Team athletes Joe Gray and Lisa Goldsmith compete in Xterra Trail Running National Championships

At last weekend's NW Mountain Running Championships US Mountain Running Team member Joe Gray (Lakewood, WA) edged out Max King (Bend, OR) for 1st place and $800 in prize money. Before yesterday's Xterra Trail Running National Championships Max told Joe that this would be a "rematch". True to his name, the King (Max) reigned supreme beating not only Joe Gray but also Eugene based speedsters Ben Bruce and Ryan Bak. Lisa Goldsmith - team member in 1997 and 2006, finished 5th overall in 1:27:52. Also competing were team staff members Nancy Hobbs and Richard Bolt. Hobbs finished 2nd in the 45-49 age group in 1:39:15. Bolt finished 6th overall in 1:15:32 - 1st in the 35-39 age group. From the official press release:

BEND, OR - Several hundred athletes from 21 states gathered at the upscale Old Mill District in Bend today for the fourth annual XTERRA Trail Running National Championship on an incredibly beautiful, crisp and clear morning along the Deschutes River. Outside Magazine called this the best trail running town in America, and some of the fastest runners from around the state of Oregon and across the nation came to put its reputation to the test.

Ultimately the king of XTERRA trail running turned out to be none-other than Bend’s very own Max King. The local favorite set the standard high turning out close to five-minute miles for a winning 21km course time of 1:08:01. After just winning a six-day 125 mile race through the Rockies earlier this month and coming in second at the 2008 Northwest Mountain Running Championships last weekend, King was able to use his hometown advantage to edge out steeplechase star Ben Bruce, 26, of Eugene, Oregon by just over a minute. Ryan Bak, 27, also from Eugene and King’s teammate on the 2008 USA World Cross Country Team, took third in 1:09:41.

“When I spoke to Ryan, he said he was just coming to do the race for fun. Both he and Ben entered the race at the last minute, but I knew they would be tough competition” King said. Being from Bend, King was familiar with the course and was able to run part of the upper track last night giving him a good feel for the twists and turns. “I love to run a course with tight curves. It might be because of my low center of gravity” he joked. It was a close race for the first section, but at mile 3 Max took the lead and never looked back. When talking to Bruce and Bak, they said that as primarily track racers, “The course was more technical than they were used to. Max was able to take the sharp turns and really open up his lead.” “It’s a great course and nice to show all these runners from out of town what we have here in Bend and how you can go from this really cool downtown-type setting to forested single track in just miles,” said King. “Today was beautiful in Bend, the trails weren’t dusty, just perfect. Bend is really a great place for XTERRA to be, and I think that showed today.”

Overall Top 5 Men
Max King, 28 (Bend, OR) 1:08:01
Ben Bruce, 26 (Eugene, OR) 1:09:04
Ryan Bak, 27 (Eugene, OR) 1:09:41
Joseph Gray, 24 (Lakewood, WA) 1:13:53
Rich Skorczewski, 31 (Portland, OR) 1:15:01

In the women’s race it was marathon specialist Susannah Beck, 40, who took home the women’s top prize with her time of 1:23:07. This Eugene native “duked it out” for first place with Bend local Kami Semick, 42, who finished just 19 seconds later. These two ultra trail runners battled each other just six weeks ago at the USATF 50 Mile Trail Championship in Crystal Mountain, Washington where Beck and Semick also took the first and second place respectively.

This morning, it was an all out tug of war as Beck took the lead from the start giving way to Semick at mile six, and then regaining the lead at mile ten to take the women’s title. 2008 Northwest Mountain Running Championships Lisa Nye, 40, of Bend, who was under the weather and only made it to the race by her children’s urging, came in an impressive third at 1:25:11. Runners for the championship 21km distance ranged in age from 16 to 84.

John Keston, the race’s most senior participant from Sunriver, Oregon, is originally from England and honored the event by singing a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem at the awards ceremony. “I have only been racing competitively since I was 55” said Keston after completing the event in just 2:19:16.

