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125 km ultra trail harricana uthc charlevoix zec martres

The Heat Wave of the 11th edition of Ultra-Trail Harricana of Canada

La Malbaie, September 12, 2022 – Only a few hours after the last runner of the 125k crosses the finish like at the 11th edition of the Ultra-Trail Harricana of Canada (UTHC) on the site of Mont Grand-Fonds in La Malbaie, here are 8 key points to be take away from this exceptional edition, which took place for the most part on the Traversée de Charlevoix trails, under extraordinary late summer conditions, from September 9 to 11. The UTHC confirms its status as the most popular trail running event in the country with more than 2500 participants (over 3000 registered):

  • For the first time in the event’s history, the Ultra-Trail Harricana weekend featured incredibly summer-like, hot and humid conditions. During the three days of racing, the temperature exceeded 25ºC, which is exceptional for mid-September. For the past ten years, UTHC runners have been used to beautiful fall conditions, so the hot weather was a surprise to many. Most of the participants in the long events (65, 80 and 125 km) reported suffering from the heat.

 

  • The DNF (did not finish) rate was higher than usual on the long distances. For the 125 km, 137 of 268 people abandoned before the end (52%). On the 80 km, there were 92 DNFs out of 245 starters (38%) and 88 out of 380 on the 65 km (23%). It should be noted that many abandonments occurred relatively early in the race on the main event.

 

  • Elliot Cardin is the new 125 km (4200 m D+) champion of Ultra-Trail Harricana du Canada. After winning the 65km in 2018, he had set his sights on winning the UTHC’s premier event the following year. 2019 was no=t his year and he ended up dropping but came back in 2020 to secure the 2nd spot on the podium. He came back for the win in 2021 however he ended up with a DNF for the 2nd time on the course. Elliot did everything right since then and 2022 was his year. Starting at 1:00 pm on Friday, September 9, Elliot led most of the race solo. It was with heart, head and resilience, because he was in pain for most of the race, that he crossed the finish line at Mont Grand-Fonds at 3:43 a.m. Saturday morning after 14 hours and 43 minutes of effort. “I’m devastated,” he said at the finish. “I don’t know how I managed to win this race because I had a crappy day! And I don’t want to ever hear again that the 125 km UTHC is a rolling race,” joked Elliot who did not have a good enough day to appreciate the technicality of the trails. He was still very happy and proud of his performance.
  • For the second year in a row, young Quebecer Jacob Baril-Arnason finished second in the 125 km race with a time of 16:28 (10 minutes faster than last year), followed closely by Gabriel Sanfaçon, who finished three minutes behind in second place.
elliot cardin 125 km ultra trail harricana uthc charlevoix morios

Photo : Ian Roberge

  • Quebec’s Mylène Sansoucy and Alberta’s Priscilla Forgie battled it out from start to finish over the 125 km, through the rugged backcountry trails on legendary Traversée de Charlevoix. Mylène, who came to La Malbaie with her three young children, led with conviction until the Split Naak, located at kilometer 108, where she experienced a fatigue and energy bonk and was passed by her opponent. Priscilla Forgie won the 125 km race in the early hours of Saturday morning in 17:37, 17 minutes ahead of Mylène Sansoucy. “I found out what a technical trail is like running in Quebec,” commented the rising Alberta trail runner. “I couldn’t do anything to avoid being caught by Priscilla, but I don’t regret anything about my race,” said Mylène Sansoucy, who was also happy to be on the podium again after several setbacks at the Gaspésia 100 and the Quebec Mega Trail this summer.
  • Asselin-Demers made her grand debut into the world of ultra-trail by securing third place on the podium at the UTHC for her first trail race of over 100 km.  Up until last year, Geneviève was primarily a road runner and won the Montreal Marathon a few years back.
  • Several favourites withdrew, including former UTHC 80 winner Claudine Soucie, Stéphanie Simpson, for whom the event was not a success (second consecutive DNF), the young French racer Maud Parois, whose goal for the season was to win the race, and Lyne Bessette, whose knee doubled in size after several falls on the trails.
priscilla forgie ultra trail harricana uthc charlevoix priscilla forgie

