Three-time
Teva US Mountain Running Team Member Anita Ortiz wins the 2004 WMRA
Masters Mountain Running World Championships
September 10, 2004
On
Saturday, August 28 in Sauze d’Oulx, Italy (a ski village in the
Italian Alps) Eagle, CO resident Anita Ortiz, 40, ran an impressive race
to win the WMRA (World Mountain Running Association) Masters Mountain
Running World Championships in a time of 53:30 just five seconds ahead
of her nearest competitor Isabella Guillot, 42, France.
Ortiz
started with the 35-39 age group due to a mix-up with organizers over
her birth month (June instead of September) and therefore had no idea
how Guillot or others in the 40-44 age group fared over the 8.46K
course. Not until after the finish did an elated Ortiz find out she was
first overall.
Competitors
started in 20 minute intervals with runners in the same age group
starting with men and women 70 and over. Ortiz's group started last at
3:20PM while the first group went at 1PM.
The
course started in the village on cobblestone for approximately 100
meters before changing to pavement for another 300 meters and then
heading onto a steep, rocky trail. It was then back to pavement for a
downhill section through the village, another uphill portion on
cobblestone, and back to grassy trails and switchbacks for the remainder
of the course. In total there were 862 meters of ascent and 235 meters
of descent. The course included some very steep sections relegating many
of the competitors to a fast power hike. Top finishers ran the entire
course.
There
were more than 620 competitors in the masters competition, now in its
third year. The 2005 edition will be held in Keswick, England on
September 10 with the 2006 race slated again for Sauze d’Oulx in early
September.
Tom
Borshel, 47, Idaho Falls, ID ran 48:47 to win the 45-49 age group at the
World Masters. Borschel the Teva US Mountain Running Team junior manager
also ran the open race during the World Mountain Running Trophy on
September 5 and cruised to an overall victory on the 10.1Km course.
Andy
Ames, 40, Boulder, CO a first-time member of the Teva US Mountain
Running team, ran 48:05 in the masters race and was 6th in his age group
(161 competitors in the age group). Ames also ran the 10.1Km World
Trophy course on Sunday, September 5 to finish in 55:08 good for 47th
place overall (154 finishers). California resident Matt Ebiner, 43,
finished fifth at the masters in a time of 47:29. The 40-44 masters
category was won by Ricardo Mejia, 41, Mexico in a time of 43:52 (the
best time among the men).
Ortiz,
on her third Teva US Mountain Running Team this year, also ran on
September 4 over the same 8.46Km course for the World Mountain Running
Trophy event and finished first for the US in 11th position
overall in a time of 53:03.
Ortiz along with teammates Laura Haefeli, 36, Del Norte, CO (15th
woman), Erica Larson, 32, Los Alamos, NM, (24th),
and Lisa Isom, 31,Vail, CO, (31st) earned a bronze team
medal, the first for a US mountain running team at the World Mountain
Running Trophy and the first medal for the women.
Visit www.wmra.info for additional
information.
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Last updated:
09/14/05
Web Author: Lorraine Gersitz
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