Calgary’s Scott Cooper crossed the end line of the inaugural The Divide 200 in a exceptional 49 hours 47 minutes and 59 seconds. Regardless of not sleeping through 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 have been superb, and it meant rather a lot on such a distant course to return into an support station at evening and have the environment 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 recognized 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 received’t wish to miss a factor)
Cooper boasts a exceptional 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 pressured 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 probably 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 glad along with his race. “If you run a shorter distance, you’ve smaller issues that go incorrect and also you wish 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 in 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 method via the pack, Colin Miller of Fernie, B.C., rounded out the lads’s podium in 54:53:26.
Colorado’s Mika Thewes wins girls’s race
A couple of hours later, Mika Thewes of Lakewood, Colo., was the primary girl 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 document on the Bigfoot 200 in Washington state (she additionally received in 2021). She has 13 race finishes of 200 miles or extra. “The sunrises have been lovely,” Thewes mentioned, including that the ridge working was “powerful” and that the terrain reminded her of the Colorado Rockies.
