Kevin Biggs and Kelsey Hogan win Quebec Mega Trail 100-miler

Kevin Biggs of Calgary has taken the top spot at this year’s Quebec Mega Trail 100-mile race. He crossed the finish line at the Mont Ste-Anne ski resort late Saturday afternoon with a finishing time of 20:17:28. Only four hours later, Kelsey Hogan of Steady Brook, N.L., successfully defended her 2022 title in 24:34:57, and was eighth overall–a fantastic result. Hogan took almost four hours off her winning time and course record, set ast year.

Two Quebec runners placed second and third: Pierre-Olivier Campagna finished second with a time of 21:55:38, followed by Philippe Poulin, in 22:24:38.

Ariel Cudmore of Sainte-Beatrix, Que., was the second woman to cross the finish line, in 26:07:42, and 11th overall.

The 100-mile race kicked off on Friday evening at Le Hotel and Spa Le Germain Charlevoix in Baie St-Paul, 66 km east of Mont Ste-Anne. Roughly 150 runners participated, with many still labouring on the difficult technical course at the time of publication.

Biggs, 33, finished third at Diez Vista 50K in Port Moody, B.C. in April. Last year, he was second at Squamish 50 Mile, and he won the Sinister 7 100-mile distance in 2021 in 18:05.

Biggs led the pack from start to finish in Quebec on Saturday.

Men’s top 10

1. Kevin Biggs (Canada) 20:17:28
2. Pierre-Olivier Campagna (Canada) 21:55:38
3. Philippe Poulin (Canada) 22:24:38
4. Elias Kibreab (Canada) 22:28:12
5. Drew Mueller (U.S.) 23:41:10
6. Kevin Robert (France) 24:20:42
7. Jake Moreau (Canada) 24:22:10
8. Pierre Loubersac (Canada) 24:55:57
9. Pierre-Louis de Plinval (Switzerland) 26:04:03
10. Jean-Cristophe Lefebvre (Canada) 26:09:04

Last year’s men’s winner, Nepalese runner Sange Sherpa, who set a new course record of 19:35:52, did not return to defend his title. Jean-François (Jeff) Cauchon, who finished second in 2022, led for most of the first half of this year’s race, but struggled with stomach issues and vomiting, and ultimately dropped out at 124 km.

Quebec Mega Trail 100-miles: Sangé Sherpa sets new course record with sub-20 finish

Women’s standings

1. Kelsey Hogan (Canada) 24:34:57
2. Ariel Cudmore (Canada) 26:07:42
3. Anne Bouchard (Canada) 27:54:07
4. Marie-Eve Pelland (Canada) 30:43:13
5. Melanie Duras (Canada) 31:54:58
6. Maude Ruest (Canada) 35:39:29

While it rained throughout Friday evening and for much of the days leading up to the race, the weather remained dry but humid for the majority of the day on Saturday. QMT has been steadily monitoring air quality levels due to smoke caused by wildfires in the region, but conditions were mostly clear, and there was no cause for concern to runners’ health.

The weekend featured a variety of distances and starting locations, all converging at a single finish line at Mont Ste-Anne. Overall, approximately 3,000 runners from 12 countries participated in QMT’s 11th season, which featured 10 events.

Quebec Mega Trail is recognized as one of the most beautiful, but also one of the toughest trail races in Canada. Founded in 2012, QMT takes pride in contributing to the development of trail running in Quebec and being known for its safety, sustainable development practices and for its constant innovations. Its courses traverse the Charlevoix and Côte de Beaupré regions.

In other QMT news, for the third year in a row, QMT 25 has been selected to be part of Salomon’s Golden Trail National Series (GTNS). Participating athletes earned twice the points in GTNS ranking, thanks to an agreement between the organizations. This is the only Canadian race to be included in the GTNS this year.

For more on Hogan’s course record, women’s results and 110K results, click here. full results, click here.