june 21-23, 2024
46K • 23K • 18k • 11K • VK • iron face
TRIPLE CROWN • IRON crown • KIDS RACE
POWERED BY
MEET THE RACE ORGANIZERS
BRENDAN MADIGAN
​
After graduating college in Virginia, and a stint pursuing professional soccer in the Netherlands, Brendan moved west to chase dreams of untracked powder and ultramarathons. He began working at Alpenglow in 2003 as a part-time employee and mostly full-time ski bum. During this time he was lucky enough to fall under the influence of backcountry veterans who taught him the value of dawn patrol and what it meant to live a fully-realized life in the mountains. He eventually moved into full-time work at the shop and finally took over ownership in 2011.
Madigan’s life work revolves around cultivating community through a rich and connected retail experience. He is a highly experienced creator/founder of a litany of high-end, large-scale experiential events in North Lake Tahoe, California. These include the Alpenglow Mountain Festival, the Alpenglow Winter Speaker Series, the Broken Arrow Skyrace and Afterglow, A Mountain Storytelling Podcast.
Marrying his wife is the best decision he has ever made and he will always think fondly about skiing knee-deep powder off the summit of 20,320-foot Denali, the tallest peak in North America and a lifetime of singletrack in the Sierra. He is fascinated by the concept of building something bigger than himself and loves painting the collective life canvas that is Alpenglow Sports and the Broken Arrow Skyrace. He lives in Homewood, California with his wife, Miniature Goldendoodle, Millie and feline friend George.
ETHAN VENEKLASEN
​
After I ran my first half marathon in 2002 at the San Francisco Marathon. 10 weeks later – after seeing a documentary about the Western States 100 on PBS – I completed my first 50-miler, the Dick Collins Firetrails 50. Back then, you only needed to finish a mountain 50-miler in under 10 hours (or three in under 12) to qualify, so I immediately put my name into the lottery. Miraculously, my name was drawn and 11 months later, I crossed the finish line of the 2003 Western States 100 Endurance Run.
Over the years, I've run ~70 ultramarathons of varying distances, from the 28.8 mile Quad Dipsea to three 100 mile races (Western States, Vermont, and Cascade Crest). I've also run a few road marathons but, frankly, those are just painful. While my best finishes are unquestionable on flatter, faster courses, my true love is running in the mountains above the tree line.
In 2003, I launched one of the first professional trail running teams for a major American shoe company. For several years, I served alongside Eric Schranz as co-host of Ultrarunner Podcast. In 2016, joined with Brendan Madigan and Geoff Quine to launch the Broken Arrow Skyrace. It has genuinely been one of the great honors and privileges of my life. I'm also the organizer of the Beer Bucket Run, a weekly group run for trail runners of all abilities in the San Francisco Bay Area. On race day, you will see me at the start and finish wielding the massive cowbell sending runners off on their journey and welcoming them to the finish line with high fives and hugs.
In addition to running, I enjoy paragliding, spending time with my amazing wife (Emma Winfield, four-time Western States 100 runner-up), four adult step-kids, and two dogs (Chase, the deaf boxer and Layla the crazy pug). I am proud to be an athlete ambassador for Salomon Running.
GEOFF QUINE
​
From junior high cross country in Carmel, Indiana to the mountain trails of Tahoe, distance running and all the joys that come with it have always been an integral part of Geoff's life and character. Back in 2014, he and Brendan hatched a plan to bring a top shelf trail race to the Lake Tahoe Basin that would break the mold and Geoff couldn't be more proud of what the team has accomplished in that time. When not on the trails himself or schlepping sugar for Broken Arrow, he enjoys backcountry skiing, mountain biking, dorking out on maps and spending time outdoors with his wife, Sarah, and his two dogs, Hank and Pancho.
ANDY ANDERSON
​
Andy Anderson started running and climbing 30 years ago in TN. He ran competitively through college and annoyed his coaches and professors by climbing and skiing way too much. He has worked as a climbing ranger for the National Park Service(Rocky Mtn, Grand Teton, Mt. Rainier), a climbing guide, a technical rescue instructor, and an avalanche forecaster for the Sierra Avalanche Center. He lives in Truckee, CA and where he spends as much time as he can in the mountains and tries to keep up with his wife (a biathlete, runner, climber, skier, and climate scientist) and 11-year-old son who says his favorite things are running, skiing, and mountain biking. Andy currently holds the record for the fasted ascent of Longs Peak and the fastest trip up and down the Grand Teton as well as the second-fastest time on Mt. Whitney. He regularly places in the top five of most of the trail races he enters. Since turning 40, he is hoping that his baldness will make him more aerodynamic and that he will be able to tap into that elusive “old-man-strength.”
STEVE HAMMOND
​
Steve is originally from the United Kingdom, where he worked as a professional skiing and rafting guide. Being the ambitious and adventurous type of Brit, Steve has traveled the world as a premier whitewater rafting expedition guide including such countries as Nepal, Zambia, Turkey, Morocco, Norway and Scotland.
