Claire Sirmon powered herself up to the top of Monument Ridge in the Gravelly Mountain Range on Saturday. The 21-year-old led the half marathon race, but she had thousands of feet of climbing left to beat.
Behind her, runners crossed the rolling hills in hopes of finishing one of the highest elevation and most difficult road races in the world: the Madison Half and Full Marathon.
âI always tell people to add on an hour to their normal running time,â race director Sam Korsmoe said in an interview with the Gazette. âThe race is brutal and averages over 9,000 feet, but people love it.â