Western New York Ultra Series
2005 Ultra Runner of the Year

Yassine Diboun
2008 Runner of the Year

Presented by:

The directors of the six series events have unanimously selected Yassine Diboun as the 2008 Western New York Ultra Series Runner of the Year.

Diboun, age 30, is working on his Physical Education degree at SUNY Cortland and lives in Ithaca. He will receive, from Fleet Feet Sports Rochester, a custom-embroidered technical jacket in celebration of his accomplishments.

Diboun is being honored for his outstanding record in the four series events he contested in 2008:

2nd at Highland Forest 1 2 3. Diboun (4:09:54) finished a close second behind Michael Wunsch (4:08:40) in the most competitive three lapper ever with five men finishing under 4:30. Wunsch and Diboun both broke Todd Baum's 2005 course record.

3rd at Finger Lakes Fifties 50 Mile. Diboun finished a close third overall in 7:02:03, behind two nationally ranked runners: Leigh Schmitt (6:52:55) and Jack Pilla (6:55:33).

Course Record at Green Lakes Endurance Runs 50K. Diboun (4:04:39) narrowly missed taking the 50K race record under 4 hours when he was slowed by leg cramps.

Course Record at Mendon 50K. Yassine Diboun (3:58:46!) ran the second time under 4 hours, breaking Alex Barth's 2007 record by 31 seconds.

Other Notable 2008 Races

3rd Overall at Highlands Sky. Diboun completed the 40-miler near Davis,WV in 6:31:11.

2nd Overall at Monster Marathon. Diboun ran the very hilly trail marathon near Virgil in 3:46:44.

Win at Fleet Feet Sports Relay. Diboun and Michael Winsch ran the 50 miles around Canandaigua Lake in 5:13:48, the second fastest time ever.

Win at Iroquois Trails 100 Mile. Diboun (21:35) dominated in this first-year ultra at Virgil, NY. http://www.iroquoistrails100.com

Diboun has accepted an invitation to join Team INOV-8 in 2009. He will be moving to Portland, Oregon next summer. You can follow his career at http://www.runforyourlife-yassine.blogspot.com/

Other Notable Runners
This year, reflecting the growth of ultrarunning in Western New York, there were many runners with notable performances. The directors of the six series events also wish to note the accomplishments of the following runners:

Jill Perry (304.24 points)
Perry had a strong second in the Green Lakes 100K, a win in the CanLake 50 Mile and gave a fine demonstration of trail running speed in winning the Mendon 50K. She is only the second woman to break five hours at Mendon.

Ed Housel (300.58 points)
Housel was undefeated in the Masters category in all five races he started this year and notched his first overall win in the CanLake 50 Mile.

Todd Baum (288.44 points)
Baum started the year with a course record win at the BPAC Six-Hour. He finished behind Mike Wright in the Veterans Category at Highland Forest in a rare off-day. Baum came back with a strong fourth overall category win in the CanLake 50 Mile to clinch the Veterans Category win.

Barbara Gorka (285.34 points)
Gorka was the top woman on the roads at the BPAC Six-Hour and trails at Highland Forest and second woman behind Daniele Cherniak in the CanLake 50K.

Mike Wright (274.50 points)
Wright was undefeated in the Veterans Category and finished no lower than sixth overall against competitive fields. On an age-graded basis, Wright, at age 59, was the top 50K runner in the series. The age-graded open equivalents of his times were under the course records at every race he ran!

Race Place Time Open Equivalent

Highland Forest 1 2 3 5th 4:28:30 3:41:08

Finger Lakes Fifties 50K 6th 4:26:19 3:39:20

Green Lakes Endurance Runs 50K 3rd 4:16:35 3:31:19

For more information about age-graded scoring of races, see Age Graded Scoring. Click for online calculator to score your own races.

This site was last updated 05/03/12

Yassine Diboun 2008 Runner of the Year

Yassine Diboun
2008 Runner of the Year