On Sunday before the group start of the Arizona Trail Race Katie Scott was texting her friend who was doing the race with the typical well wishes. That short interaction sparked something in Katie that had been brewing for years. After thinking about doing the AZT for years she decided in that moment that this would be her year. So she threw fears and doubts to the wind and moved forward with her last minute decision and started to gather everything she need. A process that would continue up till the morning of the race.
Not only did Katie make the decision to race the AZT only 4 days before the group start, this would be her first bikepacking race. She hadn’t been training and she had actually been doing more hiking and running leading up to the race. A factor that may have served her well considering the amount of HAB (hike a bike) on the AZT. Regardless, I can’t help but be impressed with her decision to tackle one of the crown jewels of our sport with only 4 days to prepare and no race history to lean on.
Without realizing, or even trying, she found herself in contention for the first place spot with Ana Jager who made a name for herself this year by completing the Triple Crown of bikepacking, which is the Colorado Trail, Tour Divide, and Arizona Trail. What ensued was a back and fourth between these two that ultimately ended with Ana beating out Katie by 40ish minutes, as reported by The Town Bicycle. Anyway you slice it this is an amazing result from Katie who entered as a racing rookie with only 4 days to prepare. One can only wonder what she could do with a full training period and the lessons she learned on her first attempt?
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