10/06/2026
Getting to pace Yassine through night two of The Mammoth was a pretty surreal full-circle moment for me (sean.haworth).
Like a lot of ultra runners from the PNW, Yassine was one of the local legends I looked up to that inpired me to run my first ultra twelve years ago. Since then we’ve shared some miles, volunteered at a lot of the same races, and crossed paths over and over again.
Picking him up in Lee Vining at mile 138, around 10pm on night two, and getting to spend the night helping pull him forward is really hard to put into words.
He was exhausted, already hallucinating, but still completely locked in on racing the guys 20–30 years younger than him just up the road. We snuck in and out of an aid station with our headlamps off to sneak away from Elliot Chisholm who was hot on our heals. He never stopped racing. Whenever I asked him to push he found another gear.
Somehow I’m there running next to him, both of us wearing a belt I helped bring into the trail community that has given us so much.
That was wild.
Yassine held 5th through the night while we were together, and after I handed him off he kept moving up, eventually getting into 3rd.
The grit this guy has is ridiculous.
Really proud to see this DERA × Yassine crossover happen. Even more grateful I got to be there for a little piece of it.
—Sean
Creative Director
Photos:
1) Jason Peters
2) Robbie
3) morgan tuohy
4-6) sean.haworth
