Megan Kimmel dies at 46 after decorated mountain running career
Megan Kimmel died this past week at 46, ending the career of a runner who built a rare record across mountain and skyrunning events in the United States, Spain and China. She spent more than a decade racing internationally after beginning trail competition around 2003.
Her results were broad and specific: a 2017 win at Yading Skyrun in western China, another victory there in 2019, a second-place finish at Sierre-Zinal in 2015 and a runner-up showing at Zegama Marathon in 2016. Kimmel also won The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Championships in San Francisco in 2015 and The Rut 28k in Montana in 2016.
Silverton Shaped Megan Kimmel
Kimmel made Silverton, Colorado, her home around 2002 and became a homeowner there in 2007. She lived and trained in the San Juan Mountains, and her race calendar reflected that mountain focus: she won both the Pikes Peak Marathon and the Pikes Peak Ascent in Colorado, then set a then-course record in the Pikes Peak Marathon in 2018.
Her international résumé carried the same pattern. Kimmel ran the Zegama Marathon in Spain at least five times, won the La Sportiva Mountain Cup more than once between about 2009 and 2014, and was a two-time champion of California's Broken Arrow Skyrace 52k.
Team USA And World Mountain Running
Kimmel also wore the Team USA jersey at the World Mountain Running Championships at least three times. In 2009, she was part of the bronze medal-winning USA women's team, one of the clearest markers of how far her racing had traveled beyond Colorado.
She ran professionally for ASICS and Salomon during her career, a stretch that tracked with the period when she was piling up podiums on steep, technical courses. She also podiumed at the Transvulcania Ultramarathon in 2019 in Spain's Canary Islands, adding another result to a career that rarely stayed inside one event type or one country.
Record Across The Mountains
The loss lands hardest because Kimmel was not just a local standout from Silverton. She won races in western China, Spain, Montana and California, and she did it across distances ranging from 28k to 50 Mile, with the Pikes Peak record in 2018 showing her range at altitude and on climbs.
For mountain-running fans, the record is now fixed: a runner who started trail racing around 2003, reached the podium on multiple continents, and finished her career with major wins and championship medals is gone at 46.
