On Saturday, Bree Thorpe, of Las Vegas, Nevada, won the KPMG Tortola Torture with a time of four hours, 58 minutes and 26 seconds.
Ms. Thorpe also set a new female course record by almost 28 minutes and beat race favourite Vincent Fournier by 37 minutes.
Mike Klein took third place overall with a time of 5:43:22’ and was the second male finisher.
His wife, Bridget, witnessed the fall of her record as she watched from the sidelines with a bady in hand. However, she said she is looking forward to next year and reclaiming the title.
The overall course record holder, Eric Senseman, also hopes to re-run the KPMG Tortola Torture next year.
Well-known ultra runner Jenn Shelton was on the course to cheer on Ms. Thorpe.
“It has the feel of ultra running 15 years ago, when ultra running was a little more real,” she said. “It has that community feel and the excitement of 15 years ago when I was getting into the race which is really, really cool.”
Ms. Shelton said the course and heat were challenging.
“You can make this one as difficult as you want to,” she said. “Obviously the heat is going to be difficult for everyone. The downhills are going to be nasty, but it’s a runnable course so you can make it hurt as badly as you want to. You can make it the hardest day of your life or, I think, you can make it pleasant.”
Baby Got Track (Jacques Roux and Rebecca Paull) bested the six other two-person teams with a time of 5:25:15.’
Three De Hard Way won the three-person team with a time of 4:58:06’ and set a new record, by shaving five minutes and 38 seconds off the previous team record.
Vincent Fournier won the Tortola Torture Agony Run Cup for best performance by a BVI resident, and the JEEP King Of The Mountain Award for climbing from Stoutt’s Lookout to Sage Mountain in time of 32:44 minutes. Ms. Thorpe won the Mourant Ozannes Best Second Half Award (16.34 miles) for clocking a time of 2:26:15’ from Sage Mountain to Trellis Bay (via Brewers Bay).
This year the event attracted 26 participants, seven two-person and 15 three-person teams.
Four individuals were unable to complete the course, including Adnrew Gilliland, who has not finished the event in three attempts. However, the KPMG Tortola Torture team has offered him a free entry for next year and a personalised training programme.
Event sponsor, Russell Crumpler from KPMG, retired after covering more than 26 miles, as well as Philomena Robinson. The event marked their 10th and 20th Marathon, respectively.
Mr. Senseman, a pro runner with SCOTT, set the benchmark time of 4:45:05 hours during last year’s KPMG Tortola Torture. The two-person team record of 5:12:19’ set by Guy Williamson and Roddy dos Santos still stands.
This year the event banned disposable bottles on the race course. Each competitor was supplied with two reusable, foldable water bottles, and were encouraged to wear personal hydration devices too. In addition to ice and food, each of the six water stops were stocked with five-gallon coolers of water and electrolyte drinks for refills. A time penalty of 20 minutes was implemented for any competitor breaching the race rules and using disposable bottles during the race, but the competitors embraced the change and no penalties were issued. The change resulted in almost 1,000 half-litre bottles not being used on the course, according to organisers. All the water stop coolers and bottles will be reused next year.
The 2018 event will take place on April 14. Registration will open on May 6, 2017.
The KPMG Tortola Torture is a 33.74-mile race that circumnavigates Tortola with 12,000 feet of elevation change.
The steepest gradient is 33.33%.
The KPMG Tortola Torture is open to individuals, two-person, and three-person relay teams.
Title sponsor KPMG provides audit, tax and advisory services together with industry insight to help organizations negotiate risks and perform in the dynamic and challenging environments in which they do business.
Mourant Ozannes, platinum sponsor, is a leading offshore law firm, advising on the laws of the BVI, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Jersey. It presents the “Best Second Half Award” for the best performance from Sage Mountain to the finish at Trellis Bay.
JEEP presents the “King Of The Mountain Award” from the Stoutt’s Lookout Aid Station to Sage Mountain. The BVI Tourist Board, is the international promotion partner.
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