A Big Crowd Takes on the New Course at American River 50
Top Women. Left to right: Tomory, Laird, Guijarro. (SRN photo)
Taking advantage of beautiful conditions, Joel Frost-Tift, 25, of Los Angeles, bested the field of more than 800 runners at the 35th running of the American River 50 Mile Endurance Run in 6:26:52.
In a pretty close 2nd place, Matthew Morales, 24, of Visalia, made it to the finish line at the American River Overlook in 6:30:40.
Coming in 3rd overall was Thomas Reiss, 46, of San Luis Obispo, with 6:39:59. Reiss was also the top male masters finisher.
Lennard Hachmann celebrates a 7:55 finish (SRN photo)
The overall women’s winner was Ashley Laird, of Sonora, who completed the 50-mile run in 7:18:05. Ana Guijarro, 33, of Fontana, was second in 7:26:56.
Rounding out the top-3 women was Reno’s Lauren Tomory, 26, who finished in 7:46:37.
The top masters woman was Laura Richard, 44, of Berkeley, who finished in 7:57:32.
The 2nd and 3rd masters women were Molly Knox, 40, of Roseville, and Debbie Gibson, 49, of Helena, Montana, in 8:08:43, and 8:11:49, respectively.
The 2nd and 3rd masters men (after Thomas Reiss) were Jean Pommier, 50, of Cuppertino, and Dominick Layfield, 42, of Park City, Utah, who finished in 6:51:33 and 6:57:14, respectively.
After being unable to work out a deal with the County, the American River 50 Mile Endurance Run was forced to create a new course for 2014. So this year, rather than the familiar start by CSUS, runners lined up in the dark for the start at Brown’s Ravine Marina in El Dorado Hills.
The race’s new route proceeds down the south side of Lake Natoma, crosses the river at Hazel Avenue, and then proceeds upriver as before. It’s hard to gauge how this change affected the times, as the loss of Montrail Cup status and it no longer being a qualifying race for Western States Endurance Run seemed to have thinned the ranks of elites in the top of the field.
While the course was different, the day was typically fine for early April and the smiles were plentiful.
Overall results are here. Age group results are here.
Volunteers sort drop bags at the finish line. (SRN photo)