Gore-Tex Trans Rockies Run 2011
Stage 4: Thunder in the Mountains
News Release / 25.08.2011
14.2 miles/ 2,800 feet climbing</b>
Bracketed as it is by three gruelling days, Stage 4 of the GORE-TEX TransRockies Run is a last chance for most runners to enjoy a shorter run and extra recovery time before the big efforts that are demanded during the 48 miles and 9000 feet of climbing in the last two days.
With no campsite to move, Stage 4 is also the best chance staff and sponsors get all week to jump in and participate in a Stage. Many of them do, from race office staff, to start line crew to even one of the recycling team who work with the event throughout the week to reduce our waste footprint. Many a friendly wager is settled at Mango's Pub once the runners cross the line.
For the elite runners battling for podium positions, Stage 4 is just another day at the Office of Pain, shorter in distance but just as hard and competitive. The 2011 TransRockies Run is seeing some of the closest competition ever for the overall win and the Leaders' jerseys changed hands for a second straight day after the Run Flagstaff pair of Jason Wolfe and Mike Smith rebounded from losing seven minutes on Stage 3 to win Stage 4 by three minutes.
More importantly, they put over five minutes into overnight leaders Max King and Ryan Bak who struggled to a fourth-placed finish on the day. After finishing third the day before, the Colorado Runner/INOV-8 team of Alex Nichols and Peter Maksimow moved up another place to finish second on the day pushing Ricky Lightfoot and Tom Owens down to third, beating them by less than 5 seconds. When the overall standings were calculated Run Flagstaff have a 1 minute and 25 second lead over Team Bend with two stages to go.
The race is even tighter in the 80+ Men's division where the gap between first and second overall is less than a minute following Stage 4. The Canadian Le Coureur-Merrell team of Christian Vachon and Joel St. Louis won the day in a time of 2:14:40, over four minutes ahead of the Trail Loving B*stards (Andres Santiago/Mark Thurston) to take the leaders jerseys heading into Stage 5. That means that three different teams have held the overall lead in the last three days. The GECKO/Trail Runner Mag team of David Wilcox and Morgan Murri are lurking just behind with a solid grip on the last overall podium position.
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