twenty and a half hours later, the golden skull has a new home congratulations, shawn 💥 — for the ultrarunning dweebs, like me: shawn’s time of 20:30 was the fastest at wasatch since george grygar’s 2014 win in 19:52. interestingly, from 2004 to 2014 (11 wasatch 100 races), the winning time was faster than 20:30 *every year* - including geoff roes’ 2009 record in 18:30. i say “record” and not “course record” because the course has changed a lot over the years - but what i’m not sure of is exactly how much. here’s some of what i know: conditions/weather notwithstanding, the course got a little harder between last year and this year due to the first-time use of the new trail from elbow fork to alexander basin trailhead. before that, the course got a little harder a couple years ago when the new trail from alexander basin trailhead to upper big water was included for the first time. before that, I know some aid stations had been moved or removed, with some slight reroutes in the few years prior. and before that, i know the course has undergone some substantial changes, but i’m not familiar with the details. in 2009 when geoff set the record, and in 2014 when bethany lewis set the women’s record, upper big water was mile 61, and brighton was mile 75. in 2022, those aid stations are miles 56 and 69, respectively. my point is: some people with legendary talent have run the wasatch front 100, but I suspect the course has been trending more difficult with changes over the years, so i wouldn’t put shawn’s and other recent performances at the race too far off from the best of the best. anybody have any more specific details/experience to offer this conversation?? 🕵️ 📚 (some screenshots from the 2013 and 2014 @ultrarunningmag race reports included for a little extra context)