Racers go red after muddy Teva trail runs

VAIL - Red, white and brown were the unofficial colors of the Teva Mountain Games trail running races Saturday. The course for the 10-kilometer national trail running championship race was modified at the last minute, as race organizers said the top sections of trail were covered by about 8 inches of snow.

Nonetheless, there was plenty of white to be found on the race course and falling throughout the race, which took competitors down Bridge Street and up onto the snow and mud-packed service roads of Vail Mountain. Brown was probably the predominant shade, but there was lots of red skin showing through skimpy running shorts, and even some blood here and there, like on Matt Carpenter's leg.

Carpenter, from Colorado Springs, won the race in a time of 46 minutes, 41 seconds, to become the national men's trail running champion and qualifying for the U.S. Teva Mountain Running team, which will compete in the trophy event Sept. 25 in Wellington, New Zealand.

The conditions didn't seem to faze Carpenter, who was soaked from head to toe in the unofficial colors following the race, including a vibrant red gash from sliding into a tree on one of the steep downhill sections of the course.

"When I woke up, the weather was great in Colorado Springs," Carpenter said. "When we came over the pass here, I just thought, 'Oh God. This is going to be muddy."

Timothy Parr from Gunnison was second in 47:31 and Clint Wells was third in 47:50. Vail's Josiah Middaugh was fourth in 48:23 and Celedonio Rodriguez from Mexico was fifth in 48:31.

"It wasn't so much about pacing," Carpenter said. "It was just, you couldn't go as hard as you wanted because you slipped so much. You just had to be in control and go on the good parts. Clint was really strong on the ups and Tim was running really strong on the downs, so I thought what I had to do was run good on the flats. I think I probably won because I was a little more risky on the downs. But, I ate a tree. I would like to meet the people who didn't fall today."

Parr was unthwarted by the conditions.

"The course was exactly what I expected," Parr said. "I wasn't expecting it to be this muddy. But I liked it. It added an extra element to it. It made it a little harder."

Women's winner Anna Pichrtova (52:19) from Slovakia was less than enthused about the conditions, but managed to beat second-place World Mountain Running champion Melissa Moon (52:39) of New Zealand, and Laura Haefeli (55:01) of Del Norte, who was the first American woman to finish and thus the new national champion.

"I like sunshine. I like hot weather," Pichrtova said. "I really don't like snow and mud, but you can't do anything about it. You have to stay open and positive and try to do your best."

The mud factor was a definite go Saturday for the Teva Games 5K mud run, which Eagle County resident Mike Kloser breezed through like a hovercraft with the winning time of 27 minutes.

Following not too far behind (29 minutes, 26 seconds) was 15-year-old Jonathan Stevens in second place, who, upon being asked how it was, looked at his crusted legs and said, "It's muddy." Daniel Carlson took third in 29:46, Vail's Paul Gorbold was fourth in 29:49 and Matt Johnson was fifth in 30:25.



Staff Writer Shauna Farnell can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 610, or sfarnell@vaildaily.com.