U.S. Mountain Running Team to be Selected at Mount Washington

Colorado Springs, CO --- The 2010 U.S. Mountain Running Team will travel to Kamnik, Slovenia, to compete in the 26th World Mountain Running Championships on Sunday, September 5. This year’s open team – six men and four women – will be selected at the U.S. Mountain Running Championships to be held at the Mt. Washington Road Race on Saturday, June 19, starting at 10:00 a.m.

The increased support by the race’s primary sponsor, Northeast Delta Dental, was a contributing factor in choosing a single selection race for the team this year.

“The USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Running Council, when considering a host for our selection races, looks at the venue, the race management, and the support the event will provide for our athletes. Mount Washington not only offers a well-managed event with an incredible history (celebrating its 50th running in 2010), this year organizers and sponsors stepped up to increase the prize money and in doing so have amassed a field of competitors unmatched in U.S. mountain running history,” said USATF’s Mountain Ultra Trail Running Council Chairperson Nancy Hobbs. “Having a single selection race is something new for our program (typically there are 2-3 selection races for the team), and means the athletes have just one opportunity to earn a spot on the team. This opportunity will become a reality for 10 of America’s best on Saturday.”

The course will test runners’ strength and endurance for the entire 7.6 miles from the base of the Auto Road with an unrelenting 12 percent grade to the 6,288-foot summit of Mount Washington, the highest peak in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

The course provides elevation gains which closely mirror those found in Slovenia’s uphill-only route. In Slovenia, the men will run 12 kilometers with more than 4,300 feet of elevation gain, while the women will run 8.5 kilometers with 3,370 feet of elevation gain.

Among the top U.S. competitors on Saturday will be men's and women's defending champions, Coloradoans Rickey Gates of Boulder, and Brandy Erholtz, of Bailey. Gates is only the fifth man ever to break the one-hour barrier on Mt. Washington, having won last year in 59 minutes 58 seconds. Erholtz is looking for her third straight victory and has her sights set on chasing down the women's course record, 1:10:08, set in 1998 by Magdalena Thorsell of Sweden.

Gates, a four-time mountain running team member, is closely matched with at least two familiar rivals, two-time Mt. Washington champion Eric Blake, New Britain, CT who has also been on the mountain team four times, as well as Joe Gray, Lakewood, WA, who finished fourth here in 2008 and then third in 2009, just behind Gates and Blake. Gray has represented the U.S. twice at Worlds and is the 2009 USA Mountain Running Champion. They'll be joined by two-time mountain team members (’08, ’09) Matt Byrne, of Scranton, PA, who was sixth in 2008 and fourth last year at Mt. Washington and Zac Freudenburg, St. Louis, MO, seventh in 2008; Max King, Bend, OR, who won the USA Half Marathon Trail Championships on June 13; Jeffrey Eggleston, Flagstaff, AZ, who ran a 2:14:32 in his debut marathon this year in Phoenix; Malcolm Campbell, Marietta, GA, who won the 2008 Hogpen Hillclimb in Georgia; Timothy Parr, Gunnison, CO, a three-time mountain team member, and Ryan Hafer, Colorado Springs, CO, both past winners of the Pikes Peak Ascent; Luke Watson, State College, PA, a 2:15 marathoner; 2005 mountain team member Kevin Tilton, North Conway, NH; Kristopher Houghton, Albuquerque, NM, a sub-30 minute 10k runner and third at last year’s team selection race in Colorado. One of the newcomers attracting special attention is two-time U.S. Mountain Running junior team member, 19-year-old Zach Rivers, Victor, NY, who will attempt to break the oldest mark in the Mt. Washington books – the course record for runners 19 and under, 1:09:18, set by Sean Livingston in 1987.

Among the top women are four-time mountain team members Laura Haefeli, Del Norte, CO, who finished third at Mt. Washington in 2008 while setting the women's masters course record, and reigning U.S. Mountain Champion Christine Lundy, Sausalito, CA; two-time U.S. Mountain Running team member Megan Kimmel, Silverton, CO; Alison Bryant, Elkin, NC, who finished third in 2007, fifth in 2008 and fourth last year; Nicole Hunt, Deer Lodge, MT, who placed second in her last Mt. Washington appearance (2007 to win the U.S. Championships and earn a spot on the mountain running team) behind the Czech Republic’s Anna Pichrtova; three-time mountain team member Rachel Cuellar, Albuquerque, NM; Kristin Price, Raleigh, NC, who won the 2009 U.S. Women's Trail 10k National Championship; Megan Lund, Basalt, CO, the women's course record-holder in the Aspen (CO) Mountain Uphill, a 2008 U.S. Olympic marathon trials qualifier, and a member of last year’s mountain running team; Gina Lucrezi, Southborough, MA, leader in the USATF New England mountain running series; Amber Moran, a 1:17 half-marathoner from Arden, NC; and Rachel Cieslewicz, Salt Lake City, UT.

FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF ENTRANTS, sortable by name, by state, or by hometown, visit the Mt. Washington Road Race web site, www.mountwashingtonroadrace.com, and click on Lottery Results. The site also includes a photo gallery, a history of the race, results from previous years, and other information.

The U.S. Mountain Running Junior Team will be selected based on running resumes. For details visit www.usatf.org and www.usmrt.com.

West Coasters Excel at USA Mountain Running Championships in New England

North Conway, NH --- On a humid, overcast morning in the New England hamlet of North Conway, NH, Washingtonian Joseph Gray, 24, Lakewood, and Californian Christine Lundy, 38, Sausalito outpaced one of the deepest U.S. mountain running fields in recent memory to become the 2009 USA Mountain Running Champions today. The pair also led team USA to gold medal podium spots in the men’s and women’s division of the North American Central American Caribbean Mountain Running Championships.

The race featured two 5.5 kilometer loops and 2400 feet of vertical gain which included a mixture of steep climbing, single track terrain, super fast descents, and flat sections across open meadows. Spectators at the base of the mountain could watch the runners as they climbed in the distance and then cheered runners on as they passed the start/finish area for the second and final loop.

A former collegiate steeplechaser, Gray, in his third season mountain racing, was with a lead pack of seven within the first kilometer which included Simon Gutierrez, 43, Alamosa, CO, Zac Freudenberg, 30, St. Louis, MO, Eric Blake, 29, New Britain, CT, Matt Byrne, 34, Scranton, PA, and Shiloh Mielke, 29, Asheville, NC. The group stayed together up the first pitch, but at the top of the climb Gray took off. Freudenberg and Gutierrez were in second and third respectively, followed closely by Gates, Byrne, and Blake. Mielke didn’t stick with the group on the first downhill.

After the first loop it was Gray leading by about 40 seconds posting a 28 minute loop with Freudenberg in second, Gutierrez in third, “I was feeling confident, like I could hold third,” said Gutierrez in a post race interview, “Even going up the second climb I felt good. Then Rickey and Matt caught me about 1 kilometer into the second climb. They started pushing it. Joe was gone. I could see Rickey and Matt until the last 200 meters of the climb.

“After that I survived to get down. My legs were shot, Eric passed me and I caught up to him and we ran together for the last 2 kilometers. Shiloh blasted by us with about ½ mile to go,” said Gutierrez who in a sprint-to-the-finish with Blake fell down just a few feet from the line to settle for seventh.

Gray kept a solid, steady, and rather blistering pace to finish in 48:37 followed by Freudenberg in 49:48, Byrne in 49:57, Gates in 50:04, Meilke in 51:38, Blake in 51:50, and Gutierrez in 51:54. Aaron Saft, Kevin Tilton, and John Tribbia rounded out the top ten.

With his win, Gray made his second consecutive Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team. Freudenberg and Byrne also were named to the team. All three were members of last year’s bronze-medal winning team at the World Mountain Running Championships in Switzerland.

Lundy, with her win, becomes a four-time Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team member earning the sole team spot at Cranmore for the women. Lundy was on her first U.S. mountain team in 2005 and is the only two-time team gold medalist as a member of both the 2006 and 2007 U.S. teams at Worlds. She raced to victory posting a time of 57:16, besting her nearest competitor, Brandy Erholtz, 31, Bailey, CO, by approximately 35 seconds, and was followed by Laura Haefeli, 41, Del Norte, CO, in 58:30. Kasie Enman, Gina Lucrezi, Megan Lund, Abby Larson, Amber Moran, Trish Steidl, and Christa Benton, rounded out the top 10.

Masters champion Laura Haefeli, when interviewed about her race said, “I felt good. I was psyched that we (team USA in the NACAC competition – Lundy, Haefeli, Enman, and Erholtz) were all running together. The start was fast. Brandy, Chris and Kasie were in front of me, but we were all really close. Abby was close behind. Abby passed me on one of the steeper sections and I was fifth to the top after the first climb. On the first downhill, I knew Abby was running really hard and I passed her on the rocky section. I figured if I could get enough distance on her on the downhill I could hold her off on the uphill. I was hoping that anyone behind me on the first loop wouldn’t catch me.

“I was gaining on Kasie, and I thought I was even gaining on Chris. It was definitely tougher on the second time around. I caught Kasie just before the steep climb and started to put some distance right after the climb and increased my lead. Once I crested the top, I was gone. I knew from the first lap I was running well on the downhill and didn’t think anyone would catch me on the downs. By the time I crested, I didn’t see Brandy or Chris. At the last part of the downhill I saw Brandy, but didn’t see Chris. I wanted to minimize the gap from second place.”

