RACERS CHALLENGED FROM BOTTOM TO TOP AT HIGH ALTITUDE UPHILL SPRINT RACE

Park City, UT (September 15, 2018) – The fourth annual Red Bull 400 returned to the iconic Utah Olympic Park in Park City today, Saturday September 15th, tasking athletes with a sprint involving vertical gain of nearly 140 meters (460 ft) over 400 meters (1312 ft). Designed to emulate the toughest uphill sprint section imaginable, athletes from all disciplines and levels of fitness, from Olympians and seasoned adaptive athletes to first-time enthusiasts, took on the challenge up the breathtaking 2002 Winter Games ski jump.

Park City has played host to Red Bull 400 for the past four years, an iconic spot on the 17 ski jump series across Asia, Europe and North America, boasting the highest elevation, 7,300ft (2,126m) above sea level, of all venues. The added challenge of altitude affected racers across the board, resulting in a vast number of oxygen tanks required to be on hand.

Almost 1200 ambitious athletes from all over the world came to battle the Red Bull 400, and participated in three main categories: Individual Men, Individual Women, and a Co-Ed Relay (4×100). Today the Red Bull 400 winners had their eyes on the prize, grinding their way to the top in an impressive 3.45.6 by Miles Fink-Debray from Sun Valley, ID for Individual Men, outrunning the 2017 Men’s Individual winner time by a blistering 40 seconds. Megan Foley from Salt Lake City, UT, defended her titles in 5.14.4 to take gold in Individual Women and Team Raging Bulls performed nothing short of a miracle to finish in 2.05.3 to top the podium in the Co-Ed Relay.

Foley, Professional Triathlete, Defending Champion and winner of the 2018 Red Bull 400 Park City Women’s category, said; “I really love the fast and furious events, so I kind of love this, it’s shorter than what I normally get to do but it’s so hard and so fast, it’s just a fun event. And, to have so many people show up here, stoked to race, makes it a really fun environment. I’ve done this race for the past two years and I know just how hard it can be. I was really nervous because of the high caliber of the athletes that are here this year so I was stoked to be able to just hold my own against them. The last 100m or so was a really tough effort, but still a great day and happy for everyone that finished and that came out to spectate.”

Men’s Winner Fink-Debray, an ex-professional alpine skier and endurance sports expert, performed a last minute upset in the Men’s Finals, tearing past Taylor Fletcher from Steamboat Springs, CO, a member of the United States Nordic Combined Team, in the final 20m of the uphill grind. Fink-Debray said; “This was something I’ve really wanted to do for a long time. I am so stoked, it’s awesome, but I’m hurting. I’ve never hurt so bad. I trained really hard for this, the last four months have been kind of focused on this, short, hard efforts up hills, so to win it is just unreal, a dream come true.”

First-time Red Bull 400 racer and professional Ultrarunner, Dylan Bowman dug deep to finish first in his heat and fifth in the finals, said after his race; “I’m in agony, it was so hard! But I’m really happy I came out this year and I’m really impressed with the guys here in the final, that was some really hard, hard racing, even though it was only 4 minutes. I am so impressed with this race, and to be honest I was a little skeptical about this event on the whole, and it’s just so cool! It’s such a great vibe; people are out here all day, everyone’s working hard and everybody’s hurting but everybody leaves super satisfied.”

Red Bull 400 is a representation of the resilience of the human spirit, the depth of will power and dedication to the ‘sufferfest’. The race brings together athletes of a certain caliber, the likes of which included Ultraunner Dylan Bowman and Triathlete Megan Foley, racing alongside and against everyday athletes, in a true ‘run community’ experience.

Red Bull 400 thanks sponsors and partners Utah Olympic Park, BFGoodrich, PC Nordic Team, Spyder, Rocktape and Suunto.

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