Pepsico TransRockies Run
Stage 4: Climbing and Wet Feet
Media Release / 15.08.2015
Yesterday's Stage 4 from Nova Guides to Red Cliff was a relatively short one at 14.5 miles but the climb early on up Hornsilver Mountain was arguably the toughest and steepest of the week. The Jury is still out there on which was tougher between yesterday's climb and stage two's Hope Pass.
The Check point just before the summit of the climb was welcomed by many as this super steep trail really tested the mental toughness of the runners throughout the field with tiring legs entering the fourth day.
The long descent down the other side was tough on the quads but the run of almost a mile through the icy Wearyman Creek at the bottom was loads of fun with plenty of excited whooping and screeching, as runners enjoyed the splashing adventure down to the final checkpoint. This was followed by a rolling dirt road to the finish in the town of Red Cliff with a population of only 265.
Once again there was some competitive racing at the front with second place in the Run 6 Men's Solo GC, Brian Tinder making a strong move up the climb early on putting some time between himself and GC leader, Florian Neuschwander. Tinder took the stage win in an attempt to close the overall gap bewteen the two. Felipe Guardia took third place for the stage. The GC is still dominated by Neuschwander who is now over 14 minutes ahead of Brian Tinder in second place and Timo Meyer in third. With the long stage today and plenty of elevation gain it will be up to the trail running gods to decide the outcome.
In the Women's Run 6 Solo race it's a tight contest and a ding dong battle between Kerrie Wlad who is hanging onto first place in the GC by a hair at just under a minute, after second place overall, Shannon Thompson claimed the stage win yesterday. Annie Jean is in third place in the GC a little further back. With so little separating first and second place in this category it's turning out to be a great battle and we cannot wait to see the outcome of today's stage that offers plenty of opportunity for an attack to stamp dominance on the race.
In the Run 6 Men's Team race it was Eric Senseman and Brian Condon who took the stage win attempting to chip away at the lead of less than one minute that Jacob Puzey and Thomas Rivers has over them in the GC. Jamie Dreher and Peter Dreher are just over 11 minutes back and looking strong with still 46 miles to run over today's stage 5 and tomorrow's sixth and final stage, where a great deal can still happen in the results column.
Jenn Shelton and Kathryn Ross leading the Run 6 Women's Team race by a huge margin, looked a little worse for wear out on the trail but still took the stage win and and remained in the overall lead.
Today's penultimate stage, close to marathon distance and a great deal of elevation gain will leave plenty of opportunity for runners to pull back their overall standings. The endurance factor on tired legs could make it a risky but possibly rewarding decision.
Check out today's stage details below:
Up Next Stage 5:
Red Cliff to Vail - Start Time: 8:00am
23.6 miles, 4,100 feet of Elevation Gain
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