This past Sunday, the Gnar Gnar trail race, presented by Go Beyond Racing, hosted the 2021 USA Track & Field (USATF) Mountain Running Championships. The Nike Trail-sponsored race took place at the Mt Hood SkiBowl resort with scenic views of nearby Mount Hood, Oregon. Despite poor air quality due to wildfires in the days leading up to the event, the air cleared enough for the races to kick-off as scheduled with over 240 runners toeing the start line at 3,600 feet above sea level.
The men’s and women’s races were full of highly competitive athletes including 2019 World Mountain Running Champions Grayson Murphy and Joseph Gray, 2011 World Mountain Running Champion Max King, a dozen other US Team veterans, as well as elite up-and-comers relatively new to mountain running.
The Gnar Gnar served as the sole selection race for the US Mountain Running Team scheduled to compete at the World Mountain and Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand in February 10-13, 2022. Grayson Murphy and Joseph Gray would earn automatic spots on the team as the top Americans from the 2019 World Mountain Running Championship. The remaining three spots would go to the top three finishers of this race (or the fourth finisher should Murphy and Gray place in the top three).
Women’s Race
Murphy’s Solo Win and The Close Battle For US Team Spots
The women’s race went out quickly from the start line at the base of the Skibowl Ski Resort in Government Camp, OR. The top women jostled for positions on narrow mountain-bike singletrack switchbacks and began to string out by the top of the first climb near the first mile marker. Grayson Murphy (Bozeman, MT) left nothing to chance and went out with a blistering pace, determined to crack the rest of the field. Only Janelle Lincks (Thornton, CO) attempted to hold her pace and was on Murphy’s heels for the first climb before falling back. Murphy continued to push the pace until she was all alone. She led to the course high point at roughly 5,000 feet and was unstoppable on the downhill. Her winning time of 43:22 broke the course record by almost nine minutes and she finished almost three minutes in front of second place Rachel Johnson (Lynchburg, VA).
Read the full recap here: https://trailrunner.com
Top ten USATF Mountain Running Championship women’s race finishers:
- Grayson Murphy – 26 (Salt Lake City, UT) 43:22 ($750)
- Rachel Johnson – 28 (Lynchburg, VA) 46:11 ($500)
- Bailey Kowalczyk – 25 (Nederland, CO) 46:22 ($400)
- Megan Lacy – 27 (Boise, ID) 46:26 ($300)
- Anna Gibson – 22 (Teton Village, WY) 46:49 ($250)
- Allie McLaughlin – 30 (Colorado Springs, CO) 47:07
- Janelle Lincks – 27 (Thornton, CO) 47:49
- Sam Lewis – 27 (Moscow, ID) 48:09
- Anna Dalton – 31 (Anchorage, AK) 48:28
- Kimber Mattox – 32 (Bend, OR) 48:37
Full Women’s Results: https://www.hubertiming.com/results/2021GnarGnarWomens#individual
Men’s Race
Gray Repeats and King’s Still King
In contrast to the women’s race, the top men could not shake each other on the first climb. Joseph Gray (Colorado Springs, CO) led the field, followed by Najim Mahmoud (Flagstaff, AZ), Tyler McCandless (Fort Collins, CO) and Edward Owens (Larkspur, CA). The leaders shifted positions after reaching the 5,000 feet elevation course highpoint. 2011 World Mountain Running Champion Max King reached the top in sixth place and unleashed a downhill surge in the last two miles that almost secured him the overall victory.
Read the full recap here: https://trailrunner.com
The top ten USATF Mountain Running Championship mens’ race finishers:
- Joseph Gray – 37 (Colorado Springs, CO) 39:36 ($750)
- Max King, 41 – (Bend, OR) 39:51 ($500)
- Joseph Demoor – 31 (Carbondale, CO) 40:09 ($400)
- Edward Owens – 28 (Larkspur, CA) 40:24 ($300)
- Andy Wacker – 32 (Boulder, CO) 40:33 ($250)
- Eli Hemming – 26 (Kremmling, CO) 40:50
- Meikael Beaudoin-Rousseau – 21 (Sunnyvale, CA) 41:39
- Liam Meirow – 25 (Portland, OR) 42:08
- Najim Mahmoud – 24 (Flagstaff, AZ) 42:29
- Tyler McCandless – 34 (Fort Collins, CO) 42:31
Full Men’s Results: https://www.hubertiming.com/results/2021GnarGnar#individual