So. Many. Amazing. Athletes.
Soak up the energy and revel in it all year. This may have been the best GoPro Mountain Games ever. Here’s how things wrapped up on Day 4.
Pro Trek Smart 10K Spring Runoff
Joseph Gray landed an unprecedented fifth consecutive victory in the TIAA Bank 10K Spring Runoff on Sunday, but what really separated him from the pack this year was the way he … separated himself from the pack. He’s no stranger to finishing a minute or two faster than his closest competitor, but on Sunday, he ran virtually the entire course all by himself.
“It was nice. I was able to think about some stuff .. enjoy the course. It actually wasn’t quiet at all because I could hear the crowd and the spectators cheering the whole time,” Gray said.
When the 34-year-old Colorado Springs resident traversed along the final ridge of Vail Mountain, it appeared that he was in a dead sprint. This, it turns out, was his jogging pace. He finished in 46 minutes, 40 seconds.
Seth DeMoor, who’s no stranger to chasing Gray in tough races, finished about two and a half minutes after the five-time consecutive champion, while fellow elite runner Joshua Eberly rounded out the podium.
Proving even more that he’s something beyond human, Gray was heading out to Pepi’s Face Off immediately after his 10K win.
Ultra runner Anna Mae Flynn, 31, last year’s Pepi’s Face Off champion, was the fastest woman in the 10K, finishing in 55:23 as 18-year-old Lauren Gregory and 25-year-old Dani Moreno took second and third, respectively, each a little more than one minute back from the other. The only additional women to break the one-hour mark were Nicole Mericle, who is always a top finisher in Mountain Games running events, and Tara Richardson.
Pepi’s Face-Off
Donning tall socks for the tall grass and fresh off of his fifth consecutive Pro Trek Smart 10K Spring Runoff victory, Joseph Gray tried his first Pepi’s Face-Off Powered by Bang Energy event on Sunday and proved that he really is something more than human.
Taking off at a sprint and only slowing his pace when he was nearly to the top of the notoriously steep ski run – the place where most racers resort to using their hands to climb – the running champion from Colorado Springs averaged five-minute laps to win the event with six laps in 32 minutes and 15 seconds.
The format was slightly different than in last year’s inaugural Pepi’s Face-Off. Rather than crawl up Pepi’s Face and then scramble directly back down the steep slope as racers did in last year’s event, this year, the course was double in length, so when racers reached the service road at the top of Pepi’s Face, they had to continue on a slight uphill gradient to a less steep, zig-zagging downhill. The objective was to make as many laps up and down Pepi’s Face as possible in the 30-minute time period. Racers who made it to the uphill start by the 30-minute cutoff were able to complete their final lap for the overall finish time.
“The biggest challenge is that you’re going downhill pretty fast, then you really have to change gears for such a steep uphill,” Gray said after the race, looking by all accounts like he wasn’t even tired.
“It was hard in the moment,” he said, in answer to whether he was tired or found it difficult. “I feel like I could maybe do a couple more [laps]. But I don’t know how fast they would be.”
Local super athlete and XTERRA World Champion Josiah Middaugh, who arrived at the start line directly from the Road Bike Time Trial, in which he finished 11th, following up his third place finish in Saturday’s XC Mountain Bike race, was the No. 2 finisher in Pepi’s Face-Off. He and Gray were the only two racers to complete six laps and Middaugh finished nearly three and a half minutes behind Gray. In fact, he was just reaching the summit of his final lap as Gray was sprinting across the finish line.
“I had to ultimately just go at my own pace,” said Middaugh, who broke out of the start and trailed Gray by only a few yards on the first lap. “Joe is just too fast.”
Exhibiting that bionic really does run in the bloodline, Middaugh’s son, 14-year-old Sullivan Middaugh, was the fifth place finisher, finishing five laps behind third place Ryan Phebus and fourth place Sean Van Horn.
Only a handful of the 60-plus athletes competing in the event managed to pull off five laps, four among them were women. The fastest was Breckenridge’s Kelly Ahern, who notched five laps in 34:39.2. Also fresh off her 10K victory, pro runner Anna Mae Flynn of Marble ramped up her quadriceps and plowed through five laps in 35:12 to take second among the women. Not far behind were fellow Coloradans Brandy Erholtz and Patricia Franco, who took third and fourth, respectively.
Among the most noble efforts of the few women who made four laps was Kerrie Bruxvoort, who was in the process of sprinting uphill back to the start before the buzzer sounded and also kayaker Adrienne Levknecht, who is competing in the Ultimate Mountain Challenge and thus has tried her power at nonstop events all weekend. After kicking off with a third place in the Oh Chute Kayak race, Levknecht has splashed through numerous other water events (including another third place in the GMC Downriver Kayak Sprint) as well as the 5K running race and the XC Mountain Bike race.
“That mountain bike race is the hardest thing I’ve done,” Levnecht said, after collapsing into the grass upon crossing the Pepi’s Face-Off finish line. “In the downhill, I went over the handlebars. Then I just layed there in the briars for a few minutes and had some choice words. I had a snack and got back on the bike.”
Suffering as she is, Levnecht said she’s ready to do it all again next year.
“I paddled the White Nile earlier this year and was chased by three crocodiles. It was the most terrifying thing that’s ever happened to me. I was like, ‘I’m never, ever doing this again. Three days after I got home, I was planning my next trip,” she said.
That’s the sort of spirit we get out here at the GoPro Mountain Games.
Road Bike Time Trial
The 2018 Road Bike Time Trial served as a precursor event to the forthcoming Colorado Classic in August, in which you can expect to see even more lightning fast guys and gals on skinny tires.
The field was stacked for Sunday’s race, many competitors donning full-on time trial helmets and riding featherweight bikes equipped with disc wheels that are likely worth more than your car.
Cranking off of a start ramp in Vail Village, cyclists pedaled to East Vail and then halfway up Vail Pass, gaining 1,686 feet in 9.7 miles.
“The hardest thing is containing yourself at the beginning and not getting too excited. Once you get up into the altitude, it hits you quickly. You feel like a million bucks at the beginning, but you’ve got to really pace yourself and be patient. You win or lose this race on the climb, for sure,” said Keegan Swirbul, who clearly nailed the formula for pacing himself. The 22-year-old pro from Carbondale handily won the race, finishing in one of the top times ever recorded on the course – 26 minutes and 53 seconds. Before launching onto the course, which he had only ever ridden once before (in 2014), Swirbul said a good result in the Mountain Games Time Trial would definitely buoy him for the Colorado Classic on Aug. 16.
“It’s going to be pretty wild. I’m so excited for that race,” he said.
Pro rider Abigail Mickey of Boulder was the decisive winner of the women’s race. Her time of 31:19 was considerably faster than the majority of the men’s field.
“The biggest challenge is getting into a rhythm on the flat,” said the 27-year-old, who is also one to watch in the 2018 Colorado Classic race. “I love the change of terrain. This is one of my favorite time trials. I’m thrilled that it’s part of the Colorado Classic.”
Pro tip: Mickey was wolfing down a Gu right before her race start and says that a solid, high-calorie dinner is key before race day. She had pizza (cheese-free, because she’s lactose intolerant) on Saturday before the race.
“Pizza for dinner is one of my race prep go-tos,” she said. “If you’re thinking about breakfast on race day, you’re too late.”