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Results: Clare Gallagher, women shine in Aspen Backcountry Marathon trail race

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Austin Colbert
  

Race winner Clare Gallagher gets a high five after she crossed the finish line of the Aspen Backcountry Marathon on Saturday, July 30, 2022, at Rio Grande Park in Aspen. The Boulder-based runner not only beat all the women, but she beat the men, taking the overall race title. Gallagher is an accomplished ultrarunner, having won the prestigious Leadville 100 in 2016.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Noted ultrarunner Clare Gallagher stole the show Saturday in the return of the Aspen Backcountry Marathon, winning the race that takes athletes over much of Smuggler and Red Mountain with a start and finish at Rio Grande Park.

Gallagher, the 30-year-old from Boulder, finished in 4 hours, 7 minutes, 43.7 seconds. Not only did her time best all of the other female competitors, but it easily beat the entire men’s field, as well. Gallagher is an accomplished athlete, her 2016 win in the Leadville 100 arguably at the top of the list.

The top male finisher was Alex Gordon, a 23-year-old from Maryland, who finished second overall in 4:16:16.1. Aspen’s Julia Rowland, 41, finished third overall in 4:23:33.8. Boulder’s Caroline Veltri Baker, 32, was fourth overall in 4:23:59.1, and Carbondale’s Zoe Rom, 28, was sixth overall in 4:44:38.6, giving the women four runners in the top six.

Basalt’s John Hughes, 47, was second among men, taking fifth overall in 4:24:19.6. Kansan Cade Evans, 20, rounded out the men’s marathon podium, finishing seventh overall in 4:52:52.1.

Among those who did not finish the race was Aspen’s Kristin Layne, who won the women’s race last year. Boulder’s David Roche, the overall marathon champion from a year ago, did not compete this summer.


In the half marathon on Saturday, Boulder’s Brett Wachtendorf, 29, took top honors in 2:10:30.4. In second was California’s Peter Davis, 25, in 2:12:35.6, and in third was Carbondale’s Tristan Purdy, 25, in 2:17:37.9.

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The top female finisher in the half marathon was Lacey Bourgois, 35 of Colorado Springs, who finished fifth overall in 2:32:56.4. Genevieve Lillis, 31 of Snowmass, was second (seventh overall) in 2:37:12.5, and Wheat Ridge’s Erica Cohen, 40, was third (eighth overall) in 2:37:45.1.

The Aspen Backcountry Marathon is produced by the special events department of the city of Aspen.

This coming Saturday, Aug. 6, will mark the return of Aspen Skiing Co.’s Snowmass 50 mountain bike race, which was previously known as the Power of Four.

acolbert@aspentimes.com

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