After a 50+ event XTERRA Trail Run Series, 22 regional champions went head to head at this morning’s race to see how they stacked up against the competition. Usually behind the scenes instead of the starting line, Philly Series race director Don Morrison said, “This was a great, fast race. The rolling hills were beautiful but not too technical. Everyone had a great time.”

Overall Top 5 Women
Susannah Beck, 40 (Eugene, OR) 1:23:07
Kami Semick, 42 (Bend, OR) 1:23:26
Lisa Nye, 40 (Bend, OR) 1:25:11
Katie Caba, 37 (Bend, OR) 1:25:18
Lisa Goldsmith, 44 (Colo Springs, CO) 1:27:52

Complete results can be found at:
http://www.xterraplanet.com/xduro/nationals.html

Photos can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/RichardABolt/

An article from the Bend Bulletin can be found at:
http://www.bendbulletin.com/

Shorts

To all those of you guys on the team this year who thought the shorts were short, I wore the USA TEVA shorts as part of my outfit for 80's day at my school, and i was told that they were too short for school regulations.  Even for 80's day.  

Looking for Mountain/Ultra Runners of the Year Nominations

Contact: Nancy Hobbs, Chair, USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Running Council

(719) 573-4133 or trlrunner@aol.com

For Release: September 24, 2008

Nominations open for 2008

USATF Mountain Runners of the Year – Open and Masters

USATF Ultra Runners of the Year – Open and Masters

USATF Mountain/Ultra/Trail Contributor of the Year

The Mountain/Ultra/Trail running (MUT) council of long distance running will select the 2008 USATF Mountain Runners of the year and Ultra Runners of the Year based on nominations received from interested athletes, coaches, and administrators involved in the sport. The following is the selection criteria for the 2008 USATF Mountain and Ultra Runners of the Year:

1) Nominated athlete must show top results in US mountain/trail competitions for 2008 (November 1, 2007 through October 31, 2008) - this will include mountain races (these may be on paved/gravel surfaces as long as there is significant elevation loss or gain) and trail races of varying lengths below the ultra distance. USATF ultra runners of the year results on trail and ultra road courses above the marathon distance in both national and international competition.

2) The nomination window includes the period: Nov 1, 2007 through Oct 31, 2008.

3) Show top results in international competitions for 2008

4) Be an ambassador for the sport - athlete promotes and supports mountain running

5) Be a USATF member for 2008 - athlete MUST have a current USATF membership

6) To be considered for the masters category, athlete must be a minimum of 40 years of age.

To nominate an athlete, send BY NOVEMBER 10, 2008, the following information to trlrunner@aol.com and dave.dunham@comcast.net .

Nominated athlete's name, age or birth date (if you know it), athlete contact information, brief bio, reason for nomination in 2008.

Nominations received by November 10 will be considered in the selection process. After all nominations are compiled, the MUT council will vote (by November 20) for the mountain runner and ultra runners of the year from nominations received. The USATF Mountain and Ultra Runners of the Year will be honored at the annual convention in Reno, NV, on Saturday, December 6. Should you have any questions about the procedure, please contact: Dave Dunham at dave.dunham@comcast.net

We also will accept nominations for contributor of the year for mountain, ultra, trail. Past Contributor of the Year recipients have been: American Ultra Running Association, Teva, La Sportiva, North Texas Trail Runners, the Mad City 100 km, and the White Mountain Milers.

Sleepless in Seattle

Well I'm back home finally, and yes i'm very sleepless, every since I returned to the US I have gotten up around 5ish everyday. My thoughts on the worlds are a bit mixed, yet positive.

I'm very happy we won a medal, it was the greatest team accomplishment I have ever experienced, and on top of that Simon, the veteran of the team was able to cherish a well deserved medal after many years competing at the world trophy, so that was the icing on the cake for me. The trip was amazing as well, and the party for the race, also very fun. Kinda surprised it was so good and people were actually having a good time. I dont think I have ever seen a party for a race that was that much fun, the europeans know how to have a good time after races!

