Anne Champagne is having a terrific season; at the Grand Raid des Pyrenees (GRP) in Andorra on Saturday night, the Quebec runner obliterated the field, gaining a 144-minute lead over her closest competitor and winning the 168-km trail race in 31 hours, 23 minutes, 35 seconds. The GRP was the 9th race of the World Trail Major Series.
This marks Champagne’s second 100-mile win in the span of two months. In early July, she broke the course record at the Quebec Mega Trail (QMT) 100-miler.
The course, which saw 10,000m of elevation gain and loss, saw Champagne’s closest competitor, Juliette Archambeau of France, drop out after 110km. Upon crossing the line with what looked like an incredibly painful stride caused by the lower back pain she powered through for miles, Champagne immediately received medical attention.
In the men’s race, Rémi Gillie of France took the top spot by over an hour, clocking 24:39:12. He led the entire second half of the race, leaving a very deep field in a close battle for the next spots. French athletes Jan Gutterman (25:45:27) and Maxime Jaouen (26:02:35) took second and third.
