By Thane Wright
After five days of thundershowers and inclement weather, race day for the third annual Breckenridge 100 and its little brother the B-63 greeted athletes with cloudless blue skies and only a hint of a breeze. Starting at 6:00 am at the Riverwalk Center in downtown Breckenridge, the racers began their quest to race three distinct cloverleaf style loops among the high alpine terrain of Summit County. Loop one took riders over Wheeler Pass at 12,374 feet and onto the Colorado Trail to traverse the Ten Mile range at 12,500 feet. Total elevation gain for the three loops is 13,010 feet.
Course conditions were ideal, and Tostado, two-time defending champion, along with newcomers Tinker Juarez (Cannondale), Mike Janelle (Tokyo Joe's / X-fusion), and Travis Brown (Trek / FRS) separated themselves from the rest of the field early and finished loop one tightly grouped together at about 2'55". Tostado later distanced himself from the rest on loop two, looking like a man on a mission on his way to the win.
Hometown favorite Monique Merrill (Amazing Grace) won the women's race with a winning time of 10:49:47. She was followed by Kelley Mattingly and Julie Minahan (Jans) in 11:25:59 and 11:41:26 respectively. Erika Tieszen (Giant) and Erin Johnson (BPN) rounded out the top five.
Round 5 of the National Ultra Endurance (NUE) is the Wilderness 101, set for August 4 in State College, Pennsylvania.
For complete coverage of the Breckenridge 100, click here.