Coming into worlds I knew we had a shot at a medal and I had my eyes set on the gold, as any of the guys on the team can tell you I wanted that more than anything. All summer with Rickey running strong, Simon too running strong and dominating the world masters champs, and the rest of the guys back in the US running great I had no doubts that we were ready to do big things. I was really impressed with how strong the guys ran at worlds this year, and I gotta give a big THANK YOU to the guys, we got that Bronze and we wouldn't have been able to if guys had given up so I just wanted all of you to know I appreciate ya. Otherwise, we all would have went home with no hardware hahaha.

The bittersweet moment for me I guess was finding out we didn't win the gold. I know greedy me huh, but I know we were good and we could have won the gold. We had three rookies including Zac, Matt, and I so I know in the years to come we will give the Italians a run for their money, so look for it in two years.

As of now, I have enjoyed telling all my friends about the team and how we won Bronze this year, its good to have so much support from friends and family. I just got done racing up at the Northwest Mountain Champs and it was a good experience as well. Got a good win, a very slim one, came down to the last 200 meters really. Saw Richard out there showing some of the locals what mountain running is really about, good work Rich. The night before I made the mistake of camping out in an unmarked zone, needless to say it was windy, rainy, and cold as hell, so I shivered all night only to wake up in race conditions that were the same as the night. Next, looking forward to racing in Bend this weekend, again I will have to race Max King again, it came down to the wire this last weekend, and I pulled it off, but this next race could be even closer and more competitive now that we both know each others strengths! Should be great times nevertheless. Thank you to all of our sponsors for the USA mountain running team this year, we looked real pretty at worlds! Thanks to all the staff for being well organized and supportive, things really went smooth and thats important in big races. I wish the rest of the team good runnin this fall as we all are preparing for are different races, stay healthy, take care, adios, ha det, chao, come te vaya bien, until next time!

Post-WMRT Thoughts from Simon Gutierrez

I still have not found the words to describe the feeling I
had when a race timing official peeked his head out of the
timing trailer at the finish line, and gave us the thumbs up
and said
" US men, bronze medal"

A degree of disbelief ? Wanting to believe but not
wanting to get too excited for fear of the possibility of an
error? But then again, as we finished the team was greeted by Ricky and Joe,
they had been looking out for the team finishes and were saying....WE DID IT !

What an amazing feeling, after 4-5 years of believing that
the US men could medal. Years of being inspired by the
success of our women's team.

For a solid year, my personal goal was to get back into the
top 10-15 at the World Trophy, but as I told my team mates the
night prior, I would gladly take 20-25th and 6th USA runner
if we could get a team medal!!

The whole week prior to the race, the buzz around town was
that the US men were very strong.
Ricky and Joe had been racing quite well in Europe all
summer....Our 4th -7th-9th place finishes in the Memorial
Partigiana Stellina race 3 weeks prior gave me a good
indication of what we were capable amongst the world's
best mountain runners. I knew Eric would be every bit as
good as his 11th place finish 2 years ago....Matt and Zac
had solid times from Mt Washington, faster than what Ricky
and I had run 2 years ago...

The evening prior, we had our mens team meeting and my
message to the guy's was clear...Each and every one of
us are capable of top 10-15-20 finishes. We just need to go
out and run and hope that at least 4 of us have great
runs....

As it turned out, Ricky did a super job leading the team and Joe ran incredible, Eric and
myself ( we wanted to be with Ricky and Joe, up front) ran
as hard as we could , fighting personal disappointment, but
not giving up for the sake of the team. Matt and Zac ran
very well and having it been their first world trophy, very
impressive...they will surely improve in year's to come.

My thoughts this week....

Where do we go from here...

It is a wonderful thing to have
a men's team that is so strong that on any given day we can
have a different lead runner and that each of us are capable
of high finishes at some of the worlds most competitive
mountain races..that our national championships are so
competitive that picking a winner prior to race day will
prove to be more and more difficult in the year's to
come.

As Eric blogged earlier, in 2004, I firmly believed that
we could medal in the near future....

