Matt Carpenter

About

Matt Carpenter is an American mountain ultrarunner born in Asheville, North Carolina, who took up running as a teenager in Mississippi and went on to become the most dominant figure in Pikes Peak Marathon history. He won the race twelve times, including six consecutive titles from 2006 to 2011, and his 1993 course record at Pikes Peak — set during a season in which he won thirteen of seventeen high-altitude marathons he entered — is still considered one of the greatest performances in mountain-running history. In 2001 and again in 2007 he became the only runner to win both the Pikes Peak Ascent and the Pikes Peak Marathon on consecutive days. In 2005 he set a Leadville Trail 100 course record of 15:42, more than ninety minutes faster than the previous mark, a performance ranked alongside his Pikes Peak record as among the sport's all-time best. He retired from competitive racing after his final Pikes Peak win in 2011 at age 47 and now owns a custard shop in Manitou Springs, Colorado, a half mile from the race's start line.

Notable Wins

• — Pikes Peak Marathon winner 12x (1988–2011
• — incl. 1993 course record); Leadville Trail 100 2005 (15:42 course record)

Race History