There was a new record set at the Pikes Peak Marathon on Aug. 25, but it wasn’t the one everyone was anticipating. All eyes were on Catalan superstar Kilian Jornet (Salomon) as he went after Matt Carpenter’s longstanding record in the grueling race up and down the iconic, 14,115-foot mountain in Manitou Springs, CO. Carpenter, a local legend who retired in 2012, was nearly invincible on Pikes Peak, winning the 13.3-mile Pikes Peak Ascent and the 26.2-mile Pikes Peak Marathon a combined 16 times, including his seemingly unbeatable records (2:01:06, 3:16:39) set in 1993.

Although Jornet ran strong and won the race in one of the fastest times in history (3:27:29) to win the Salomon Golden Trail World Series race, it was Swiss star Maude Mathys (Salomon) who stole the show. Jornet took a big early lead as he climbed 7815 feet to the turnaround point, but his 2:09:21 summit time was far off what he thought he’d need to challenge Carpenter’s mark. He still ran the fifth fastest time in history and won with a sizable gap over runner-up Sage Canaday (3:39:05).

On a weekend when Arlene Pieper was honored on the 60th anniversary of her 1959 Pikes Peak Marathon finish, Mathys obliterated the women’s record by completing the course in 4:02:41 and taking nearly 13 minutes off Megan Kimmel’s 4:15:04 effort from 2018. She had a 5-minute lead at the 5-mile mark and stormed to the top in 2:29:15, and despite taking a gnarly spill on the way down, she continued her dominance to the finish line.