It is now 2008 and I believe some of my teammates have the potential, in year's to come, of an individual medal, and most important of all..

..The Italian team is NOT unbeatable !

My initial reaction, when it was totally official that we
had the BRONZE ! Wow, I can retire happily now : ) but I
won't .................................


The USA's Mountain Team women/men/juniors continue to excel. We have some incredible athletes, old and experienced, young and upcoming. It will be great fun to be a continued part of USA Mountain running.....

Simon

Athlete Spotlight interview with Joe Gray

Latest Athlete Spotlight courtesy of usmrt.com writer James Doak

http://www.usmrt.com/spotlight.html

Joe Gray wins NW Mountain Running Championship

Fresh from his 16th place finish at the World Mountain Running Championship the previous weekend, Teva US Mountain Running Team member Joe Gray (Lakewood, WA) edged out Max King (Bend, OR) to win the Northwest Mountain Running Championships at Mt. Hood.

Starting and finishing at Timberline Lodge, the 6 mile "up/down" course featured 2000' of climb and descent on pave road, dirt road, ski slope, rough single-track, the PCT and just a touch of snow at the top of the course. The weather conditions during the race (starting at high-noon) saw frequent rain showers, temperatures ranging from the high 40's at the bottom of the course to the low 40's and wind at the top of the course which was 1000' above the tree-line. Presented by END Outdoor, the NW Mountain Running Championship offered $6000 in prize money and attracted the fastest men's field of any trail race held in 2008. The official results have yet to be posted, but here are the top 10 female and male finishers:

Women’s Top Ten
Lisa Nye, Bend OR, 39 years old, 50:45 ($800 + $250 top of the hill)
Katie Caba, Bend OR, 37 years old, 51:33 ($400)
Jennifer Sventek, Bend OR, 37 years old, 54:18 ($200)
Carla McHattie, Portland OR, 24 years old, 56:24
Amanda Phillips, Portland OR, 29 years old, 56:45
Julie Leasure, Portland OR, 37 years old, 58:17
Ahna Jura, Bend OR, 34 years old, 58:35
Audra Herndon, Boring OR, 25 years old, 58:57
Kelly Kruell, Portland OR, 48 years old, 59:37 (first place masters, $300)
Joanna Harper, Portland OR, 51 years old, 1:00:03

Men’s Top Ten
Joseph Gray, Lakewood WA, 24 years old, 39:23 ($800 + $250 top of the hill)
Maxwell King, Bend OR, 28 years old, 39:25 ($400)
Erik Skaggs, Ashland OR, 26 years old, 41:35 ($200)
Richard Bolt, Portland OR, 38 years old, 42:58
John Howell, Portland OR, 34 years old, 44:00
Anthony Rinck, Hillsboro OR, 32 years old, 45:40
Kyle Skaggs, Ashland OR, 23 years old, 45:48
Ian Torrence, Ashland OR, 35 years old, 46:20
Aaron Coe, Portland OR, 25 years old, 46:23
Joe Gambles, Boulder CO, 26 years old, 46:45
Dean Giblin, Portland, OR 43 years old, 49:12 (first place masters, $300)

Pictures of the race can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/RichardABolt/

When available, official results will be posted at:
http://www.xdogevents.com/scheduleandresults.html

Richard Bolt's 2008 WMRT pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/RichardABolt/2008WorldMountainRunningTrophy#

More race pictures courtesy of the Irish Team

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24280411@N06/sets/72157607307250916/

WMRT Race Videos

Courtesy of Tommy G

First one is here

Second One is here

WMRT 2008 Pictures!

Some pictures, courtesy of Richard Bolt, Dave Dunham, Nancy Hobbs and Peter Hartley. If you were there and have more, please email me at pkirsch@roadrunner.com and I can upload them to the team website.

