The fifth race of the 2019 Golden Trail World Series is perhaps the most famed trail race on American soil, and this year the Pikes Peak Mountain Marathon will play host to the elite athletes of the sport. Spain’s Kilian Jornet (Team Salomon) leads an all-star cast from around the globe that will take to the starting line on Sunday morning, August 25th. The 42km race is the highest in altitude on the Golden Trail World Series. It begins and ends in Manitou Springs, Colorado and climbs 2,382 meters to an elevation of 4,302 meters—the top of the famed Pikes Peak. It’s also a race with a seemingly unbreakable course record. The men’s record time of 3:16:39 has stood since 1991.
With Jornet on hand, as well as a deep field of elite runners in the women’s race, what is “unbreakable” may be called into question this weekend. The Spaniard is coming off a legendary performance two weeks ago at the ultra-competitive Sierre-Zinal race in Switzerland, where he shattered the 16-year-old course record by three minutes and 37 seconds and left behind a field of elite athletes from a variety of running disciplines. Pikes Peak, however, is a different animal.
“Pikes Peak Marathon is one of the oldest mountain races,” said Jornet, ever a student of the sport. “The Ascent race dates from 1936 and the marathon from 1956. It was the third marathon in the US and the first one to allow women to participate. The race is very logical. Run up to the summit and down, and the history behind it is what attracted me to run there.”
Swiss star Rémi Bonnet (Team Salomon), who had strong races at Sierre-Zinal and the Marathon du Mont Blanc, will bring his considerable climbing skills to Pikes Peak. France’s Thibaut Baronian (Team Salomon), who was 3rd at Zegama, will also be in the hunt. Swiss athlete Marc Lauenstein (Team Salomon), a former winner at Pikes, is making a comeback from a foot injury and says he is full-go this weekend, while American trail veteran Max King (Team Salomon) will relish the rare chance to run on home soil against top European talent.
“It is a very runnable race, but it’s hard. The ascent is not big and isn’t steep either, but the altitude is a huge factor. Probably the key to being successful in the race is to be well acclimatized and to not start to strong because after that the altitude really hits you,” Jornet added.
Last year, Salomon athlete and Colorado resident Megan Kimmel (Team Salomon) relied on her high altitude conditioning to break the women’s course record, winning in 4:15:04 to better the mark that had stood since 1981 by 14 seconds. Maude Mathys (Team Salomon) is coming off a course record-breaking win on her home soil at Sierre-Zinal and her skills as a climber should send her to the front in the early going, and maybe to stay. Mathys was 3rd at the Dolomyths Sky run in Italy as well.
