Joe Gray and Max King duel at Mt. Hood

Fresh from his 16th place finish at the World Mountain Running Championship the previous weekend, Joe Gray (Lakewood, WA) edged out Max King (Bend, OR) to win the Northwest Mountain Running Championships at Mt. Hood. This race was also the final race in the La Sportiva USATF-Oregon Mountain Running Series. The top male and female USATF member were awarded a free pair of shoes from La Sportiva.

Starting and finishing at Timberline Lodge, the 6 mile "up/down" course featured 2000' of climb and descent on pave road, dirt road, ski slope, rough single-track, the PCT and just a touch of snow at the top of the course. The weather conditions during the race (starting at high-noon) saw frequent rain showers, temperatures ranging from the high 40's at the bottom of the course to the low 40's and wind at the top of the course which was 1000' above the tree-line. Presented by END Outdoor, the NW Mountain Running Championship offered $6000 in prize money and attracted the fastest men's field of any trail race held in 2008. The official results have yet to be posted, but here are the top 10 female and male finishers:

Women’s Top Ten
Lisa Nye, Bend OR, 39 years old, 50:45 ($800 + $250 top of the hill)
Katie Caba, Bend OR, 37 years old, 51:33 ($400)
Jennifer Sventek, Bend OR, 37 years old, 54:18 ($200)
Carla McHattie, Portland OR, 24 years old, 56:24
Amanda Phillips, Portland OR, 29 years old, 56:45
Julie Leasure, Portland OR, 37 years old, 58:17
Ahna Jura, Bend OR, 34 years old, 58:35
Audra Herndon, Boring OR, 25 years old, 58:57
Kelly Kruell, Portland OR, 48 years old, 59:37 (first place masters, $300)
Joanna Harper, Portland OR, 51 years old, 1:00:03

Men’s Top Ten
Joseph Gray, Lakewood WA, 24 years old, 39:23 ($800 + $250 top of the hill)
Maxwell King, Bend OR, 28 years old, 39:25 ($400)
Erik Skaggs, Ashland OR, 26 years old, 41:35 ($200)
Richard Bolt, Portland OR, 38 years old, 42:58
John Howell, Portland OR, 34 years old, 44:00
Anthony Rinck, Hillsboro OR, 32 years old, 45:40
Kyle Skaggs, Ashland OR, 23 years old, 45:48
Ian Torrence, Ashland OR, 35 years old, 46:20
Aaron Coe, Portland OR, 25 years old, 46:23
Joe Gambles, Boulder CO, 26 years old, 46:45
Dean Giblin, Portland, OR 43 years old, 49:12 (first place masters, $300)

Pictures of the race can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/RichardABolt/

When available, official results will be posted at:
http://www.xdogevents.com/scheduleandresults.html

Read a race report from the Rogue Valley Runners:

http://roguevalleyrunners.blogspot.com/

Final scoring for the La Sportiva USATF-Oregon Mountain Running Series will be posted shortly on this blog.