Calgary’s Scott Cooper annhilates The Divide 200 in beneath 50 hours

Calgary’s Scott Cooper crossed the end line of the inaugural The Divide 200 in a outstanding 49 hours 47 minutes and 59 seconds. Regardless of not sleeping throughout the race, having snake hallucinations on the path and by no means having accomplished such an incredible distance, Cooper was in nice spirits and mentioned he felt fairly good. “The course was unimaginable,” he shared. “The volunteers had been superb, and it meant loads on such a distant course to come back into an help station at night time and have the ambiance so pumped.”

Western Canada’s first-ever 200-mile race, which included the Fortress/Crownest/Flathead area of the southern Rockies (it began and completed at Fortress Mountain Resort in Pincher Creek, Alta.), kicked off at 8:00 a.m. native time on Tuesday, and runners from throughout Canada and past launched into a 201-mile (324-km) problem alongside elements of the Nice Divide path. Climbing 12,335 metres in elevation, with a time restrict of 100 hours, runners are testing their limits within the Rocky Mountains and should wrap up their journey by Saturday morning.

Spanning the Continental Divide between Alberta and B.C., the GDT traverses the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains for greater than 1,100 kilometres. It’s identified for being one of many planet’s most beautiful–and difficult–long-distance trails.

Western Canada’s first 200-mile race has begun (and also you gained’t need to miss a factor)

Cooper boasts a outstanding racing resume that features a second-place end at Fats Canine 120 in 2022 and a latest win on the Sinister 7 100-miler. In 2022, he led the 100-mile race till he was compelled to DNF with a shoulder dislocation. 2023’s race was a redemption spherical, with Cooper crossing the road in 19:16:44. “It was most likely essentially the most well-executed race I’ve had, managing energy and hydration tremendous nicely to maintain a constant effort all day and even having some fairly stable fuel within the tank for the final leg of the race,” he shared on social media. When requested if one other 200-mile race was within the offing, Cooper was fairly agency. “No.”  The runner defined that he was happy along with his race. “While you run a shorter distance, you have got smaller issues that go fallacious and also you need to come again and repair these. There are too many issues to repair in a race this lengthy,” he mentioned.

Cooper pulled up a chair after he completed and visited along with his canine and his accomplice whereas ready for the second-place finisher, Canmore’s Sam Dickie, who adopted Cooper in 52:13:44. Dickie and Cooper didn’t know one another at the beginning of the race, however fell into a simple partnership, sharing some 200 kilometres of path till Dickie wanted to sleep, and Cooper pushed onward. Their camaraderie was evident when Dickie joyfully crossed the road. “That was a lot enjoyable!” he mentioned.

after steadily making his approach by way of the pack, Colin Miller of Fernie, B.C., rounded out the boys’s podium in 54:53:26.

Colorado’s Mika Thewes wins ladies’s race

A number of hours later, Mika Thewes of Lakewood, Colo., was the primary lady to cross the end line, in 58 hours, 51 minutes and 11 seconds. She had held fourth place all through the race, placing on a formidable dash on the finish to take the win. Solely a month in the past, Thewes broke the course file on the Bigfoot 200 in Washington state (she additionally gained in 2021). She has 13 race finishes of 200 miles or extra. “The sunrises had been lovely,” Thewes mentioned, including that the ridge working was “robust” and that the terrain reminded her of the Colorado Rockies.