New England Hosts First Selection Race

New England hosts First Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team Selection Race

 

The nation?s top mountain runners will gather in Gorham, NH on Saturday, June 17 to race the 46^th  annual Mount Washington Hill Climb in the hopes of making the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team. The top three U.S. male finishers and the top two U.S. female finishers will be named to the team (must be current USATF members).  The 10-member open squad of six men and four women (junior squad includes three junior men and two junior women) is slated to compete in the 22^nd World Mountain Running Trophy race on September 10 in Bursa, Turkey.

This year?s Trophy races are uphill events (as opposed to odd-numbered years when the events are held on up/down courses) with the senior men running 12km, and the senior women running 8.5km. The women?s team includes four athletes with the top three finishers scoring for the team.  Six athletes will represent the men?s team with the top four finishers scoring. Team leader Richard Bolt, Portland, Oregon, junior team manager Dave Dunham, Bradford, MA, and women?s team manager Ellen Miller, Vail, CO will accompany the team to Turkey.

            Mount Washington will also host the 2006 USA Mountain Running Championships for the second time in three years. In 2004 Paul Low and Erica Larson won the championship titles. Low has hopes of repeating his title this year and also earning a spot on his seventh mountain team. One entrant who knows what it?s like to beat Low on a difficult course is Greg Hexum, 35, of Duluth, Minnesota.  Hexum is making his first appearance at Mt. Washington, but in March he and Low finished 1-2
in the U.S. National Snowshoe Championship race in Bolton Valley, Vermont.

Competition will also come from four-time winner at Mount Washington and uphill specialist Simon Gutierrez, 40, Alamosa, CO. Gutierrez was named USATF Mountain Runner of the Year in 2005 and finished tenth at last year?s World Trophy in Wellington, New Zealand.

            Two-time mountain team member Eric Blake, 27, of New Britain, Connecticut who battled Gutierrez until the final half mile last year before finishing second, is returning for another attempt at a title. 

An outstanding young competitor who hopes to improve on last year?s place is Kevin Tilton, 24, from nearby Conway, N.H.  Tilton last year placed fifth and had plenty of opportunity to consider what it may take to get in front of Low, Blake and Gutierrez.  He?ll be joined by Josh Ferenc, also 24, of South Ackworth, N.H., who finished seventh at Mt. Washington in 2004, when Tilton was tenth, and then a disappointing eleventh last year.  Bill Raitter, 36, of Estes Park, Colorado, returns for his second Mt. Washington race, having placed ninth here two years ago.

First-time entrants who could shake up the race include two-time mountain team members Tim Parr of Flagstaff, Arizona and Ryan Pauling, 29, Rochester, NY; Michael Friedberg, 28, also of Flagstaff; Michael Selig, 28, of Golden, Colorado; and William (Ricky) Gates, 25, of Boulder, Colorado.

The women?s field is stacked with talent although Larson will not be among the field. Pre-race favorites include four-time mountain team member Anita Ortiz, 42, Eagle, Colorado, who was second in her only previous appearance at Mount Washington in 2002.  Ortiz will also be racing to break the women?s masters course record, 1:16:03, set in 1997 by 1984 Olympic gold medalist Joan Samuelson. 

Other top masters in the women?s field include the 2004 and 2005 masters winner Cathy Pearce, 44, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts; the 2003 masters winner Suzy West, 43, of Putney, Vermont; Lisa Goldsmith, 41, of Nederland, Colorado; Cindy O?Neill, 44, of Manitou Springs, Colorado; and Chari Walsh, 42, who trains in the not particularly hilly environment of Dayton, Ohio.

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Contenders for the championships title and spots on the mountain team also include 26-year-old Liza Grudzinski, of Harriman, New York, who was the first female American finisher at Mt. Washington in her 2004 debut.  Three other formidable contenders are Laura Haefeli, 38, of Del Norte, Colorado, two-time mountain team member and two-time USATF Mountain Runner of the Year, third at Mt. Washington in 2004, and first female American finisher in the 2005 World Mountain Trophy race; Julie Bryan, 38, of Jackson, Wyoming, who was fourth here in 2002 and a two-time mountain team member; and Kelli Lusk, 36, of Belchertown, Mass., a former U.S. National Snowshoe Champion and veteran of the mountain running team, who was third at Mt. Washington in 2003 and fifth in 2004. 

The race offers greater suspense because it will include several women with excellent records elsewhere who have not competed at Mt. Washington before.  Among those rumored to be particularly strong are Nicole Hunt, 36, of Deer Lodge, Montana; Abigail Larson, 27, of Bozeman, Montana;
Gretchen Ellis, 35, of Los Alamos, New Mexico; Christine Lundy, 35, of Sausalito, California; Myriah Blair, 29, of Glenwood Springs, CO, and winner of last year?s La Luz Hill Climb, Rachel Dobbs, 24, of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The race course is a 7.6 mile unbroken-ascent to the 6,288-foot summit of Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the northeastern United States. Making the challenge even more severe is the always unpredictable Mt. Washington weather, famous for its outrageous wind and layers of fog and cloud.

First prize in the race is $1000, with a bonus of $5000 for a course record. New England Runner magazine offers a $2000 bonus to any male or female master who sets a new masters course record. For a list of entrants visit: www.mountwashingtonroadrace.com and click on ?Lottery Results.?

Course Records: Men?s open ? Jonathan Wyatt, New Zealand, 2004, 56:41; Women?s open ? Magdalena Thorsell, Sweden, 1998, 1:10:08.2; Men?s masters ? Matt Carpenter, Manitou Springs CO 2005, 1:02:12; Women?s masters ? Joan Samuelson, Freeport ME, 1997, 1:16:02.7. Race director: Bob Teschek, (603) 863-2537, racetime@gsrs.com; Press and elite athletes? liaison: John Stifler (413) 585-0924, jstifler@econs.umass.edu.

The Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team selection process continues in New England when the Loon Mountain 10km Race in Lincoln, New Hampshire hosts the second selection race on June 24. At Loon Mountain, the top U.S. man will receive an automatic berth. Traveling west to the Rocky Mountain region on July 9 competitors will enjoy the third and final selection race, the Vail Mountain Trophy Race in Vail, CO. In Vail the top U.S. male and top U.S. female finisher will receive an automatic team berth.

The remaining members of the squad, (one male, one female), will be selected by the 24-member Mountain Ultra Trail Council with input from the team staff based on results at the selection races, past World Trophy events, national and international racing experience including mountain, road, cross country, and track.  MUST run a selection race in order to be considered for the team. To be considered for the team all team members MUST be current USATF members prior to running a selection race. Interested athletes should submit a running resume to: Richard Bolt (r_boltski@yahoo.com) and Nancy Hobbs (trlrunner@aol.com).
            In addition to open, or senior team members there is also a junior team that will compete at the World Mountain Running Trophy. For team consideration, the junior athlete:

?         Must have posted a 16:45 or better (junior men) and 19:30 or better (junior women) in a 5K road or cross country event. (Equivalent times ? from an alternate race distance that translate to the aforementioned time criteria ? will be considered for distances other than 5Km.)

?         Must have experience running (in training and preferably racing) on courses similar to the event.

?         Must be mature, motivated, with a positive attitude to proudly represent the United States and sponsors internationally, under the rules of USATF and the event governing bodies.

?         A letter of recommendation from a coach, parent, or mentor-runner must accompany the athlete resume.

 

Resumes (including road, trail, track, and cross country results and current training info) will be accepted through July 15.  Late breaking information and results can be added until July 31. Team members will be announced by August 1, 2006.