MOON, GUTIERREZ WIN EPIC DUELS ON MT. WASHINGTON

Pinkham Notch, N.H. - June 18, 2005

Two-time world mountain running champion Melissa Moon of Wellington, New Zealand, came to the White Mountains to challenge the steepest uphill road-running course in the Northeast, the 7.6-mile Mt. Washington Auto Road. She also came to challenge the only woman ever to win the Mt. Washington Road Race four times, defending champion Anna Pichrtova of the Czech Republic.

After a shoulder-to-shoulder duel from the base of the Auto Road to the 6288-foot summit of Mt. Washington, Moon, 35, outkicked Pichrtova, 32, in the final staircase-steep 70 yards to the finish line, winning in one hour 10 minutes 11 seconds.

"It was cat-and-mouse the whole way," said Moon. "As soon as we hit that last really steep corner, I said to myself, 'Right, you give it everything!' "

Moon's performance put her on the victor's podium, but it came with a touch of disappointment. Had she run two seconds faster, she would have broken the course record time of 1:10:09 set in 1998 by Magdalena Thorsell of Sweden.

"Two seconds!" exclaimed Moon as she walked through the finishing chute. "Can you believe it? They should give me the prize anyway!" The prize for a new course record is $5000. Moon had to be satisfied with $1000 for first place.

Thorsell has not returned to run here since her sole victory, but her husband, Simon Gutierrez of Alamosa, Colorado, won the men's race in an impressive combination of leg speed and intelligence. Gutierrez, 39, had run this race five times previously, winning in 2002 and 2003, then settling for third last year behind world mountain champion Jonathan Wyatt of New Zealand and U.S. national mountain running champion Paul Low of Amherst, Massachusetts.

This year Gutierrez was perfectly prepared for the battle that began with the starting gun. He led a pack that included Low, three-time former Mt. Washington winner Matt Carpenter of Manitou Springs, Colorado, and young Eric Blake of Plattsburgh, NY. As the four moved above the treeline on this continuously uphill course, Low dropped off the pace while Gutierrez and Blake pushed ahead of Carpenter. (Wyatt did not return to the race this year.)

"Simon is very savvy," said an exhausted Blake after the race. "He knows what he's doing."

"I felt good," said Gutierrez, who two weeks ago had finished fifth in the U.S. national trail championship race in Vail, Colorado, a race Carpenter won. "I ran that Vail race as a training run, and today I just wanted to win."

He won by pulling away from Blake with less than half a mile to go and storming to the finish line, fists in the air and a satisfied grin on his face. His time, one hour and 54 seconds, is his best ever for this race.

Pichrtova ironically also ran her fastest Mt. Washington time ever, finishing just 15 seconds behind Moon in 1:10:26. Unusual among Mt. Washington winners, Pichrtova has improved her time each year she has run here. Two weeks ago she won the Vail race, beating Moon by 20 seconds; today, however, she did not have the finishing kick to match her Kiwi rival, and their positions were reversed.

"I think she could have broken the record if the course wasn't muddy," said Pichrtova later. The unpaved sections of the Auto Road around five and six miles into the 7.6-mile race were slippery, thanks to a continual drizzle that had fallen on the mountains for most of the preceding night.

"Next year we need to order the weather better," she quipped. In fact, however, runners this year did not have to contend with the usual high Mt. Washington winds. The breeze was a mild 10-15 mph at the summit, with temperatures in the mid-40s.

The one runner who did break a course record was Matt Carpenter. As Low recovered to finish third, Carpenter, now 40, not only took fourth, in 1:02:12, but broke the men's masters (over 40) record of 1:03:37 that had been set in 2003 by Craig Fram of Plaistow, N.H.

Still, he said he concentrated not on the record but on the other top three men.

"I couldn't be honest and say the record was all I came for today," said Carpenter. "But I forgot what a little beast this (race) is! It hit me around the four-mile point. Up higher, I felt good in cardiovascular terms, but I didn't have the speed." He won the $2000 bonus offered by New England Runner magazine to any man or woman who breaks the male or female masters record.

Cathy Pearce, 42, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, won the women's masters prize, finishing fifth overall in a time of 1:20:15, well off Joan Samuelson's masters record of 1:16:02. Former three-time Mt. Washington winner -- and 1980 Boston Marathon winner -- Jacqueline Gareau, 52, of St. Bruno, Quebec, finished tenth among the women, in 1:27:08.

Sponsored by Northeast Delta Dental, the race welcomed a field again this year of nearly 1000 runners, chosen by lottery from 1700 applicants.

Top men:

1.Simon Gutierrez, 39, Alamosa, Colorado, 1:00:54
2.Eric Blake, 26, Plattsburgh, NY, 1:01:07
3.Paul Low, 31, Amherst, Massachusetts, 1:02:01
4.Matt Carpenter, 40, Manitou Springs, Colorado, 1:02:12
5.Kevin Tilton, 23, Conway, NH, 1:03:42
6.Eric Morse, 40, Berlin, Vermont, 1:05:26
7.Peter Maksimow, 26, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1:05:43
8.Chad Newton, 35, Pisgah Forest, North Carolina, 1:06:38
9.Sean Livingston, 36, Barrington, Rhode Island, 1:07:13
10.Richard Bolt, 34, Nashua, New Hampshire, 1:07:30

Top women:

1.Melissa Moon, 35, Wellington, New Zealand, 1:10:11
2.Anna Pichrtova, 32, Czech Republic and Boulder, Colorao, 1:10:26
3.Liza Grudzinski, 25, Harriman, New York, 1:19:32
4.Julia Stamps, 26, New York, New York, 1:19:43
5.Cathy Pearce, 42, Chelmsford, Massachusetts, 1:20:15
6.Suzy West, 42, Putney, Vermont, 1:21:24
7.Raelyn Crowell, 34, Amherst, New Hampshire, 1:23:12
8.Chari Walsh, 41, Dayton, Ohio, 1:23:23
9.Kathy Maddock, 40, Wilton, New Hampshire, 1:25:51
10.Jacqueline Gareau, 52, St. Bruno, Quebec 1:27:08

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