McDowell, Heaslett Win USA 50 Mile Trail Championships
CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN, Wash. - (July 27, 2002) - Running with spectacular Mt.
Rainier as a backdrop, Nate McDowell ran away from a deep field at the White
River 50 Mile Trail Run on Saturday to capture the 2002 USA Track & Field 50
Mile Trail Championship. McDowell, 30, of Corvallis, Ore., ran in the strong
lead pack for the first half of the race and then took the lead at about the
30 mile mark and cruised to a course record time of 6:50:39.
Anne Heaslett, 38, of Madison, Wis., overcame a four-minute deficit
midway through the race to capture the women's title. Heaslett caught Petra
Pirc, 30, of Salt Lake City, Utah, with less than two miles to go and
finished in 8:13:17 (21st overall). Piric followed less than two minutes
behind in 8:15:11.
Dennis Poolheco, 41, of Glendale, Ariz., ran a strong second half of the
race to claim the men's Masters title with a sixth-place overall finish in
7:21:49. Luanne Park, 41, of Redding, California, easily won the women's
Masters title in 9:03:11. She was the fifth woman and 36th overall finisher.
The White River 50-Miler is run on the rugged terrain of the Mt.
Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest 75 miles east of Seattle. The up-and-down
course varied in elevation from 2,000 feet to nearly 6,000 feet.
"Nate ran a great race against a very strong field," said race director
Scott McCoubrey. "He was smart to hold back and wait until the second half to
make a move. He knows how tough the course is. And the women's race was
phenomenal with the way Ann chased down Petra. She ran strongly the whole
race."
McDowell, a former track and cross country runner at the University of
Michigan, earned his first U.S. title by outrunning one of the strongest
ultrarunning fields of the season. He beat a cast of champions in Hal
Koerner, 26, of Parker, Colo. (2nd, 7:01:11), William Emerson, 38, of
Redmond, Wash. (3rd, 7:07:27), Karl Meltzer, 34, of Savoy, Utah (4th,
7:12:47), and Scott Jurek, 28, of Seattle, Wash. (5th, 7:16:20). Emerson was
the defending national champion on the same course, while Jurek is the
four-time defending champion at the Western States 100 in Auburn, Calif.
"It was like a peloton of runners for the first half of the race,"
McDowell said. "When we started to move in the second half, I just felt good.
I felt strong. I said to myself 'I feel like running hard so let's see what
happens.' After that I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing."
Heaslett was coming off a strong showing in the World Challenge 100K in
Belgium last June, where she finished as the third U.S. woman. She was among
the top three women throughout the White River 50 but was well behind Petra
Pirc at the midway point. Pirc held a five-minute lead through 35 miles, but
Heaslett made up enormous ground on the steep climb up and steep descent down
Sun Top Mountain.
Heaslett caught Pirc with about seven miles from the finish line. The two
traded off the lead three times before Heaslett took over for good with about
a mile and a half to go on the winding Skookum Flats section adjacent to the
White River. Krissy Moehl of Seattle, Wash. (8:22:44), Georgia Daniels of
Tacoma, Wash. (8:51:35) and Luanne Park of Redding Calif. (9:03:11) rounded
out the top five women's finishers. Heaslett finished third in the race last
year (31st overall) in 8:37:56.
"I got pretty dehydrated last year in this race, so my biggest goal was
to make sure I drank a lot of fluid and saved a bit of energy," Heaslett
said. "The last part of the race through Skookum Flats is pretty technical,
so you need to save some energy. I felt tired, but I knew we were near the
end so I pushed with whatever I had left. I thanked Petra for a great race
because I ran about 30 minutes faster than I did last year."
More than $10,000 in prize money was given to the top five men and women
and top five Masters runners in each gender. McDowell and Heaslett each won
$1,400 for their victories, while Masters champs Poolheco and Park each took
home $750.
Sponsors of the event included Foot Zone Capitol Hill/Seattle Running
Company, Montrail, Patagonia and Clif Bar. The 2002 USA 50K Trail
Championships will be held August 24 at the Golden Gate Headlands 50K Race
near Sausalito, Calif.
Bids for 2003 USATF ultrarunning and trail running championships are due
August 15. For more information, race directors should contact Lorraine
Gersitz at (714) 526-5340.
White River 50 Mile Trail Run: USA Championship
Crystal Mountain, WA, Saturday, July 27, 2002
MEN
1) Nate McDowell, 30, Corvallis, OR 6:50:39* $1400
2) Hal Koerner, 26, Parker, CO 7:01:11 $800
3) William Emerson, 38, Redmond, WA 7:07:27 $600
4) Karl Meltzer, 34, Savoy, UT 7:12:47 $400
5) Scott Jurek, 28, Seattle, WA 7:16:20 $200
*course record
MASTERS MEN (40+)
1) Dennis Poolheco, 41, Glendale, AZ 7:21:49 $750
WOMEN
1) Anne Heaslett, 38, Madison, WI 8:13:17 $1400
2) Petra Pirc, 30, Salt Lake City, UT 8:15:11 $800
3) Krissy Moehl, 24, Seattle, WA 8:22:44 $600
4) Georgia Daniels, 34, Tacoma, WA 8:51:35 $400
5) Luanne Park, 41, Redding, CA 9:03:11, $200
MASTERS WOMEN (40+)
1) Luanne Park, 41, Redding, CA 9:03:11 $750
Race website: White River 50M Trail Run
Contact Information:
Scott McCoubrey, Race Director, (206) 329-1466
Brian Metzler, USATF Mountain/Ultra/Trail Running Council, (303) 546-6613
