Pichrtova seeks fifth victory; Zatorska challenges at Mt. Washington Road Race
Zablon Mokaya joins men’s field - Top Americans compete for U.S. National Mountain Team

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Posted Tuesday, 13 June, 2006

The men’s course record will probably remain untouched, but the competition will be intense in the men’s and women’s fields at Saturday’s 46th annual Mt. Washington Road Race. This year the race serves as the United States Mountain Running National Championship, so the first male and female finishers who are U.S. citizens will win the title of national champion. Also, the first three American men and first two women will be designated as members of the U.S. national mountain running team, which will compete in the World Mountain Running Trophy race in Turkey in September.

Sponsored by Northeast Delta Dental, the Mt. Washington Road Race is a 7.6-mile footrace up the Mt. Washington Auto Road to the mountain’s summit, at 6288 feet above sea level the highest peak in the northeastern United States. In all, nearly 1000 runners will compete not only against each other, and against the remarkably steep grade (average 11.5 percent, with one stretch at 18 percent) but also against the notorious Mt. Washington weather, which includes damp fog, clouds, and some of the highest wind speeds in the world.

MEN’S FIELD
In 2004, the first time this race was the U.S. National Championship, the difference between citizenship and outright victory was significant. Jonathan Wyatt won that year’s race in a jaw-dropping time of 56 minutes 41 seconds, smashing the course record and finishing far ahead of his nearest competition. Wyatt, however, is from New Zealand, so it was the runnerup, Paul Low of Belchertown, Massachusetts, who won the title of U.S. champion. Similarly, the first female finisher that year was Anna Pichrtova of the Czech Republic, while the U.S. champion’s title went to runnerup Erica Larson of New Mexico.

This weekend Low will attempt to duplicate the feat, but without Wyatt to chase, since the Kiwi is not returning this year. Low has been running extremely well in New England trail races this season, but he’ll have to contend with Simon Gutierrez of Alamosa, Colorado, who has won this race three times (2002, 2003, 2005), and with Eric Blake of New Britain, Conn., who ran head-to-head with Gutierrez last year before finishing second, one place ahead of Low.

Other top men include Kevin Tilton, 24, from nearby Conway, N.H., who was fifth here last year; Josh Ferenc, 24, of South Ackworth, N.H.; Bill Raitter, 36, of Estes Park, Colorado; former U.S. national team member Tim Parr of Flagstaff, Arizona, who finished second at last year’s national trail championship race in the Rockies; Michael Friedburg, 28, also of Flagstaff; Michael Selig, 28, of Golden, Colorado; Ricky Gates, 25, of Boulder, Colorado; U.S. National Snowshoe Champion Greg Hexum, 35, of Duluth, Minnesota; and Ryan Pauling of Rochester, NY, who was the first U.S. finisher in the 2001 World Mountain Trophy race and ran on the national team again last year. An interesting new face is that of Dmitry Drozdov, 34, of Waltham, Mass., a former Russian Olympic Trials steeplechaser who last Saturday beat Low at the Northfield Mountain 10K Trail Race in Northfield, Mass.

The last addition to the men’s field is Zablon Mokaya of Kenya. Mokaya, 32, was a force in U.S. road races four years ago, when he lived and trained in Atlanta. He is coming to Mt. Washington as the first stop on a return to this country. His only previous appearance in this “Race to the Clouds” was in 2002, when he finished an indifferent 29th place on a day when the race was shortened to half its normal length by severe weather at the summit.

WOMEN’S FIELD
In the women’s field, the 33-year-old Pichrtova is again the one to beat. After winning the race in each of her first four appearancs here (2001-2004), she finished second last year to Melissa Moon of New Zealand, but her time was faster than it had been in any of her victories. While Moon is not returning this year, Pichrtova faces a challenge by Izabela Zatorska, 43, of Poland, a seasoned mountain runner who has beaten Pichrtova once or twice in Europe.

Contending for the U.S. National Champion’s title, and possibly giving Pichrtova and Zatorska a battle for first overall, will be Laura Haefeli, 38, of Del Norte, Colorado, third at Mt. Washington in 2004 and first female American finisher in the 2005 World Mountain Trophy race;
Anita Ortiz, 42, of Eagle, Colorado, who placed second in her only previous appearance here, in 2002; Julie Bryan, 38, of Jackson, Wyoming, fourth at Mt. Washington in 2002; Kelli Lusk, 36, of Belchertown, Mass., a U.S. Mountain Running Team veteran who was third at Mt. Washington in
2003 and fifth in 2004; and first-time Mt. Washington contenders Nicole Hunt, 36, of Deer Lodge, Montana; Abigail Larson, 27, of Bozeman, Montana; Christine Lundy, 35, of Sausalito, California; Gretchen Ellis, 35, of Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Rachel Dobbs, 24, of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

More than ever, the masters fields are loaded. Joining Ortiz and Zatorska in the women’s over-40 competition will be 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, of Dayton, Ohio. Top male masters include Andy Ames, 43, of Boulder, Colorado, who was first master and sixth overall in 2004; three-time Mt. Washington winner (1988, 1989, 1994) Dave Dunham, 42, of Bradford, Massachusetts; perennial contender Eric Morse, 41, of Berlin, Vermont; Joseph Aloyisius McVeigh, 42, of Convent Station, N.J.; Martin Tighe, 48, of Providence, RI; and Dan Verrington, 43, of Bradford, Mass.

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, sortable by alphabetical order, city/town or state, visit www.mountwashingtonroadrace.com and click on “Lottery Results.”

Sponsor: NORTHEAST DELTA DENTAL
Masters record sponsor: NEW ENGLAND RUNNER
Associate sponsor: BRIDGTON ACADEMY
Associate sponsor: LA SPORTIVA GOLITE RUNNING TEAM

RECORDS: Men’s open ­ Jonathan Wyatt, New Zealand, 2004, 56:41.
Women’s open ­ Magdalena Thorsell, Albuquerque NM, and 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.

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