Mountain Racing Team

Top mountain runners to compete at USA Mountain Running Championships

The nation's top mountain runners will gather in Gorham, N.H., for the USA Mountain Running Championships this Saturday, June 17. Held at the 46th annual Mount Washington Hill Climb, it is also the first race in the selection process for the 2006 U.S. Mountain Running Team.

Race favorites include 2004 champion Paul Low (Belchertown, Mass.); four-time winner at Mount Washington and uphill specialist Simon Gutierrez (Alamosa, Colo.); and two-time mountain team member Eric Blake (New Britain, Conn.).

The women's field features four-time mountain team member Anita Ortiz (Eagle, Colo.), who will also be racing to break the women's masters course record of 1:16:03, set in 1997 by 1984 Olympic gold medalist Joan Samuelson.

Additional contenders for the championship title and spots on the mountain team include Liza Grudzinski (Harriman, N.Y.); and Laura Haefeli (Del Norte, Colo.), first female American finisher in the 2005 World Mountain Trophy race.

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 is infamous for its outrageous wind and layers of fog and cloud.

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 22nd World Mountain Running Trophy race on September 10 in Bursa, Turkey.

For more information on the USA Mountain Running Championships visit www.usatf.org.