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On a brutal 82K World Championship course in Spain’s Pyrenees, Katie Schide and Jim Walmsley executed to perfection—backed by meticulous prep and a growing partnership with Neversecond.
The third World Mountain & Trail Running Championships (WMTRC) brought the world’s best trail runners to Canfranc-Pirineos, a historic rail town perched in Aragón’s high Pyrenees. The Long Trail—the weekend’s signature test—was 82 kilometers with roughly 5,400 meters of climbing, a single, savage loop that launches straight toward La Moleta (2,572 m) before tracing rocky ridgelines and steep, technical descents back to the station. It’s the kind of course that punishes hesitation and rewards planning. For the United States, it was a banner day. Katie Schide and Jim Walmsley delivered a historic American sweep of the women’s and men’s podium—each winning decisively on a route the organizers designed to showcase the Pyrenees at their most demanding.
Both athletes have spent the last few seasons leaning into a system-first fueling philosophy with Neversecond—prioritizing repeatable protocols over race-day improvisation. That approach has only deepened as their collaboration with the brand has grown: testing textures and flavor profiles, refining timing strategies, and simplifying decisions under pressure so the legs can do the talking. For Schide, the appeal was clarity. Living and training in France’s Maritime Alps, she juggles a calendar that ranges from Alpine epics to fast mountain marathons. A modular, predictable fueling system let her keep the variables stable even as terrain and intensity changed. Walmsley, meanwhile, has openly sought precision and simplicity for big-mountain courses—so that when it’s time to push, there’s no second-guessing what, when, or how much to take on board.
Schide’s year was built on durable volume and terrain specificity—long climbs and controlled descending woven through training blocks from France to higher-altitude camps. Because Canfranc opens with a massive uphill before throwing runners into technical traverses and quick transitions, her workouts emphasized fast settling into aerobic power on climbs, then resetting posture and cadence for rocky downs. Living and training in France has given her daily access to this mix; she arrived at the line with familiar rhythm and confidence. (Schide is American, but lives and trains in France). On the fueling side, she dialed a simple cadence: steady liquid energy on climbs, gel intervals through the undulating middle, and a late-race caffeine bump for focus.
Walmsley’s prep was classic high-exposure, high-commitment mountain work—back-to-back long days, repetition on steep grades, and tactical speed on runnable connectors. Coming off a busy late-summer slate, he tuned freshness carefully while keeping descending aggression sharp. The fueling mirrored his style: alternating gels and drink mix on a tight clock, with caffeine layered only when the effort demanded it.
Conditions were nearly ideal for fast racing—cool early, warmer and breezy on the ridges. The first 1,500 meters of climbing to La Moleta thinned the fields immediately, and the course’s back half demanded a deft blend of patience, downhill strength, and steady fueling.
From the opening kilometers, Schide took control and never relinquished the lead. By 15K she’d built meaningful separation, and by halfway (around Ibón de Truchas) she was nearly 20 minutes clear, moving with trademark composure. Her rhythm never wavered; her fueling remained unhurried and precise. She broke the tape in 9:57:59, more than 25 minutes ahead of second—an emphatic statement on one of the year’s hardest courses.
Walmsley hovered inside the lead pack through the first 30K, then began to apply steady pressure. Around 60K he made the decisive move, cresting the later climbs and attacking the descents with the fluidity that defines his best days. He stopped the clock at 8:35:11, winning by nearly 11 minutes over a world-class chase group.
What stood out in both wins wasn’t just fitness—it was decision minimization. On a course where footing, grade, and exposure change minute to minute, pre-committed fueling becomes a strategic edge. Neither athlete had to calculate on the fly; they simply executed the plan they’d rehearsed with Neversecond:
Consistency over complexity. Simple intervals kept calorie delivery and sodium intake steady even as intensity spiked on climbs and dipped on narrow traverses.
Texture and timing. Liquid energy during long grinds, easy-opening gels when hands and focus were taxed by technical sections.
Late-race clarity. A small, deliberate dose of caffeine to sharpen decisions and descending in the final third.
In a world championship where tiny mistakes compound, a system wins.
These victories also reflect how athlete and brand have evolved together. Schide and Walmsley aren’t just faces on a poster; they’re co-designers of solutions that hold up. Feedback on palate fatigue, packability, and mixability has shaped what goes into bottles and belts on race day. The outcome at Canfranc is validation: the simpler the fueling math, the faster elite athletes can race—and the easier it is for everyday athletes to copy the blueprint.
For Schide, who has stacked global wins from UTMB to Hardrock to Western States, this world title adds yet another line to a résumé that spans distances and terrains. For Walmsley, it’s further proof that he can win anywhere—from rolling Western singletrack to the “chunky” rock of the Pyrenees. Together, their double gold signals a new level of American consistency on Europe’s biggest stages, where technicality, vert, and tactics intersect.It also underscores where trail running is headed. The myth of the improvising ultrarunner is fading at the front of the sport; today’s champions win with systems, science, and discipline. Canfranc’s 82K wasn’t conquered by a single surge. It was won—twice—by a thousand small decisions made weeks earlier in training and honored every kilometer on race day.
Schide returns to France with momentum to spare and options everywhere—from marquee 100s to shorter mountain classics that sharpen her range. Walmsley, buoyed by Pyrenees gold, can tilt the season toward whichever target most excites him next. And the Schide–Walmsley–Neversecond triangle keeps iterating—turning hard-won lessons from a world title into clear, copy-and-paste plans any athlete can adapt for big-mountain days. On a brilliant Saturday in Spain’s Pyrenees, America’s best didn’t just win—they showed the template. And that might be the most valuable victory of all.
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