Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
A colossal congratulations goes out to Katya Rakhmatulina, who just became the second rider to finish the 806-mile Arizona Trail, setting the women’s records in the AZT800 and the Triple Crown Challenge in the process. Find details and photos here…
Photos by Wyatt Spalding
Just before 3 a.m. today, 29-year-old Katya Rakhmatulina from Oakland, California, arrived at the northern terminus of the Arizona Trail at the Utah border, becoming the second rider to wrap up the 2023 Arizona Trail 800. This makes Katya the first woman to complete the grueling 806-mile course that runs from border to border and crosses the state from south to north. Apparently, Katya hiked across the finish line with her bike on her back. Rumor had it she hiked almost all the way from the Grand Canyon’s South Rim to the finish—but, we found out she flatted somewhere between reassembling her bike at the North Rim and the finish and decided to strap her bike to her backpack and run the final 3.6 miles rather than fix the flat in the cold! It reportedly dropped to 11°F in the Kaibab National Forest that night.
Katya accomplished her inspiring feat in just 9 days, 19 hours, and 52 minutes (9d:19h:52m) surpassing the previous women’s record by over a day. The prior record of 10 days, 19 hours, and 5 minutes (10d:19h:05m) was set in 2021 by Chase Edwards.
Even more impressive, Katya’s achievement follows her second-place finish in the women’s category at this year’s Tour Divide (17d:08h:48m) and a first-place win at the 2023 Colorado Trail Race (5d:01h:53m). This makes Katya the first rider to accomplish the Triple Crown Challenge this year, an incredible feat awarded to riders who complete the Tour Divide, the Colorado Trail, and the full Arizona Trail Race in a single season, taking part in each of the three event grand departs. Not only that, but Katya set a new women’s Triple Crown Challenge record by polishing off all three races with in total time of 32 days, 6 hours, and 33 minutes (32d:06h:33m), carving off an incredible four days from the prior record held by Alice Drobna (36d:06h:56m). Alice’s record was set in 2015 on a singlespeed and stood for nearly a decade. The current overall Triple Crown Challenge record (27d:18h:33m) is held by Jay Petervary, which also he set in 2015. According to photographer Wyatt Spalding who was at the finish, Katya said that the AZT800 was the toughest of the Triple Crown races by far.
Congratulations on another amazing accomplishment, Katya! We can’t wait to see what comes next…
Further Reading
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