With her win of the women's category (and 10th overall) at the Silk Road Mountain Race recently, Meaghan has smashed her goal of completing all three Mountain Races in the series in a single season (Atlas in Morocco, Hellenic in Greece, and Silk Road in Kyrgyzstan). We were thrilled to have had to chance to do a Triple Crown recap and Q&A with Meaghan - watch/listen to the full interview or keep reading for some of the top questions.
Meaghan is the 1st woman to complete all three mountain races in a single season, and the 2nd fastest person overall. Let's kick things off with a summary of these impressive stats:
1) Atlas Mountain Race Morocco: 1,305 km and 23,220 m of climbing - 2nd place / 17th overall 5 days, 1 hr, 30 mins
2) Hellenic Mountain Race Greece: 877 km and 27,600 m of climbing - 1st place / 9th overall 4 days, 7 hrs
3) Silk Road Mountain Race Kyrgyzstan: 1,920 km and 28,240 m of climbing - 1st place / 10th overall 9 days, 4 hours, 6 minutes Total time: 18 days, 12 hrs, 36 mins
Q: What was the inspiration behind this challenge?
"I turned forty this year and I was kind of inspired by this big birthday to swing big, you know, do something even larger than I've done before. In 2024, I did the Tour Divide. So that's kind of a hard one to top. But the mountain races definitely did it. Not quite as much distance, but longer time out there. Three countries, more varied terrain. I really wanted to challenge myself because I'm competitive, but I also wanted to be a contributing force in the growing and dynamic women's field. And, you know, in bikepack racing, we've seen the women's field grow. It's been exciting to be part of that community and that competition.
The Mountain Race Series dedicates equal coverage to men and women. So it was, yeah, cool to get some good media coverage as well, I guess. And I'm really excited that I committed myself to this season and it feels great to wrap things up in this position."
Q: What bike setup were you riding for Silk Road Mountain Race?
It takes a ton of though to get the right set up for these ultra races, so for full details check out her full bike check video by Cameron Russell for Apidura (and keep an eye out for the ShockStop PRO Race Seatpost ;) ).
Q: What are some key takeaways from your experience completing all three races?
"First one, is that your prep work pays off. Everything I did to get ready, all the late night tinkering on the bike, all the thinking about which sleeping bag to buy, all of that pays off when you're racing and you can turn your brain off a bit and just enjoy being out there in the landscape. But if you don't do that prep work, if you don't know what's coming, for me, I find I have more stress and anxiety. You might not make the best kit decisions, and you might not have quite as positive an experience. For instance, I took my bike in to get serviced before the race. I had my fork sent off and fully serviced, and in Silk Road, I had zero mechanicals.
After every race, I did kind of a post-mortem and evaluated for my kit and myself what worked, what didn't work, what would I like to change, what do I need to change, what should I research?
Second, eat as much as you can. It's hard to compensate for all the calories you're losing. And you just want to find ways to do that, whether it's, you know, filling up at ice creams at the resupply or putting Pepsi in your water bladder or getting lots of sandwiches and packing them around with you.
And then finally, chasing adventure, not rankings. I'm really motivated by the landscape, by discovering what's around that corner. And to me, I think that is a healthier and more sustainable long-term motivator than rankings. I like doing well and I am competitive and I find the tracker does motivate me for sure. But I think the bigger motivator is the excitement of being in this landscape, being self-supported with minimal gear and having to find my way through some of these challenging situations, while there is a time pressure."
Jump into the video to find out what races might be on the list for next year, what advice would you give to someone new to the Mountain Races, which race was the most challenging to Meg, what the sense of community was like at these events and more behind the scenes details of her experience. We enjoyed hearing about her experience so much and can't wait to see what else she tackles next year. Thanks, Meaghan!
*About Meaghan:* Meaghan Hackinen is a writer and ultra-endurance cyclist from Canada’s West Coast. Her two-wheeled adventures have taken her from Haida Gwaii to Mexico’s high plateaus, across Canada and the United States, and from North Cape to Tarifa along some of Europe’s highest paved roads. In addition to being the 2024 Tour Divide winner in the women’s division, she is a Trans Am Bike Race, NorthCape4000, Transcontinental Race, and Paris-Brest-Paris finisher, as well as a 2X World 24 Hour Time Trial Champion. Follow her adventures on Instagram @meaghanhackinen and check out her writing & events at https://meaghanhackinen.com
