B.C.’ s Emilie Mann smashed the ladies’s course file on the Run Rabbit Run 100-miler in Steamboat Springs, Colo., on September fifteenth, ending in 19 hours, 48 minutes, and 5 seconds. Mann shattered the earlier file of 20:16:54 (set by Colorado’s Michele Yates in 2013) by almost half-hour—and he or she credit extra than simply logging miles for her success. The race, infamous for its punishing altitude (it begins at over 2,000 metres and contains 6,000 metres of climbing) pushes athletes to their limits; right here’s what Mann informed Canadian Operating helped her dominate RRR.
It was a formidable 100-mile debut for Mann, who, in 2023, gained the Golden Extremely 60K distance, the Sinister 7 50K and the Squamish 50-Mile (working the third-fastest girls’s time within the race’s historical past). Again in 2019, she gained the Canadian Lengthy Distance Mountain Operating Championship and went on to compete on the World Mountain Operating Championships in Argentina, the place she completed 57th within the lengthy distance (41.5-km) class. Mann, who’s sponsored by Merrell, at present makes her dwelling in Kelowna, B.C.
Operating with legends
From the beginning, Mann discovered herself working alongside by a number of the largest names within the ultra-trail world. Relatively than being intimidated, Mann felt lifted up by the highest girls rivals. “It was so enjoyable to satisfy them in individual,” she stated, of working alongside U.S. runners Leah Yingling (who ultimately completed second in 20:19:25), Emily Caldwell (third within the 2021 version of RRR) and Clare Gallagher (2022 Leadville 100 champ) amongst different elite girls. “After I handed every of them, it was like passing your largest fan; even once they had been in a low, they had been so supportive.” These trail-running “celebs” grew to become a part of Mann’s motivation to push by, including a particular spark to her 100-mile journey.
A workforce effort
Mann had her associate, Tim Ropchan, crewing for her each step of the way in which, and he or she credit their teamwork as a big a part of her success. Their first support station transition didn’t go as deliberate—Mann by chance left sporting two totally different footwear! “Tim sprinted after me with the right shoe,” she says. “We nailed all the opposite support stations, although.” His regular assist was essential in retaining her grounded because the miles piled up.
A coach who set the bar excessive
Mann credit her coach, Dave Stevens of Nelson, B.C. (Stevens additionally gained RRR in 2019), with giving her the technique that in the end led to her victory. “He informed me to respect the gap however set a lofty aim,” she explains. She fought the urge to start out too quick and held again her velocity within the early levels. “It actually paid off. I had no main lows except for an upset abdomen for perhaps 15km.” This cautious pacing, so difficult to do in an extended race, helped her preserve momentum and set her up for a powerful end.
Inspiration from one of the best
Mann, who grew up in Fernie, B.C., additionally carried private inspiration along with her within the type of a reputation written on her thigh—that of beloved Fernie race director Abi Moore, who was killed in a automotive accident in July. “I wrote Abi Moore’s identify with a coronary heart beside it,” she shared, paying tribute to a fellow runner who continues to be an enormous inspiration. Abi’s husband, Mike, informed Mann that RRR was one of many races Abi had at all times needed to do. “I might have beloved to race along with her,” Mann stated. Abi’s identify was a robust connection that helped Mann energy ahead.
The kindness of fellow runners and volunteers was one other key component that lifted Mann all through the race. Whether or not competing within the elite class or as common runners, “everybody was so sort and completely satisfied to talk—even at 3 a.m.,” she stated. The path working group’s camaraderie gave her the psychological enhance she wanted in the course of the hardest elements of the race. Mann’s unimaginable race-day efficiency was not solely as a result of her health and quick ft, but in addition credited to the assist, technique and inspiration that carried her throughout the end line.