Photo : Carl Vignola

  • The 11th edition of Ultra-Trail Harricana du Canada was marked by numerous tributes to Sébastien Boivin, co-founder of the UTHC, who passed away on August 19 at the age of 45, after several years of struggle with multiple sclerosis. The event was held in his memory, under his star and a sublime full moon. The Ultra-Trail Harricana was created at Sébastien’s initiative to raise awareness for multiple sclerosis and to advance research on this degenerative disease by holding a major fundraising event at each edition.
  • This year, the objective of $125,000 was largely exceeded for the cause. The cheque presented on Sunday by UTHC to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada (MSSC) was an exceptional $154,571, raised by the UTHC running community.
scsp ultra trail harricana uthc charlevoix collecte scsp

Photo : Ian Roberge

  • Mathieu Blanchard, the honorary president of the 11th edition of the Ultra-Trail Harricana du Canada, caused a stir in the community when he was stranded in France for administrative reasons barely 24 hours before the start of the event. He was finally able to board the plane and arrive in time to take part in the festivities in La Malbaie. Mathieu was fully mobilized on the courses to encourage the participants of all the events, from the 125 km to the 1 km youth. This was greatly appreciated by the athletes, who were thrilled to run alongside the man who, just two weeks earlier, made world trail history by finishing second in the UTMB, just behind Kilian Jornet, and at the same time setting the second fastest time in the history of the event. Mathieu Blanchard discovered trail running in 2016 at the Ultra-Trail Harricana. It was his first race and the first of many victories in the 80 km event. Marianne Hogan, 2nd in the 125 km last year, but also 2nd in the Western States and UTMB this summer, also shone with her presence and generosity at Mont Grand-Fonds.
mathieu blanchard marianne hogan ultra trail harricana uthc charlevoix

Photo : Ian Roberge

  • The 11th edition of Ultra-Trail Harricana marked the return of UTHC TV. For three days, a team of twenty enthusiasts reported the event live on the UTHC Facebook page, while providing extensive coverage on social media. It’s a challenge and a feat when you consider that there is virtually no network on the 10 UTHC courses (5, 10, 20, 28, 28 night duo, 42 Classic, 42 St-Siméon, 65, 80 and 125 km). More than twenty personalities from the running world were on the set, installed in a chalet near Mont Grand-Fonds. All the shows are available in video on Facebook and YouTube and in audio via the podcast #jesuisloup.
scsp ultra trail harricana uthc charlevoix collecte scsp

Photo : Ian Roberge

  • Ultra-Trail Harricana du Canada was also a great celebration after the lifting of two years of sanitary restrictions. The Quebec group Clay and Friends set the site of Mont Grand-Fonds ablaze on Saturday night, as many runners continued to cross the finish line just meters from the stage. The show, performed exclusively for UTHC participants and volunteers, was a huge success!
elliot cardin 125 km ultra trail harricana uthc charlevoix clay and friends

Photo : Ian Roberge

ABOUT LES ÉVÉNEMENTS HARRICANA

Événements Harricana is a non-profit organization whose mission is to participate in the development and promotion of trail running and ultra-trail running and, in a complementary way, to promote the outdoors and a healthy lifestyle, by organizing events that benefit social or community causes.

The organization is known mainly for organizing Ultra-Trail Harricana du Canada (since 2012), the most popular trail race in Canada since 2016! The event, held at Mont Grand-Fonds in La Malbaie, now attracts more than 3,000 athletes from around the world on ten courses ranging from 1 km for children to 125 km for high-level athletes.

PHOTOS

RESULTS

UTHC 125 KM

MEN

  1. Elliot Cardin (Cowansville) 14:43
  2. Jacob Baril-Arnason (Ile-Perrot) 16:28
  3. Gabriel Sanfaçon (Quebec City) 16:31

WOMEN

  1. Priscilla Forgie (Edmonton) 17:37
  2. Mylène Sansoucy (Quebec) 17:54
  3. Geneviève Asselin-Demers (Montreal) 18:33

 

UTHC 80 KM

MEN

  1. Francis Malenfant (Quebec) 8:15
  2. Xavier Legault (Terrebonne) 8:28
  3. Jean-Christophe Smith (Quebec) 8:31

WOMEN

  1. Marilyne Nakache (France) 9:08
  2. Dania Belisle (Quebec) 10:00
  3. Ashley Thorup (Montreal) 10:08

 

