Ultra Trail Gaspesia 100 : Great success despite rain and heavy fog!

Gaspé, June 20, 2017 – More than 300 athletes and supporters gathered in the City of Percé last weekend for the second edition of the Ultra Trail Gaspesia 100. The event hosted trail races of 100 miles (160 km), 106 km, 53 km, 25 km, 11 km, 6 km and 1 km.

The different courses of the event, sanctioned by Athlétisme Québec and approved as a qualifying race by the International Trail Running Association, were completely updated for this second edition in order to present and promote the beautiful Gaspesian landscape even better. This year’s participants, however, had the chance to discover and appreciate other aspects of the Ultra Trail Gaspesia 100, confirming its place on the must-do list of trail running events. Despite the fog- and rain-hidden scenic views, participants were impressed by the high technical level and terrain diversity of the redesigned courses.

100-Mile Race

6 men and 1 woman took part in the 100-mile race, the weekend marquee event sponsored by Rekarb. Only one runner crossed the finish line of the challenging course, which the heavy rain, fog and wind rendered even more strenuous. French athlete Thomas Duhamel (Montréal) completed the race in 26:54:19, succeeding Nathaniel Couture and Florent Bouguin as winner of the 100-mile.

106 Km Race

17 athletes (11 men, 4 women and 1 team) took the challenge of the 106 km race. Emmanuel Tousignant (Ottawa) took the first position in 16:03:17, followed by Kevin Morin (Lévis) and Marc-Antoine Lamarre (Québec).

Karine Isenor (Nova Scotia) was the first woman to complete the race in 18:45:00, while Julie Michaud (Ste-Brigitte-de-Laval) and Krista Kirstead (Nova Scotia) arrived in 2nd and 3rd positions.

53 km Race

A very strong pack led the 44 athletes of the 53 km race. Nathaniel Couture (Fredericton), co-winner of the 2016 100-mile race, won the event with a time of 5:37:04. Daniel Barriault (St-Jérome) and Dany Collard (Montréal) complete the men’s podium.

The highest step of the women’s podium belongs to Marline Côté (Lévis), who finished in 6:21:58, followed by Jasmine Paquin (Sherbrooke) and Christine Bérubé-Martin (Maria).

Stage Race Trans-Percé

For the first time this year, the Ultra Trail Gaspesia 100 held a 3-day stage race. To complete this new event, participants had to run the Moon Trail (11 km) on Friday night, the 53 km on Saturday, and the 25 km on Sunday.

Charles-Olivier Mercier (Québec) won all three stages and took the first position in front of Gaspesian Veteran Gaston Berthelot (Carleton) in 2nd and Dawson Mossman (New Brunswick) in 3rd positions. Carole Fournier (Edmundston) took place on the first step of the women’s podium while Leah Reinburger (Ottawa) and Heather Brown (Milton) receive the honours of 2nd and 3rd positions.

Other Results

Samuel Roy (Chambly) and Marie-Pierre Haeghens (Belgique) won the 25 km race sponsored by Riotel. The winners of the 11 km event presented by Géoparc de Percé are Hugo-Boyer Leclerc (Gaspé) and Isabelle Richard (Gaspé). The Moon Trail (11 km), also sponsored by Géoparc de Percé, was won on Friday night by Charles-Olivier Mercier (Québec) and Carole Fournier (Edmundston).

The winners of the 5 km race presented by Radio-Gaspésie on Sunday are Rudy Duguay (Gaspé) and Marélane Dupuis (Gaspé). Of particular interest is the fact that 2 young runners found their way to the men’s podium : Lubo Lacasse and Loic Côté, both 8 years-old and from Gaspé, prove that there is no lack of future participants for the next editions of the Ultra Trail Gaspesia 100.

Complete race results can be consulted online at gaspesia100.com/resultats.

Ultra Trail Gaspesia 100 : Impressive Landscapes and More!

The comments received from participants were unanimous : the Ultra Trail Gaspesia 100 has all it needs to establish itself as a must-do trail running event in Canada. Technical terrain and rugged trails challenged participants with steep ascents, epic descents and varied geography! All agree that they need to come back next year to finally enjoy the breathtaking and legendary landscapes that make the Gaspésie one of the World’s 3 most beautiful natural travel destinations according to the National Geographic Society.

Événements Gaspesia is already planning the 3rd edition of the Ultra Trail Gaspesia 100, which will propose similar courses in order to present the very best of the wonderful Gaspesian playground on each of its races.

Our Partners

In order to succeed in presenting such an important event in Percé, Événements Gaspesia can count on outstanding partners, such as Radio-Gaspésie, SADC du Rocher-Percé, City of Percé, the Tourist Office of Percé, the Parc national de l’Île-Bonaventure et du Rocher-Percé, Géoparc, Riotel, Intersport, l’Imprimerie du Havre and Rekarb.

About Événements Gaspesia

Événements Gaspesia is a non-profit organization created to afford opportunities to showcase the Gaspésie area through various sports, outdoors and adventure events. With professional events aiming at attracting tourism as well as keeping the local population active, Événements Gaspesia also organizes the Gaspesia Race Series: the Gran Fondo Forillon (road cycle), the Marathon Gaspesia (road running), the Ultra Trail G100 (trail running), the infamous Gaspesia 100 (mountain bike), the Polar Trail Gaspesia Series and the obstacle course race Octopus Challenge!

Our Next Trail Running Activities

• Trails in Motion International Festival Tour (Gaspé) – October
• Polar Trail Series Gaspesia (various events in Eastern Québec) – December to April
• Ultra Trail Gaspesia 100 #3 (Percé) – June 15-17, 2018 

Our Next Events

• Gran Fondo Forillon (Road cycling, Gaspé) – July 22-23, 2017
• Marathon Gaspesia (Road running, Gaspé – August 19, 2017
• Raid Gaspesia 100 (Mountain biking, Percé) – September 2-3, 2017