"there is only one hill"

There is no race that I've run that can compare to Mount Washington. 7.6 miles with nearly 5000 vertical feet of elevation gain. The brutality of it lies entirely in consistency since the race director, Bob Teschek, is entirely right: "there is only one hill". Colorado offers roads with steeper climbs and more net gain but nothing that compares to a steady %11.5 grade for nearly 8 miles.

That's only the mountain. The competition has traditionally drawn one of the most elite crowds in American Mountain Running. Top finishers over the years have included world champions Jonathan Wyatt, Jay Johnson, Anna Pichrtova and other notables: Dave Dunham, Matt Carpenter, Daniel Kihara, Derek Froude... the list goes on. This year the list was no less notable: 2 time winner - Eric Blake, 3 time winner - Simon Gutierrez, Joe Gray (who beat me two weeks ago in the Teva Mtn. Games 10k), all-American and fellow Aspen native - Jon Severy, US Mtn. Running Team member - Matt Byrne... the list goes on.

The race started off per usual - with Simon well off in front. Severy tried to psyche out the field by cracking jokes and foaming at the pits. I took the lead from Gutierrez after the first mile and one mile past that, only Eric Blake and myself remained at the front. The two times that I've run this race before, I've watched Eric pull away from myself and the rest of the field around mile five. Listening to his breath, I knew that I would have to pull away from him early on. By the third mile I put a lead on Blake. The clouds provided an interesting element that I've not dealt with before in this race. You could not see much further than 100 feet ahead or behind, turning the race into more of mind game than I've ever had to deal with. I could never really be sure how far ahead of Blake I remained. The plus side of this coin was, of course, that Blake never really knew how far ahead I was.

I ran through the half way mark in 28:55 which put me on track for a sub-hour finish... just barely. My left Achilles started to flare up slightly which, though it never slowed me down, added immensely to the mental aspect of the race. I was constantly thinking that it might seize up completely and I'd have to deal with a poor finish, or worse - DNF. The problem remained at bay as I focused completely on holding my form.


By mile six the course finally made it's way above the blanket of clouds and I doubt there was anybody in the race in so much pain that they couldn't appreciate the view. You really did feel like you were in an airplane. With only a 1/2 mile to go, I knew that I had the race won. I eased up on my pace slightly, not thinking about the time. With 150 meters to go a friend from the side line yelled "20 seconds!!". I had forgotten about the 60 minute time bonus. Sprinting up the 22% final grade, I watched as the clock ticked 59:53 54 55 56. I crossed the finish line with two seconds to spare, to become the fifth man, second American to ever break the 60 minute barrier.

    1   1/129  Rickey Gates              28 M Boulder         CO              2   59:58  7:54
   2   2/129  Eric Blake                30 M New Britain     CT BAA          1 1:01:19  8:04
   3   3/129  Joseph Gray               25 M Lakewood        WA TEAM INO     3 1:02:35  8:15
   4   4/129  Matthew Byrne             34 M Scranton        PA              5 1:02:45  8:16
   5   1/93   Simon Gutierrez           43 M Alamosa         CO TEVA / S     4 1:04:16  8:28
   6   5/129  Jonathan Severy           27 M Winooski        VT NYAC        15 1:05:09  8:35
   7   6/129  Tommy Manning             33 M Colorado Spring CO NMC         38 1:05:47  8:40
   8   1/81   Jason Bryant              36 M Elkin           NC LA SPORT    16 1:06:13  8:43
   9   7/129  Matthew Russell           26 M Boulder         CO CMS         25 1:06:19  8:44
  10   2/93   Francis Burdett           44 M Worcester       MA CMS        142 1:06:39  8:47

                               *******  TOP 10 WOMEN OVERALL  *******
Place Div Name                      Ag S City            St Team     Race# Time    Pace 
===== === ========================= == = =============== == ======== ===== ======= =====
   1   1 Brandy Erholtz            31 F Bailey          CO             W1 1:10:53  9:20
   2   1 Tara Cardi                40 F East Greenwich  RI NARRA       W8 1:19:52 10:31
   3   2 Jennifer Campbell         26 F Newmarket       NH CRC        W72 1:20:58 10:40
   4   3 Alison Bryant             30 F Elkin           NC             W2 1:22:08 10:49
   5   2 Lisa Goldsmith            44 F Nederland       CO LA SPORT  W133 1:24:58 11:11
   6   4 Abby Mahoney              31 F Holyoke         MA CMS        W29 1:25:05 11:12
   7   1 Cathy Pearce              46 F Chelmsford      MA WHIRL       W5 1:26:29 11:23
   8   1 Tara Breed                38 F Englewood       CO            W17 1:27:33 11:32
   9   1 Donna Smyers              51 F Adamant         VT CVR        W27 1:28:01 11:35
  10   2 Suzy West                 46 F Putney          VT CSU        W14 1:28:34 11:40

video finish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWkqm-qLMP8

photos: (AP Photo/Gil Talbot), Dave Dunham

Coming up on Sunday I will be competing against much of the same field (and then some) at the Cranmore Hill Climb/USA & NACAC Mountain Running Championships in North Conway, NH. After that... EUROPE!!!