Posted: June 5, 2005

Athletics: Carpenter, Haefeli win USA 10 km Trail Championships

From Nancy Hobbs, USATF Mountain/Ultra/Trail Sports Council, Chair

VAIL-Cold, rain and snow were the order of the day for the USA 10 km Trail Championships in Vail, CO. Matt Carpenter and Laura Haefeli were tops over the U.S. fields, as they won the first trail championship of the 2005 season.

The mountains surrounding Vail, Colorado were covered with a thin blanket of wet snow as runners toed the line at the USA 10 km Trail Championships Saturday morning. Temperatures were in the low 40s at the 9:30 a.m. start time which was pushed back 30 minutes so race officials could remark parts of the course as heavy winds blew markers down the night before.

Haefeli, 37, of Del Norte, Colo., who finished in 55:01 and earned her second National Championship honors at the 10km distance (having won also in 2004), was elated with her finish, "It was a really tough run today with great competition. I'm looking forward to the World Trophy race this September in New Zealand."

On the men's side mountain running specialist Matt Carpenter, 40, of Manitou Springs, Colo., led from the start. "I saw Matt at about two miles into the race and he looked really strong, I didn't think anyone would catch him," said Race Director Mike Ortiz.

Carpenter won national championship honors with his victory in 46:41 while Tim Parr, 23, Gunnison, Colo., finished second in 47:31 and road specialist and four-time All American Clint Wells, 30, Boulder, Colo., was third in 47:50.

Today's race also included the second North American Central American Caribbean (NACAC) Mountain Running Championships which pits team from the NACAC member countries in a cross-country scoring (with up to four team members and the top two finishers scoring).

On the men's side, the U.S. team led by Vail's Josiah Middaugh in fourth position and Simon Gutierrez in seventh position were victorious with a score of 11. The Canadian team's top finisher was Jason Loutitt in sixth place with Geoff Williamson in tenth position resulting in a score of 16. The women's U.S. team was led by Laura Haefeli in third and Lisa Isom in fifth for a team score of 8.

In spite of the less-than-ideal conditions, there were 205 finishers on the day with 83 women and 122 men. The field was much larger than the 153 finishers in 2004.

A prize purse of $5000 was equally divided between the event's top male and female finishers. The breakdown in the prize money was as follows: $1000 for first place, $750 for second place, $500 for third place, and $250 for fourth place.

For more information on the USA 10 km Trail Championships visit USATF.org.