Vail, CO (June 18) - It was a day of records at the 4th annual US Vertical Kilometer held in Vail, Colorado this morning. Salida's Rene Frazee tore up the nearly 3.2 mile uphill course in 48:57 to break the 1998 course record of 50:27 set by Canadian Christine Cote. For her performance the 33-year-old Frazee earned $1500, $1000 for the win and $500 for the record. Kari DiStefano, 41, Telluride finished nearly two minutes back in 50:50 earning $300 with Mia Stockdale, 36, Vail finishing third in 55:17 and winning $200.
Twenty-five-year-old Jeremy Wright of Vail bettered his '99 third-place time by more than two minutes to set an American record in 40:20. Andy Ames, 35, Boulder finished second in 42:22 with Scott Gall, 25, Colorado Springs rounding out the top three in 42:30.
Masters honors went to DiStefano and Eco Challenge Team Vail member Mike Kloser, 40. Kloser finished a strong 6th place overall in 44:37 well ahead of the next masters finisher, Sammy Ngatia, Colorado Springs who finished in 47:13.
The US Vertical K is one of the races on the US Skyrunning Circuit sanctioned by the Italy-based Federation of Sport at Altitude. The next event on the circuit is the US Fila Half SkyMarathon, a 14.4-mile mountain race to be held in Aspen, Colorado on Sunday, June 25. Competitors in the US events qualify to participate in the 2nd World SkyGames hosted by the FSA July 7-10 in Cervinia, Italy by finishing within 20% of the course record time.
For more information on the US Skyrunning Circuit or the World SkyGames, contact Nancy Hobbs at (719) 570-9795.