Peter Hartley,Richard Bolt and nancy Hobbs' pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/tevausmrt/Wmrt2008#

Dave Dunham's Pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/doubledmtnman/2008WorldTrophy#

Eric Blake's thoughts on this year's Trophy Race

The thought of medaling as a team at the World Mountain Running Trophy didn’t really start till 2004 for me. A few of the USA team members were enjoying the pizza and wine in a small Italian restaurant in the mountain town of Sauze d'Oulx Italy after an eighth place team finish. Simon Gutierrez remarked that we were really not too far away from medaling and after looking at the results we were in striking distance for next year.

A year later in New Zealand we finished 6th. Again we were close but couldn’t get the medal. Then 2006 rolled around and the team travelled to Bursa, Turkey. I had my best trophy race I could have hoped for but going to the awards ceremony I was just a spectator as our team finished 5th. But something special happened ….we had the privilege to watch the USA Women’s team accept their gold medals for winning the team title. 2007 came and went without a men’s team medal so as the 2008 mountain season began the goal of a first men’s team medal was still there.
As the 2008 WMRT took off, five teammates and I took off from the town of Sierra and ended the race at Crans-Montana. The course had all different terrain that included paved roads, dirt roads, and muddy single-track trails. It also had steep short climbs, steep long climbs, stairs, down hills and what makes any Trophy race great, loud and crazy fans lined the course. The USA team got a good start and I got out well too. After the first climb Rick Gates and Joe Gray passed me and both looked strong. I was suffering a little bit but then my spirits were boosted when Zac Freudenberg and Simon, A.K.A. “El Capitan”, passed me as I knew the USA Team was in a good position. I made a commitment to stick with them as we entered some of the muddy single-track trail. With about two miles left my rough patches were over and I started to move back up. As in countless other races Simon and I teamed up knowing that the team was running well. As I crossed the line I was first disappointed with my individual finish but happy to see Ricky and Joe already in the finish area. When Matt Byrne and Zac finished we were the first team to have all six runners finish. When the results of the USA Team bronze medal were announced any negative thoughts of my individual race were erased. Now that the men’s team has won a medal I’m pretty sure the team will be headed back for more.

Stats from the World Champs

Here are some stats. Eventually I'll post all US results with how they rank all-time.

Junior boys - Tim Smith's 5th place is the best ever placing, beating Andrew Benford's 12th place from 2006. Levi Grandt's 13th place is the 3rd best and Jon Steven's 31st place is the 7th best.

The team 4th place is the best ever, topping the 8th place finish in 2006.

Junior girls - Alex Dunne's (in picture above) bronze medal is the first ever individual medal for a junior girl, this tops Anna Lieb's 4th place finish in 2007.

Men - Rickey Gates 12th = 10th best, Joe Gray's 16th = 14th best, Eric Blake's 23rd = 20th best, Simon Gutierrez 25th = tie for 24th best. Matt Byrne 34th is the best ever 5th man for a US team and Zach Freudenberg 36th = best ever finish for a 6th man.

US 5th and 6th man beat every other countries 5th and 6th man. So I'd say they were the deepest team in the field.

Team bronze medal tops the 5th place finish in 2006.

Women - Brandy Erholtz 11th place ties for the 7th best ever individual performance.

Dave Dunham's photos from WMRT

They live here:

http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/davedunham/2008 World mtn trophy

Dave Dunham's report from the WMRT

Dave's reports from the WMRT races:
http://ddmountainrunr.blogspot.com/2008/09/world-championship-results.html

World Mountain Running Trophy - Race Day

24th World mountain running championships Crans Montana Switzerland

The weather has been consistent during our stay in Switzerland and race day would be no different as fog, some drizzle, and temps in the 40s were the order of the day.

A long day of racing kicked off with the open race at 8 am. Team leader Richard Bolt (Portland, OR) lead the charge over the same course the men would compete on. Bolt (no relation to the 100m specialist) finished in 3rd place covering the course in 6628. Nancy Hobbs the Manager of the Teva US mountain running team and serves as the treasurer for WMRA finished in 6th and 2nd in her age group in 8938. The overall winner was Pascal Bertrandin 6318.

