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2019 Golden Shoe Awards: Trail Runner of the Year–Kathryn Drew

Kat Drew had a year of exceptional results on the ultratrail scene

For many years, Kathryn Drew has been one of Canada’s most talented endurance trail athletes, but in 2019 she started turning heads beyond our national borders, too. She rang in the new year in January by going straight for a Western States Golden Ticket at the Bandera 100K race in Texas, where although she only finished in third place, she still made a name for herself by beating 2016 Western States winner, Kaci Lickteig. A few months later she won the prestigious Chuckanut 50K, which saw the snowiest conditions Drew had experienced in her six years racing there.

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In April, Drew headed south again, to snag a Golden Ticket by winning Canyons 100K. Her Western States taper kicked off with a quick three-day trip to Portugal to race 44K and represent Canada for the second time at the Trail Running World Championships.

RELATED: Kat from Canada crushes competitive 100K

The first half of 2019 rounded out with Drew’s incredible performance at the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. At mile 80, Drew and her crew broke out in a dance party on the trail, and she still finished in eighth place with a time of 18:59:08 in a record-breaking year. After some recovery, Drew raced to first after falling three times at the Valley to Vertikiller 25K race. 

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RELATED: Western States’ fastest Canadian dances to top 10

If the running world didn’t know who Kat from Canada was before 2019, they do now. 

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