- Mount Washington Road Race
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The Mount Washington Road Race is a 7.6 mile road running event that follows an auto road going from the base of Mount Washington in New Hampshire nearly to the mountain's summit (located at 6288 ft above sea level). The race was first held in 1936, and has been run annually since 1966. Women first participated officially in 1972. The race course rises 4650 vertical feet from start to finish. It is a steep mountain course with an average grade of 11%. Held in June each year, Mount Washington is a popular race for runners in New England, and also attracts many runners from other parts of the United States and the world. For non-elite runners, entrance is by lottery. The lottery winners are able to be among the approximately 1100 runners who partake in this annual event. The lottery is held in mid-March, with a sign-up period from March 1–15. Andy Schachat currently serves as race announcer.
The course record of 56:41 was set in 2004 by renowned mountain runner Jonathan Wyatt. The female course record was set by Magdalena Thorsell in a time of 1:10:49 in 1998. Multiple winners of the race on the men's side include Francis Darrah, Mike Gallagher, Bob Hodge, Gary Crossan, Dave Dunham, Derek Froude, Matt Carpenter, Daniel Kihara, Simon Gutierrez and Eric Blake. On the female side, Eleonora Mendonca, Cathy Hodgdon, Chris Maisto, Jacqueline Gareau, J'ne Day-Lucore, and Anna Pirchtova are multiple winners. John J. Kelley and Jacqueline Gareau are the only runners ever to win both the Boston Marathon and the Mount Washington Road Race. Kelley won the former in 1957 and the latter in 1961. Gareau won Boston in 1980 and won Mt. Washington in 1989, 1994 and 1996.
In addition to having a steep road race course, Mount Washington is home to extremely unpredictable weather. Winds have been known to top 200 mph at the summit. Although the race has never been run in such extreme conditions, factors like snow, ice, fog, wind, rain and cold, added to the steep climb, can make the race exceptionally challenging for those who run it. It is not uncommon for temperatures at the foot of the mountain to be warm at the beginning of the race, but for runners to encounter wintry white-out conditions at the summit, even in June. In an attempt to create some levity out of the difficult conditions, race organizers have often used the slogan "only one hill" as the event's official motto.
Winners
Year Men Time Women Time 2010 USA) Chris Siemers (1:00:22 ETH) Shewarge Amare (1:08:21 2009 USA) Rickey Gates (59:58 Brandy Erholtz -2- 1:10:53 2008 Eric Blake -2- 1:00:39 USA) Brandy Erholtz (1:11:08 2007 Jonathan Wyatt -2- 1:01:25 Anna Pichrtová -6- 1:12:53 2006 USA) Eric Blake (1:01:09 Anna Pichrtová -5- 1:11:18 2005 Simon Gutierrez -3- 1:00:54 Melissa Moon (NZL) 1:10:11 2004 Jonathan Wyatt (NZL) 56:41 Anna Pichrtová -4- 1:12:19 2003 Simon Gutierrez -2- 1:02:54 Anna Pichrtová -3- 1:12:50 2002 USA) Simon Gutierrez ([1] 28:02Anna Pichrtová -2- [1] 32:322001 Daniel Kihara -4- 1:00:06 Anna Pichrtová (CZE) 1:13:48 2000 Daniel Kihara -3- 59:24 KEN) Alice Muriithi (1:17:26 1999 Daniel Kihara -2- 59:03 USA) Barbara Remmers (1:13:52 1998 Matt Carpenter -3- 1:00:24 SWE) Magdalena Thorsell (1:10:09 1997 USA) Craig Fram (1:04:48 USA) Cathy O'Brien (1:12:24 1996 KEN) Daniel Kihara (58:21 Jacqueline Gareau -3- 1:17:15 1995 KEN) Gideon Mutisya (1:01:42 J'ne Day-Lucore -3- 1:17:29 1994 Dave Dunham -3- 1:03:22 Jacqueline Gareau -2- 1:16:16 1993 Matt Carpenter -2- 59:49 J'ne Day-Lucore -2- 1:12:59 1992 Matt Carpenter (USA) 1:00:43 USA) J'ne Day-Lucore (1:11:46 1991 Derek Froude -2- 1:00:35 Christine Maisto -3- 1:12:15 1990 Derek Froude (NZL) 59:17 USA) Lynn Brown (1:19:57 1989 Dave Dunham -2- 1:02:59 Jacqueline Gareau (CAN) 1:13:13 1988 USA) Dave Dunham (1:00:50 USA) Janine Aiello (1:20:48 1987 Bob Hodge -7- 1:01:14 USA) Peg Donovan (1:15:05 1986 Gary Crossan -4- 1:02:10 Christine Maisto -2- 1:19:26 1985 Bob Hodge -6- 1:01:31 USA) Christine Maisto (1:14:44 1984 Gary Crossan -3- 1:01:13 USA) Betsy Haydock (1:20:46 1983 USA) Keith Woodward (1:06:38 USA) Anna Sonnerup (1:22:19 1982 Gary Crossan -2- 1:01:40 Cathy Hodgdon -3- 1:22:40 1981 USA) Gary Crossan (1:02:51 Cathy Hodgdon -2- 1:22:57 1980 Bob Hodge -5- 1:04:29 USA) Cathy Hodgdon (1:26:44 1979 Bob Hodge -4- 1:02:08 USA) Martha Rockwell (1:19:14 1978 Bob Hodge -3- 1:04:13 Eleonora Mendonça -3- 1:28:39 1977 Bob Hodge -2- 1:04:44 Eleonora Mendonça -2- 1:30:05 1976 USA) Bob Hodge (1:05:31 BRA) Eleonora Mendonça (1:35:05 1975 USA) Gary Johnson (1:06:01 USA) Hester Sargent (1:31:13 1974 USA) Jim Capezzuto (1:07:58 --- --- 1973 USA) John Cederholm (1:08:26 CAN) Lise Demers (1:51:51 1972 USA) Roland Cormier (1:09:16 USA) Charlotte Lettis (1:40:08 1971 Mike Gallagher -4- 1:07:27 --- --- 1970 Mike Gallagher -3- 1:09:06 --- --- 1969 Mike Gallagher -2- 1:06:44 --- --- 1968 USA) Mike Gallagher (1:06:13 --- --- 1967 GBR) Angus Wooten (1:12:43 --- --- 1966 GBR) Leo J. Carroll (1:07:31 --- --- 1962 GBR) Fred Norris (1:04:57 --- --- 1961 John J. Kelley (USA) 1:08:54 --- --- 1938 Francis Darrah -2- 1:15:27 --- --- 1937 USA) Paul Donato (1:16:24 --- --- 1936 USA) Francis Darrah (1:15:50 --- --- External links
- Official site
- Mount Washington Road Race Records by Dave Dunham
- Mount Washington Road Race, statistic page by the Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS)
References
Categories:- Long-distance races
- Coos County, New Hampshire
- Mount Washington (New Hampshire)
- Sports in New Hampshire
- Road running competitions in the United States
- Visitor attractions in Coos County, New Hampshire
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