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49th Mt. Washington Road Race Pinkham Notch, N.H. – June 20, 2009
"This was a wonderful race," said Gates, 28, as he stood at the 6288' foot summit reflecting on his run. "After placing third last year (in 1:01:12), I never wanted anything but first place this year." Running from the front of an early lead pack early that included Joe Gray, of Lakewood, Washington; defending champion Eric Blake, of New Britain, Connecticut; Matt Byrne, of Scranton, Pennsylvania; and three-time winner Simon Gutierrez, of Alamosa, Colorado, Gates passed the first mile in a very quick 6 minutes 20 seconds. Just past the 2-mile mark, he had opened up a 20 second lead over Blake. Craig Fram, of Plaistow, New Hampshire, another previous winner and current men's 45-49 record holder (1:05:44.1; 2008) was in 12th. At mile 3, Gates had a 15 second lead on Blake and Gray, who were running side by side. Weather at the start had been a pleasant 65F with overcast skies, but as the runners approached the 3900 foot level they began to run into fog. Gates passed the half-way point (3.8 miles) in 28:55. At a point on the course known as Government Sign, 4050 feet above sea level and just beyond the 4 mile mark, Gates led Blake by 32 seconds, Gray by 35, Byrne by a minute, and Jonathan Severy of Winooski, Vt., by a minute and a half. On his way to a certain masters win, Gutierrez trailed just behind Severy. Erholtz was running 37:27 at this point with no female competition even close. By the 5000 foot level, visibility was down to 50-100 feet. Gates had opened a wide gap and could no longer see or hear his competition behind him. At the 5500 foot level, the fog broke suddenly and Gates passed in 52:25, with Blake running 53:32. The break in the fog was not to last as the runners hit clouds again at 6000 feet with Blake running past the 7 mile mark in 54:45. "I would have liked to challenge him a little more," said Blake, who, like Gates, was a member of the U.S. Mountain Running team that won the bronze medal at the world championships last year. "I thought I ran a good race but Rickey ran a better race. He had a good lead on me and there was a mile left. At that point, I knew he was going to win." Erholtz was very happy with her performance, saying "It went well. I wanted to get in front early and be close to the record. At the half-way point in the course I was on pace to get it. I was trying to run faster than last year. But it was hard as you get more tired in the second half of the race." Czech mountain star and six-time Mt. Washington champion Anna Pichrtova missed this year's race because she had to be in her native country this weekend running in a qualifying race for her national team. Pichrtova's best Mt. Washington time is a mere 27 seconds faster than Erholtz's time today (1:10:26; 2005). Gutierrez finished fifth overall and first men's master (1:04:16) and Tara Cardi, of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, finished second overall and first women's master (1:19:52). "It was rough today," said Gutierrez. "I was tired from the start and struggled. It was good, though." He added that he thought he might have trained a little too hard in April and May but was satisfied with his place. Fram, the current men's 45-49 record holder (1:05:44.1 last year) advanced into a new age division this year and set a new Mt. Washington record as first male 50-54 in 1:06:58, nearly six minutes faster than the old record of 1:12:37 set by Sumner Brown in 1994. "I'm pretty much satisfied," said Fram." I passed people throughout the race and worked the whole way. I was never by myself and could always hear someone behind me and see runners in front of me." Donna Smyers, of Adamant, Vermont, won the womens' 50-54 division. The race's first-ever female amputee, Amy Palmiero-Winters, of Long Island, NY, a below-the knee amputee who has run a 3:04 marathon, finished in 1:57:13. Weather at the summit was breathtaking with sunny skies and undercast, a new term to most non-meteorologists. The view was exactly like the view from an airplane with 130 mile visibility in all directions and a floor of clouds. Temperatures were 55F with 5.9MPH winds from the southeast, meaning little difference in real temperature and windchill. Longtime runners and race officials agreed this was a once in a race lifetime occurrence. Sponsored by Northeast Delta Dental with support from New England Runner and La Sportiva, the race awarded Gates $1500 (first place open male and non-record-setting male run sub-60:00); Erholtz $1500 (first place open female and non-record-setting female run sub-72:00); Cardi $900 (second place open female and first place masters female); Blake $600 (second place open male); Jennifer Campbell of Newmarket, N.H., $500 (third place open female and first place NH female); Gray $400 (third place open male); Gutierrez $400 (fifth place open male and first place masters male); Lisa Goldsmith $300 (fifth place open female and second masters female); Byrne and Alison Bryant of Elkin, N.C., $200 (fourth place open male and female); Francis Burdett of Worcester, Massachusetts, $200 (second place masters male); Eric Morse of Berlin, Vermont, $100 (third place masters male); Cathy Pearce of Chelmsford, Mass., $100 (third place masters female); and Fram $100 (first place NH male). 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