UTHC 65 KM

MEN

  1. Samuel Poher (Quebec) 5:59
  2. Olivier Collin (Ile-Bizard) 6:31
  3. Anthony Larouche (Quebec) 6:45

WOMEN

  1. Laurence Laplante (Notre-Dame des Prairies) 7:38
  2. Johanie Beland (Quebec) 7:42
  3. Véronique Samson (Pont-Rouge) 8:02

 

UTHC 42 KM Classic

MEN

  1. Benoit Didier (Lévis) 3:54
  2. Antoine Blais (Quebec City) 3:56
  3. Vincent Lajoie (Montreal) 4:14

WOMEN

  1. Laurianne Roberge (Quebec) 4:44
  2. Geneviève Fournier (Sherbrooke) 5:01
  3. Emie Gagnon (Sherbrooke) 5:01

 

UTHC 28 KM

MEN

  1. Martin Dagenais (Laval) 2:11
  2. Christopher Levesque-Savard (Sherbrooke) 2:12
  3. Jonathan Veilleux (Sainte-Marie) 2:21

WOMEN

  1. Anne-Claude Rioux (Otterburn Park) 2:46:01
  2. Chloé Gilbert 2:46:25
  3. Marie-Claude Cyr (Quebec) 2:49

 

UTHC 28 KM Duo Night Race

MEN

  1. William Walker and Jeremy Rolle 2:39
  2. Steve Gagnon and Guillaume Duchesne-Lessard 2:44
  3. Guillaume Barry and Renée Morissette 3:00

WOMEN

  1. Naomie-Kim Chamberland and Alice Marsh 3:27
  2. Mylène Tremblay and Lyzane Trépanier 3:32
  3. Marie-Soleil Paquet and Kristel Paquet 4:08

MIXED

  1. Josianne Mailloux and Olivier Gagnon 3:19
  2. Véronique Demers and Cédric Deniset 3:25
  3. Christina Larouche and Patrick Pelletier 3:42

 

UTHC 42 KM St-Siméon

MEN

  1. Éric Levesque (Matane) 4:28
  2. Francis Lefebvre (Quebec City) 4:40
  3. Jeetesh Rao Lukea (Montreal) 4:41

WOMEN

  1. Valérie Arsenault (Montreal) 4:41
  2. Catherine Poudrier (Bécancour) 5:26
  3. Léa Caradant (Montreal) 5:36

 

UTHC 20 KM

MEN

  1. Simon Paccard (France) 1:27
  2. Christopher Levesque-Savard (Sherbrooke) 1:35
  3. Clovis Lamarre (Montreal) 1:45

 

WOMEN

  1. Constance De Chantal Dumont (St-Alexandre d’Iberville) 2:03
  2. Marie-Laurence Dulude (Sherbrooke) 2:03
  3. Gabrielle Labonté (Stoneham) 2:07

 

UTHC 10 KM

MEN

  1. François Pépin-Poulet (Québec) 00:52:25
  2. Ian Roberge (Montreal) 00:53:42
  3. Jordan Mino-Roy (5th overall) (Sherbrooke) 00:55:10

WOMEN

  1. Jeanne Burton (3rd overall) (Longueuil) 00:54:49
  2. Mathilde Dupuis (Quebec) 00:54:59
  3. Alyssia Mino-Roy (Sherbrooke) 00:57:16

 

UTHC 5 KM

MEN

  1. Damien Gouze (3rd overall) (Quebec) 00:29:48
  2. Roger-Pierre Lafrance (4th overall) (Montreal) 00:30:09
  3. Julien Laberge (6th overall) (Notre-Dame-des-Monts) 00:31:09

WOMEN

  1. Murielle Aglot (overall winner) (Montreal) 00:29:18
  2. Delphine Hansen-Jaumard (2nd overall) (Montreal) 00:29:45
  3. Gabrielle Champigny (Montreal) 00:31:09

 

UTHC 1 KM

BOYS

  1. Francis Bourdon 4 min 19 s
  2. Joey Vivier 4 min 23 s
  3. Vincent Vivier 4 min 29 s

GIRLS

  1. Béatrice Ménard 4 min 32
  2. Lily-Rose Tremblay 5 min 06 s
  3. Florence Fournier 5 min 08