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Keegan Swenson and Carolin Schiff win Garmin UNBOUND Gravel 200

  • Ron 

Keegan Swenson and Carolin Schiff won the 2023 edition of Life Time’s Garmin UNBOUND Gravel presented by Craft Sportswear. Featuring the largest field size in the event’s history, approximately 4,000 riders took on grueling courses through the Flint Hills region completing 25-mile, 50-mile, 100-mile, 200-mile and 350-mile XL distances.

Carolin Schiff of Bremen Germany, wins Unbound 200 with a finishing time of 11:46:39. Schiff crossed the finish line solo, only accompanied by a rainstorm that chased her in for the last 20 miles.

In the flagship 200-mile distance, a muddy section began at about mile 11 and continued for several miles, causing the racers to walk, run, or ride in the grass on the side of the gravel road. Some riders’ suffered race-delaying or race-ending mechanical issues because of the mud. After dry conditions mid-race, the rain returned to drench the finish line in the evening.

In the elite women’s race, Jenna Rinehart opened an early gap of about two minutes, but 2022 winner Sofia Gomez Villafane overtook her and gained about a minute by mile 40. Near mile 70, Carolin Schiff of Germany caught Villafane with the likes of Ruth Winder, Marisa Boaz, Sarah Sturm, and Alexis Skarda in pursuit. Schiff really began opening up her advantage near the halfway point, ultimately winning by more than 15 minutes.

Keegan Swenson of Park City, Utah wins Unbound Gravel, a 200 mile gravel race through the Flint Hills of Kansas, with a finish time of 10:06.4. Swenson finished second here last year in a similar sprint finish, after 200 miles of gravel and mud he claims victory in 2023.

The men’s race was also impacted by the muddy road. By mile 20, there was a lead group of about 10 riders including Kiel Reijnen, Keegan Swenson, Howard Grotts, and Russell Finsterwald. Lachlan Morton and Ian Boswell pushed the pace early on, creating separation between the lead group of riders and the chasers behind. The group would eventually be whittled down to seven riders who began to play cat and mouse as they closed in on Commercial Street. It was ultimately Swenson who won the sprint, improving on his second-place performance in 2022.

“I realized that I could maybe make it,” Schiff said at the winner’s press conference. “My team from Canyon was just pushing me at the aid station.  They told me ‘okay you have a gap and keep on going,’ and I did.”

“It’s nice to win this race,” Swenson said at the press conference. “Second was a great result last year and I was content with it but to come up that short after almost 10 hours of racing is a bummer to lose it in a sprint.”

Full results for all categories can be found here.

200-mile Pro Women’s Race Results

Name City Age Time
Caroline Schiff Bremen, Germany 37 11:46:39
Sofia Gomez Villafane Heber City, Utah 30 12:01:50
Sarah Sturm Durango, Colo. 33 12:08:09
Danni Shosbree Richmond, England 28 12:08:20
Sarah Lange Lyme, N.H. 31 12:15:40

 
200-mile Pro Men’s Race Results

Name City Age Time
Keegan Swenson Heber City, Utah 29 10:06:02
Petr Vakoc Prague, Czech Republic 30 10:06:03
Lachlan Morton Boulder, Colo. 31 10:06:05
Laurens ten Dam Oudorp, The Netherlands 42 10:06:08

 
Ian Boswell Barnet, Vt. 32 10:06:08

200-mile Non-Binary Race Results

Name City Age Time
Rach McBride Vancouver, Canada 45 12:46:35

200-mile Para Women’s Race Results

Name City Age Time
Name City Age Time

200-mile Para Men’s Race Results
 

Name City Age Time
Tristan Bangma Apeldoorn, The Netherlands 25 12:12:19

100-mile Women’s Race Result

Name City Age Time
Tiffany Cromwell Chinnor, England 34 6:13:54
Maria Doering Banner Elk, N.C. 24 6:39:21
Lauren Zoerner Highlands Ranch, Colo. 20 6:39:57
Kae Takeshita Itasca, Ill. 39 6:44:48
Laura King Richmond, Vt. 40 6:48:22

100-mile  Men’s Race Result

Name City Age Time
David Brower Grand Rapids, Mich. 19 5:49:57
Elliot Phillips London, England 27 5:49:58
Brian McCulloch Yucaipa, Calif. 40 5:49:58
Scott Funston Boulder, Colo. 23 5:49:58
Colby Pearce Boulder, Colo. 50 5:53:20

100-mile Non-Binary Race Result

Name City Age Time
Bonnie Branson Edmond, Okla. 46 7:30:19
Shaune Huysamen Alpharetta, Ga. 42 8:24:53
Tomas Perez Overland Park, Kan. 48 8:52:41
Travis Templin West Valley City, Utah 33 9:02:03
Matthew Rose Calhoun, La. 28 9:14:43

100-mile Para Men’s Race Results

Name City Age Time
Kai Luan Chicago, Ill. 28 9:53:25

350-mile Women’s Race Results

Name City Age Time
Kristen Legan Nederland, Colo. 37 26:06:35
Anne-Marije Rook Portland, Ore. 36 28:03:32

350-mile Men’s Race Result

Name City Age Time
Logan Kasper Baldinwinville, Mass. 29 22:54:25
Luke Hall Boulder, Colo. 35 24:40:44
Ulrich Bartholmoes Munich, Germany 36 25:00:10
Geoffrey Langat Nairobi, Kenya 33 25:36:28
Chris Mehlman Manchester, Mass. 23 26:00:14

Garmin UNBOUND Gravel Presented by Craft was the second race of seven in the Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda. The series features 70 elite and professional athletes who will face off for a $250,000, equally split prize purse. Athletes will be ranked against the other competitors by points received based on their finishing position at each event.
The next event on the Life Time off-road event calendar–and third event in the Life Time Grand Prix series–is the 70-mile Crusher in the Tushar on July 8 in Beaver, Utah.

To see the full leaderboard with all athlete standings for the Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda, visit: lifetimegrandprix.com. Follow along throughout the 2023 season on Instagram: @lifetimegrandprix.

Tags: Alexis Skarda, athletes, Boulder, Calendar, CANYON, Carolin Schiff, chicago, Craft, Czech Republic, Durango, Garmin, Garmin Unbound Gravel, Germany, Heber City, Ian Boswell, Keegan Swenson, Kiel Reijnen, Lachlan Morton, Laurens ten Dam, London, Netherlands, off-road, Petr Vakoc, Portland, Ruth Winder, Scott, The Netherlands, UNBOUND, Vancouver, women
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