Dave Dunham Sets new Run course record!
9th Annual Stark Mountain Hill Climb (Run)
9th Annual Allen Clark Memorial Hill Climb
(Bike)
and Duathlon Great Success!
Great weather, brilliant summit
foliage and a course record by almost two minutes set the bar for a successful
Green and Gold athletic weekend on Stark Mountain. Although the field for the 9th
Annual Stark Mountain Hill Climb (Run) and the duathlon was thinned because the
newly renovated historic chair was under final construction, the Allen Clark
Memorial Hill Climb (Bike) had a record turnout. Both events were held in Fayston October 6-7,
2007. In the run Dave Dunham of
Bradford, Massachusetts, coach of the U.S.
Mountain Running Team, set a new course record of 23:51:05. He beat the existing record of 25:23 set
years ago by Sproule Love. Current
record holder Harriott Shea of East Montpelier, Vermont, now age 51, set the
women’s record of 30:09 in the early years of the event. She did not beat her record but won the women’s
division in 31:22, nearly three minutes ahead of the next female contender, and
in 7th place overall.
Other notable performances included
Carl Sturcke, age 64, of Essex Fells, New Jersey who finished in 41:21 winning
the veteran division as the oldest finisher, and finishing in the top
twenty. For the second year in a row,
Peter Holtan of Waitsfield, Vermont, was the youngest finisher (age 12) in a
time of 52:51, nearly four minutes faster than his 2006 time. Peter’s dad, Brian Holtan (age 52) won the
Men’s Senior division in 34:38. The top
five women were Harriott Shea (31:22), Elizabeth Markison (23) of Danville,
Vermont in 34:24, Suzi Berget (28) of Bozeman, Montana in 41:30, Katie Schultz
Seipel (27) of Bozeman, Montana in 41:53 and Linda Dillon (42) of
Pleasantville, New York in 58:05.
Returning duathletes Thorin
Markinson and Marc Hammond put in sterling performances. Thorin, age 24 from Danville, Vermont, won
the duathlon for the second year in a row with a combined time of 56:18. Last year Thorin won the run overall, and
this year he came in third. Marc Hammond
(41) repeated his fourth place performance and improved his 2006 time with an
overall finish time of 1:14:56. Paul
Welch (43)was second in the duathlon in
61:00 flat. Charlie Tipper (48) of South
Hero, Vermont finished third in 1:07:30 after improving his 2006 run time
(35:09) by over three minutes. Charlie
finished the run in 31:54, good for 8th place overall in the run.
Sponsored by the Stark Mountain
Foundation, the run begins at the Mad River Glen base lodge and ends at the summit of Stark Mountain. Runners take any route they choose and travel
a linear mile, 2,000 vertical feet, to the top. The bike, sponsored by Stark
Mountain Bike Works, is a time trial from the intersection of Routes 100 and 17
to the top of Appalachian Gap. Both
events are fundraisers. This year’s run proceeds will be donated to the
restoration of the historic single chair.
The bike benefits the Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports Association. Traditionally
runners ride down on the historic
single chair. This year the runners ran
or hiked down. The restored chair will be operating soon and next year’s run
will feature an option, run or ride down. Three of this year’s participants
opted for a combined up and down run time, setting the standard for addition to
the uphill of an optional down competition next year. A kid’s run, music and a barbecue rounded out
another successful weekend at Mad River Glen.
Next year’s 10th
anniversary of the hill climbs will take place on October 4-5, 2008 along with
the third annual running of the duathlon.
For complete results and more information, including some photos, check www.starkmountain.org, www.achillcimb.org and www.madriverglen.com
Submitted
by Dot Helling, run director, ultradot@verizon.net
