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Rémi Bonnet crosses the finish line of the Pikes Peak Ascent in first place with a time of 2:07:02 in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Over the course of 13.32 miles runners climbed 7,815 feet to the summit of Pikes Peak. (The Gazette, Parker Seibold)
First and second place runners, Rémi Bonnet, left, and Daniel Osanz, embrace after Osanz runs through the finish of the Pikes Peak Ascent in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Bonnet won the race with a time of 2:07:02 and Osanz came in second at 2:08:42. Over the course of 13.32 miles runners climb 7,815 feet to the summit of Pikes Peak. (The Gazette, Parker Seibold)
Rémi Bonnet makes his way around one of the final switchbacks of the Pikes Peak Ascent in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Bonnet finished in first place with a time of 2:07:02. Over the course of 13.32 miles runners climbed 7,815 feet to the summit of Pikes Peak. (The Gazette, Parker Seibold)
Rémi Bonnet, center, stands near the front of the starting line for the Pikes Peak Ascent in Manitou Springs, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Bonnet finished first with a final time of 2:07:02. Over the course of 13.32 miles runners climbed 7,815 feet to the peak. (The Gazette, Parker Seibold)
Rémi Bonnet crosses the finish line of the Pikes Peak Ascent in first place with a time of 2:07:02 in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Over the course of 13.32 miles runners climbed 7,815 feet to the summit of Pikes Peak. (The Gazette, Parker Seibold)
First and second place runners, Rémi Bonnet, left, and Daniel Osanz, embrace after Osanz runs through the finish of the Pikes Peak Ascent in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Bonnet won the race with a time of 2:07:02 and Osanz came in second at 2:08:42. Over the course of 13.32 miles runners climb 7,815 feet to the summit of Pikes Peak. (The Gazette, Parker Seibold)
Rémi Bonnet makes his way around one of the final switchbacks of the Pikes Peak Ascent in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Bonnet finished in first place with a time of 2:07:02. Over the course of 13.32 miles runners climbed 7,815 feet to the summit of Pikes Peak. (The Gazette, Parker Seibold)
Rémi Bonnet, center, stands near the front of the starting line for the Pikes Peak Ascent in Manitou Springs, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. Bonnet finished first with a final time of 2:07:02. Over the course of 13.32 miles runners climbed 7,815 feet to the peak. (The Gazette, Parker Seibold)
PIKES PEAK — Rémi Bonnet was dog tired by the last two miles of the Pikes Peak Ascent on Saturday.
The 27-year old from Switzerland led for almost the entire race as he climbed the mountain’s 14,115 feet of elevation. He was hungry, tired and ready to take a breather.
But as soon as Bonnet made his final turn up a switchback just a few hundred feet away from the finish line, all that fatigue went away.
“There was no pain any more in the legs,” Bonnet said. “The feeling that you won the race is incredible.”
Bonnet — competing in his first Pikes Peak Ascent — finished in 2:07.02 to win first place overall. His time was almost two minutes better than Spain’s Daniel Osanz, who won silver with a time of 2:08.42.
While Bonnet had never participated in the Ascent, he twice ran the Pikes Peak Marathon, winning the event in 2017. Bonnet’s best time in the uphill portion of the climb was 2:16 before Saturday, so the Swiss runner was proud to shatter that time.
“I improved a lot,” Bonnet said. “It’s a good race and it feels good to win it.”
Now a winner of both the Marathon and the Ascent, Bonnet’s name is cemented on the United States’ furthest-east 14er.
“It’s one of the most popular races in the world, so it’s good to write my name on the rock,” Bonnet said.
Bonnet most recently competed in the Marathon in 2019, when he placed 17th. And just three days before the 2022 Ascent, Bonnet unofficially smashed the Manitou Incline record, finishing in 17:21.
Instead of trying to win the Marathon again, he plans to rest — after he celebrates, of course.
“We have a party tonight,” Bonnet said. “Tomorrow we sleep.”
The fatigue never really went away for Nienke Brinkman, who was the top women’s finisher with a time of 2:27.26.
Despite leading for the second half of the race, the Dutch 28-year-old admitted she didn’t know if she’d finish at one point.
“I felt horrible,” Brinkman said. “At some point, you think it doesn’t even matter because you feel so s---.”
A familiar face helped Brinkman push through, though.
Brinkman saw Polish runner Bart Przedwojewski — one of her good friends who competes at many of the same races as her — a few hundred feet ahead. This allowed her to surge across the finish line as the women’s division champion before sitting down, closing her eyes and taking a much-needed rest.
“I think it gave me some energy,” Brinkman said. “I saw the finish line and I felt better.”
Brinkman still didn’t feel great 30 minutes after the race. She admitted she was tired, hungry and could hardly think.
But the gold medal helped alleviate some of her lethargic feelings.
“I’m thinking slowly and everything hurts,” Brinkman said. “But it feels a little better.”
Just behind Brinkman was 35-year-old Maude Mathys, a Switzerland native. She completed the half-marathon climb in 2:28.40.
Mathys led during the first few miles of the race before her legs became “very tight” and Brinkman passed her. Still, Mathys turned in a time better than all but one of her competitors on the women’s side.
“I was getting closer and closer to Neinke, but it was too difficult to overtake her,” Mathys said. “But I’m happy with second place.”
Mathys was no stranger to Pikes Peak, as she set the Marathon record in 2017 with a time of 4:02.41.
As Switzerland natives, Bonnet and Mathys were proud to represent their country at one of the United States’ most iconic settings.
“To have two Americans on the podium in America is great,” Mathys said. “It’s such an iconic and beautiful race.”
Brinkman wasn’t born in Switzerland, but she has lived there for more than four years. Even as a Dutch transplant, she was proud to be on the podium next to familiar faces from the country where she currently resides.
“It’s not a Swiss podium, but I work there now so it’s really cool,” Brinkman said.
According to officials from Rocky Mountain National Park, the Keyhole Route on Longs Peak is temporarily closed as crews work recover the body of a deceased man.
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