Pikes Peak - The Five Women Who Took on and Made History in The Race to the Clouds
Records were broken and history was made at this year's edition of Pikes Peak
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, also known as The Race to the Clouds, is an annual automobile hillclimb to the summit of Pikes Peak in the U.S. state of Colorado. First held in 1916, it is one of the most famous races of its type in the world that sees manufacturers go head to head with small personal teams as everyone vies to make it to the top of the mountain in the quickest time possible.
With 156 corners, the track measures 12.42 miles and climbs 2862 metres from its starting point on grades averaging 7.2%. In the same way that the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the ultimate test for circuit endurance racing and the Dakar provides the same unique challenge to those in the off-road world, Pikes Peak is, well, the peak of hill climb racing.
This year, five women made up part of the seventy two entrants who would be taking on the challenge of Pikes Peak. Each one had raced at the mountain before but with only one attempt and with every driver only getting to drive the course in its entirety once, on race day, the pressure was well and truly on for everyone. Let’s see how they all got on.
Laura Hayes
In her fourth year at Pikes Peak, Laura is competing this year in the Turbo Class in the Pikes Peak GT4 Trophy by Yokohama division. Driving a 2022 Toyota Supra GT4 EVO2, Laura was the top qualifier in her category, setting her up superbly for the big day on Sunday.
At the end of her run, Laura set a time of 10:17.538. At this point of the day, that time was enough to set a new fastest ever time for a woman at Pikes Peak. However, as we’ll get into below, that time would be beaten by another of the female competitors before the day was done.
“If you dedicate yourself to something you love, there’s no reason you can’t achieve big things. Outside of the race car, I’m honestly not the most confident human being ever. Inside the race car, you’re not going to stop me. Most of the work happens outside of the car, so that was an area I really had to work on. One day, I decided to take a chance on myself because I knew I could do it, and since then, I’ve become more comfortable putting myself up to a challenge that may be uncomfortable. The more you do it, the easier it gets. So take that chance, because you’ll regret it if you don’t.” - Laura Hayes, at the Women with Drive Event
However, there was great news for Laura elsewhere that day. Her time was good enough for P18 overall - incredibly good given how many entrants there were - and sent her to the top of her class. Hayes finished her fourth year at Pikes Peak in P1 in the Pikes Peak GT4 Trophy by Yokohama Class.
Tracy Gaudu
A United States Air Force Veteran who now works in vascular surgery and trauma services as a Physician Assistant, Tracy isn’t your regular run of the mill racing driver. In her second year competing in the Pikes Peak Open Class driving a 2008 Chevrolet Corvette ZO6, Tracy was one of two women returning to the mountain after their rookie year in 2025.
“The fact that you only get one shot at running the entire course makes Pikes Peak the ultimate test for any driver.” - Tracy Gaudu
Tracy set a time of 10:54.016 which was good enough for P36 overall and P6 in the Pikes Peak Open class.
Emilia Hartford
Also in her second year competing at Pikes Peak, Emilia was racing in the Time Attack 1 Class driving a 2026 Chevrolet Corvette. The YouTube and Social Media star has been immersing herself more and more into the automotive and motorsport world over the last decade and entered Pikes Peak for the first time in 2025.
Emilia made professional debut in the GT4 class at the 103rd Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, driving a Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport for the Mobil 1 race team.
After qualifying in pole position, Emilia finished second in class with a rookie time of 4 minutes 47.756 seconds on a shortened course (due to weather conditions) that ended at Glen Cove.
This year, Emilia just pipped Hayes by finishing in P17 overall while her time was good enough for P4 in the Time Attack 1 class. The aforementioned time, 10:11.018, meant that Emilia thus became the fastest woman in history to go up Pikes Peak. It’s an incredible achievement, especially in only her second year competing at the mountain.
Kathryn Mead
In her seventh year at Pikes Peak, Kathryn is a retired astrophysicist who also previously held the distinction of being the fastest woman ever to race a car at the iconic event in Colorado. Mead started racing when she was fifty-one years old and made her debut at Pikes Peak back in 2020. She was the only woman at the event that year and finished in third place in the Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy by Yokohama division alongside earning the Rookie of the Year honors.
“Driving back down after the race, the scenery above the tree line is just so overwhelming. It’s cognitive overload. Fortunately there’s someone to follow.” - Kathryn Mead
This year, Kathryn competed in the Time Attack 1 Class driving a 2019 Porsche GT2RS Clubsport. She finished in P30 overall and P9 in the Time Attack 1 class with a time of 10:38.163.
Ryan Cheek
Finally, there’s Ryan Cheek. In her third year, she competed in the Time Attack 1 Class driving a 2008 Ford Mustang FR500S. Cheek raced at Pikes Peak with a specific cause in mind - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It affects more than 32,000 people in the United States, with 5,000 new cases diagnosed annually.
Racing for ALS is a 501 3C, non-profit organization that raises awareness and funds through motorsports. All funds raised go directly to research facilities, Duke Neurology & ALS TDI, and Racing for ALS’s Patient Assistance Fund.
Cheek lost her father to the disease in April of 2020. In 2021, while at a Time Attack event at VIR, she learned about Racing for ALS and met its founder, Scott Lloyd, Jr. The rest is history.
“I’d encourage any woman hoping to pursue a career in motorsports to follow that passion! Absolutely anything is possible. Believe in yourself, be authentic, stay focused, be mindful of whom you surround yourself with, and know that it won’t always be easy.” - Ryan Cheek
Cheek finished in P61 overall and P13 in the Time Attack 1 with a time of 12:27.449. But there was always more to this particular run for Cheek than just going fast and putting the best possible time on the board.
That opening photo is fantastic!