The 63rd Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon saw hail and records fall as 2400 athletes hit the trails of America’s mountain August 18th & 19th. ATRA team members Nancy Hobbs, Peter Maksimow and Tayte Pollmann were on-site for the entire race weekend from Friday’s Expo thru Sunday’s Marathon. The following photo essay is a behind the scenes look at one of the most famous mountain running races in North America.
The first few meters of the Pikes Peak Ascent. Andy Wacker of Boulder leads the field.
Ondřej Fejfar, inov-8 athlete from the Czech Republic, is all smiles before the Pikes Peak Ascent. He went on to place second overall in the Ascent, which was shortened due to inclement weather.
A view of Manitou Springs, Colorado from Barr Trail with the Garden of the Gods looming in the distance.
Salomon athlete, Megan Kimmel, breaks the 37-year-old recored set by Lynne Bjorkland in 1981 by 14 seconds. Official time: 4:15:04.
Emily Schmitz of Wauwatosa, WI (currently living in Bogota, Columbia) trying hard not to flinch as she gets stitches in her knee from a fall on the descent of the Pikes Peak Marathon. Schmitz finished 4th woman overall in a time of 4:36:59.
Salomon athlete, Dakota Jones of Durango, Colorado, wins the Pikes Peak Marathon in a new downhill record of 1:13:53 (~13 miles), breaking the long-standing record of the legendary Matt Carpenter.
ATRA’s Tayte Pollmann takes in the stunning views of the Manitou Incline just after the start of the Pikes Peak Marathon.
A few of the top-10 women from the Pikes Peak Ascent with race director Ron Ilgen.
Kim Dobson, aka “Queen of Uphill”, has that moniker for good reason. She won the shortened (due to potentially extreme weather) Pikes Peak Ascent for the sixth time in 1:15:48 and placed 18th overall. The Ascent ended at Barr Camp and was ~7.5 miles.
Megan Kimmel is elated as she receives her finishers medal and a congratulatory hug from race director, Ron Ilgen, moments after narrowly breaking the long-standing 37-year-old Pikes Peak Marathon course record of Lynne Bjorkland in a time of 4:15:04.
Matt Carpenter, 18-time winner of the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon, awards the top-3 women their trophies. (L to R: Matt Carpenter, Laura Orgué, Megan Kimmel, Kristina Mascarenas).
