With no clear favourite getting into the 2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k, a number of runners may dream of a podium end and a coveted Golden Ticket to the 2026 Western States 100 this summer time. Ultimately, it was Adam Peterman and Riley Brady who took residence the wins on a comparatively cool day in California.
Adam Peterman, 2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k champion. Picture: Howie Stern/The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB
At 5 a.m. native time, on Saturday, April 25, practically 700 runners began the race in brisk temperatures on the China Wall trailhead within the Sierra Nevada foothills to run the 62-mile (100k) course to downtown Auburn. The course, which has undergone a number of modifications lately, had a late reroute earlier within the week as a consequence of inclement climate. Nonetheless, runners confronted roughly 12,300 ft (3,750 meters) of elevation acquire and 17,000 ft (5,181 meters) of descent. The race, in its twelfth version, is usually thought of a trial run of types for Western States, as a big chunk of the center part traverses the long-lasting Western States Path, together with the infamous Satan’s Thumb climb, Deadwood Cemetery, and Cal Avenue, the latter of which is a piece that provides runners practically 20 miles of principally flat and downhill miles.
The race additionally represents the ultimate probability for runners to nab a Golden Ticket and automated entry to this yr’s Western States, the historic 100-mile race from Olympic Valley to Auburn in late June. There have been three tickets on the road for each the boys’s and ladies’s races, which means the highest three finishers who don’t have already got a Golden Ticket or different entry to Western States may stake their spot on the beginning line in precisely 9 weeks.
On the boys’s aspect, it ended as a four-man race for these three Golden Tickets. Peterman took the lead about midway via and by no means appeared again to nab one ticket, whereas Zach Miller and Hayden Hawks put in one other epic battle 10 years after probably the most well-known head-to-heads in American path operating lore on the 20216 The North Face Endurance Problem 50 Mile Championships. They took second and third, respectively, to stake their spots at Western States this summer time. Can-Hua Luo (China) completed in a heartbreaking fourth after a gritty effort close to the entrance of the race all day.
Within the girls’s race, Brady made a giant transfer late within the race to take the win and a Western States Golden Ticket. Careth Arnold, after main for a lot of the day, held on for a powerful second-place end, whereas Sarah Allaben surged forward of a three-woman chase pack within the remaining 10k to take third. Arnold handed on her Western States 100 Golden Ticket so as to concentrate on the Hardrock 100 this summer time, whereas Allaben accepted hers. Fourth-place Sarah Humble accepted the ultimate girls’s Golden Ticket.
Learn on for full race particulars.
Riley Brady, 2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k champion. Picture: Howie Stern/The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB
2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k Males’s Race
With not one of the high 10 finishers from final yr’s race returning, this yr’s version was there for the taking. Getting into the race, among the high contenders included the veteran trio of Zach Miller, Adam Peterman, and Hayden Hawks, plus China’s always-ready Can-Hua Luo, in addition to some up-and-coming runners like Will Murray, Canyon Woodward, and Cade Michael. Of these runners, solely Murray and Woodward already had spots in Western States, so the race for the highest three was set to be as aggressive as ever.
Zach Miller giving it his all to take second on the 2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k. Picture: Howie Stern/The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB
Going via Deadwood for the primary time on the 10.5-mile mark, a small group comprised of Peterman, Miller, Michael, and Luo had opened up a small hole on the remainder of the sphere. At Michigan Bluff at mile 22, they have been all nonetheless collectively, all coming via inside two seconds of each other in beneath 3:12 elapsed. Timothy Reed was only some seconds again in fifth, with 2023 race winner Cole Watson about 30 seconds forward of Hawks in sixth. The highest seven have been separated by lower than a minute, and the highest 10 by lower than 4 minutes. Watson would keep close to the entrance of the race for a bit of longer however light within the second half to complete in twenty third.
After the climb as much as the Foresthill checkpoint and the lengthy and runnable downhill on Cal Avenue, Peterman, who received the 2022 version of the race with a then-course-record time, entered Cal 2 at 36 miles within the lead in 4:55 elapsed. Luo was in second, simply over two minutes again, whereas Miller and Hawks got here via collectively in third and fourth, respectively, in just below 5 hours elapsed and fewer than 5 minutes off the lead. Reed, Woodward, and Michael have been subsequent, all inside a minute of each other and about seven minutes off the lead.
9 miles later at Driver’s Flat (46 miles), the trio of Peterman, Hawks, and Miller got here via within the podium spots, separated by lower than three minutes. Luo was fourth, lower than two minutes behind Miller.
Hayden Hawks soaking in his third-place end on the 2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k. Picture: Howie Stern/The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB
So right here they have been: 4 males competing for 3 Golden Tickets within the remaining 15 miles of the ultimate race of the yr to earn one. It was set to be a exceptional end. The battle between Miller and Hawks — two of essentially the most well-known and profitable American path runners who’ve been competing on the highest ranges of the game for greater than a decade — was harking back to their race on the 2016 The North Face Endurance Problem 50 Mile Championships practically 10 years in the past.
The ever-steady Peterman continued rolling, coming via Mammoth Bar at 50.3 miles in 7:12 elapsed. However three minutes behind, Luo had caught up and was now operating with Miller whereas Hawks loomed in fourth, solely 10 seconds behind them.
By Confluence at 58 miles, the ultimate checkpoint, Peterman had maintained his lead, however Miller had opened up a 10-second hole on Luo. Hawks was nonetheless an especially shut fourth, solely 31 seconds behind Luo.
So long as Peterman didn’t blow up, the win — and one of many Golden Tickets — was his, so for the final 4 miles, it was a three-man race for the ultimate two tickets.
Hawks, it appeared, was not going to be denied. Throughout the remaining 4 miles, he made a transfer to cross Luo to safe the third Golden Ticket behind Peterman and Miller.
