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Snowshoers Remember Fellow Athlete Jeremy Wright
BEAVER CREEK, Colorado Blue skies and over 400 snowshoers came out to McCoy Park Saturday for the Jeremy Wright North American Snowshoe Championships, the final Beaver Creek Adventure Series event of the season.

10K competitors Josiah Middaugh and Anita Ortiz proved victorious, besting a tremendously talented pool of athletes, and walked away with a hefty handful of the $5,000 cash purse.

As athletes gathered at the starting line, a touching tribute was held for snowshoe great Jeremy Wright, who fell in combat earlier this year. Wright(1)s family expressed heartfelt words followed by a moment of silence. Mike Kloser of Beaver Creek Resort said, (3)The race is being dedicated to Jeremy. We are also dedicating a bench, something that will always be here in remembrance of what he did for us and our country.(2)

In the 10K action, Josiah Middaugh proved unbeatable yet again, winning four out of four this season. Embracing Wright(1)s family before he crossed the finish line at 46:39.56, Middaugh explained later, (3)It felt really good to win the race, but you know everybody is second place to Jeremy today.(2)

Greg Krause came in second at 47:04.85 squeezing out Beaver Creek(1)s Bernie Boettcher at 47:43.14. Simon Gutierrez took fourth with 48:41.84 as Chris Valenti rounded out the cash winners in fifth at 49:47.74.

10K Women's champ Anita Ortiz gave a stellar performance with a time of 56:31.71. Lindsay Krause, a two-time winner this season, placed second at 58:11.36 with Sara Tarkington in third at 59:39.04. Closing out the podium were Sari Chwalk at 1:00:11.56 and Lisa Isom at 1:00:24.65.

The East West 5K Quest Men(1)s Division saw John Litschert win first at 21:24.39 followed by Zack DiCristino at 21:57.70 and Benedictus Kok at 22:51.91. The Women(1)s Division saw Kim McConnell place first with 23:14.19. Lynda Andros took second at 23:56.87 as Erica Davis closed out the top three spots with 25:05.47.

In the Beaver Creek "Dash For Cash" 100-yard sprint, Roger Busch and Karen Opp walked away $100 richer for their efforts.

The Beaver Creek Snowshoe Adventure Series is brought to you by Nike ACG, Atlas Snow-Shoe Company, Slifer Smith and Frampton Real Estate and sponsored in part by East West Resorts, Beaver Creek Merchants Association, Peak Dentistry, Steadman Hawkins Sports Medicine Clinic, Nature Valley Granola Bars, Starbucks, Ricola, the Vail Daily, KZYR-The Zephyr and KVBA-TV8.

2. Alamosa's Simon Gutierrez lead the chase pack early in the race.

2. The rest of the field makes their way up the hill at the start.

3. Once you get going in a snowshoe race, you will find out why it is easy to overdress.

4. This is exaclty why snowshoing in the winter is great cross training for summer running. Look at that knee lift!

5. The sun was shining on the field during the entire race. THis made the low temperatues at the 11,000' snowshoe park a lot more bearable.

6. Lucky for some, the were some groomed trails on the race course.

7. It isn't everyday that you get to run in snow up to your knees!

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