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Zach Miller

May
Ellie Greenwood (North Vancouver, British Columbia) broke a Russian stranglehold at South Africa’s historic Comrades Marathon. Elena Nurgalieva had won the race for four straight years and with twin Olesya, had dominated the event for a decade. At this year’s race, Greenwood took the lead in the final miles of the point-to-point 56-miler and finished first in 6:18.

June
Rob Krar (Flagstaff, Arizona) and Stephanie Howe (Bend, Oregon) won the Western States Endurance Run. Krar’s win avenged a narrow loss at the 2013 event and his 14:53 finish was just 7 minutes off Timothy Olson’s course record. Howe’s win came in her debut for the distance.

July
Kilian Jornet (Catalonia) shattered the Hardrock 100 record in Colorado. Jornet dawdled through much of the race taking pictures and waiting on other contestants before gaining huge amounts of time in the race’s second half. His 22:41 was 42 minutes better than Kyle Skaggs’ course record, itself a highly regarded mark set in 2008.

August
Rory Bosio (Truckee, California) repeated as Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc winner. Bosio completed the three-country run around Mont Blanc in 23:23, more than an hour ahead of her closest chaser. At a race where American men have struggled to find success, Bosio has become an international superstar.

September
Allie McLaughlin (Colorado Springs, Colorado), already the year’s U.S. mountain running champion, earned a bronze medal at the world mountain running championships in Italy. McLaughlin’s third-place finish on the uphill route paced the American women to a third-place team ranking as well.

October
Larisa Dannis (Mill Valley, California) ran a sensational 5:59 at Wisconsin’s Fall 50. Dannis averaged 7:11 per mile on the point-to-point route and in winning, became the USA Track & Field 50-mile road champion. “I did not look at the pace or time once. The only metric up on my watch was a tiny little number showing the beating of my heart,” Dannis said. “Approaching the finish line and seeing 5:59 up on the clock brought about a flurry of emotions. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I could break that 6-hour mark. Thinking about it still gives me chills.” Dannis’s time is the third fastest by an American woman all-time.

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Max King after winning the World 100K Title.

November
Max King (Bend, Oregon) won the IAU 100K world championship in Doha, Qatar. His 6:27 was a new American record and steered the U.S. men to team gold as well.

Traci Falbo (Charlestown, Indiana) broke Jenn Shelton’s 2007 North American 100-mile trail record at the point-to-point Tunnel Hill 100 in Kentucky. Falbo ran 14:45 to Shelton’s 14:57. “It was just like going for a long run with friends,” Falbo said. “In all honesty, it was just one of those days you always hope for where everything goes well.”

December
After two years of disappointments, Sage Canaday (Boulder, Colorado) overcame the mud and the competition to win The North Face 50 championship in San Francisco. Joining with her own $10,000 cash prize, Magdalena Boulet (Oakland, California) improved on her second-place finish a year ago to win the women’s race by 8 minutes. 

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Sage Canaday (Image by Ken Schuh/Ultra Race Photos)