Monday, August 23, 2010

Pikes Peak: Colorado's Glen Randall wins in 2:09:28


At today’s 55th running of the Pikes Peak Ascent, Team USA wins gold besting the other team competitors in the 7th WMRA World Long Distance Challenge, (England, Scotland, Slovenia, Germany) in spite of three of Team USA’s runners going off course approximately one mile below the A-frame water station which is approximately three mile from the summit finish line.
As soon as third-place finisher Rickey Gates crossed the line he said, “I never passed Eric (Blake, Team USA). This is my first time running the Ascent and I can’t imagine where he could go off course.” Blake ended up in 20th position timed in 2:34:53 trailing USA team member Tommy Manning who, with Blake, USA Team member Zac Freudenburg and Coloradoan Jason Delaney also went off course. Manning finished in 2:31:29 for 15th position. Team USA’s Ryan Hafer, 2005 Ascent winner, finished in 4th position posting a time of 2:20:04. Gates passed Hafer above A-Frame to finish in 2:16:44. The top three men were all first-timers in the Pikes Peak Ascent.
The race was won by Glenn Randall, Mesa, CO, who is a former Nordic Ski Champion (2008), with a PR of 30:00 for the 10km, who led from start to finish reaching the summit with a sub 2:10 effort, posting a time of 2:09:28. Last year’s World Mountain Running Challenge winner Switzerland’s Marc Lauenstein, finished in second place timed in 2:12:19.
After the race both Blake and Freudenburg said their motivation was affected once they realized there were well off the course. “I’ve run this race before,” said Freudenburg, “when I started hopping over some downed trees I said to myself, ‘this doesn’t seem right.’”
On the women’s side, Brandy Erholtz, Bailey, CO, also led start to finish, but second and third-place finishers Kim Dobson, CO, and Anna Frost, Dunedin, NZ, were closing the gap in the final switchbacks on the course. The top three women finished within one minute of one another. Erholtz ran 2:41:51, Dobson ran 2:41:53, Frost was timed in 2:42:46. Frost was the only first-timer in the Ascent. Erholtz won the race in 2008, Dobson was the second place finisher in 2009.
Erholtz, just returned from Europe where she won the Mayrhofen race in Austria, and finished 4th in the famous Sierre Zinal Race. She will return to Europe at month’s end to prepare for the 26th World Mountain Running Championships to be held in Kamnik, Slovenia, on September 6.
“Worlds has been my goal all season, I didn’t taper for this race and I went for a good finish, not a particular time. I didn’t realize the other girls were catching up until the last mile. I’m not a sprinter, so I’m thankful I got the win,” said Erholtz.
 
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