Gutierrez and Cuellar win at La Luz Trail Race in New Mexico

2008 Teva US Mountain Running Team Members Gutierrez and Cuellar Victorious at La Luz

Albuquerque, NM -- At today's 43rd running of the La Luz Trail Race, 2008 Teva US Mountain Running Team members Simon Gutierrez, 42, Alamosa, CO, and Rachael Cuellar, 26, Albquerque, NM were victorious. This is the 10th win at La Luz for Gutierrez. "I ran about the same time as the past three or four years (approximately 1:22), and this year it felt really easy. My training is going really well," said Gutierrez who bested the second place finisher by more than seven minutes.

Today's win marks Cuellar's sixth victory in the past seven attempts at La Luz. She hasn't lost the race since 2003 when Erica Baron (formerly Larson) was the winner. Baron, who was a member of the 2004 Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team, also raced today and finished 2nd. Cuellar's time was about one minute faster than her winning effort of 1:35:57 in 2007.

The nine mile course at La Luz boasts an average grade of 12 percent and offers 4,578 feet of elevation gain. This point to point course starts on 1.8 miles of pavement followed by 7.2 miles of dirt trail. The route includes some rockslide areas and lots of switchbacks. The race finishes at the Sandia Crest at an elevation of 10,678 feet. The race fills to its 400 runner capacity annually. For more details and complete results: http://www.laluztrailrun.org/index.htm