Running her first 100-mile race, and reportedly helped by a mother bear that blocked the course for seven minutes, Canadian Ellie Greenwood put on a late surge to overtake veteran Kami Semick late Saturday night to win the women's division of the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run from Squaw Valley to Auburn. She finished in 17 hours, 55 seconds.
Greenwood, 32, trailed Semick by 11 minutes with 6.5 miles to go but won by 22 minutes. Semick had the lead before being delayed by the bear, allowing the other women in the chase pack to catch up. Greenwood's speed took over from there.
Greenwood, of Banff, in Alberta, won the American River 50-mile race in April in the second-fastest time for a woman ever. She also won the world 100K championship. She is the second straight Western States female winner from Canada. Tracy Garneau of British Columbia was last year's winner.
Spaniard Kilian Jornet was the men's winner with the second-fastest men's time ever, 15 hours, 34 minutes, 24 seconds.
– Sam McManis
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