At first, the outcomes of this weekend’s 100-mile ultramarathon in Henderson, Nev., appeared clear. Rajpaul Pannu, a 33-year-old runner sponsored by HOKA, had set a brand new course file within the 2025 USATF 100-mile Highway Championships, breaking the end line tape with a powerful time of 11:52:46.
He’d even set a brand new private finest from the earlier yr, when Pannu additionally got here in first place.
It was solely when spectators watched a livestream of the Jackpot Ultras that considered one of them noticed an issue with Pannu’s sneakers: They had been too large.
Apparently, Pannu was utilizing the HOKA Skyward X, a coach with an enormous 48mm stack top within the heel. That places the shoe 8 mm over the USATF competitors guidelines for acceptable trainers. After initially giving Pannu the win over the weekend, race organizer Aravaipa Operating disqualified Pannu’s win, transferring his participation to an “open end result.”
“We acknowledge that that is an unlucky state of affairs, and we acknowledge Rajpaul’s unbelievable efficiency,” the group mentioned in an Instagram publish. “Nevertheless, as a USATF Nationwide Championship occasion, we’re dedicated to upholding the requirements set forth within the rulebook to make sure honest and constant competitors for all athletes.”
Runner Claims Ignorance
As for Pannu, he appeared to take the information with equanimity. In a social media publish concerning the disqualification, he tried to elucidate how he made the error.
“‘As a professional runner, shouldn’t he know?’ Sure and I maintain myself accountable,” Pannu wrote. “It’s vital to notice that I’m not a full-time skilled athlete. My essential job is in training. I’ve been a instructor longer than I’ve been a professional runner and do my finest to stability each. Nobody on the course cared concerning the stack top of my sneakers. Not even the USATF official. The protest was filed by somebody who watched the livestream. I’m selecting to take the excessive street in hopes of shedding gentle on how all championship occasions could possibly be higher sanctioned.”
Pannu then congratulated Cody Poskin, who grew to become the first-place winner after Pannu’s disqualification. Poskin logged a time of 13:26:03, whereas second-place winner Nathan Brown completed in 13:59:23 and Braden Roggow claimed third with a time of 15:36:55, in response to the race outcomes.
In a GearJunkie evaluation of the HOKA Skyward X, we famous that the carbon-plated coaching shoe “had a whopping 48mm stack that’ll flip the heads of even essentially the most devoted high-stack fanatics.”
“It solely took a couple of runs to understand that the Skyward X was a very good shoe that defied our expectations, rendering any preliminary skepticism moot,” reviewer Will Porter wrote. “The trip is simply as plush, energetic, and responsive as marketed, from tempo efforts to weekend lengthy runs.”
Whether or not it’s appropriate for competitors or not could also be a moot level for Pannu, nevertheless. He’d by no means tried the sneakers till the week of the race, when he first logged a Strava run within the plush trainers. After cruising by means of 101.5 miles in about 11 hours and 52 minutes, Pannu titled the session “the most effective coaching run of my life.”
