Sunday, August 26, 2007

Brian Dayton and Bev Anderson-Abbs win 2007 USATF Championships

Brian Dayton successfully defended his USATF 50k trial at the Marin Headlands earlier today, clocking a 3:55:25 to win by over 7 minutes. Beverly Anderson-Abbs beat out a top-notch Women’s field to win in 4:42:32, her first 50k national title.

Brian had some early competition from Ed Baker, a 2:21 marathoner training for the Olympic Trails in NYC this year who had decided to run the Headlands 50k at the last minute. Ed hung onto Brian for 20 miles, then broke out in the lead for 8 miles (clocking a few 5:10 miles along the way) before “seeing stars” and having to slow down in the last few miles. Mark McManus (4:02:18) and North Carolina’s Jason Bryant (4:02:51) also caught Ed in the final mile before he finished in 4th with a debut 4:04:43. Brisbane, CA’s Cliff Lentz (4:15:17) took the Master’s title with his 6th place finish.

Bev Abbs, 43, held off 39-year-old Caren Spore (4:48:25) and phenom Devon Crosby-Helms (4:58:29) to claim her win, after taking the lead around mile 10. Her finish was good enough for 15th overall, and showed that the Master’s are often the ones to catch.

You can read a full story here at the Marin Independent Journal (thanks for the link, Kate!). Congrats to everyone who finished!

MEN

1. Bryan Dayton (34), Boulder Colo., 3:55:25
2. Mark McManus (33), Mill Valley, 4:02:18
3. Jason Bryant (35), Elkin, N.C., 4:02:51
4. Ed Baker (28), Palo Alto, 4:04:43
5. Peter Fain (35), Truckee, 4:08:13
6. Cliff Lentz (42), Brisbane, 4:15;17
7. Victor Ballesteros (37), San Rafael, 4:15:37
8. Chikira Omine (24), San Francisco, 4:16:50
9. Michael Buchanan (33), San Carlos, 4:17:16
10. Steve Stowers (42), Berkeley, 4:17:59
11. Jean Pommier (43), Cupertino, 4:23:43
12. Erik Skaden (35), Folsom, 4:32:51
13. Robert Evans (41), Pacifica, 4:38:19
14. Kevin Rumon (46), San Rafael, 4:38:52
15. Paul Cox (44), Davis, 4:43:11
16. Ron Gutierrez (40), San Francisco, 4:43:50
17. Mark Tanaka (39), Castro Valley, 4:49:50
18. Howard Troy (34), Walnut Creek, 4:57:55

WOMEN

1. Beverley Anderson-Abbs (43), Red Bluff, 4:42:32
2. Caren Spore (39), Davis, 4:48:25
3. Devon Crosby-Helms (24), San Francisco, 4:58:29
4. Julie Young (41), Auburn, 5:09:43
5. Florencia Gascon-Amyx (43), Mill Valley, 5:25:14
6. Nicole Duke (31), Aptos, 5:29:44
7. Robin Sanderson (36), Mill Valley, 5:35:41
8. Moriah Buckley (29), Novato, 5:42:58

8 comments:

  1. Wow, what a terrific field of runners/top finishers...congrats to all. [Would of liked to have seen Lon Freeman in this race, as he tears those hills up].

    This sport is getting more interesting very quickly with the now frequent addition of top roadies.

    Great stuff Mark T & Jean P...well done.

    Will G.

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  2. Thanks for the posting Scott. I saw Caren yesterday evening and she mentioned how it was a very different race to last year. In 2006 she was the rookie with Nikki, Kami and herself being within sight of each other for a long part of the race. Caren said that really helped motivate her to attack the downhills. This year Bev charged out strong from the start and Caren said the fact she could not see Bev charging down the hills gave her less motivation to scream down them at breakneck speed. Congrats to the well-deserved winners!!

    Good call by Will, it would have been fascinating to see Lon out there. Hope you had a fun morning in the Oakland hills.

    Cheers, Paul

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  3. Congrats everyone. Unlike last year, when the first 3 women took off early and I never came close to them, this year I had the pleasure of running for a short time close to or with each of the 3 leaders. In fact, I credit (and blogged) the women's winner, Bev, with saving my stupid ass so I could finish the race. Thanks, Bev!

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  4. Thanks for the coverage, Scott. Small field, miles between runners, very few spectators, that was very ultra-style. And, as I said in my account of the day, tough but great course.

    Any healing progress on your end?

    Jean.

    PS: BTW, thanks for posting Devon's post too.

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  5. Sounds like you all had a challenging run!

    If you guys have write-ups on your blogs, please do leave a link in the comments. It's really fun to hear the perspectives along the course! I'm so pleased you have all become run/blog addicts. I have been living vicariously. ;-)

    Recovery is going well, and I'm back on the trails this week. Just posted a new link about it. I'm keeping the Sierra Nevada Double on the schedule in hopes I can ramp up to it, although it's definitely a stretch goal. Glad to be back!

    SD

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