Hackinen Wins High Country, Sets FKT
Canadian Meagan Hackinen is the new queen of the Arkansas High Country Race.
Hackinen became the second woman to win the ultra-endurance race overall, and in the process set the women’s fastest known time of 5 days, 8 hours and 44 minutes on the 1,012-mile course. This year’s race started and finished in Russellville.
Scotti Moody of Bentonville had held the best time of 5 days, 10 hours, 49 minutes since she won the 2021 edition of the race.
Hackinen is no stranger to Arkansas, winning the women’s division of Doom this spring and finishing third overall. This year she’s also notched women’s wins at the Tour Divide (seventh overall) and The Buckshot in British Columbia (eighth overall).
“The first two days were unseasonably hot, and right out of the gate I realized that competing was not only going to require physical effort, but mental preparedness and smart decision-making,” Hackinen said. “The route itself was a treat: from epic back roads in the Ozarks and Ouchitas to memorable diners and gas station resupply, plus getting a glimpse of Arkansas’s quirkier side in rural lawn decors, plus places like Eureka Springs and Fifty-Six.”
She said she targeted Moody’s FKT as her goal for the race, which wasn’t without challenges.
“The long autumnal nights were hard on me,” she said. “Moreover, I forgot to pack my dynamo wheel and struggled with charging. On course, I was plagued by tech issues and wound up navigating most of the route on the ride with the GPS app on my phone after my primary device crashed, and the mount for my backup kicked the bucket. I was glad to have the existing target of Scotti’s FKT time to orient myself toward. Taking the overall win was an unexpected bonus.”
Jesse Davis of North Carolina won the men’s division of the High Country Race in a time of 6 days, 10 hours and 49 minutes. Tanner Frady was the first place singlespeed rider at 7 days, 16 hours, 51 minutes.
The High Country route consists of three loops, and each year one of the loops is offered as a shorter race distance. This year was the first year that the central loop was the shorter option.
The 430-mile race was won by Matt Porter of Bella Vista in 1 day, 22 hours and 6 minutes. Natalie Peet was the women’s winner at 2 days, 10 hours, 51 minutes. Dave Easley was the first singlespeeder to complete the central loop at 2 days, 13 hours, 37 minutes.
A third route option, the Ozark Odyssey, was 256 miles of some of the most rugged terrain the Ozarks has to offer. Thomas Miller won that race in 1 day, 3 hours, 43 minutes. Joe Fox was the singlespeed winner at 2 days, 7 hours, 12 minutes.
