The Cirque Series at Snowbird hosted the USATF Mountain Running Championships on Saturday, July 13, and racing was as hot as the temperatures. At the 10 a.m. start time, the heat was on with the mercury hovering upper 70s as a sold-out field of nearly 600 headed out on the 8.7-mile course with 3610 feet of vertical gain. Approximately 80 of those runners were in the USATF division. Featured photo courtesy, Cirque Series.
Christian Allen wins USATF Mountain Running Championships title. Photo: Josh from JCE Photography
Men’s race at USATF Mountain Running Championships
Utahans captured the podium with Christian Allen, 26, Orem, first to the finish line in 1:18:17, followed less than a minute later by Hawk Call, 25, Orem, in 1:19:05. Third was Zachary Erikson, 23, Provo, in 1:21:07. The top ten men were separated by just 5 minutes.
This was Allen’s third win at Snowbird and just shy of his winning time in 2022 of 1:17:10. Seth DeMoor, 39, Lakewood, CO, finished seventh this year in a time of 1:22:20, a time that nearly equaled his winning time from 2019 of 1:20:38.
Grayson Murphy captures title at USATF Mountain Running Championships. Photo: Josh from JCE Photography
Women’s race at USATF Mountain Running Championships
Although Grayson Murphy, 29, Heber City, UT, led for most of the race, the other top positions in the women’s race changed from the high point of the race to the finish with Sydney Petersen, 24, Crested Butte, CO, in second to Murphy on the climb followed by EmKay Sullivan, 30, Reno, NV.
Descending on technical terrain proved to be a skill for the top women, several of whom passed Petersen and Sullivan on the way down. Murphy posted a stellar time of 1:36:17 to win the division by more than 4 minutes. Second was Rachel Tomajczyk, 31, Williams, AZ, in 1:40:23. Rounding out the top three was Laurel Moyer, 27, Lock Haven, PA, timed in 1:40:35. Alexa Aragon, 32, Salt Lake City, finished fourth in 1:40:45, followed by Sullivan in 1:42:02 and Petersen in 1:42:39.
Allen and Murphy share smiles at the awards ceremony.
Team USA
Both Murphy and Allen snagged automatic berths for the US Vertical Mountain Running Team that will compete in Chiavenna, Italy, on October 12. They will join athletes selected at last weekend’s USATF Vertical Mountain Running Championships including Joseph Gray, Tyler McAndless, Lauren Gregory, and Tomaczyk to cement the squad of six.
L-R: Edwin Johnson and Kerry Ferrell, USATF age group winners.
USATF age group winners
U-20: Griffin Briley, 18, Park City, 1:45:52; no women
40-44: Brent Winegar, 44, Albuquerque, 1:47:12; no women
45-49: Pete LoBianco, 46, York, PA, 2:01:41; Liz Lierman, 46, Golden, CO, 2:27:21.62
50-54: Chris Grauch, 51, Nederland, CO, 1:37:20; no women
55-59: Edwin Johnson, 58, Sandy, 2:01:37; no women
60-64: Kerry Farrell, 63, Auburn, WA, 2:00:49; no women
65-69: Kevin Tuck, 68, Tucson, 1:53:08; no women
70-74: Brad Stewart, 70, Las Vegas, 2:19:55; no women
Jason Bryant on site for USATF.
Jason Bryant, USATF liaison at the event said, “The Cirque Series was highly endorsed by several of the top USA mountain runners as a host for the Championships. Without a doubt, Cirque Series-Snowbird delivered an incredible setting, atmosphere, course and organization. It has been an honor to work Julian Carr, Justin Bean and their team for this year’s USATF Mountain Running Championships and we hope to return in the future.”
Murphy and Olson at the finish line.
Collegiate Mountain Running Championships
In addition to the USATF division, there were also expert and sport divisions along with the Collegiate Mountain Running Championships division. There were 64 finishers in the Collegiate division with titles going to Christian Allen, Orem, 1:18:17, and Oakley Olson, 20, Morgan, Utah timed in 1:46:28.91, which also placed her eighth overall in the USATF women’s division.
Top ten men at USATF Mountain Running Championships. (missing from photo: Mason Coppi)
Complete results from the race can be found at this link.
Top ten women at USATF Mountain Running Championships.
