Northeast Delta Dental Mount Washington Road Race
Mt. Washington Auto Road
Saturday, June 16, 2018
Cesare Maestri of Italy becomes first European winner.
Kim Dobson wins fifth title.
Pinkham Notch, NH – June 16, 2018
Photos by Joe Viger
In typically high winds on New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington, Cesare Maestri of Italy today became the first European to win the Northeast Delta Dental Mt. Washington Road Race. Making his first-ever appearance on the historic Mt. Washington Auto Road, Maestri, 24, of Borgo Lares, Italy, pulled away from three-time Mt. Washington winner Eric Blake at the halfway mark and ran the rest of the way alone, winning in a time of one hour and 53 seconds. Blake, 39, of West Hartford, Conn., ran shoulder to shoulder with Maestri for the first half of the race but then could not continue to match the Italian’s seemingly effortless pace. Blake finished second in 1:01:53.In the women’s race, Kim Dobson, 34, of Eagle, Colo., dropped the rest of the field at the start and ran to the 6288-foot summit of Mt. Washington alongside some of the fastest men to finish in 1:11:43. Not only did Dobson win this grueling race for the fifth time in as many attempts, but she placed seventh overall, nine seconds behind former Mt. Washington champion Simon Gutierrez of Alamosa, Colo. Hers is the highest finish for a woman in the race’s 58-year history. Second was Heidi Caldwell, 26, of Craftsbury Common, Vermont in 1:14:55. Shelley Doucet of Quispamsis, New Brunswick, took third in 1:16:29.
“The first part was the most steep,” remarked Maestri, who was seeing the Auto Road for the first time. “In the next part it was more easy to go fast, but then the wind starts to get stronger, and it was very difficult to run, because the wind also changes direction.”
“That wind at times was so strong,” said Dobson, “that you throw your idea of time out the window and just say, ‘Well, here we go!’”
In the early going, Andy Wacker, 29, of Boulder, Colo., set the pace along with Blake, passing the first mile in a brisk six minutes 45 seconds. Maestri, 2012 winner Sage Canaday, also of Boulder, and Lee Berube of Syracuse, N.Y., followed them. Wacker could not sustain the pace, and by three miles he dropped back as Maestri caught up with Blake while Canaday moved into third.
“I was looking to try to win,” said Wacker later, as the runners wrapped themselves in blankets at the summit. “I had been training hard. But there’s such great competition here.”
Canaday stayed within sight of the leaders for much of the way but could not close the gap. Having finished second here last year, he finished third this time in 1:03:11. “I like this race!” he said. “It’s a real healthy pain. My legs were burning the whole time.”
Like Maestri, Heidi Caldwell was seeing the ultra-steep Auto Road (average grade 12 percent) for the first time. “I started out cautiously,” she said later. “I knew it was hard, but I chose not to read any detailed descriptions of how hard!”
Top prizes for runners over the age of 40 went to two former Mt. Washington champions. Gutierrez, 52, who won in 2002, 2003 and 2005, placed sixth overall this time in 1:11:34. Laura Haefeli, 50, from Del Norte, Colo., the 2013 winner, placed eighth among all women in 1:20:48. Photo: The mountain’s longest streaker at 41 straight, VT’s Fred Ross – All photos by Joe Viger)
Sponsored by Northeast Delta Dental, the race ascends the Mt. Washington Auto Road from Pinkham Notch, N.H., to the 6288-foot summit of Mt. Washington. Canaday and Blake are two of just eight men who have broken the one-hour barrier in this race. Dobson’s 2012 time of 1:09:25 is the American women’s record for the course. The women’s overall record is 1:08:21, set in 2010 by Shewarge Amare of Ethiopia. The men’s overall record, 56:41, was set in 2004 by six-time World Mountain Champion Jonathan Wyatt of New Zealand.
NAMES AND HOMETOWN OF ALL FINISHERS, SORTABLE BY NAME/CITY/STATE, are available at www.gsrs.com/results/3548
Cesere Maestri, 24, Borgo Lares, Italy – 1:00:53
Eric Blake, 39, West Hartford, CT – 1:01:53
Sage Canaday, 32, Boulder, CO – 1:03:11
Andy Wacker, 29, Boulder, CO – 1:04:28
Lee Berube, 27, Syracuse, NY – 1:07:20
Simon Gutierrez, 52, Alamosa, CO – 1:11:34
Matt Lipsey, 28, Harrisburg, PA – 1:11:43
Patrick Rich, 41, South Hamilton, MA – 1:12:30
Luke O’Connor, 23, Cambridge, MA – 1:13:44
Dave Dunham, 54, Ward Hill, MA – 1:14:25
Kim Dobson, 34, Eagle, CO – 1:11:43
Heidi Caldwell, 26, Craftsbury Common, VT – 1:14:55
Shelley Doucet, 34, Quispamsis, New Brunswick – 1:16:29
Kasie Enman, 38, Huntington, VT – 1:16:29
Kassandra Marin, 28, Merrimack, NH – 1:17:13
Leonora Petrina, 35, Bayport, NY – 1:19:09
Kim Nedeau, 38, Leverett, MA – 1:19:57
Laura Haefeli, 50, Del Norte, CO – 1:20:48
Amber Ferreira, 36, Concord, NH – 1:21:43
Kelsey Allen, 35, Wendell, MA – 1:24:39
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