Goretex Trans Rockies Run
Don’t Mess with Mother Nature
18.09.2007
With the relatively short daylight of mid-September, most racers chose to hit the sack early after Stage 1 of the inaugural GORE-TEXâ„¢ TransRockies Run. While they were sleeping, the weather took a turn for the worse with rain most of the night and lashing thunder and lightning which began as the racers were moving back to the meal tent for breakfast at 6am the next day.
Covered in waterproof layers, the racers were shuttled to the bottom of the Eagles Nest gondola at Vail, only to discover that the weather had forced a delay in opening the day’s service. While rain and wind continued to pummel the valley, the TransRockies Run organizers met with the local course and medical teams and decided to shorten Stage 2 in light of the delayed start and the snow falling on top of the days’ two passes.
When the Gondola opened, racers were quickly shuttled to the start line at the top and the race was started at 9:45, rather than the usual 8:00 start time. The racers set off into the weather for a 19 mile run which would finish in the remote mountain hamlet of Redcliff, eliminating the 11,600 foot pass over Hornsilver Mountain and saving the racers from a potentially dangerous high traverse in bad weather.
As it turned out, conditions improved greatly after the first two hours of the race and many runners were able to cross the line under cool, clear skies. Finishing first again were the phenomenal Skaggs brothers of Team Montrail. Erik and his younger brother Kyle blazed the course in 2:40:52, a gap of 16 ½ minutes over Dustin Phillips and Erin Hutchinson of Team GORE-TEX Vortex, who solidified their second overall position with another great finish. The battle for third was decided in the last mile as Phil Villeneuve and Dom Repta of Team XC.com put 23 seconds into Wings of Glory in the final push to the finish line to score their second straight podium placing.
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