Canadians shine at U.S. ultra-trail races

Conditions were hot and unforgiving at Desert RATS by UTMB in western Colorado on Saturday, but that didn’t stop three Canadians from mounting the podium in the 100K race. 

Tyler D’Arcy of Saanichton, B.C., finished second in the men’s 100K (which was won by Alex Johnson of Farmington, Utah, in 08:57:28), with a time of 09:04:06, while Kelowna, B.C.’s Emilie Mann took second to Lotti Brinks of Boise, Idaho in the women’s race, with 10:21:38 (Brinks’s time was 09:25:50). Geneviève Asselin-Demers of Montreal was third, just over 10 minutes behind Mann, in 10:31:59.

Corey Kallembach of Longmont, Colo., was the third-place finisher in the men’s 100K (09:23:40). 

Mann, Demers and D’Arcy weren’t the only ones to put up big finishes at a U.S. ultra-trail race on the weekend; Jade Belzberg of Langley, B.C., also mounted a big U.S. podium, finishing second at the Gorge Waterfalls 100K in Cascade Locks, Ore. in 9:27:39, while North Vancouver’s Joshua Potvin won the 50K, in 3:49:30 and Nicholas Lightbody of Victoria won the men’s 30K race, in 2:08:20.  

Mann is an emerging superstar on the Canadian ultra-trail scene; in September 2024, she set a course record in her 100-mile debut, the Run Rabbit Run 100-miler, also in Colorado (19:48:05). The previous year she had several wins at shorter distances, including the Golden Ultra 60K, the Sinister 7 50K and the Squamish 50-Mile. Asselin-Demers ranked eighth in the Gran Canaria World Trail Major (WTM) series rankings announced in November after several international podiums and top-10 finishes. Belzberg also won this year’s Chuckanut 50K in Washington State and had several impressive finishes in 2024.

50K results

Men

1. 1. Brian Whitfield (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 03:35:46
   2. Grant Colligan (Golden, Colo.) 03:49:12
   3. Austin Anderson (Grand Junction, Colo.) 03:59:44.

Women

1. 1. Allison Baca (Golden, Colo.) 03:57:03
   2. Ashley Brasovan (Golden, Colo.) 04:10:39
   3. Sophie Linn (Australia) 04:24:13

21K and 10K results

Eli Hemming (01:19:46) and Tabor Hemming (01:36:16) won the men’s and women’s 21K race on Sunday, while Jake Littlehales (39:08) and Camila Cortina (48:39) nabbed the 10K titles on Friday. 

The next race in the UTMB World Series series is Mount Yun by UTMB in Zhonghe Square, China from April 18 to 20, and the next North American race will be The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB from April 25 to 26 in Auburn, Calif. 

For full results from Desert RATS by UTMB, click here. For full results from Gorge Waterfalls, click here.