Written by USA Team Leader Jason Bryant and WMRA Treasurer Nancy Hobbs for the American Trail Running Association.
The NACAC Mountain Running Championships were held on Sunday, October 20, at a countryside venue located just 30 minutes from Tepatitlan de Morelos, Jalisco, Mexico. On race day, the Cerro Gordo mountain added the additional challenge of mud and slick rocks to the competition.
Andy Wacker, Boulder, CO, and Dani Moreno, Santa Barbara, CA, earned NACAC championships titles with Moreno leading the US women to a gold medal and Wacker leading the men to silver.
Stormy weather throughout the days preceding the 16th NACAC Mountain Running Championships did nothing to damped the spirits of the record five nations competing this year – Mexico, Canada, United States, El Salvador and Costa Rica. The host event, the 12th Carrera Cerro Gordo, offered a challenging course with over 2000 feet of climbing from a starting elevation of 7000 feet to nearly 8700 feet at the high point — the turnaround point — on an out and back course covering 12 kilometers of trail. The route featured rocky sections, hard-packed dirt, grassy terrain, and muddy spots along the trail.
The competitors began the ascent of Cerro Gordo quickly moving onto the cobblestone road leading to trail. Wacker soared up Cerro Gordo, reaching the top with a small lead over Jesus Nava of team Mexico. Mexico ran in a tight pack close behind Wacker with teammates Eric Blake, David Fuentes and Travis Fuller of team USA just behind the Mexico pack.
On the women’s side, US teammates Sam Lewis and Moreno led the way approaching the mountain top turn around. Behind these two, the ladies’ field had begun to string out with a mixture of the Mexican, Canadian and US team members Kristen Findley and Maria Dalzot in pursuit.
Returning down the mountain, Wacker cut loose, extending his lead to arrive at the finish as the NACAC Mountain Champion in a time of 53:30 followed by Mexico’s Jesus Nava and Brayan Rodriguez in 54:22 and 55:26 respectively. Fuentes would be the next USA runner down in seventh position with a time of 56:43. Fuller followed closely in eighth with a time of 56:50, just ahead of Blake who finished ninth in 57:02. Mexico took the NACAC team title with 9 points, USA followed with 12 point for the silver medal, while Canada claimed bronze with 28 points. El Salvador, fielding a full team for the first time, finished in fourth with 42 points.
“Whenever I come to an event like this, I have personal goals, but it’s also about how we’ll do as a team. I wanted to win, but there were a lot of really good competitors on the start list, so it was something I expected.
“I think the course was challenging,” continued Wacker. “It had lots of different parts. It was muddy, and rocky, and there were also flat sections. All of it was a good primer for Argentina next month (where he’ll race for the USATF Mountain Running Team at the World Championships). I’m proud of our team. Both the men and women were really solid and I’m happy with the result.
“I blew up the last time I competed, so this was redemption. It’s my first big win in a while. Probably back to 2016 when I won the USATF Half Marathon Trail Championships. “
Andy Wacker