A Brazilian ultrarunner just rewrote history across some of the most punishing terrain on the planet.
Manuela Vilaseca didn’t just finish the Triple Crown of 200-mile races — she demolished the women’s cumulative record by nearly 29 hours, in what is already being called one of the most remarkable ultrarunning performances of the year.
And she did it without ever believing she could.
The final chapter of this stunning season played out this past weekend at Moab 240 in Utah, where both the men’s and women’s all-time series records fell on the same day — and the stories behind them couldn’t be more different.
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What Exactly Is the Triple Crown of 200s?
This isn’t your average race series.
The Triple Crown of 200-mile races combines three of North America’s most brutal trail ultras: the Bigfoot 200 in Washington, the Tahoe 200 across California and Nevada, and the Moab 240 in Utah.
Completing all three in a single season is considered a monumental achievement on its own. Recording the fastest combined time is what earns a true Triple Crown record — and Moab 240 serves as the final, defining test.
Vilaseca’s Record-Shattering Season
Vilaseca crossed the Moab 240 finish line as the second woman overall, clocking in at 76:12:20 for the desert race alone.
But the number that stunned the ultrarunning world was her cumulative Triple Crown time: 201:02:06.
That obliterated the previous women’s record of 230:24:21, set by Jessica Pekari back in 2018, by an almost incomprehensible margin.
What makes this achievement hit even harder is the mindset behind it. Vilaseca wasn’t chasing records when the season began — she was chasing proof of her own capabilities.
When I heard of the Triple Crown, I was very tempted to try it, not because I thought I could break any records, but because I thought I wasn’t capable of finishing them. With this, I mean that you should not doubt yourself and seek your limit. This is my philosophy, or else life would be too boring.
The emotion of crossing that final finish line clearly hit differently.
Now that it’s over, it seems unreal. A dream I never want to wake up from. It makes me especially happy to see how many people were inspired by my story, and that now will seek their limits themselves. Happiness. This is the only virus we want to spread.
Colorado’s Kilian Korth Makes History on the Men’s Side
Vilaseca wasn’t the only one rewriting the record books in Moab.
Colorado-based Kilian Korth entered the final race having already claimed victories at both Bigfoot and Tahoe earlier this year — and he wasn’t about to let up now.
Korth crossed the Moab 240 finish line in 58:45:47, securing the race win and completing a clean sweep of all three events in a single season.
His cumulative Triple Crown time of 156:30:20 broke the men’s record previously held by Michael McKnight since 2019. Known for methodical pacing and year-round training across Colorado’s alpine ridges and desert canyons, Korth’s dominance this season looked anything but accidental.
Australia’s Benn Coubrough took second place at Moab in 68:52:44, with Arizona’s George Cyrus rounding out the men’s podium in 69:48:43.
The Woman Who Actually Won Moab 240
Here’s where the story gets even more layered.
Despite Vilaseca’s historic series performance, Utah’s Becca Rick was the one who took the Moab 240 women’s win outright — finishing fifth overall in 72:07:36.
Rick didn’t sugarcoat what 72 hours on those trails actually felt like, sharing a brutally honest post-race reflection on Instagram.
If you had told this fair-weather runner that she’d be in a perpetual state of pruney-finger conditions, navigating trails that formed into muddy rivers, and managing foot tendon issues that resulted from mud and clay caking on shoes and pulling on muscles in new and uncomfortable ways all for 72 hours, I’m not sure she’d have started.
Washington’s Deborah Anderson also delivered a performance worth celebrating, finishing third among women in 95:08:22 — a powerful redemption after a DNF at the same race the year prior.
A Weekend That Rewrote the Record Books
Two all-time records. One weekend. One race.
The Triple Crown of 200s has always represented the outer edge of what human endurance can achieve — and this season’s finishers pushed that edge further than anyone thought possible.
For Vilaseca especially, the numbers tell only part of the story. A woman who doubted whether she could even finish these races just became the fastest woman in the history of the series.
Sometimes the most extraordinary performances begin with the simplest act — deciding not to let self-doubt have the final word.