The World champs kicked off with simeltaneous starts. The junior boys (in Venthone) and the junior girls (in Montana village) began their respective races at 1030 am. The girls would cover 4.2 km (2.6 miles) with 1,100 feet of climb and the boys would cover 8.3 km (5.1 miles) with 2,420 feet of climb. The girls (2 runners score) took 10th with Alex Dunne leading the way with a third place finish in 2333 and Yasmine White taking 38th in 2752 in the field of of 47 runners representing 19 countries. The race winner was Laura Park from England in 2234. The team title was taken by England with 8 points.

On the boys side three runners score in the field of 75 runners representin 25 countries. Tim Smith was the top US finisher taking 5th place in a time of 4302 and was closely followed by Levi Grandt who placed 13th in 4400. Jonny Stevens took 31st in 4539 and Paul Petersen took 50th in 4731. The team took 4th with 49 points. Turkey was the leading team with 13 points and the race winner was Sindre Buraas of Norway in 4212.

The women were the next to start (at 11 am) running the same course as the boys. The team (3 score) took 8th with 82 points in the field of 97 women representing 32 countries. Brandy Erholtz was the top US finisher taking 11th in 4740. Megan Kimmel was next placing 33rd in 5003, followed by Rachael Cueller was 38th in 5037, and Laura Haefeli was 44th in 5132. The winner was Andrea Mayr in 4357. The team title was taken by Norway with 24 points.

The final race of the day (1115) was the mens race, with 161 runners from 37 countries toeing the line with four runners scoring. The US team had its best performance yet scoring a Bronze medal. The team was lead by Rickey Gates finishing 12th in 5717 followed closely by Joe Gray in 16th in 5753 and Eric Blake 23rd in 5822. The final scoring member was Simon Gutierrez in 25th in 5834. Also running excellent races were Matt Byrne in 34th in 5911 and Zac Freudenberg in 36th in 5915. Team USA had the fastest sixth man among all of the countries. The overall champion was Jonathon Wyatt of New Zealand in 5503. The top teams were Italy 43 points, Switzerland 59 points, and the US with 76 points.

World Mountain Running Trophy - Saturday

Pictured above is a photo of the Norwegian delegate presenting information about a possible course for the 2010 World Mountain Running Championship (Songefjord, Norway). We also learned that the 2009 Championship will not be in Italy. While the local organising committee was funded and prepared, the Italian Athletic Association would not support the Championshipdue to other commitments in Italy. Scotland announced an intention to bid for the 2011 Championship. The Pikes Peak Hillclimb will be the 2010 World Long Distance Mountain Running Championship. More info later today. Next up is the parade of nations and opening ceremonies - both of which could be re-located or shortened due to weather. Currently it's raining and 45 degrees.

Richard Bolt, Team Leader

World Mountain Running Trophy - Saturday

This morning I'm off to Sierre for the World Mountain Running Congress meetings. Reps from 39 countries will convene to vote on where the Championship will be held in 2009. Later today we'll have the parade of nations and opening ceremonies. Tonight will be the pre-race Technical Meeting where we'll recieve race numbers and timing chips.

Richard Bolt, Team Leader

jr. women course preview

Yesterday Alex and I got to take our first look at the Junior Women's race course. Our 4.3km course begins in Montana Village and meets up with all the other courses after about 1 km. We were pleasantly surprised that our start is on a nice downhill cinder path. However, the downhill doesn't last long and we soon begin to climb upwards. When we reached the half way point on our course we stopped to stretch and agreed that the course didn't seem too difficult yet. Then we ran the second half. With about a mile to go the course gets much steeper. The last mile is almost 100% uphill and it is steep! This section is definitely more what I had in mind for a mountain running race!
Other than previewing the course, the highlight of Friday would have to be dinner. There are buffet-style meals provided for all the athletes. In addition to the food being excellent (yesterday there was salmon), the meals are a great chance to see all the other athletes. It's amazing to look at a roomful of teams all with there matching team jackets on! Yesterday night we saw teams from Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Hungary, Turkey, Uganda, Australia, Whales, and Poland. I'm looking forward to seeing all the teams marching today at the opening ceremonies.
-Yasmine

