Welcome back or welcome to the Single Track Podcast.

I'm your host Finn Melanson and in this episode we're talking with Mallory

Richard, a data analyst and accomplished ultra runner based in Winnipeg, Canada who writes a

regular column for I Run Far called Running the Numbers, which uses quantitative data

to talk about trail and ultra running. Mallory and I discuss the pros and cons of the current athlete ranking systems in our sport,

interesting performance insights from the UTMB and Golden Trail World Series events,

and other interesting topics like how often runners improve their performance at a given race.

Before we get started though, this episode is brought to you by Rabbit, Features, and

Kodiak kicks.

Use code single track 15 on the Kodiak and Features websites for 15% off your orders there,

and use code single track 20 on the Rabbit site for 20% off your order there.

All of this information can also be found in the

show notes page of the episode. With that, let's get started. Mallory Rashard, welcome to the

single track podcast. Hey, thanks so much for having you, Finn. So before we get started, I did want to

make one observation. There's a lot of talk about the growth of the sport these

days in terms of bigger brands, better athletes, more money. But one other aspect about this

moment in the sport is influx of people like yourself. Another person that comes to mind is

Liam, who goes by

Aide Station Fireball on social media, who bring this whole new level of data analysis to the sport

and draw out all of these really interesting insights about historical events, athlete training

performances. And I just think it makes the discussion about the sport

so much more rich and interesting.

...