[GRP Run]: Spring Racing Highlights

The GRP Run team has had a busy and successful spring, notching top results and World Championships qualifications. Here’s a look at what the Cedar Sprigs have been up to:

GRP Road

Pittsburgh Half Marathon

 In the world of pavement, Sprigs Jackie Gaughan and Katie Kellner competed in the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon on May 7th. Both athletes raced well, with Jackie and Katie finishing 3rd and 5th respectively. Adding to their achievements, Jackie finished the challenging course within a few seconds of her half-marathon personal best with a time of 1:11:30, while Katie set a new personal record of 1:12:56. Katie displayed her experience as an athlete when asked about her training leading up to Pittsburgh:  

“Pittsburgh was a special race for me because I wasn't expecting too much to come out of the spring racing season. I came down with a tough bout of covid that knocked me out for most of February and early March. Once I started feeling better, I jumped back into training too quickly and minorly injured my foot. When I was finally feeling in full form, I only had about a month to train for Pittsburgh. I tried not to let it get in my head and to just focus on doing the best I could each day. When race day came, I didn't feel as prepared as I usually do, but I didn't count myself out. I went out with the leaders and raced as if I were ready for a personal best...and then I set one!” 

The Pittsburgh Half-Marathon was a good preview for what’s to come: Jackie and Katie now set their sights down the road to the fall marathon season.

GRP Trail

Canyons Endurance Runs

Canyon Woodward competed in the Canyons Endurance Runs 100-Mile race on April 28th. As the North American UTMB Major event, this race served as a qualifier for the UTMB Finals in Chamonix France come August. Canyon started the race with the front pack, got detoured by mismarked race sign between the 58km and 65km checkpoints. After losing significant time he recovered to 9th place by the 65km checkpoint. With a gutsy performance, Canyon fought his way back to finish in 3rd place, punching his ticket through automatic qualification into the UTMB 100-mile race. We asked Canyon what helped him stay motivated after the big set-back mid race:

“In terms of what helped me stay motivated - knowing that UTMB was the main goal and that I'm set up to have a great race there later this year. Keeping that front of mind and letting go of other outcome goals for Canyons once things went south was key. Also just sticking to my training plan day in and day out through any conditions even if it's in the hundreds like last June or negative 20 with wind chill like this past December builds the fortitude to push through in adverse conditions on race day.”

Incoming Sprig, Sam Stimac, also raced Canyons Endurance Run in the 100K category just days before officially joining the team’s roster. She finished in 6th place, an impressively strong showing in a deep field of talent. 

Sunapee Scramble

Western New Hampshire brought tough conditions for the Sunapee Scramble race weekend. Two events, a vertical kilometer (VK), and a classic up/down race served as the final two qualification races for the 2023 Mountain Running World Championships races in Innsbruck, Austria. On April 29th, GRP Ski athlete Alex Lawson completed the VK in 41:03 to finish third, securing a spot on the VK team at the World Championships. GRP Trail ultra marathon athlete, Elena Horton, tried out the VK format for the first time and placed 28th out of over 150 competitors.  

New to the GRP Run team, Morgan Elliot also participated in the Sunapee race weekend just days before being formally added to the GRP Trail roster. In the VK Morgan finished 6th, a solid result in a strong field, but outside the qualifying criteria. The following day, April 30th, featured the classic up/down race, which totaled just under 9 miles with 3000 feet of vertical gain. Morgan raced to finish third in 1:02:51, earning a spot in the up/down race at World Champs. Morgan shared about his races:

“After failing to make the short trail team at FOURmidable 50k back in February and also striking out on the Long Trail team 3 weeks prior at Lake Sonoma, this 10 second miss for not making the VK Team left me bitter. Failure in the Classic the following day was not an option. I prepared myself for another fast start and repeated to myself how there will be two laps. “Conserve. Conserve. Second climb is the race,” is what I told myself. Again, I found myself in that 13th place position in the Classic in the same spot as the VK the day before but it was ok, I was running my race and my pace. I slowly moved up in the field and advanced quickly, overcoming the majority of the field on the downhill. I had a lot of confidence in my footing in the mud and on that broken-up, rocky ski run. Coming up to the start of the second lap, I was in 6th and focused on staying smooth and using the energy I gained from passing the ladies field that had just began their race less than 2 minutes in front of me. The last couple punches of uphill was a dogfight and I felt a sense of relief when I came upon the crest of the downhill where I passed more of my competitors. I fed myself more confidence, “I got this, the downhill is my sh*t! Nobody can pass me here,” and I was finally in a qualifying position. I took my downhill strength and descended hard, I was smiling proud knowing I would get to wear USA on my chest again, that grin stayed on my face all the way to the finish.” 

Morgan will begin his World Champs race on June 10th after Alex races in the World Champs VK on June 7th. Both races will take place just outside of Innsbruck, Austria.