More from Nancy Hobbs about their trip

Today it is raining. Even with the rain it is lovely and calm. There was a slight fog and mist over the vineyards which flank all parts of the mountainside. The region is best known for its pinot noir wines and after Sunday, the World Trophy. We had our first team meeting last night before dinner. Everyone attended and related their years on their team, their hometown and also the first rock concert they attended, or a little known fact. It was enlightening with rock concerts from Ozzy Osborne to Arlo Guthrie and little known facts to include missing a record on the water slide of 80 plus hours. Matt Byre finished fourth in this fine competition with the winner sliding for like 85 hours. Everyone will wave American flags at Saturday parade including our five supporters^. Today will be the team photos and more course preview. All of the other teams arrive today. >There were 50 or so at dinner last night and at lunch today we expect 250 and by dinner 500.
More later,
nancy in sierre and crans montana

World Mountain Running Trophy - Friday

This afternoon I ran the 8.33k course with the junior Mens team. Starting in the narrow streets of Venthone at 840m above sea level, the course ran along paved roads, gravel roads, single track trail, grass fields on the way to the finish in the town center of Crans-Montana at 1500m above sea level. Only one of the 4 junior men have run in a World Championship - all agreed that a conserative start would be wise as there are plenty of passing opportunities in the 2nd half of the race. Many first time juniors tend to start too quickly and loose large amounts of time later in the race. The junior womens race starts in Montana-Village at 1190m above sea level and joins the junior mens course 3.5k from the finish. The junior womens course has a very fast downhill start followed by rolling uphills before the final big climb 1.5k from the finish. Tomorrow will be a rest day for the athletes as team staff will be attending the World Congress and Technical Meetings.

Richard Bolt Team Leader Teva US Mountain Running

Greetings From Switzerland

Received this in email from Team Manager Nancy Hobbs...

Greetings,
I have arrived in Sierre, the start point for Sunday`"s 24th annual World Mountain Trophy Race. The weather here is lovely. No wind the past two days, sunny skies and a bit humid. I took a great run this morning near the Rhone as we are in the Rhone Valley. To get to the river, I had to run about 15 minutes from my hotel. I ran on some trails once I got to the river and passed between some vineyards which are all over the valley, and also an apple orchard. I saw two other people on the trail walking their dogs. The entire run I could hear the river rushing downstream with sediment from the upper glaciers. When I took a drive with the race director yesterday we went to Crans Montana -- these are actually two small villages that abut one another and is also the location of the finish line for the races on Sunday. Our athletes^- The Teva US Mountain Running Team members -- are all staying in Montana just moments from the funicular which is the best way from sierre to get up the mountain -- unless you are running?? There are also buses that go up the mountain roads -- all paved with views that are outstanding. In fact, on a clear day one can see 100 kilometer view of 40000 meter peaks including Mont Blanc. there are two golf courses - that i saw - in Crans. a large golf tourney was just held last week. The village that is hosting the race (finish line) is about 4,5000 residents. in Winter that number grows to 45,000. Big skiing area for sure.

The weather on Sunday may be cooler which would be appreciated by the athletes. Several of our team members have arrived with the rest arriving today. We will have our first team meeting tonight after dinner in Crans Montana. Two of our staff were delayed with flights yesterday. Ellen Miller arrived 12 hours later than expected and Dave Dunham was rescheduled for a departure on Wed to arrive today.
More updates as we move through the week.
Best,
Nance

World Mountain Running Trophy - Thursday

I arrived yesterday in Crans-Montana, Switzerland for the 24th World Mountain Running Championship. The rest of Team USA arrived today; the first official day of the event. We picked up our credentials, race packets and previewed the course. I ran the senior men's course - 11.7k and 1046m of ascent - with team members Zac Freudenberg, Matt Byrne and Eric"quadzilla" Blake. It's a great course that starts in Sierre, climbs up thru vinyards, forests and small villages on the way to the finish on Crans. Of particular interest here is the "funicular", a very steep cable railway that climbs 3000 vertical feet from Sierre to Crans in 12 minutes. The bus or a car takes 20 minutes and the runners will make it in 50 minutes. More info about the World Championship can be found at: 24th World Mountain Running Trophy
Richard Bolt

