The Vapor Trail 125 is not your average race. Kicking off at 10 p.m. and covering 125 miles with over 15,000 feet of climbing, it is part high-alpine epic, part sleep-deprived fever dream. This year, Kona Factory Team rider Cory Wallace and long-time Kona Ambassador Becky Gardner both lined up, one chasing the front, the other chasing her personal best.
For Wallace, the event was a decade in the making. “The Vapor Trail 125 has been on my hit list for the last 10 years. This year I finally had a chance to do it, and it was awesome. Blew my expectations away.”
He stayed measured through the early fireworks before pulling clear on Hancock Pass at 12,000 feet. By Monarch Crest, Wallace was ahead of record pace and building a commanding gap, only to see it narrow late in the day. “We rode together for about an hour, and then on the hike-a-bike over the high point of the course, I managed to ride a few sections that others were walking. That gave me a minute gap, and from there it started to expand.”
Riding solo into the night gave Wallace a rare chance to take in the Colorado backcountry. “With so much wildlife out there, I have never seen so many animals in my life. Elk, deer, coyotes, foxes. Going over Monarch Pass under a full moon, through a cloud where you could only see 10 feet ahead, it was pretty wild.”
By the third feed zone, Cory was still minutes ahead of record pace. “It was incredible. The sunrise on one side, the full moon on the other, and an hour of riding along Monarch Crest in between. It was one of the most memorable sections of riding I have ever done.”
The final miles brought a scare when rival Cody suddenly reappeared just minutes back, but Wallace had enough in reserve to close the door. “Just before the last highway section, I looked back and there was Cody Cupp, a minute behind. I had to hammer the final stretch, but managed to put a few more minutes into him and finish in 12 hours. Unreal.”
Becky’s race was less about podium pressure and more about surviving the Vapor’s beautiful brutality. “The best way I can explain the Vapor Trail 125? It is having the absolute time of your life ripping Colorado’s most ridiculously beautiful trails while every fiber of your body is screaming at you to quit and go home.”
If Wallace thrived on rhythm and strategy, Gardner leaned into the chaos. The aid stations, she said, felt more like stumbling into a dive bar bathroom at 2 a.m. than a typical race feed. “The volunteers radiate that same unhinged hype-girl energy as the stranger who is suddenly your best friend, fixing your mascara, trash-talking your ex, and convincing you you are unstoppable. Only here, instead of relationship advice, they are cramming snacks into your hands and making your oxygen-starved brain believe you can actually finish.”
Gardner shaved nearly two hours off her 2023 time and, despite swearing at 4 a.m. she would never return, is already eyeing 2026. “It is pure chaos. And honestly, I have never had so much fun. There is a 99.9 percent chance I will be back next year to chase an even faster finish.”
Together, Wallace and Gardner showed two extremes of what the Vapor Trail 125 offers: at the sharp end, a high-stakes alpine battle under the moon and sun; further back, a test of grit, humor, and joy in equal measure.
