Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Yesterday morning, Karin Pocock became the first woman to finish the 2025 Arizona Trail Race, crushing the AZT800 route in 11 days, 3 hours, and 13 minutes, placing fourth overall. Learn more about her ride here…
Photos by Mike Farrell
All it takes is one search of “Karin Pocock” on this website to see that the 45-year-old from Moab, Utah, is no stranger to massive bikepacking feats. In May, Karin was the first woman to finish the 2025 Pinyons and Pines race in Arizona, knocking out the 333-mile course in just 57 hours and 33 minutes. She followed that up with a casual third-place (women’s) finish at the Tour Divide, completing the 2,700-mile route in 18 days and 11 hours. Last year, she took first place overall at the 300-mile Oregon Timber Trail Race, which is even more impressive given that more than half of the participants scratched from the race. That year, she was also the second woman to finish the Colorado Trail Race, but she unfortunately scratched from the CTR this year, which would have earned her a Triple Crown Challenge completion.
Karin is an Arizona Trail Race veteran, having finished the AZT800 in both 2024 and 2023. This year marks her third AZT800 finish in a row, an accomplishment very few people can claim. Last year, she was the second woman to finish with a time of 11 days, 5 hours, and 18 minutes. In 2023, she finished in 15 days and 3 hours. This year, she put all that experience to work and became the first woman and fourth overall to finish the AZT800, completing her ride yesterday morning with a time of 11 days, 3 hours, and 13 minutes. Considering this year’s route is closer to 830 miles and included an off-the-bike hike up to Arizona’s highest mountain, Humphreys Peak, this is a massive feat. Karin was just ~40 minutes behind third-place finisher, Scott Petrie, who completed the Triple Crown Challenge after finishing the Tour Divide, Colorado Trail Race, and Arizona Trail Race in the same year. Nice work, Scott!
Mike Farrell met Karin in Flagstaff to capture her finish. She reported enjoying riding in a sports bra and flat brim hat, and at one point, she had a piece of gravel in her underwear and didn’t notice for miles. After Karin got some well-deserved rest, here’s the text Mike received from her: “Every moment out on the trail is a choice to move forward or stop, to see the beauty or the hardship and to realize that perspective is everything. There were so many moments on the trail this year where I was gifted the opportunity to rewrite the narrative of previous AZT experiences see the trail as a sacred space rather than a grueling punishment. We are all so lucky to have the opportunity to travel through this land.”
Congratulations, Karin!
Check out the 2025 Arizona Trail Race Tracker page for updates, where you can follow along on the live tracking map and stay tuned in for more event coverage. Find it here.Further Reading
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