Joseph Gray wins a sixth Pikes Peak Ascent by seven seconds; Anna Gibson 13 minutes clear
Gray, 42, reached the 14,115-foot summit in 2:15:14 after 13.3 miles up Barr Trail; Gibson's 2:37:22 is the 11th-fastest women's time in the race's history.
Photograph: Joseph Gray at the 2016 Loon Mountain Race, New Hampshire, by Gianina Lindsey, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe Pikes Peak Ascent is 13.3 miles from downtown Manitou Springs to the 14,115-foot summit, 1.5 miles of road and then Barr Trail at an average 11 percent, 7,800 feet of climbing in all. On Saturday Joseph Gray, 42, of Colorado Springs, won it for the sixth time. He summited in 2:15:14, seven seconds ahead of Cam Smith, who had won The Rut's vertical kilometre and 28 km the weekend before. Jeremiah Vaille, in his first Ascent, was third in 2:19:34. Gray's earlier wins came in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2024; this was the slowest winning time since 2015. First place paid 2,000 dollars.
Anna Gibson won the women's race in 2:37:22, 13 minutes ahead of Hali Hafeman in 2:50:27, with Janelle Lincks third in 2:55:37; she was 11th overall. Gibson was third here in 2:43 in 2023, and the new time ranks 11th among women in the race's history. Her year had already included an appearance at the Winter Olympics.
The marathon followed on Sunday: the same 13.3 miles up, then 12.9 miles back down, 7,815 feet of gain and loss. Chrissy Lofgren reached the turnaround in 3:15 and finished in 5:01, with Rachel Mow and Olivia Fink next in 5:28 and 5:31. Darren Thomas was second to the top in 2:28 and first to the bottom in 3:57; Nate Marshall ran 4:07 and Dean Abel 4:08:19. Kieran Nay led the climb in 2:23 and finished sixth in 4:21.
A sixth win at 42 on a climb that takes two and a quarter hours. Gravel and granite do not care about birthdays.
Sources: iRunFar; The Gazette; The Gazette; Pikes Peak Marathon.
