Mt Washington 1998 Report
Saturday, June 20, 1998, 10:00 AM - Base to Summit (7.6 Miles)
PRESENTED BY
A CIGNA Healthcare Company
PRESENTING ASSOCIATE SPONSOR
 |
ASSOCIATE SPONSOR
 |
|
|
Men's Results | Women's Results | Age Group | Teams | Photos | More photos
Contact: John Stifler
(603)466-3988 Sat Afternoon
(603)383-9111 Sat. PM & Sun AM
(413)585-0924 Sun PM and later
America's premier mountain runner, Matt Carpenter of Manitou Spring, Colorado, today won the all-uphill Mt. Washington Road Race for the third time in as many attempts. Carpenter, 33, ran up the 7.6-mile Mount Washington Auto Road in one hour and 23.1 seconds (1:00:23.1), winning the 38th running of this storied race to the summit of the highest peak in the Northeastern United States.
Less than ten minutes behind Carpenter, Magdalena Thorsell of Sweden ran away with the women's race, winning in one hour, ten minutes and 8.2 seconds (1:10:08.2), as she shattered the women's course record previously held by J'ne ("Janey") Day-Lucore of Denver. Day-Lucore, undefeated in three previous appearances here, could not stay close to Thorsell but gamely climbed to second place, finishing in 1:20:58.
"It was fun!" said Thorsell. "I've never done anything like this before." Thorsell, who now lives in Albuquerque, N.M., is a three-time Swedish half-marathon champion and former member of her country's national cross-country team. She said she ran cautiously today because of what she had heard about the Auto Road. "Everybody scared me about how steep it was," she said. "Actually I thought it would be a lot harder than it was. I think I can run faster."
The usually severe and unpredictable Mt. Washington weather softened for today's race. Temperatures were in the 50s at the summit - - mild by local standards -- and the famous Mt. Washington winds slowed to a mere five mph. Carpenter, who is familiar with Mt. Washington, was pleased with the early pace, as he shared the lead with Simon Gutierrez of Albuquerque and Levis Anyega of Kenya. "It was a good day," said the three-time champion, only mildly disappointed not to have broken the one-hour mark, a feat he accomplished in 1993 when he finished in 59:50. "I just didn't have another gear that wanted to hurt today."
In a bit of a surprise, the runner-up was Eric Morse of Montpelier, Vt., a Mt. Washington veteran who on paper appeared slower than several of the other top runners, but who arrived at Mt. Washington in excellent condition. Determined to improve on his 1997 performance, when he led for five miles but then faded, this time, Morse moved forward steadily, passing Gutierrez and Anyega and keeping Carpenter in sight until the last mile, when Carpenter simply floated away ahead. Morse, 33, finished in 1:02:31.
Gutierrez, who is married to Thorsell, was impressive in his Mt. Washington debut, finishing third in 1:03:23. Of the effort to run up New England's steepest road after racing on mountain trails in the West he said, "It takes some getting used to. These experienced New England guys (Morse and former three-time winner Dave Dunham of Bradford, Mass.) got the right pace in the middle miles. I felt great in terms of my cardiovascular conditioning, but the strain on my quadriceps was pretty great."
Dunham finished fourth in 1:03:38. Fifth was French national mountain-running champion Thierry Icart in 1:04:40. Anyega slowed to a walk in mid-race, then stopped altogether and did not finish.
The sixth-place finisher, 40-year-old Thomas Borschel of Idaho Falls, Idaho, made a valiant attempt to break the Mt. Washington masters (over 40) record of 1:04:57, set by the legendary Fred Norris back in 1962. For five miles Borschel was on pace to break Norris' record, but in the last two miles he slowed, finishing in 1:05:42. "I had the splits the way I had planned," said Borschel later, "but I lost it between four and six miles. I did give it a shot, though!"
First in the women's over-40 division was Amy Williams, 42, of Denver. Williams placed fifth overall in 1:24:22, well off Joan Samuelson's masters mark of 1:16:03. Right behind Williams, however, was another record-breaker -- sixth-place woman Rebecca Stockdale-Woolley of Chaplin, Conn. Stockdale-Woolley, 47, broke the record for women ages 45-49, finishing in 1:24:52.
Three other age-group records fell today, both in the upper divisions. Seventy-one-year-old Nancy Stokes of Kittery Point, Maine, set a new record for women ages 70-74, finishing in 2:26:41, three minutes faster than the 2:29:49 by Frances Kellogg in 1991. Another 71-year-old, Leon Beverly of Stamford, Vt., similarly broke the 70-74-year age-group record for men, finishing in 1:53:26. Grandest master of all was Phil Campbell, 80, of Lynnfield, Mass., who set a new record for men 80-84 of 2:19:48. The old record was 2:36:23 by Howard Kellogg, set in 1996.
In the men's team competition, the Central Mass. Striders (Morse, Dunham, Mike Casner, Dan Verrington, Stephen Peterson) dominated the field as usual. Top male masters team was Cambridge Sports Union, led by the redoutable Sumner Brown of Belmont, 54, who finished 37th overall in 1:17:29. First women's team was the Central Mass. Striders (Stockdale-Woolley, Karen McGahie, Jacqueline Shakar). Stockdale-Woolley also led the CMS women's masters team to first place, accompanied by Peggy Sullivan and Pamela Murphy.
Carpenter won $750 for first prize. Thorsell won $1750 -- $750 for first place plus $1000 for the course record. Morse won $500, Guitierrez $300, Dunham $200, Icart $100. Day-Lucore won $500 for second place. Barbara Remmers of New York City won $300 for third place. Tonya Dodge of Albany, NY, won $200 for fourth place. Amy Williams won $100 for fifth place. The masters prizes of $250 apiece went to Borschel and Stockdale-Woolley. (Williams finished ahead of tockdale-Woolley, but cash prizes to masters are awarded by a handicapping system in which adjustments are made for age differentials.)
MEN 1. Matt Carpenter, 33, Manitou Springs, Colo. 1:00:23.1 2. Eric Morse, 33, Montpelier, Vt. 1:02:31 3. Simon Gutierrez, 32, Albuquerque, NM, 1:03:23 4. Dave Dunham, 34, Bradford, MA, 1:03:38 5. Thierry Icart, 29, Le Vallaret, France, 1:04:40 6. Tom Borschel, 40, Idaho Falls, Idaho, 1:05:42 7. Mike Casner, 36, Keene, NH, 1:05:48 8 . Dan Verrington, 35, Bradford, MA 1:07:20 9. Jeremy Wright, 24, Laramie, Wyoming 1:07:50 10. Spyros Barres, 35, Mystic, Conn. 1:09:17 WOMEN 1. Magdalena Thorsell, 33, Albuquerque, NM 1:10:08.2 2.. J'ne Day-Lucore, 37, Denver, Colo. 1:20:58 3. Barbara Remmers, 34, New York, NY 1:22:16 4. Tonya Dodge, 23, Albany, NY 1:23:52 5. Amy Williams, 42, Denver, Colo., 1:24:22 6. Rebecca Stockdale-Woolley, 47, Chaplin, Conn. 1:24:52 7. Kerry Arsenault, 33, Guilford, Conn. 1:25:32 8. Karen McGahie, 36, West Newbury, Mass. 1:26:55 9. Allison Suckenski, 36, Trumbull, Conn. 1:27:09 10. Cathy Lifschultz, 35, Sudbury, Mass. 1:27:49
If you want these results in electronic format or need racers from other towns, search www.coolrunning.com or send email to Peter Thomsen at pthomsen@tiac.net.