This year's Black Canyons 100k was one for the trail running history books, with course records crashing down all over the place on the Arizona course over the weekend.
The race, which traverses the desert on the Black Canyon Trail from the town of Mayer to Phoenix, is the only US event in the World Trail Major Series. Competitors enjoyed near-perfect conditions with temperatures hovering steadily at around 60 degrees and that seems to be the sweet spot for Riley Brady, who dominated the second half of the women's race to come in at eight hours 16 minutes and 18 seconds.
That's nearly 30 minutes off the previous course record, set by Keely Henninger in 2023. The ultra runner and bike mechanic came in ninth in the Black Canyons 100k last year but went on to win the Javelina Jundred in October and will be one of the runners to watch in this year's WSER.
As if that weren't enough excitement, just nine minutes later Tara Dower came over the line in 8:25:08, also well under Henninger's record. After taking seventh in the race last year, Dower made history just over four months ago when she set a new overall FKT on the Appalachian Trail and it seems like her legs have recovered from that mammoth feat. The runner re-signed with Altra in December and it seems like those Altra Mont Blanc BOAs are working out well for her.
Former track star EmKay Sullivan took third in 8:48:50 after DNFing last year. Meanwhile, China's Lin Chen, who took fourth, also qualified for WSER because Brady had already punched their ticket in the Javelina.
Over in the men's race, records continue to tumble albeit with smaller margins. Boulder's Seth Ruhling picked up the pace towards the end of the race to claim a decisive victory in just seven hours, 24 minutes and 55 seconds. That's more than five minutes off Hayden Hawks' 2024 record. The North Face tells us he was running in the new Vectiv Enduris 4, part of the new VECTIV 3.0 technology that’s coming out later this month.
Next up was Will Murray who finished just under two minutes later in 7:26:53, also beating the previous record. The Colorado runner is a relative newcomer to the ultra scene, having completed his first long race only a year and a half ago, but the math teacher has already placed fifth in the Leadville 100 and is one to watch. Joe McConaughy, who has previously set records on the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, John Muir Trail and Arizona Trail, took third in 7:31:37
We look forward to seeing these athletes run again in California on June 28 at the WSER. Check out the full results of the Black Canyon Ultras 100K and 50K.
