We started Trail Runner of The Year (TROY) two years ago because we had a strong desire to recognize the very best in the sport by capturing the truly global nature of the trail running community. This is an award voted on by the international public, by the athletes’ peers (the professional athletes), by the trail running media, and by you the fans of the sport. We learned a lot in the first two iterations of TROY, and set out to improve upon it again this year by continuing to finesse the weighted vote for members of the PTRA (Pro Trail Running Association), members of the trail running media, and those who placed in the top ten for Freetrail Fantasy over the entire season. By increasing the weighting of select informed individuals, we hope to increase the overall quality of the results, while still including the voice of the general public, similar to what Major League Baseball does for their all-star game. For 2024, the three categories listed above will account for 80% of voting power, with the general public vote making up the remaining 20%.
In total we had over 1700 ballots cast by individuals from over 50 countries representing 6 continents. There were 80 athletes (40 men and 40 women), representing twenty-two nationalities, on the ballot and each one of them received at least one vote. We want to thank those of you who took the time to cast your ballot again this year as we celebrate what was accomplished by so many athletes over the course of the 2024 season. Thank you – let’s dive in!
In tenth position this year we have HOKA’s Judith Wyder and HOKA’s product engineer Vincent Bouillard.
Judith Wyder is no new name to the trail scene and makes the TROY Top Ten for the second year in a row. The mom of two is a five time Orienteering World Champion, a previous overall Golden Trail World Series Champion (and two time runner up), and has a silver medal from the Mountain and Trail Running World Championships. The allocades go on and on, but what really set Judith’s season apart this year was the continued growth in her range as a trail athlete with outstanding results from uphill discipine to her longest race ever at this year’s OCC (55km) as part of the UTMB World Finals.
A veteran of the Swiss team when it comes to national competitions Judith kicked off her 2024 with a sixth in the Uphill race and second in the Classic Up & Down at the European Off-Road Championships. From there she started her Golden Trail World Series campaign where she won and set the course record at the Marathon du Mont-Blanc in a 4:11:12, finished fourth at the Headlands 27km, 14th at Mammoth Trail Fest, and fourth at the Series Finale ultimately landing her second in the overall rankings. In the midst of that short trail rush Judith stepped up in distance at OCC (55km) running to a brillant second place finish in one of the most competitive fields ever esembled – with a stone collected in Mallorca this fall Judith’s path back to UTMB finals is secure for 2025 and we can’t wait to cheer her on next year!
We asked Judith what her highlight of 2024, and like so many of us it’s about the people that support us along the way, “Running into the finish line hugging my loved once after OCC meant a lot! They are there on good and bad days. I’m so thankful for all memories every race and year brings!”
It’s not controversial in most circles to say that Vincent Bouillard was the surprise of the 2024 season. I don’t think any of us thought it was possible to win UTMB these days as a relative unknown, but as the men’s favorites fell apart one at at time this past August Vincent stayed steady. Steady enough to win the race in one of the fastest times ever on the course, 19:54:23, in a class of his own. What might be more wild is that Vincent wasn’t a professional athlete for HOKA at the time, he was (and is) a Senior Manager of Product Engineering – a company that he started with back in 2016 as an intern. Picture this, you’re at an athlete team camp, one of you is going to win UTMB, it’s the guy designing the shoes on your feet and the pack on your back. Truly fairytale stuff. All that being said, Vincent is a life long athlete and while under the radar we’ve been watching him snag wins at races in the US for the last several years thinking to ourselves, “We should keep an eye out for this guy.”
While Vincent might not have raced as much as some of the other athletes who will be featured in the TROY top ten, those aboslute standout days are worth celebrating and Vincent garnered that in heaps. Outside of his win at UTMB in August he took home a fifth place finish at the MaXi-Race du lac d’Annecy 93km and collected a win (and a stone) at the Nice Côte d’Azur by UTMB 22km giving him a place at the 2025 UTMB Series Finals. While we can’t wait to see where Vincent races next, rumor has it we may be seeing him line up at Chianti by UTMB this spring which might just mean our UTMB champion is looking for a golden ticket into the Western States 100-mile – get your popcorn ready!
We asked Vincent to reflect on his highlight of the year was and while winning one of the biggest ultra races in the world would likely top any of our lists, his reflection focused on the process that got him to the finish line, “There’s one obvious answer to what my highlight of 2024 was in terms of racing performance: I cannot deny the excitement that came with the UTMB week for me. But I think if I’m being honest, the true highlight has been the process to get there. Kamilah and I moved across the world in the Spring this year, and amongst so many other major changes, training transitioned gradually to (re)adapt to the mountain terrain I grew up in, leading to the race recon mid August and then the UTMB race.
Judith and Vincent are both exceptional athletes and, just as importantly, amazing humans. They both give us something to root for on and off the trail and we can’t wait to cheer them on where ever they pin on a bib in 2025. Any guesses on who made their way into the ninth position? Come back here tomorrow to find out!