First up was the women's race with BTC's Laura Thweatt dominating from the start. Laura was able to comfortably win the race in 22:24 from Fort Collins athlete Adriana Nelson in 23:04 and Boulder's Melody Fairchild third in 23:22.
Shannon Payne led the BRC/adidas women's team in fourth (23:43) and they easily beat the BTC women by 3:06 to take the points in Race #1 for the Elva Dryer perpetual trophy. Allison Sawyer was the BTC's second-best performance on the day in eighth (24:21). Mary Miller was 23rd (26:43) and Jax Mariash 24th (26:48) for BTC.
The men's race was much closer with BTC's Matt Tebo running controlled in the front pack with Colorado Springs' John Mickowski and Boulder's Christian Thompson. Tebo to break up the leading group just after the halfway point, but found the task too difficult with Mickowski taking the victory in 19:49. Thompson was second in 19:50 and Tebo third in 19:57.
The BTC men certainly atoned for the women, taking the team race for the Mark Plaatjes perpetual trophy by 1:48 over BRC/adidas. The ever-reliable Clint Wells was BTC's second-best performer, finishing fourth (20:10). Josh Glaab was sixth (20:27) and Curtis Begley seventh (20:28) to round out the BTC scoring. Loren Ahonen was tops for BRC in fifth (20:16).
One of the exciting components of the day's race was then combining the team's times together (men + women) to see which team won overall. After a long wait with no one knowing the result, it was announced that BRC/adidas on the overall title by 1:18.
"Today has been a major success," claimed Lee Troop, coach of the Boulder Track Club. "It was exciting to hear from all of my athletes the enjoyment they got from the race today. The crowds' overwhelming support and encouragement for the BTC athletes made them realize that they were not just out there racing for themselves. The new race series component has added an extra element to their performance and today was about representing the club, sponsors, and supporters, but more importantly, the community."
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Cody Hill from BRC/adidas for embracing the concept and congratulate them on the women's victory as well as the overall victory. I would also like to thank Fast and Flurry-ous race director Henry Guzman for allowing us to conduct this rivalry concept within his event."
"We now move on to Race #2, which will be the BolderBoulder 10K in May, and I am sure the competition between the two teams will only get tougher."
BTC Men
Curtis Begley - 7th (20:28)
Josh Glaab - 6th (20:27)
Omar Martinez - 19th (22:07)
Antonio Molina - 24th (22:45)
Ewen North - 14th (21:28)
Kyle O'Brien - 27th (23:16)
Zach Parris - 26th (23:08)
Ramin Razavi - 20th (22:27)
Jayson Swigart - 23rd (22:41)
Matt Tebo - 3rd (19:57)
Clint Wells - 4th (20:10)
BTC Women
Jax Mariash - 24th (26:48)
Mary Miller - 23th (26:43)
Allison Sawyer - 8th (24:21)
Laura Thweatt - 1st (22:24)
The five race series between BTC and BRC/adidas is:
Race 2 - BolderBoulder 10K
Race 3 - Classic 10K
Race 4 - RMAC XC Championships
Race 5 - Fort Collins Thanksgiving Day Run
DetermiNation
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