When Michael McKnight set out to complete the Triple Crown of 200s this year, he simply wanted to complete the Bigfoot 200, Tahoe 200 and Moab 240 in a faster combined time than his record combined time of 205 hours, 4 minutes and 18 seconds from 2017. In the process of successfully resetting his Triple Crown record, he also made history.
After winning the 2019 Bigfoot 200 in August, McKnight realized that he might be able to do more than just improve upon his record-setting Triple Crown time from two years ago. After all, he finished the first of the Triple Crown races, a roughly 206-mile race in the state of Washington, more than 18 hours faster than in 2017.
“I know a lot can happen at the remaining two races, but I’m feeling very confident right now,” McKnight said back in August.
He used that confidence to continue his winning ways at the Tahoe 200 last month. He won that race in the third-fastest-ever time by circumnavigating Lake Tahoe nearly 17 hours faster than he did in the 2017 race. With a roughly 35-hour lead on his 2017 Triple Crown record time, McKnight lined up for his third 200-plus mile race in as many months at the Moab 240, a 240-mile race through Utah.
Racing in his home state of Utah this past weekend, McKnight stormed to an emphatic third consecutive win by finishing in 59 hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds--almost 12 hours ahead of the second-place finisher and an eight-plus hour improvement on his 2017 time.
The Moab 240 win cemented McKnight’s historic Triple Crown performance in the record books. Not only did McKnight shatter his previous Triple Crown record by more than 40 hours, finishing with a combined three-race time of 162 hours, 0 minutes and 50 seconds, but he also became the first person to win all three races of the Triple Crown in the same year.
“This [Triple Crown win] is a testimony to me that we truly are the ones who define and set our own limits. Thankfully, we are capable of breaking those limits as well,” said McKnight.
It’s believed that McKnight will next be napping for the foreseeable future. He’s earned it.
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