Abbotsford’s Jenny Quilty continues to impress in the world of ultramarathons and had an impressive summer with a pair of top finishes in races across Canada.
She took on the ominous Canadian Death Race back in July, completing the 125-kilometres foot race in 15:02:28.2. Quilty finished second amongst all females in that race.
The CDR occurs in Grande Cache, Alta. and has been held annually since the year 2000. It’s considered one of the most gruelling races in Canada, as runners cross through three mountain summits, one major river crossing and over 17,000 feet of elevation change.
Following the CDR, Quilty travelled to Quebec and competed in the Ultra-Trail Harricana Du Canada, which is another 125-km trail race. The event occurred on Sept. 10 and saw Quilty complete the course in 16:15:38.6 - good for first overall for females and second place overall. Only Chicago native David Hedges posted a faster time.
The UTHC is regarded as one of the toughest trail races in Eastern Canada and is part of the Ultra Trail World Tour series. The race occurs in the Charlevoix region of Quebec, which is classified as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO.
Quilty’s fiance Matt Bolam, also an Abbotsford resident, had a strong showing at the UTHC, winning the five-km race with a time of 28:18.9.
Quilty previously made headlines back in 2019 when she bested the entire field and established a new female course record for the Squamish 50 event.
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She returns to the Squamish event on Oct. 17 and prior to that she will be the race co-director for the Bear Mountain Race trail event on Oct. 3. That event is part of the Fraser Valley Trail Races series.
Bolam will be running in the 21km race at Bear Mountain and then he participates in the new Fraser Valley Bike Race series event on Oct. 4. He will be racing in the 24km divsion.
Quilty is an occupational therapist, a trail running coach and a race director for Fraser Valley Trail Races. Quilty and her business partner Katrina Abram co-direct FVTR and started Pacific Pine Running Co together. PPRC is known as coaching and running adventure company focusing on offering activities to build and grow the trail running community.
For more information, visit pacificpinerunningco.com.