Alec Cline — Inner Circle

Alec Cline

They call him
the alien.

Twenty races. 1,293 miles. #12 men's UltraRunner of the Year. A Marine veteran from Canton, Ohio who went from 23rd to 1st at his home hundred in two years, then started winning 100s a week apart. His friends stopped trying to explain the recovery. So did we.

Home: Canton, OH
Before: U.S. Marines
AKA: The Alien · PepperPants
Latest: Javelina 100 · 11th man

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Men's UROY 2025

#12

100-mile PR

13:37:58

Javelina 2025

10th overall

Javelina 2026

7 min faster

Alec Cline running toward the camera on wet brick in an Aravaipa Racing Team singlet, bib 475 — Exhibit B // Bib 475

01 — The Climb

23rd. 10th. 1st. 1st.

Subject@alec_k_clineFollowInstagram · Facebook · StravaHomeCanton, OHServiceU.S. Marine CorpsTeamAravaipa Racing TeamHonors#12 men's 2025 UltraRunner of the Year · UltraRunning MagazineAKAThe Alien. Also PepperPants, for the pepper tights he wears to every big race.NameAlec. With a C. He will correct you.RecordUltraRunning Magazine · UTMB IndexLatestJavelina 100, Oct 31, 2026 · 11th man · 14:26:19

The easiest way to understand Alec is to watch one race over five years. Mohican, in the hills of Loudonville, Ohio. His home hundred.

2022 · Mohican 5020th · 10:48:38
2023 · First Mohican 10023rd · 23:08:54
2024 · Mohican 10010th · 22:55:32
2025 · Mohican 1001st · 17:51:27
2026 · Mohican 1001st again · 18:04:14

No shortcut. Same trail, and more than five hours off his 100-mile time in two years. In 2026 he beat the same runner-up two years running (UltraRunning Magazine).

02 — The Origin

Marine first. Runner later.

No high school track team. Alec served in the U.S. Marines (Telich Talks) and came to running sideways.

He started on pavement around Canton, chasing local half marathons, and got fast: a 1:14:57 half PR, top-10 finishes at the Hall of Fame Half in his hometown (HalfRuns).

Then the trails pulled him off the road. On Dirt & Vert, the podcast co-hosted by FRXN co-founder David Compton, he talked through that switch, a health setback that took him away from running, and finding his way back to it. Plus Pink Floyd in the pain cave.

03 — The Season

2025: show up, win, repeat.

2025 is the year Alec stopped placing and started winning. The highlights:

Get Lucky 50Mar · 1st · fastest on record · 5:33:37
Georgia Death RaceMar · 3rd · 13:36:47
High Lea 100May · 1st · 14:04:16
Mohican 100May · 1st · 17:51:27
Eagle Up 100Jun · 1st · fastest on record · 13:37:58
Burning River 100Jul · 1st · 16:30:21
Eastern States 100Aug · 2nd · 23:16:36
Tuscazoar 100Aug · 1st · 17:54:17
NEO24 24-hourOct · 1st · 139.44 mi
Javelina 100Oct · 10th of 492 · 14:33:23

One podcast host met him at a backyard ultra early that year. The interview got pushed back, and by the time they recorded, Alec had won nearly every race in between (Weathering The Run).

Going into NEO24, his stated goal was 140-plus miles in 24 hours. He ran 139.44 and won. He would probably tell you about the missing half mile.

Then UltraRunning Magazine's 2025 year-end issue came out. #12 men's UltraRunner of the Year, plus spots on the year's best-performance lists at four distances:

Men's UltraRunner of the Year#12
24-hour9th best · 139.44 mi
50-mile8th best
100-mile14th, 20th + 31st best
50K47th best

His own take: a total shock. He figured it helped that he ran a ridiculous number of races instead of the big-name ones (@alec_k_cline). Three different 100s on one year-end list. That's the alien again.

04 — The Alien

Recovery doesn't apply.

His friends call him the alien. The file explains why.

Mohican 100 → Eagle Up 1007 days apart · won both
Burning River → Eastern States14 days · 1st, then 2nd
Eastern States → Tuscazoar21 days · won
Cocodona 250 → Mohican 100Under 4 weeks · won

One week after winning Mohican in 2025, he ran 13:37:58 at Eagle Up, the fastest time on the race's books by more than an hour (UltraSignup). One podcast host wanted to book him right after those back-to-back wins, then decided to wait and see what he did next (Only Eye Athletics).

In 2026 he ran 250 miles across Arizona at Cocodona. Less than four weeks later, he went home and won Mohican again. In September, he won East Fork 100.

The alien has a race-day uniform, too. Pepper-print tights, every big race, for the last two years. The nickname stuck: PepperPants. If you see the peppers at the front, that's him.

05 — The Protocol

Make Wednesdays hard.

Alec has laid out his approach on a few podcasts. It's not complicated. It's just relentless.

Midweek volume20-mile Wednesdays
Insert funJoy over metrics
ConsistencyShow up anyway
PacingRace the virtual pacer
Race-day luxuriesMusic + caffeine
Race-day uniformPepper tights

"We get to do this."— Alec's rule, via Weathering The Run

He treats music and caffeine as luxuries to use strategically on race day, not as a constant crutch (podcast).

Recovery starts before the start.

You can't race a 100 next weekend if your skin didn't survive this one. Hot spots become raw spots. Raw spots become the reason you sit out the next start line. Alec doesn't sit out start lines.

Go Stick

$9.99

Everyday carry. Start here.

View product →

Endurance Tin

$15.99

The crew-bin workhorse.

View product →

Go Pouch

$2.99

Pocket-size for the loop.

View product →

07 — Next

Javelina. Round two.

Last October, three weeks after winning a 24-hour race, Alec ran 14:33:23 at Javelina and finished 10th out of 492 (results).

October 31, 2026, he went back. Five loops in McDowell Mountain Regional Park, granite and sand, against one of the deepest men's fields of the year. He crossed in 14:26:19, 11th man.

Seven minutes faster than last year. Same course, deeper field. The peppers made it home.

// Follow the file

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