Marion races to victory on Pott's Mountain

Robert Marion and Laura Hamm won "The Escape" on Pott's Mountain in Virginia. The classic east coast race was back after a several-year hiatus.

Racers enjoyed perfect fall conditions - 53 degrees, no precipitation and 70 percent humidity. However, the course was tougher than many expected.

"There were a lot of guys saying, 'That was harder than I ever imagined," said co-promoter Skip Huffman. "We ran a very similar course to this one in 1995, and the funny thing was that everyone pulled up the results from 2003 (the last time the race was run) to figure out the likely length of the race. They were in for quite a surprise."

In the men's race, Marian made a comeback after falling behind Keck Baker and Christopher Michaels due to some mechanicals. After coming off the race's main ridge, Marian regained contact with Michaels, who told Marion that Baker had seemed to be slowing in the tight singletrack.

Coming off recent finishes at the Pisgah Stage Race, Michaels and Mario were no strangers to tight trail conditions. That's where Marion took off and he never looked back. Baker and Michaels were second and third, respectively. Roanoke locals Ron Glowczynki and Robbie Bruce rounded out the top five.

The women's race was a bit more uneventful with Laura Hamm settling into a good tempo early on and never looking back. She won ahead of Sheila Scott.

At the finish, Hamm was all smiles. "I told her she was just about the first one smiling all day at the end," said Huffman,"and she simply replied, 'That was awesome.'"

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