Currently, Steve is behind the scenes (literally) at Spartan Races. His title is “Race Course Manager” and if you don’t know him, you’ve no doubt seen him blazing around the race course in his souped up off road buggy, with a beard flailing in the breeze as big as life and a smile that says it all. For seven years now, Steve has worked full time organizing and designing Spartan courses for many world class events. Known as a spirited personality throughout the Spartan race culture, Steve is affectionately referred to as 'Trail Master' and 'Soul Crusher' for his passionate designing of Spartan courses and incorporating media aspects of the races. Of course Steve brings a discerning eye to Broken Arrow and implements these same Spartan lessons into our course.
Steve lives in beautiful Lake Tahoe, California with his wonderful wife Stacey and their two year old son, Henry.
JOHN ANDERSON
​
John Anderson is Medical Director of the Broken Arrow Skyrace. Primarily John works as an emergency medicine doctor at the trauma center in Reno as well as at a smaller local hospital in Truckee and is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. In the winter, he also works in the ski clinic in the Tahoe area. He helped found Tahoe Wilderness Medicine and teaches wilderness medical education courses paired with adventures like backcountry skiing in Norway and Antarctica, trail running in Chamonix and climbing in Spain. From a race medicine perspective in addition to Broken Arrow Skyrace, he currently heads up the International Trail Running Association's Medical and Safety Committee and is the medical advisor for Run the Alps. He has worked in a variety of race settings from the Sierra Nevada to the Gobi desert.
John, along with his wife, also a mountain lover, are raising four kids, aged 10-15 and stay busy helping them find their own adventures.
John has been running around in the woods for most of his life, from cross country and track in school to trails and ultra, and competing in ultramarathons over the last 16 years. In terms of race results, most recently he finished 7th overall at the Tor des Glaciers in the Italian Alps, an unmarked 450km race done in a single push with over 105,000 of climbing. Other race highlights include first American at Tor des Geants 338 km in 2016, wins at Tahoe Rim 50 mile, McCall Ultra Classic, Old Pueblo 50 mile, Collegiate Peaks 50 mile, Rock/Creek Stumpjump 50k, Mt Werner 50k, North Fork 50k, as well as podium finishes at Wasatch 100 mile, Zane Grey, Silver State, and others as well as other top ten finishes at Hardrock 100 mile, Run Rabbit Run 100 mile, etc.
John works diligently each year to assemble a top-shelf team of medical professionals for the Broken Arrow Skyrace and we consider ourselves lucky to have him. John is always looking for qualified candidates for his team. If interested please email: info@brokenarrowskyrace.com.
SEAN FLANAGAN
​
Sean Flanagan, a mountain ultra-runner of seven years, lives the dream on the shores of Lake Tahoe, in Kings Beach, California, along with his wife, Tara, Lucy the Dog, and Shitty Kitty. Sean has a few buckles in his collection, including the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 and the Western States 100. In addition to his racing pedigree, Sean boasts a long list of race associations: He is former co-Race Director of the Castle Peak 100k; part of the Epic Endurance Events Team (this is the group that hosts the Canyons 100k); and a key organizer for the Broken Arrow Skyrace. Sean is actively involved with the Donner Party Mountain Runners, a local Tahoe running club, and served as Vice President and Board Member for five years.
Sean is a ETPA Athlete, coached by Raeleigh Harris and will be putting down the trail shoes for a bit in order to focus on ultra-cycling, with his eyes set on Race Across America in 2022, a solo cycling race from Oceanside California to Annapolis Maryland. Riders have 12 days to complete the race, averaging 250 miles a day or up to 22 hours every day to finish on time. He has teamed up with 300 Miles to a Cure and will be raising money for brain cancer research along his journey.
ROBERT SHERBURN
​
Robert Sherburn, aka "Sherb" has more than 10 years experience in the Athletic Endurance Event space as an operations and logistics specialist.
Fresh out of college, Sherb cut his teeth in the operations realm managing large scale construction projects for 2 Fortune 500 companies (Marriott and The Home Depot) in Dallas, Texas. While training for his first road marathon in 2011 Sherb left a viable, yet boring, career in the financial realm and transitioned to working endurance events full time. His race execution and operations experience include all facets of outdoor endurance events including trail and road running, triathlon, road cycling, MTB and multi-day stage races. Sherb has successfully executed events for Ram Racing, NYRR, Ironman, Precision Sports Consulting, High Altitude Events Cadence Sports, Event Southwest, and Ragnar to name a few. For the past 5+ years Sherb has focused on the trail running niche and currently does contract work with American Trail Running Association, Aravaipa Running, the US Trail Running Conference, and the TransRockies Race Series. Sherb first came to Broken Arrow Skyrace with ATRA in 2019 before joining the crew in 2021.
​
Sherb remains based in the air conditioned city of Dallas, TX with his wife Marci and running buddy (Labrador pup), Arnold Palmer. He hopes to run his first Trail Ultra in Golden, British Columbia, Canada this Fall. When he's not losing sleep over logistics of the next trail event, he grounds himself in reality as a licensed real estate pro.