Thirteen former Mountain Team Members to Compete at USA Trail Championships
Posted Wednesday, 27 June, 2007
Colorado Springs, CO ------ The renowned ski resort of Steamboat Springs, CO will host the fourth USA 10km Trail Championships on Saturday, June 30, taking the honor away from another ski destination in Colorado – Vail – which hosted the championships for the past three years. Steamboat, referred to as “Ski Town USA” for its 20 athletes who competed at last year’s Winter Olympics, will also host the USA 10km Trail Championships in 2008.
A very competitive field, including defending national champions Laura Haefeli (who has won the champs every year they have been staged) and Clint Wells, will vie for the $5000 in cash prizes and also the chance to earn a spot on the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team. The prize money breakdown is: $900 for first, $700 for second, $400 for third, $200 for fourth, $150 for fifth, $100 for sixth, and $50 for seventh.
“We are expecting about 150 runners and the same number of spectators for our event,” said race director John Chapman. “I’ve really enjoyed connecting with the USATF athletes and learning a bit more about them and their passion for trail running. We’re really making this more than another trail race. With the excellent support from our community, sponsors, and volunteers, this is going to be a celebration of trail running. One very hard run followed by some fun afterwards.”
The course is actually a bit longer than a traditional 10 kilometer race, 7.2miles to be more specific. The route is comprised of two 3.6mi loops with the runners passing the start/finish area between the two loops. There is 1,100' of climbing per loop translating to 1.65 miles up and 1.95 miles down. The low point on the course is approximately 6,900 feet while the highest point is 7,937 feet. The course is primarily on mountain bike trails - mostly double-track - and service roads.
When asked about the course assistant race director Adam Feerst commented, “The toughest part is the ten switchbacks which climb about ¾ of a mile at 15% grade. The descent is steep, but not that technical. Good downhill runners will have a lot of fun with the descent. Runners will enjoy some nice scenery – if they have the time and energy to enjoy it.”
The top two USATF male runners and top USATF female runner in the championships earn automatic spots on the Mountain Team which will compete at the World Mountain Trophy Race on September 15 in Saillon, Switzerland. They will join Rickey Gates, Paul Low, and Anita Ortiz who earned spots at last weekend’s USA Mountain Running Championships. Traveling to the West Coast on July 15, competitors will enjoy the third and final selection race, the Mt. Tam Trophy Race in Sausalito, CA where 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 USATF’s 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. Athletes 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.
Runners expected to compete on the men's side (in age order) are:
Juniors: Zach Rivers, 17, Victor, NY, was on the junior mountain team last year. He is the 2007 USA Junior Mountain Running Champion. Jonny Stevens, 16, Vail, CO, was on the 2005 junior mountain team. He attends Battle Mountain High School.
Jon Severy, 25, Aspen, CO, is a collegiate All-American having run for CU Boulder under Coach Mark Wetmore. He was sixth at the 2005 USA 10km Trail Championships. He recently won the La Sportiva Trifecta in Snowmass Village, a two-day event with a 5 mile trail race and an uphill race on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday. Severy plans to attend medical school in the fall.
Jeff Beck, 25, Fairport, NY, finished sixth at this year’s USA Mountain Championships.
Rickey Gates, 26, Boulder, CO, was a member of last year’s mountain team finishing in third for the U.S. He made his second mountain team this year by winning the USA Mountain Championships last weekend and is using this event as a “recovery” run following his victory at Mt. Cranmore. He is a past winner of the grueling Imogene Pass 17.1 miler, was third at last year’s Mt. Washington, and won the Run the Register Stair Climb in Denver this past February (47 floors, 1,014 steps). His 10km PR is 31:43 recorded at the Bolder Boulder in May of this year. He once won America’s Uphill (held annually in March) on Aspen Mountain racing in a clown suit. He competed in college one year while at Lewis and Clark in Portland, OR. Gates plans to travel to Europe in July to compete in several mountain races.
Shiloh Mielke, 27, Hendersonville, NC, was on last year’s mountain team. He was fifth at the 2006 USA National 10km Trail Championships and third at both the Teva VailHillClimb and the Vail Trophy Race. Mielke won the 2005 Shut In Ridge Trail Race, a 17.8 mile trail race in Asheville, NC, breaking the course record by over five minutes. His PRs include a 29:48 10km and a 14:35 5km. He won the 1997 and 1998 NCHSSA Men’s Cross Country State Championships, the State Championships in the 2 mile in 1997, 1998, 1999 and the mile state championship in 1999. He attended Brevard College from 1999 to 2001 and Northern Arizona University from 2001 to 2004. He works for his father’s shop, First Aid Auto, in Asheville, NC specializing in paintless dent removal, a mechanical process of removing small dents in cars without the increased cost or disadvantages of painting.
Michael Selig, 29, Lakewood, CO, finished fourth in the 2006 Barr Trail Mountain Race and fifth at the 2006 Coal Creek Cross Country Challenge. He won the Trespass Trail Race in Nederland in 2005.
