A woman from Nelson has won the 2022 Canyons by UTMB 100k endurance running race in Northern California.
Jazmine Lowther finished Saturday with a time of 10:01:54, also setting the women’s course record by one second at the event in Auburn, Calif., northeast of Sacramento.
Lowther’s recreational background is in rock, alpine and trad climbing but got into ultra running a couple of years ago.
The race started in the dark on a single track trail and Lowther told iRunFar she didn’t believe she was leading the women after 15 kilometers.
“Around 15k I ran into the race director and he was like, “No, you’re first female,” I was like,” No, you’re kidding me. You are kidding me. Please don’t be kidding me.” Yeah, I guess he was right. That definitely lit a fire,” she said.
The rest of the race, Lowther’s main objective was to maintain that lead, which she did.
She says she loved the first part of the race that was “super flowy, very runnable, very fast” and that she was able to handle the slow burn in the hilly second section of the race.
The win means Lowther has received the Golden Ticket for the Western States 100, which takes place in the same area, June 25-26.
On the men’s side, another name from Nelson, Dave Stevens, finished seventh with a time of 9:28:22.
To see Lowther’s entire interview with iRunFar, click here and for more on the 2022 Canyons by UTMB 100k race click here.