Projo Running Blog

Organizers of the 49th Mt. Washington Road Race, slated for June 20 at 10 a.m. in Pinkham Notch, N.H., provide a look at the talented field shaping up for this year's event:

Men's field reprises last year, plus Low - plus Wyatt?
Women's race: Erholz defends title, Pichrtova likely returning

When the 49th running of the annual Mt. Washington Road Race begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 20, the front of the starting line will look a lot like what it looked like in 2008: intense. Five of the top six male finishers in last year's Run To The Clouds, including two-time defending champion Eric Blake, of New Britain, Conn., are returning to face the triple challenge of the hill itself, the unpredictable Mt. Washington weather, and the tight competition they provide for each other.

Just one significant difference is likely: Clint Wells, who lost a thrilling duel against Blake in the final staircase-steep 50 yards of the 2008 race, is not entered this year. Instead, former U.S. Mountain Runner of the Year Paul Low, of Northfield, Vermont, kept out of last year's race by an injury, will return for his sixth attempt to win a race where he has finished 2nd three times, 3rd and 4th once each.

Joining the battle up front will be Rickey Gates of Boulder, Colorado, 3rd last year; Joe Gray of Lakewood, Washington, 4th in his debut here in 2008; three-time Mt. Washington champion Simon Gutierrez of Alamosa, Colo., 5th overall last year in a new master's course record; and Matt Byrne of Scranton, Pennsylvania, 6th in his debut here last year. Others in the men's field include local favorite Kevin Tilton of North Conway, NH, Jason Bryant of Elkin, NC (9th here two years ago), and Juan Guillermo Jaramillo, a Colombian mountain runner living in Milford, N.H. who placed 6th at Mt. Washington in 2007.

One uncertainty hovers in the background. Jonathan Wyatt, the World Mountain Running Champion who holds the course record at Mt. Washington, is considering including a return to the White Mountains for this year's race. Watch for updates.

The women's race may be easy to call - or not. Brandy Erholz, of Bailey, Colo., who won last year in her first appearance at Mt. Washington, is returning and may be regarded as the favorite, but veterans of this race know that the outcome most likely depends on what kind of shape Anna Pichrtova is in. Pichrtova, of the Czech Republic and one of the greatest mountain runners in the world over the past ten years, is planning a return to Mt. Washington after an assortment of injuries that kept her out of the 2008 race and have compromised her training. In seven previous appearances at Mt. Washington, Pichrtova has won six times and finished second once, outkicked in 2006 by then-World Champion Melissa Moon of New Zealand after Moon ran just off Pichrtova's shoulder for most of the race. Moon, who finished just two seconds shy of the course record that year, has not returned to Mt. Washington.

The women's field will include several other strong contenders, among them Alison Bryant of Elkin, N.C, who finished 3rd at Mt. Washington in 2007 and 5th last year; Camille Herron of Lafayette, Indiana, 6th here last year; Keri Nelson of Gunison, Colo., 7th last year; Kelli Lusk of Manitou Springs, Colo., who has several times placed in the top ten; and Lisa Goldsmith of Nederland, Colo., who will contend for the women's masters prize, which she won here in 2007, and may finish in the top ten in the open race as well.

Last year Blake won the men's open race in one hour and 39 seconds, and Erholtz won the women's in 1:11:08.

The men's masters race will be a battle as usual. Although Gutierrez is the clear favorite, the field also includes three-time Mt. Washington winner Dave Dunham of Ward Hill, Mass., and Eric Morse of Berlin, Vermont.

Mt. Washington veterans pay considerable attention to age-group prizes, and several age-group records may be in jeopardy this year. Two in particular that are likely to fall are the men's record for ages 50-54, as Craig Fram of Plaistow, NH, the 1997 Mt. Washington winner and formerly the master's course record-holder, is now 50 years old; and the record for women aged 80 years and up, as Mt. Washington veteran Hildy Fosse of Holderness, NH, recently turned 80. The men's 60-64-year record may also be threatened, as Mike McMusker of Buckland, Mass., squares off against fellow-60-year-old Barry Spitz of San Anselmo, California. The oldest runner entered in the race is George Etzweiler, 89, of State College, Pennsylvania.

Sponsored by Northeast Delta Dental, with additional support from New England Runner magazine, Bridgton Academy and La Sportiva, the Mt. Washington Road Race is a 7.6-mile ascent to the 6288-foot summit of the highest peak in the northeastern United States, at an average grade of 12 percent. Each year the race attracts close to 1000 runners for the steepest all-uphill race on a paved road anywhere.

The weather, the available parking space for vehicles that bring finishers back down from the summit, and the capacity of the Auto Road all contribute to limiting the size of the field. At the same time, the number of runners hoping to run the race each year typically approaches 2000. Granite State Race Services, organizers of the event, operate a computerized lottery to give an equal chance to every applicant who signs up on line any time between March 1 and 15. Entrants this year come from 35 states and 4 Canadian provinces.

The top runners will compete for the first prize of $1000 for first male and female finisher overall, with a $5000 bonus for breaking the men's or women's course record and a $2000 bonus awarded by New England Runner magazine to a man or woman breaking the master's record. The men's course record for the Mt. Washington Road Race is 56 minutes 41.0 seconds, set in 2004 by New Zealand's Jonathan Wyatt, three-time World Mountain Running Champion. The women's record is one hour 10 minutes 8.2 seconds, set by Sweden's Magdalena Thorsell in 1998. The masters records are 1:01:33.7, set last year by Simon Gutierrez of Alamosa, Colorado, and 1:13:33.6, also set last year, by Laura Haefeli of DelNorte, Colorado.

 Tags  Mt. Washington Road Race

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