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Canadian Ailsa MacDonald sets CR in Arizona Black Canyon 100K win

A huge performance gets MacDonald a golden ticket for the 2018 Western States 100

Ailsa MacDonald

Canadian Running‘s 2017 trail runner of the year earned a golden ticket to the Western States 100 with a win and course record at the 2018 Black Canyons 100K.

Ailsa MacDonald won the Arizona trail race in 8:53:33, the second fastest time outright on the day behind the overall winner Tim Freriks, who clocked 8:12:06. A golden ticket to the Western States 100 means a runner earns automatic qualification to the prestigious trail 100-miler in California.

The St. Albert, Alta. resident crushed the women’s course record, slicing more than an hour of the previous best time, 10:06:31. Courtney Dauwalter, the second woman overall, also dipped under the previous course record clocking 9:18:33.

The Black Canyon 100K follows the Black Canyon National Recreation Trail and extends between Spring Valley to New River, Ariz. The 100K course features 2,100m of elevation gain and 2,712m of elevation loss along the route.

RELATED: 2017 Golden Shoe Awards: Trail Runner of the Year – Ailsa MacDonald.

In 2017, MacDonald won the Sinister 7 in Alberta outright and has become one of Canada’s premiere trail runners.

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