Story on Junior Team Member Paul Petersen

Story on Junior Team Member Paul Petersen

http://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/news/2008/sep/07/h-ome-l-ife-flat-out-fast-on-land-thats-far-from/

Simon Gutierrez wins World Masters Running Champs in Czech Republic

September 6, 2008

Dolni Morava, Czech Republic ---- At today’s World Masters Mountain Running Championships is Dolni Morava, Czech Republic, Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team member Simon Gutierrez, 42, Alamosa, CO, won his third straight title. His time of 50:10 over the 11.3 kilometer mostly uphill course bested the second place finisher Gilles Convert of France by 38 seconds.

“I am very pleased to have won my third straight World Masters’ title. Today’s margin of victory was the biggest (of the three)....a good tune up for world’s in eight days,” wrote Gutierrez by e-mail following his victory.

“Traveling to the race venue, (the ski resort of Doni Morava), from Prague was a 4.5 hour drive and proved to be as big a challenge as defending my world title. It is hard to read road signs when you have absolutely no idea what the words mean. I arrived at 4.30 p.m., the evening prior, a bi t weary but happy to have found my English friends in a very nice hotel across the hall from my room.

“The course went by my hotel at the 5.5 km mark so I went for my second run of the day (pre race day) and looked at the first 5.5 kilometers of the course. It was very picturesque and scaled the side of the valley on the way to the ski mountain. This is where the real mountain running began.

“(on race day) I took the lead immediately and lead start to finish. We had three good, steep climbs, while the rest of the course was gradual climbs on forested paths. The total climb was about 800 meters and much to my dismay also had some downhill sections (about 180 meters total) which I jogged (the course went from a low point of 608 meters to a high point of 1254 meters).

“My legs feel fine and I consider myself lucky, as I got picked for doping control which meant I was one of the very few that got a ride down the mountain. For sure I did not want to run=2 0down with worlds (the World Mountain Running Trophy on September 14 in Sierre Crans Montana, Switzerland) only in a week’s time.”

Thanks to Simon for his post event report.

Additionally, Mark Nesfeder represented the USA in the 50-54 age group where he posted a time of 1:20:53 to finish 76^th in his age group. Anna Pichrtova, Czech Republic, was the overall women’s winner timed in 55:50.

A total of 1,868 runners participated in this, the 8^th Annual World Mountain Running Championships. There were 1,373 runners in the 11.3 kilometer race (runners up to 54 years of age) and 495 runners in the 9.9 kilometer race (runners from 55 year of age to 80).

Complete results at:

www.wmmr2008.sportsoft.cz/absresults.aspx?r=1&lng=en

Kitbuehel

Well so far Kitbuehel has been amazing. The food is great, there are meat shops everywhere and a wide selection of shops around town. I got a chance to run the course a few days ago so I knew it would be a tough one. The bad thing about the run up was I had to come back down because I had missed the last gondola so that totally wiped out the legs, but I guess it happens to every mountain runner at some time or another. So the race, it went as expected, Wyatt took it out and two other guys and I went with him, but as we started to climb steep they fell back quickly. I tried to stay with Wyatt as I really would have run by myself had I not and ended up crashin and burnin hahaha yeah I died pretty bad. But I never expected really to beat him by going out with him but I just didnt expect him to run so damn fast in the hot conditions. It was warm the entire race even at the top. The prize giving ceremony lasted about 3 hours so that was super fun, not. Wyatt and I took about a million pics and Im sure his hand was pretty tired because he must have signed every bib number in the building. Overall, the race was good prep for worlds, but the weather and the run up and down the mountain maybe hurt me a bit as far as time goes. UP next a little traveling around euro before headin to crans.