Clint Wells, 32, Boulder, CO, grew up in Craig, Colorado. He was a four-time All American while at CU where one of his events included the steeplechase. Winner of the Denver Marathon in 2006 timed in 2:28:36, he is the defending USA 10km Trail Champion.
Ivan Marsh, 33, Scottsbluff, NE, is the 2007 Nebraska 12km trail running champion. He won the
Trek to the Top stair climbing race in Omaha, Nebraska and is the Bohemian Alps half marathon record holder timed in 1 hour 22 minutes.
Dave Mackey, 36, Boulder, CO, is a versatile athlete competing in events from snowshoe racing to ultra running, adventure racing to mountain racing. He finished seventh at this year’s Cytomax 10km Trail Race in Vail and was fourth at the USA Mountain Running Championships. He is a two-time USATF Ultrarunner of the Year (’04 and ’05), and a past winner of the MIWOK 100km (CA), past U.S. 50km Trail National Champion, champion at the Mountain Masochist 50, and winner of the Way Too Cool 50km . He is a five-year board member of the American Trail Running Association and is an active member of the Boulder Trail Runners. Mackey is employed as a real estate agent and professional athlete.
Bill Fanselow, 40, Golden, CO, was ninth at last year’s trail championships and finished a solid third at this year’s Cytomax 10km Trail Race.
Simon Gutierrez, 41, Alamosa, CO, received the nod for both open and masters USATF mountain runner of the year in 2006. That year he won the Teva Vail HillClimb, the Vail Mountain Trophy Race (where he qualified for his fifth straight Teva U.S. Mountain Running Tea), La Luz Hill Climb, and Pikes Peak Ascent. He placed third at the Challenge Stellina mountain race in Italy and then led the U.S. men in Turkey at the World Trophy race where he placed tenth. After the Trophy Race he returned to Europe and won the World Masters Mountain Running Championships and placed third in the international Course des 2 Bains WMRA Grand Prix Race the following day. He works at the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center as an outpatient manual /orthopedic physical therapist and works closely with the Adams State men's and women's cross country and track teams.
Bernie Boettcher, 44, Silt, CO, is arguably the most raced athlete in the country. Boettcher races just about every weekend, sometimes racing both Saturday and Sunday. Boettcher earned honors as the 2005 USATF Masters Mountain Runner of the Year. Boettcher is an accomplished artist and writer and a member of the LaSportiva Mountain Running Team and is sponsored by 180s. He won last weekend’s Teva First Bank of Vail 10 at 10 and was runner-up to Severy at the Trifecta. He was tenth at the 2005 USA 10km Trail Championships and was tenth at this year’s Cytomax 10km Trail Race.
Andy Ames, 44, Boulder, CO was a member of the 2004 Teva USA Mountain Running Team and placed 47th in the World Mountain Running Trophy in Sauze d’Oulx, Italy. In 2004 he placed sixth at the Masters Mountain Running World Championships (Sauze d’Oulx), was Masters Trail Running 10km National Champion (fifth overall), masters mountain running National Champion (6th overall), and was named USATF Masters Mountain Runner of the Year. Past victories include US Skyrunning Vertical Kilometer in 1998 and Kokopelli Supermarathon (100 mile stage race over 5 days), Vail Hill Climb in 1995 and 1998, Vail Half marathon in 1995.He finished as high as second in the Pikes Peak Ascent (1994). He was eighth in the Cytomax 10km Trail race. Ames is a buyer for Excel Sports in Boulder.
On the women’s side, a talented field will include (in age order):
Rachael Cuellar, 25, Albuquerque, NM, was a member of the gold-medal winning squad at last year’s World Trophy. It was Cuellar’s first mountain team. Cuellar has PRs of 17:40 for 5km indoor track set in 2006 (5,000 feet), 17:14 for 5km outdoor track a road 5km PR of 17:27 set in 2006 at 5,000 feet, and ran the 3km steeplechase in 10:12. She is a four-time winner of the La Luz Trail Race, a 9 mile uphill race with 4,578 elevation gain and an average grade of 12 percent. Cuellar attended New Mexico State University and University of New Mexico.
Keri Nelson, 25, Grand Junction, CO, is a competitive cyclist, triathlete, snowshoe racer, mountain, and ultra runner. In 2007, she was victorious at the North American Snowshoe Championships and second at the U.S. Snowshoe National Championships. She was also first at the U.S. Winter Triathlon Nationals in Breckenridge, CO and in 2006 was third at the Pikes Peak Marathon and third at the Mt. Evans Ascent in Colorado. She was seventh at the Cytomax 10km Trail Race and fifth at the USA Mountain Championships last weekend. She was 10th at the 2005 USA 10km Trail Championships.
