It's been a big year for smashing course records at the world's most iconic ultra marathons. First, David Roche felled the longstanding record at the Leadville 100, then Katie Schide dethroned Courtney Dauwalter at the UTMB. Now another record has fallen over the weekend at Colorado's iconic Run Rabbit Run race, which saw Emilie Mann demolish the women's course record.
The Canadian Trail runner, sponsored by Merrell, won the Steamboat Springs race in 19:48:05 – nearly half an hour faster than Michele Yates' 2013 time. The tough course takes place on trails and rough Jeep roads through Routt National Forest, covering roughly 101.5 miles, with 20,391 feet of climbing and desceng. It's one of the courses that Dauwaulter cut her teeth on, winning in 2016 about 90 minutes slower than Mann's time.
In a video posted to Instagram, which you can watch below, Mann says that this was the first time she's completed a 100-mile race.
"So that's what a hundred miles feels like. Holy smokes!"
She also reveals that her coach is last year's winner Dave Stevens, who talked her into running the race and wrote out all of the aid stations on the course with timings for her to meet – all of which she came in well ahead of to grab the crown and $15,000 prize money.
What shoes did she use?
Throughout the year, we've been following the biggest ultra successes and the trail running shoes that were worn to reach the podium, and we've seen a fair few chunky soles out there such as the Hoka Tecton X 3 and the North Face Summit Vectiv Pros worn by Vincent Bouillard and Katie Schide respectively at this year's UTMB.
It's no surprise that anyone running 100 miles would want some reason foam underfoot, but it looks like Mann decided to go against the grain in that department, opting instead for the super light Merrell Long Sky 2 Matryx which have a relatively modest stack of just 23.5 mm in the heel.
We've been testing these shoes on the trails of Chamonix, Gran Canaria and Scotland this year and gave them five stars for their breathability, grip and trail feel, plus that wide toe box. Jake Catterall also gave these shoes the thumbs up after wearing them for his 2,000 km run across the Alps.
Clearly, the shoes worked for Mann, and we look forward to seeing what she does next in the world of ultra running.
