Iris Cooper Imhof

About

Iris Cooper Imhof is a Swiss-born Canadian ultrarunner based in Toronto who built one of the deepest 100-mile-and-beyond résumés in North American ultrarunning after coming to the sport relatively late in life. Raised in Switzerland with a childhood built around hiking, skiing, and mountain biking, she was not a runner until 1997, when she met her husband Jeff, who introduced her to the sport; she ran the Boston Marathon in 2000 and, later that year, her first ultramarathon, the Damn Tuff Ruff Bluff 50K in Owen Sound, Ontario, where she fell in love with trail running. Her first 100-mile finish came in 2007, and she went on to complete 33 races of 100 miles or longer, including four starts at the notoriously punishing Badwater 135 across Death Valley. She placed third among women at Badwater in 2011 (29:51:23, 10th overall), fifth in 2010 (35:21:52), seventh in 2013 (36:42:40), and tenth in 2009 (52:09:23), and also finished the Tahoe 200 Endurance Run. Her results place her among the most accomplished ultra-distance finishers to have come out of the Toronto running community.

Notable Wins

• — Badwater 135 3rd woman 2011 (29:51:23)
• — Badwater 135 5th woman 2010 (35:21:52)
• — Badwater 135 7th woman 2013 (36:42:40)
• — Tahoe 200 Endurance Run finisher

Race History