Arnold and King crowned USATF Trail marathon champs
The leading group, winner King is far left
Last weekend, Ashland, Oregon played host to the Lithia Loop Trail Marathon – this year’s USATF trail marathon national championships. Two days prior to the race, the forecast called for cold rain low on the course and snow. Reports Byron Powell.
Max King of Bend, Oregon headlined a highly credentialed field with many runners from near and far sporting 2:30 or better personal bests in the marathon. King and the rest of the lead pack split up as the primarily dirt road course flattened out between miles 8 and 20. Running in the lead, King pushed his tired legs to maintain it. This was his second marathon in as many weekends. A week earlier, King ran a 2:19:11 at the New York City Marathon, which was good enough for 18th place in the Big Apple.
Max King
The women’s race sorted itself out more quickly than the men’s race. By the second mile, Cynthia Arnold of Lexington, Kentucky had taken the lead, which she would hold the rest of the day. The only hiccup in Arnold’s victory was her getting lost before the final aid station. She learned she was off course when race officials noticed her come into the aid station from the wrong direction. She retraced half a mile to where she went off course and still won by over 7 minutes with a time of 3:08:42.
Full report from competitorrunning.com