The 2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k males’s podium (left to proper): 3. Hayden Hawks, 1. Adam Peterman, 2. Zach Miller. Picture: Howie Stern/The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB
Ultimately, Adam Peterman took the win in 8:18:47, Zach Miller held on for second in 8:21:05, and Hayden Hawks was third in 8:23:28. Can-Hua Luo, after 62 miles of gutsy racing, was a detailed fourth in 8:25:17.
Canyon Woodward rounded out the highest 5 in 8:38:43 to proceed his exceptional kind, and Timothy Reed ran strongly all day to complete sixth in 8:42:33.
2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k Males’s Outcomes
- Adam Peterman — 8:18:47
- Zach Miller — 8:21:05
- Hayden Hawks — 8:23:28
- Can-Hua Luo (China) — 8:25:17
- Canyon Woodward — 8:38:43
- Timothy Reed — 8:42:33
- Adam Loomis — 8:53:56
- Noah Dusseau — 8:58:41
- Blake Slattengren — 8:59:48
- Joshua Park — 9:11:55
2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k Girls’s Race
The ladies’s race was equally tough to foretell getting into Saturday. Solely one of many high 10 finishers from final yr’s race — Careth Arnold, who was fifth in 2025 — began the race, with Leadville 100 Mile course-record holder Anne Flower, together with fellow American Riley Brady and Spain’s Claudia Tremps, amongst a pack of ladies vying for the rostrum. With Arnold operating the Hardrock 100 in July and due to this fact probably not accepting a Golden Ticket if she have been to obtain one, and Flower already having booked her spot at Western States, the race for the Golden Tickets was on.
Arnold, the 2025 TDS winner, took the race out quick. She was joined by Brady early on, and so they have been collectively the primary time via Deadwood with 1:37 on the clock. By their second time via the help station, about 17 miles in, Arnold had opened up an almost five-minute lead on second-place Brady, which she held via Michigan Bluff at 22 miles and Foresthill at 28.5 miles, getting into the latter in 4:30 elapsed. Sarah Allaben got here via in third about quarter-hour behind Arnold, with Sarah Humble in fourth. They have been adopted by a chase pack of Ellaney Matarese, Britta Clark, and others, who all entered Foresthill across the five-hour mark. Even early on, Flower and Tremps have been off the tempo, and each would retire from the race early.
Careth Arnold completed second on the 2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k. Picture: Howie Stern/The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB
After the runnable Cal Avenue part — all downhill aside from the uphill components — Brady, who completed ninth at this yr’s Black Canyon 100k and thus wasn’t capable of nab a Golden Ticket there, closed the hole on Arnold barely, getting into Cal 2 at 37 miles simply over 4 minutes again. Throughout the subsequent 9 miles on the climb as much as Driver’s Flat, Brady made an enormous transfer, passing Arnold to enter Driver’s Flat at 46 miles now with a close to five-minute lead over Arnold.
Brady wouldn’t look again. By Confluence at 58 miles, their lead had grown to virtually 12 minutes, and 4 miles later, Riley Brady claimed the win in 9:41:09 to seize the primary Western States Golden Ticket.
Sarah Allaben after putting third on the 2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k. Picture: Howie Stern/The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB
Behind them, although, there was a compelling race for the rostrum and the ultimate two Golden Tickets. Regardless of falling off the lead, Careth Arnold held regular, holding off the chase pack to assert second place in 9:56:36. As predicted, she declined her Golden Ticket, leaving two tickets nonetheless up for grabs.
So it got here right down to a three-woman battle for the ultimate spot on the rostrum. Allaben got here via Driver’s Flat in third with a wholesome lead over her chasers, with Matarese and Humble behind her by about 9 minutes and separated by simply over 30 seconds. By Mammoth Bar at 54 miles, although, Allaben’s lead had shrunk to beneath 4 minutes, with Matarese closing the hole and Humble shut behind.
The ladies who initially accepted the Western States 100 Golden Tickets on the 2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k (left to proper): Riley Brady, Sarah Allaben, Sarah Humble. Allaben would finally cross hers on to Ellaney Matarese. Picture: Howie Stern/The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB
Over the following three-plus miles, Humble moved up whereas Matarese light. Allaben nonetheless held a slight lead over the others, coming via Confluence at 58 miles in 9:35 elapsed, however Humble was chasing arduous and entered simply over a minute again. Matarese, in the meantime, dropped to fourth, about 5 minutes behind Humble.
Who wouldn’t it be, then, to take the third and remaining spot on the rostrum? That they had simply over 4 miles to reply that query.
Sarah Humble (left) and Careth Arnold hug on the end of the 2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k. After taking second, Arnold handed her Western States 100 Golden Ticket to fourth-place Humble. Picture: Howie Stern/The Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB
Finally, Sarah Allaben used a powerful end to take third in 10:14:58, whereas Sarah Humble completed fourth in 10:18:43. Each of them initially accepted Western States Golden Tickets, however Allaben finally determined to say no hers so as to concentrate on CCC later in the summertime. That meant that the third Golden Ticket handed on to Ellaney Matarese, who was fifth in 10:29:16. Britta Clark by no means strayed removed from the entrance of the sphere and completed in sixth in 10:47:47.
2026 Canyons by UTMB 100k Girls’s Outcomes
- Riley Brady — 9:41:09
- Careth Arnold — 9:56:36
- Sarah Allaben — 10:14:58
- Sarah Humble — 10:18:43
- Ellaney Matarese — 10:29:16
- Britta Clark — 10:47:47
- Elena Ormon — 10:56:36
- Peyton Bilo — 10:58:30
- Leah Handelman — 11:05:53
- Kenzie MacPhail — 11:07:30
Brady identifies as non-binary, however competes within the girls’s race.
