Editor’s Note: Summit Daily News’ sports, outdoors and ski Industry reporter, Cody Jones, was part of the long-course race on Wednesday, May 21.

There is not a more telling sign that the summer season is almost here than the start of Race Breck’s Summit Trail Running Series. 

After months of logging miles on a treadmill or participating in winter sports, athletes from across Summit County and the state get the opportunity to take to the trails and race again. 

Race Breck hosted its first race of the series at Dillon’s Summit County Resource Allocation Park (SCRAP) on Wednesday, May 21.

Aptly named the Scrap Yard Scramble, competitors were not only met with mild temperatures, but also a fierce wind that cut across portions of the course. Despite the wind, athletes were able to tear across the bone-dry trails and complete the first of many trail races in Summit County this season.

Leading off the evening was the long-course race. Spanning a little over 5 miles, competitors were tasked with steep climbing for about the first 2 miles of the course before rolling back downhill to the finish line. 

Over the first half-mile of the race, a group of Breckenridge residents put themselves at the front and promptly began climbing up Sage Trail. USA Ski Mountaineering National Team member John Rauen was the first Breckenridge runner to begin pushing the pace on the climb.

With Rauen digging deep on the climb, the trailing field began to spread out. Breckenridge’s Jason McGowan maintained second place for the majority of the approximately 2-mile climbing portion of the course with Breckenridge’s Cody Jones sitting in third. 

As the course evened out, Rauen took off, spinning his legs and welcoming the long awaited downhill portion of the race. Rauen frolicked over rocks and careened around tight turns, growing ever closer to the finish line.

In the end, it was Jones who won the race in 34 minutes, 46 seconds. Rauen took second in 35:43, and Breckenridge’s Joshua Ernst took third in 36:30. McGowan was the fourth-straight Breckenridge runner to cross the finish line, taking fourth overall in 36:51. Jay Meservy of Keystone took fifth in 37:39, Zander Bertonneau finished in sixth (38:26) and Dillon’s Paul Timm took seventh (39:27). The top 10 was rounded out by several other Breckenridge residents. Jared Burris of Breckenridge took eighth (39:35) before Micheal Emery also of Breckenridge finished in ninth (43:23). 

The first female finisher in the long-course race was Breckenridge’s Brooke Steinkopf. Steinkopf took 10th overall and finished in a time of 45:17. Following Steinkopf was Breckenridge’s Ceara Conroy, Breckenridge’s Jaime Falcon and Englewood’s Audrey Kilness. The trio all finished near one another with Conroy taking 12th (47:33), Falcon finishing in 13th (48:02) and Kilness taking 14th (48:49).

Dillon’s Ryan Soderberg finished in 15th (49:00), Breckenridge’s Cate Cavanaugh took 16th (49:07), Jonna Maas took 17th (50:22), Hannah Leto of Frisco placed 18th (51:08), Frisco’s Tricia Cole finished in 19th (51:33) and Frisco’s Jenny Shostrand took 20th (51:45). 

The 3.5-mile short-course race was also highly competitive and packed with Summit County residents. Like the long-course race, competitors climbed over the first few miles of the race before cruising downhill. 

From the beginning of the race, Frisco’s Crosby Hume, 14, Breckenridge’s Danny Butler, Dillon’s Shane Nelson and Dillon’s Scott Siriano took the reins of the race and started distancing themselves from the rest of the field. 

After cresting the final major hill, Hume started pulling away. Hume maintained his lead all the way to the finish line, crossing as the champion of the short-course race in a time of 25:02. Butler, 15, took second in 26:39 and Nelson finished in third in 27:43.

Siriano secured a fourth-place finish by crossing the finish line in 28 flat before Silverthorne’s Theodore Preaus took fifth (28:59).

Breckenridge’s Haley Zipperer was the first female finisher in the race, taking sixth overall in a time of 29:44. After David Wicker of Dillon took seventh (29:55), two female runners rounded out the overall women’s podium. Breckenridge’s Melanie McAuley took eighth overall and was the second female across the line (32:10) while Dillon’s Jenny Wong finished in ninth and was the third overall female (32:37). 

Breckenridge’s Kevin Daly finished in 10th (36:05), Frisco’s Kara Johnsen took 11th (36:40), Breckenridge’s Anna Kerr placed 12th (38:23), Silverthorne’s Chris Becker took 13th (38:57) and Michele Schanker of Blue River took 14th (39:12).

Lone Tree’s John Bogdanoff was the final runner to place within the top 15, finishing in 15th place (39:18). 

Following Bogdanoff, several other female runners were able to sneak within the top 20. Michelle Obert finished in 16th (39:19), Liz Bowling took 17th (40:13) Rachel Zerowin took 18th (40:18), Dillon’s Angela Pinnere finished in 19th (40:43) and Carrie Rainville of Breckenridge took 20th (40:50).

The first Summit Mountain Challenge mountain-bike race — Frisco Round Up — will take place next week on Wednesday, May 28, at the Frisco Adventure Park. The second Summit Trail Running Series race will take place at the B&B Trailhead on June 4. 

To sign up for either race, visit RaceBreck.com.