When asked about the competitive field Haefeli said, “I definitely felt I had to step up my game for this race. I felt that there were at least eight girls going for the team. In 2007 when I was third at Worlds, I felt that I couldn’t lose contact with the top runners…and I felt the same today.”

In the NACAC competition the top two runners for each country scored. Lundy and Erholtz scored for Team USA to earn the gold medal with Canada in silver medal position. On the men’s side, Gray and Gates scored for Team USA which included Blake and Gutierrez. Final results were not available at press time for the men’s NACAC competition.

The Cranmore Hill Climb included open runners as well as USATF members vying for national championship honors in their respective five year age groups starting at 40 years old for masters runners. USATF results will be posted at www.usatf.org.

“We were really excited to have such high caliber runners come to the Mount Washington Valley and the race was a great success. We had 250 registrants and nearly 40 finishers more than our previous high. I would say this is due to the national championships which attracted runners from 22 states. The White Mountain Milers are planning to submit a bid to host the Championships again in 2011,” said event director Paul Kirsch.

Prize money was distributed as follows (equal for men and women): $200 first place $150 second place; $100 third place; $50 first place master. The top NACAC teams each won $200.

Race sponsors included Inov-8, Cranmore Mountain Resort, USATF-New England, Hammer Nutrition, Julbo Eyewear, CW-X Conditioning Wear, Tech-4o sports watches, Fuel Belt, OrthoLite insoles, and the White Mountain Milers. Results will be posted at www.whitemountainmilers.com/cranmore.

The second and final Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team selection race will be held in Colorado Springs at the July 26 Cheyenne Canon Mountain Race presented by Walmart where the top two U.S. women and the top two U.S. men will earn a berth on this year’s team. For details visit www.trailrunner.com.

Registration Open for the 2009 Cheyenne Cañon Mountain Race

Colorado Springs, CO ---- With a tagline, “Once is not enough,” the 2009 Cheyenne Cañon Mountain Race presented by WalMart, is sure to be a challenging yet fun trail running event for novice to elite participants. Slated for Sunday, July 26, 2009, the event is open to all levels of competitors.

The course starts at the Stratton Open Space Trailhead in North Cheyenne Cañon, connects with the Gold Camp Path, joins up with the Chutes, follows the east side of the reservoir, back up Gold Camp Path for the loop (men run three loops, women and junior men two loops), then back down to the finish. The race is limited to 200 participants. There are two separate race starts with the women running an 8 kilometer course at 7:00 a.m. and the men racing 12 kilometers at 8:30 a.m. (junior men – ages 19 and under – will run the 8 kilometer route).

“Whether a runner is new to the trails, or a seasoned veteran, the course for the Cheyenne Cañon Mountain Race caters to every ability. We set a course that will be challenging, yet very runable. It offers great scenery and terrain that ranges from wide gravel paths to single-track terrain including both ascents, level spots, and descents. Being a loop course, the spectators can enjoy seeing their favorite runners more than once on the route,” says Nancy Hobbs, Executive Director of the American Trail Running Association and race director.

This first-year event is presented by WalMart with additional local support from ERA Shields brokers Marzolf/Blessing, Champion Health, Bristol Brewing, and Colorado Running Company. National sponsors joining the effort include SportHill and Teva. Registration is available at www.imathlete.com, in person at Colorado Running Company, 833 N. Tejon Street, Colorado Springs, or through the mail by downloading an entry form at www.trailrunner.com. The pre-race fee is $30 through May 31, $35 from June 1 – July 25 and $40 on race day – if space available.

The event serves as a selection race for the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team with the top two men and the top two women (must be current USATF members and USA citizens) earning spots on this year’s team which will compete in Italy this September for Team USA. It is the final team selection race – the first being the USA Mountain Running Championships on June 28 in North Conway, NH where the top three men and top woman will be named to the team. A prize purse of $1500 will be awarded (distributed between the top five men and top five women – must be current USATF members and USA citizens) and age group awards will be presented in 10 year increments. There will be random prize drawings for all participants and volunteers.
Every participant will receive a commemorative USA Mountain Running cowbell, post race refreshments, accurate results, and for those 21 and older – a beer certificate from Bristol Brewing.

Not only is the event a fundraiser for the American Trail Running Association, but also serves as a fundrasier for the Friends of North Cheyenne Cañon and Stratton Commons. Individuals may donate, as part of their registration, to any of these non-profit organizations.
For more information on the event visit www.trailrunner.com.