As the 2024 Arizona Trail Race carries on, temperatures drop, scratches persist, and Alexandera Houchin takes the lead in the women’s race, vying for the top spot in the 300 and 800-mile races. Find the day three recap here with details…

Arizona Trail Race 2024

It was a cool 41 degrees Fahrenheit in Kelvin this morning, one of the most notoriously hot portions of the Arizona Trail as it traverses next to the Gila River before climbing the south-facing slope into the “Gila Canyons,” a rugged section of trail that has been known to cook riders in hot conditions.

2024 AZTR Day 3

But this morning, riders down low, including eventual 300-winner Jake Inger, were treated to cloudy skies and a spectacular sunrise. Inger descended from Ripsey right around dawn and after a quick stop to get water in Kelvin continued along the river. Meanwhile, Justinas Leveika, riding just a couple of hours behind Inger, tried to call Old Time Pizza in Kearny — a restaurant known for delivering pizza to the remote Kelvin for thru-hikers and thru-riders — for some calories. Unfortunately, the 40-minute wait for delivery was deemed too long, so he also continued on without a hot meal.

While Inger blitzed over the Gila Canyons to win the 300 in 2 days, 7 hours, and 17 minutes, Leveika took a slower approach across the mountain range, as the three-hour gap in Kelvin swelled to over six by Picketpost. This isn’t terribly surprising given that Inger could smell the barn while Leveika still has another 500 miles to go. And while temperatures stayed (relatively) cool, the sun broke through the clouds midday and heated things up. Meanwhile, Schultz also tried for a pizza delivery in Kelvin, but was shut down with no delivery until 4 p.m. and trailed Leveika in third, just a couple of hours back. From there, there is a significant gap between the next riders in both the 300 and the 800.

2024 Arizona Trail Race 300
  • 2024 Arizona Trail Race 300
  • 2024 Arizona Trail Race 300

Leveika rolled into Picketpost around 7 p.m. asking about services in Gold Canyon and really hoping for a hotel and shower but worried that all of the scratches on his legs from the ever-present catclaw was going to make a proper cleaning painful at best. Given encouragement from the Picketpost peanut gallery, he headed off into the night after having a chat with Inger, who was still apparently so hopped up on caffeine that even though he was solidly horizontal for much of the afternoon and evening, was able to carry conversations about everything from the process of fact-checking and editing articles to bike componentry.

In a surprising development in the women’s 300 race, race leader Ivy Pederson made it to the top of Bug Springs trail on Mount Lemmon before seemingly turning around and descending back down. With Kate Zoe also out of the race, this results in no women contesting the 300-mile distance.

Frances Hacker also called it a day outside of Tucson earlier.

This leaves Alexandera Houchin as the first woman overall and leader of the 800. She had a cold climb up Mount Lemmon in the morning, where the webcam showed white stuff coming from the sky. She posted a video on her Instagram of taking a beat inside to try to warm up and eat a sandwich that she seemed entirely non-thrilled to have to choke down. Houchin made quick work of Oracle Ridge back down to the desert and completed the Black Hills right as the day turned to night.

2024 AZTR Day 3

She’s being chased by an ever-persistent Karin Pocock who is refusing to let too big of a gap open up. Pocock watched moonrise from Molino Basin on night two on the flanks of Mount Lemmon and found sunrise at the end of the Green Mountain hike-a-bike, a good ways up the mountain.

Behind them, Leigh Bowe spent much of the day in third hike-a-biking up the Lemmon Pusch.

TrackerCheck out the Arizona Trail Race 2024 Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map, watch for ongoing race updates, and tune in for more event coverage. Find it here.
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