Written by Richard Bolt for the American Trail Running Association
After last year’s event was hosted by the Gnar Gnar on Mt Hood in Oregon, the USATF Mountain Running Championship returned to the “Beast Coast” to be hosted by the Whiteface Mountain Races in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. Perfect racing weather set the scene under a blue sky, with low wind and start time temperatures in the high 50s at the base of Whiteface Mountain. Whiteface hosted the alpine skiing events at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games and is home to the biggest vertical drop of any ski area in the Northeast U.S. Forty-two years ago skiers raced down the 3000 foot vertical drop but yesterday America’s top mountain runners ran up and down the mountain on a 6.4-mile “rolling” course with 3700 feet of climb and descent.
Women’s Race
The women’s race kicked off at 8:00 AM and several pre-race favorites jumped to the lead on the way up the mountain. Olympic Nordic skier and 2022 Broken Arrow Skyrace 26K winner Sophia Laukli reached the 4300′ high-point, 2.8 miles into the race in first place. 2014 U.S. Junior Mountain Running Team member Tabor Hemming (formerly Scholl) of Kremmling, CO hit the high-point in second place, just 10 seconds back. 2021 US Mountain Running Team member Rachel Tomajczyk was third to the high-point with 2017 US Mountain Running Team member and two-time Nordic Olympian Caitlin Patterson and 2019 US Mountain Running Team member Sam Lewis in 4th and 5th. New Hampshire’s Corey Dowe was the sixth woman to the top of the course while 2021 US Mountain Running Team member Megan Lacy reached the high-point in 7th. 22 year old Annamaria Kostarellis from Rochester, New York was next to reach the high-point rounding out the top 8.
Based on results from Saturday’s Whiteface Mountain Race, Tabor Hemming, Rachel Tomajczyk and Sophia Laukli will join defending World Mountain Running Champion Grayson Murphy on the 2022 US Mountain Running Team. They will run the “Classic” Mountain Race on November 6 in Chiang Mai, Thailand at the inaugural World Mountain & Trail Running Championships.
Hemming is the first U.S. women to make mountain running junior (2013, 2014) and senior teams. Andrew Benford (2006, 2009) and Tayte Pollmann (2015, 2017, 2018) are the only U.S. men to race at the World Mountain Running Championships as juniors and seniors.
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Men’s Race
Without defending national champion and two-time World Mountain Running Champion Joseph Gray on the start line, the race would be wide open for a new champion to be crowned from among a talented field of new and experienced athletes. The men’s field burst off the start line led by 7-time US Mountain Running Team member Andy Wacker of Boulder, CO.
At the high-point it was Way Too Cool 50K runner-up Eli Hemming of Kremmling, CO and 2021 US Mountain Running Team member Joseph DeMoor of Carbondale, CO in the lead. A few seconds back were Morgan Elliott of Salida, CO and Wacker.
As happened in the women’s race, the steep Olympic downhill would shake up the men’s running order. A veteran of two previous up/down USATF Mountain Running Championships, DeMoor used his experience and strength to gain a lead on the way down. DeMoor would be stalked by Wacker and Hemming.
At some point on the descent DeMoor really began to struggle. Pushing himself to the limit he collapsed just a hundred yards from the finish where he was attended to by paramedics. Fortunately DeMoor would be ok but had to accept a DNF.
Based on results from Saturday’s Whiteface Mountain Race, Andy Wacker, Eli Hemming and Morgan Elliot will join defending World Mountain Running Champion Joseph Gray of Colorado Springs, CO on the 2022 US Mountain Running Team. They will run the “Classic” Mountain Race on November 6 in Chiang Mai, Thailand at the inaugural World Mountain & Trail Running Championships.