Tired Bodies Digging Deep on Another Long Day

Media Release / 16.08.2015

Today's Stage 5 was a tough one for the field as they took on another day of high altitude, heat and distance as runners made their way from Red Cliff to Vail over the mountains that stood between the start and finish line.

The racing today was hard, it was rugged and many reaped the reward for a big effort in taking up the challenge laid out before them with a monumental stage ahead of them, already with many miles in their tired legs.

It was the Run 6 Women's Solo race that lit up the trails today setting the stage for a cracking final day of racing tomorrow as just 37 seconds now separates Kerrie Wlad in first place in the GC over Shannon Thompson after 98 Miles and 5 days of racing . It was Thompson who took the stage win today by just 39 seconds as Wlad hung on while digging deep to maintain her overall lead by a whisker. It will be one to watch tomorrow as these two top ladies go toe-to-toe on the final stage to see who comes out with the win.

The Men's Run 6 Solo race earlier this week looked like a done deal as Florian Neuschwander looked like a one man show but the chasing Brian Tinder has played the waiting game and been lurking in the shadows as he unassumingly shut the gap on Neuschwander's lead. Tinder's stage win today by just over 8 minutes sent a message that the lead of 6 minutes in the GC held by Neuschwander is very fragile going into tomorrow's final stage and the race is still on for either runner to win. 

The Men's Run 6 Team race had its own drama with different accounts of what went down today. One version goes like this: Thomas Rivers and Jacob Puzey were leading the GC by just over 10 minutes going into today's stage and looked solid for the overall win. This is sadly not to be as Thomas took a wrong turn and went off course from a number of hours today, returning with a bloodied mouth and chipped teeth, putting them out of contention for the overall win. Eric Senseman and Brian Condon are now in a commanding lead in the GC and will look to seal that deal tomorrow going into the final push to Beaver Creek.

The Run 6 Women's Team race was Jenn Shelton and Kathryn Ross stretching their lead even further and will look to wrap up tomorrow's overall win by a pretty big margin.

One thing is guaranteed, we have a race on our hands in those two main categories mentioned above and we will watch to see how it unfolds as the blood and sweat will be left out in the Colorado Rockies tomorrow, followed by friendly banter at the finish line party.  

Check out tomorrow's stage details below:  

Up Next: Stage 6 (Final) 
Vail to Beaver Creek - Start Time: 8:00am
22.3 miles, 4,900 feet of Elevation Gain

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