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Ashley Brasovan just ran the US Trail Marathon Championship in Moab Utah this weekend. Coming in fourth, while competing in a stacked field, we are proud of her consistent performance this year. Here's a quick interview with her right after the race.

1. Ashley, you've run 3 marathons this year: The Olympic Trials, Pike's Peak, and now Moab. What a ridiculous diversity of races! Tell us about what drew you to Moab and how/if your training was any different for this marathon vs. PP and USOT.

Yes - quite the variety of races! The Moab marathon was close to home so didn't require extensive travel and was still happening (a big deal given all the cancelations in 2020!). My training for Moab and Pikes Peak was pretty similar - 50-60 mile weeks, long runs on the weekends on mountain terrain and one faster effort per week. For the trials, I was actually only able to run 5 days per week but was doing more speedwork and flatter long runs.

‍2. What were your goals going into the race? Had you stalked anyone else in the field/was there anyone else you really had your eye on as a competitor?

‍I definitely wanted a national title this weekend but it wasn't quite my day. I ended up 4th overall in probably the most stacked field in the last 12 years of the championship race and knew that I would have to have a (near) perfect day to make that happen. There were similar competitors to Pikes Peak so had my eye on Allie and Brittany for sure.

‍3. Walk us through the actual race - how'd it play out? Were there any decisive moves?

I started out the first half of the race more conservative in third place. Mile 14 has some steep climbs and then a lot of hard slickrock running so knew I wanted to save my legs for that effort. I lost a place to Brittany around mile 10 and then really just held onto 4th place and didn't see anyone the rest of the race. Honestly, I am not 100% happy with how the race went but it just wasn't my day (which happens to everyone!). Moab has some technical trails, lots of climbing and slickrock - which can be unforgiving on the legs.

‍4. What was one high point and one low point during the run?

‍Moab is beautiful and such a fun place to run. The first half of the race was so amazing and I felt great taking in the views. The middle portion of the race was probably my lowest point. I really just couldn't kick my legs into that "next gear" and the last three miles of obstacles (think rope climbs, tunnels, and ladders) were a bit rough on the body at the end of a marathon.

‍5. What's next for you? Will you race again in 2020?

I am done for 2020. For the next two months, I will take a nice break and get back into my base-building phase before transitioning to speed work in 2021. I am excited to give my body a little bit of time to heal - especially after so many longer races (for me) this year and work on getting some speed and mileage back in the legs!

— Ashley Brasovan