Team Run Flagstaff Snowbowl Road Hill Climb

Last Sunday in Flagstaff, AZ was Team Run Flagstaff's Snowbowl Road 7 Mile Hill Climb. This was the inaugural year for this race that was well attended, had a deep field of elites consisting of local runners, and had great prizes. The prizes consisted of cash payouts for the top three men and women with additional bonus cash prizes for the first male and female to win the first mile and additional money to the first male and female to take the "Mama Burger Challenge" of devouring a double cheese burger with a mile to go in the race.

This race had an interesting blend of road and trail elite runners ranging from two local Olympic Marathon Trials qualifiers (both have run under 2:17 in the past year!) to other local trail elites. I think the combination of the smooth paved surface, the elevation gain of over 2000 ft and high altitude finishing above 9000 ft helped equal the playing field amongst the elites. Deeming it a race where no one was the solid favorite...it really was anyone's race to win.

I showed up to the race wearing my favorite Inov-8 shoe--the F-Lite 230--an excellent shoe for training and racing. This shoe has become my favorite because it is lightweight, flexible, responsive, and has a flat tread making it a versatile shoe not only for the hard packed trails around Flagstaff but also for a road race.
Photo taken by David Blanchard

Knowing that the competition was going to be deep, I decided that I would be happy if I finished in the top 5. Overall, the race unfolded nicely. I started out slow, opting out of the 1st mile bonus. Trent Briney, one of the marathoners, took that prize. After that, Jeff Eggleston, the other marathoner, took over and dominated the rest of the way. I was a little ways back staying in 4th place for about half the race, then worked my way into 3rd place, until I was passed with about 1.5 miles to go by an emerging trail elite, Zach Thomas. Being in a solid 4th place with 1 mile left, I thought about attempting the Mama Burger Challenge, however, my stomach instantly told me that was probably not a good idea. So, I pressed on, and finished in 4th place overall. Jeff won the race by two minutes, with Zach eventually climbing into 2nd, and Trent in 3rd. Not a bad day. I can't wait for next year's race.