Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs runner Tracy Tyson may have been happy after winning the 7-mile race at Sunday's Steamboat Pilot/BPW Four Fun Feats, but for her the day was bittersweet.

"I'm excited that I won," Tyson said. "But this is the last race of the running series, so I'm also a little sad. It means that winter is just around the corner."

On Sunday, winter wasn't just around the corner; it was already sitting on just about every corner.

The group of dedicated runners that showed up to compete in the final race of the 13-event Steamboat running series, were rewarded with brisk temperatures and a couple of inches of snow covering the ground around the Sundance Plaza area, where the race started.

"It was beautiful," Tyson said after the race, her hair wet from the snow. "I'm so glad that I came out."

Despite the low turnout, the racing action in both the 7-mile and 5-kilometer races was heated.

Tyson finished the 7-mile course in a time of 54 minutes, 16 seconds to earn the women's race title. She was followed by Jane Sindell-Reece at 55:58 and Emily Conjura at 56:14. Sindell-Reece wrapped up the women's running series title with her finish.

In the men's 7-mile event, Gary Buchan overtook Sean Meissner about four miles into the race and held on for the win.

"I was thinking to myself, if I don't catch him in the uphill there is no way I was ever going to catch him, " Buchan said. "I'm not that good at the downhills."

Buchan was also concerned about the snowy slick condition on one particular section of downhill. He wanted to have a clear advantage over the quick-footed Meissner headed into the section, so Buchan made his move early.

"We were about 10 yards apart for most of the first part of the race," Buchan said. "Once I made my move I didn't look back until I reached the finish line."

Buchan won the race with a time of 45:56. Meissner was second at 46:41 and Mark Freirich was third at 50:24.

"It was a great race," Meissner said. "The weather was perfect for the third day of fall."

Meissner said he was happy with his effort in the event. He had just returned from doing the Colorado Relay, a 10-mile race from Idaho Springs to Glenwood Springs, last weekend. During that run, Meissner said he took a tumble that left him with a lot of road rash on his leg.

"I'm still recovering from it, but it wasn't really a factor today," Meissner said. "He (Buchan) just ran a great race."

Running series men's winner Kevin Anderson also finished off his 2000 campaign with another win.

He topped Jeff Swanstrom to the finish line with a time of 20:13. Swanstrom was second at 21:42 and Erland Halsnes was third at 22:22.

"I missed my goal by (13) seconds," Anderson said. "I wanted to run the course in under 20 minutes and I was pretty close."

Anderson said their wasn't a lot of strategy to his final race of the season. He just went all out from start to finish and hoped for the best.

Heather Eller topped the women's division with a time of 25:13. She was followed by Cara Catanzaro in second at 25:59 and Jackie Mulligan in third at 26:10.

"It wasn't that bad," Eller said of the snowy weather. "But this race was only for the diehards."