Canada’s path and ultrarunning group has a lot to have a good time as two of its personal earned spots on Extremely Operating Journal’s prestigious Extremely Runner of the Yr (UROY) record. Quebec’s Marianne Hogan and Ihor Verys of Chilliwack, B.C., each extremely robust, numerous athletes, made waves on the worldwide stage this yr.
Verys: a Barkley breakthrough for Canada
In only a few years since his ultrarunning debut, Verys has already achieved legendary standing. The Ukrainian-born runner, now primarily based in B.C., landed tenth within the males’s UROY rankings, bolstered by a yr that few might match.
Verys started 2024 with a win on the notoriously powerful HURT 100 in Hawaii, setting the tone for an unimaginable season. His defining second got here when he turned one among solely 20 runners within the race’s 38-year historical past (and the one Canadian) to finish—and grow to be the primary finisher—of the Barkley Marathons on his first try, a feat that has now cemented his place in ultrarunning lore.
Having moved to Canada in 2015 as a pupil at age 21, Verys has grow to be a proud consultant of his adopted nation on the world stage. Like Hogan, Verys shares a contagious love for the game, placing his ardour for the operating group earlier than podium finishes.
Ihor Verys turns into first Canadian to complete Barkley Marathons
Hogan: a comeback season to recollect
Montréal native Hogan claimed tenth place within the ladies’s UROY rankings. After accidents derailed her 2023 season, Hogan returned stronger than ever in 2024.
She began the yr with a Sixth-place end on the Transvulcania 125K in Spain’s Canary Islands, proving she was again in kind. Hogan’s season continued to shine when she captured a decisive victory on the Swiss Canyon Path 111K. Nevertheless, her crowning achievement got here on the iconic UTMB, the place she positioned third towards one of many deepest fields in path operating historical past. Hogan, who completed second at UTMB in 2022, displayed unimaginable tenacity, overcoming a tough fall that left her with a dislocated index finger.
A former triathlete, Hogan’s enthusiasm for the game is clear in her joyful manner. She’s keen about supporting others and was a pacer for good friend and fellow ultrarunner Camille Bruyas of France to a second-place end at Hardrock 100 in Colorado.
Followers not simply from Canada, however all around the globe, shall be desperate to see what races Hogan and Verys select to astonish us with in 2025.
For the entire record of UROY awards, head right here.
