Canadian ultrarunner wins UTMB World Series race

Abbotsford, B.C.–based ultrarunner and coach Jenny Quilty, 34, took the 100-mile win in 27:24:14 at the latest UTMB World Series race, Doi Inthanon in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Saturday. Quilty earned a Golden Ticket (automatic entry) to Western States Endurance Run (WSER) in the process. Doi Inthanon takes its name from the mountain the course is based around, the highest in Thailand–also called the ‘roof of Thailand.’

Quilty has an impressive running resume, and earlier this year ran to second place overall on an all-women podium at the Near Death Marathon in Grande Cache, Alta. She also won the 50K distance at Squamish 50/50 and was the previous 50/50 record holder until Edmonton’s Priscilla Forgie bested her time this year.

Jenny Quilty wins Thailand by UTMB 100 Miler! This year, she paced Katie Asmuth at Western States, and decided to go all-in for a Golden Ticket. SUCCESS! One of the best humans in the whole world, what a moment of joy! 😭🦖💪

📸 Berry Bui-Montri@wser @UTMBWorldSeries pic.twitter.com/xJsiE8CWS3

— David Roche (@MountainRoche) December 10, 2022

Quilty shared her Doi Inthanon experience on social media post-race, saying that she felt confident in her fitness.”I knew I had done as much as possible to prepare, with some incredibly fun weeks of big steep climbing and bigger mileage than I have done previously,” Quilty wrote. “But I also knew nothing is guaranteed in trail and ultra and especially not in a 100-miler on trails I’ve never seen and in the hot climate after coming from winter in Canada.”

Quilty had a strong race plan heading into the race; she aimed to take care of herself as best she could and run her own race. “I would let the day come to me and not think about performance goals until after the 100K mark,” she said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Matt Bolam | Brooks RunHappyTeam (@yota_ventures)

The Doi Inthanon 100-mile course, called Summit 160, covers close to 170 kilometres, with 10,045 metres of elevation gain. It is the Asia-Pacific UTMB World Series Major, meaning that runners collect double the number of Running Stones toward the UTMB lottery process, and the winners automatically gain entry–as well as being a Golden Ticket race for WSER. The race had more than 5,000 runners from 64 countries running in temperatures over 30 C.

“Mentally, I held three main thoughts, just simple words to redirect my mind when needed: joy, curiosity, and patience,” shared Quilty. “When I needed a stronger reminder of the approach I was taking I repeated ’embrace where you are to get where you are going’.”

Quilty has been running ultras since 2016 and coaching endurance athletes since 2018, but Doi Inthanon was her first 100-mile race. “My debut 100-miler was a wild journey and could not have asked for a better experience and outcome,” she said.