Twin Peaks for Erholtz and Randall
Brandy Erholtz
Glenn Randall and Brandy Erholtz took dramatic wins at Saturdays classic Pikes Peak Ascent race. The US athletes won the race to the top of this 14,000ft plus brute of a hill, which also included the World Long Distance Mountain Running championship event…
Though their wins were equally dramatic, it was that of Erholtz which was fought right the way to the top of the mountain. Having won the Harakiri Berglauf some three weeks previously Erholtz was obviously in good form, and having also won the race in 2008 the Evergreen runner had a mere 13 seconds in hand over fellow American Kim Dobson.
Anna Frost
Ascent first-timer Anna Frost came home a very strong third, declaring that her “head was spinning at the top, plus my feet were cramping, other than that loved the race and very pleased with my run”.
There were no such dramas in the men’s race for Randall though, as he won by a clear 2 min 51 secs, covering the 13.32 mile climb in 2:09:28. Marc Lauenstein was second, with Ricky Gates making up the podium.
Glenn Randall
Further down the field there was a storming run by former international mountain biker Mike Kloser. The 50 year-old Vail resident utterly smashed the men’s over-50 age group record, as he carved a full 8 minutes off Dale Peteren’s record!
Full results are now online, with some great images here, courtesy of Justin Mock on Facebook – more reporting and reactions to follow…
Reactions so far
Confused Sep 1, 02:35 AM
Matt, I’ve no idea why you’ve chosen to report solely the results of US and NZ athletes at Pikes Peak and ignore the results of the English and Scottish athletes who made up the national teams in the Long Distance Worlds. Is MS&T an American/New Zealand site or a UK site?! I’d have thought 2 men and 3 women in the top 10, plus 2 team medals was worth reporting.
Matt - MST Sep 1, 03:25 AM
Hi Anna, thanks for your comment…
Well number one, MST is a site with a heavy lilt to the UK, but as the strapline says is dedicated to “Worldwide off-road running”. I would never like to be a parochial site, just talking about the UK and want to become known for a liberal view on all things off-road, wherever they may occur.
The site is a ‘hobby’, and my time is really limited. In my experience nobody gets rich doing a fell / trail / mountain running website. (Unless you concentrate on track and road, with inane content, and a feast of ads). So I try and fit in reporting, news, features, and other bits around my normal working life.
If you look through the archive you will see that I have a heavy bias towards the UK, and specifically fell running. But, I only have so much time to report on such things as the PP race, so tended to concentrate on the leading results (top 3’s) and hence missed the British aspect.
Finally, I think your “Is MS&T an American/New Zealand site or a UK site?!” is a little unfair, but thanks for the comments anyway, I’ll carry on doing my best…
Matt
Tamster Sep 10, 03:23 AM
Matt, keep up the exceptional work…we all appreciate you!
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