How to watch Hoka One One’s Project Carbon X 2

On Saturday, a talented lineup of elite ultrarunners will run 100K in Hoka One One’s Project Carbon X 2 event in Phoenix, Ariz. This is the second edition of the Hoka event, and the objective remains the same as it was at the first Project Carbon X in 2019: to break the men’s and women’s 100K world records. This is an incredibly lofty goal, as the two current 100K world records sit at blazing times of 6:09:14 for men and 6:33:11 for women. With some of the world’s best athletes ready to run, though, no record is safe, so you won’t want to miss this potentially historic race. Here is how to watch and who to keep an eye on throughout the run, which is set to start at 9 a.m. ET on January 23.

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Who to watch

The biggest names in the field are Jim Walmsley and Hayden Hawks on the men’s side and Camille Herron on the women’s. At the first Project Carbon X race, Walmsley set the 50-mile (80K) American record, running 4:50:08. Not long after hitting the 50-mile mark, though, he hit the wall hard, fading to a 7:05:24 finish, almost a full hour off the men’s record (which belongs to Nao Kazami of Japan).

RELATED: Camille Herron, Hayden Hawks run to wins at JFK 50-miler

Hawks won last year’s JFK 50, breaking Walmsley’s course record from 2016 by three minutes with a winning time of 5:18:43. He has also won the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc 101K CCC in France, and the 120K Lavaredo Ultra Trail in Italy, proving he can throw down dominant performances over ultra distances. Other runners on the men’s side to keep an eye on are Americans Jared Hazen (second place at the Western States 100 and winner of the Lake Sonoma 50, both in 2019) and Patrick Reagan (second place at the first Project Carbon X event, where he ran 6:33:50, beating Walmsley by half an hour).

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Herron is the clear favourite in the women’s event, although she has tweeted that she isn’t aiming to break the world record, which Japan’s Tomoe Abe ran in 2000. Instead, she’s shooting for the American record of 7:00:48, noting that she is “about 80 per cent fit and focused on winning the race.” France’s Audrey Tanguy is one runner who could challenge Herron on Saturday. Tanguy has won the UTMB TDS (a 120K race) twice, and she has recorded several other strong results in ultras around the world. It will be hard enough to match Herron’s pace, let alone to challenge Abe’s record, but Tanguy has a chance at the upset.

RELATED: Jim Walmsley, Camille Herron hope to chase 100K records at Project Carbon X 2 event

How to watch

Thankfully, Hoka has made it easy to watch this event. No membership fees necessary, no worrying about finding illegal streams to watch. Instead, it’s just a few clicks away on the Hoka One One website, where a link to a live stream will be posted.