Leaders of the Pack - Update on 2006 Trail Runner Magazine Trophy Series

Below is a press release with the latest update on the 2006 Trail Runner Magazine Trophy Series. It looks like the 100k's continue to define the leader board for Ultra Division, and I'm sure the upcoming McNaughton 100-miler will change it up too. In the Marathon-and-Under Series, short-course speedster Hugh Davis from Indiana shows he isn't afraid to travel to get some points on the board.

Our best wishes to 2005 Marathon-and-Under champion Dale Reicheneder for a fast and speed recovery from his heel surgery.

- SD

Leaders of the Pack

If the first release of Trail Runner magazine's 2006 Trophy Series standings is any indication, there will likely be many racers vying for the 2006 title, right down to the wire.

Sponsored by LaSportiva and GoLite, the Trail Runner Trophy Series is the world’s largest off-road running series. In this its third year, the 2006 Series will encompass over 110 races and more than 20,000 runners from March 1 to September 30. Trophy Series race participants earn points for completing events as well as bonus points for top age-group or overall placing. Runners clash in two divisions: (1) Marathon and Shorter, and (2) Ultramarathon (including any races longer than 26.2 miles—the marathon distance).

For information on the 2006 Series—including a complete race schedule, rules, news and details on points scoring—visit www.trailrunnermag.com.

PLEASE NOTE: All point totals include only Trophy Series races that have submitted their results in the correct format.

Tough Mudders take Ultra Division Lead

The March 25 March Mudness 100K had a deep impact on the Ultra standings, as the longest-distance 2006 Trophy Series race to date. 35-year-old Phan Van of Maple Valley, Washington, won the women’s division of the race, held in Portland, Oregon’s legendary Forest Park. As a result, she leads the Series. Shawn Lawson, 29, of Renton, Washington, stands in second place overall, after she placed second in the March Mudness 100K and garnered finisher points in the March 18 Chuckanut 50K in Bellingham, Washington.

Behind Van and Lawson, with 202.64 points, sit the men’s and women’s winners of the Rockin’ K 50.6-Mile Trail Run, held April 1 in Kanopolis State Park, Kansas. Paul Schoenlaub or Saint Joseph, Missouri, and Tammy Stone of Florence, Colorado, are in great early-Series position.

A bevy of runners—winners of the season’s first crop of 50-mile races—have 200 points each, including perennial front runners Sean Andrish of Leesburg, Virginia, and PF Potvin of Miami Beach, Florida.

Top 10: Trophy Series Ultra Division
1. Phan Van, Maple Valley, WA, 248 points
2. Shawn Lawson, Renton, WA, 217 points
3. Paul Schoenlaub, Saint Joseph, MO, 202.64 points
4. Tammy Stone, Florence, CO, 202.64 points
5. Darcy Africa, Boulder, CO, 200 points
6. Sean Andrish, Leesburg, VA, 200 points
7. Krissy Moehl, Seattle, WA, 200 points
8. PF Potvin, Miami Beach, FL, 200 points
9. Phil Shaw, Everett, WA, 184 points
10. Matthew Becker, Galva, KS, 151.98 points
11. (tied for 10th) Lisa Mikkelson, Holliston, MA, 151.98 points

Hoosier corrals early Marathon & Shorter Division Lead Tell City, Indiana, is not known as a trail-running hot bed. Such distinctions are normally reserved for other towns. But Tell City-native Hugh Davis seems intent to change that.

The 42-year-old Davis has set an impressive early pace to grab an impressive lead. He took second in his 40-49 age group at the John Holmes 15-Mile Trail Run, held April 1 in Brooksville, Florida, first in the Land Between the Lakes 24K Trail Run on March 11 in Grand Rivers, Kentucky, and placed second in the Series’ opening weekend, when he raced the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail Marathon in Damascus, Maryland.

A large cluster of racers—age-group winners of the season’s first trail marathons—are lingering behind Davis. They include: current women’s leaders Monika Brachmann, 40, of Comus, Maryland; Lucia Davidson, 60, of Arlington, Virginia; Jen Jacobs, 29, of Washington, DC; and Suzie Spangler, 35, of Annapolis, Maryland.

2006 Trophy Series champion Dale Reicheneder of Malibu, California, started the season strong, but has been sidelined by surgery to repair a “Haglund’s Deformity” on his right heel. The condition had become too painful for Reicheneder to run. Despite being sidelined, he still plans to give the 2006 Series a try, and anticipates running later in the summer.

Top 10: Trophy Series Marathon & Shorter Division
1. Hugh Davis, Tell City, IN, 180.88 points
2. Monika Brachmann, Comus, MD, 104.8 points
3. Courtney Campbell, Berryville, VA, 104.8 points
4. Lucia Davidson, Arlington, VA, 104.8 points
5. Eugene Gignac, New Cumberland, PA, 104.8 points
6. Jen Jacobs, Washington, DC, 104.8 points
7. Keith Moore, Washington, DC, 104.8 points
8. Suzie Spangler, Annapolis, MD, 104.8 points
9. Adam Blum, Los Gatos, CA, 94.822 point
10. (7 runners tied with 78.9 points)

More to come …
As trees bud and flowers bloom, look for runners to earn more Trophy Series points at these big April races:

+ In the Northwest, trail runners will have several scoring options,
including: Peterson Ridge Rumble (April 9, Sisters, OR); Capitol Peak 50 Miler (April 15, Olympia, WA); Mt. Si Ultra Runs (April 23, Snoqualmie, WA); and the Spokane River Run (April 23, Spokane, WA).

+ Desert rats will look to the Escape from Prison Hill Half Marathon
(April 29, Carson City, NV) and Zane Grey 50-Miler (April 29, Payson, AZ) for their Trophy Series fix.

+ Colorado trail runners have their first home-state crack at Trophy
Series points at the April 22 and 23 Spring Desert Ultra Trail Running Festival in toasty Fruita, CO. Go to www.geminiadventures.com for info.

+ In the Heartland, runners will have numerous points-scoring
opportunities: McNaughton Park Trail Runs—which includes the Series’ first 100-mile race (April 15, Pekin, IL); Double Chubb 25K and 50K (April 22, St. Louis, MO); and the Trail Marathon and Half Marathon (April 30, Pinckney, MI).

+East coasters will look to two major races for Trophy Series’ points:
Flatwoods Four Trail Race (April 9. Thonotosassa, FL) and Owl’s Roost rumble (April 29, Greensboro, NC).