Chris Lundy, 36, Sausalito, CA, is a two-time member of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team. She was on the gold-medal squad at last year’s World Trophy finishing 15th overall and was 18th overall, second American, at the World Mountain Trophy Race in Wellington, New Zealand in 2005. An accomplished road runner, Lundy was 14th at the New Haven 20K in 2004 timed in 1:13:31. At the 2004 Zippy 5km in Golden Gate Park, Lundy finished second in a talented field with a time of 17:01. She finished 23rd at the ’04 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon with a time of 2:41:55. Lundy recently finished as the fifth American at the 2007 Boston Marathon and was second at the USA Mountain Championships last weekend. A graduate of the University Pennsylvania, Lundy is a member of the Impala Racing team and practices veterinarian medicine in San Francisco. She is founder and race director for the Mt. Tam Trophy Race, the final selection race for this year’s mountain team..
Kelli Lusk, 37, Belchertown, MA, is a three-time member of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team and is coming off wins at the Pack Monadnock 10 Miler and Northfield Mountain. She finished in seventh place at last year’s Mt. Washington and was eighth this year. Lusk is a former U.S. Snowshoe Nation Champion and past winner of the Barr Mountain Trail Race in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Lusk finished fourth at the USA Mountain Championships last weekend.
Laura Haefeli, 39, Del Norte, CO is a three-time USA National 10km Trail Champion and a two-time member of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team. She placed second at the Cytomax Trail 10km. In 2006 she was the runner-up at the USA Mountain Running Championships. She finished a solid 15th place at the World Mountain Running Trophy (second American) in 2004 and in 2005, she was the top American finisher at the Trophy with her eighth-place finish. Equally talented in summer biathlon (running and marksmanship), Haefeli is a seven time National Champion and a nine-time National Team Member. Running since the sixth grade, she competed in track and cross country in high school, was an All-American during her senior year in college at the University of Dayton and was twice named All-Ohio Runner of the Year and is a two-time USATF Mountain Runner of the Year (2004 and 2005). Laura and her husband Tom are beekeepers and sell honey and wax. She is the mother of three young children.
Julie Bryan, 39, Jackson Hole, WY, is a four-time member of the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team. She has two top 10 finishes at Mt. Washington and a versatile mountain runner with numerous victories on her home turf in Jackson Hole and also wins in Colorado including the Barr Trail Mountain Race. Recently, she was the top woman at the 6 Tunnels Half Marathon in Las Vegas. Bryan finished fifth at the USA Mountain Championships. She finished fourth at the 2005 USA 10km Trail Championships.
Lisa Goldsmith, 42, Nederland, CO, was a member of last year’s gold-medal winning mountain team and the top master finisher at Mt. Washington the past three years. She was named USATF masters mountain runner of the year the past two years. Goldsmith performed consistently in the qualifying races for the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team last year as well as at the World Trophy race. She placed 30th overall as a member of the gold-medal winning U.S. team at the World Trophy. Other top finishes in 2006 included a first overall in the Front Range Frenzy trail series, Lookout Mountain hill climb, Indian Peaks 10k, and Pikes Peak Ascent (her second win). Goldsmith is a massage therapist.
Cindy O’Neill, 45, Manitou Springs, CO, represented Team USA at the 2000 World Mountain Running Trophy finishing first for the U.S. women. She was the women’s winner at this year’s La Sportiva Trifecta, winner of last week’s Teva First Bank of Vail 10km at 10,000 feet, and fourth at the Cytomax 10km Trail Race. She was eighth at last year’s 10km Trail Championships. O’Neill, known as an uphill specialist, is a three-time winner of the Pikes Peak Ascent and runner-up to Goldsmith the past two years.
Although there will be a strong field of top runners, the event is open to runners of all ages and abilities. In addition to the championships race at 10:00 a.m., there will be an open race (over the same course) at 8:30 a.m. USATF membership is not required to earn prizes in the open race. Registration is available on Friday evening at the Ski Haus until 9 p.m. and also on race morning by the start area. The $35 entry includes a Smartwool shirt valued at $50. The post race festivities include an awards ceremony with great food and beer. Applications and online registration are available at www.runningseries.com. For additional information about the mountain and trail running program, visit the websites listed below:
USA Mountain Running Championships www.whitemountainmilers.com
Mt. Tam Trophy Race www.tamtrailrace.com/info
World Mountain Running Association www.wmra.info
USA Track & Field www.usatf.org
World Mountain Trophy 2007 www.coursedes2bains.org/presentation-wt07-fr.html
American Trail Running Association www.trailrunner.com
Teva (team sponsor) www.teva.com
SportHill Clothing (team sponsor) www.sporthill.com
180s performance gear (team sponsor) www.180s.com
FuelBelt, Inc. (team sponsor) www.fuelbelt.com
Fleet Feet Sports-Boulder (team sponsor) www.fleetfeetboulder.com
Windermere Real Estate Teton Valley (team sponsor) www.juliebryan.mywindermere.com
Youth Runner (Junior Team Partner) www.youthrunner.com
DeFeet (team product sponsor) www.defeet.com
Ecolips (team product sponsor) www.ecolips.com
Contacts:
Nancy Hobbs (Chair, USATF Mountain Ultra Trail Council): (719) 573-4133 trlrunner@aol.com
John Chapman (Director, Steamboat Racing Series): (970) 846-3773 jchapman@smartwool.com
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