Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Jake Lawrence planned out his running schedule for the summer far in advance. The Albuquerque resident knew the Mount Werner Classic — in a new 50-kilometer format — was an option.

And on Wednesday, he finally registered for what would become his golden race.

Lawrence, who drove eight hours Friday, completed the 31 miles Saturday on his 31st birthday.

“That’s the reason we’re here,” said Lawrence, who had to get cleaned up from several falls on the course. “It was totally random and it fit. We wanted to go to a pretty place, and we’re here.”

Lawrence joined some 60 other racers competing in the well-known race with a new format.

After years of being a 5- and 12-mile run, the race changed to 50 kilometers this year. The race began at the gondola, went up the mountain and onto Mountain View trail, then turned around at Long Lake and descended back down.

For his part, Lawrence didn’t just make it an easy birthday celebration. He finished second overall in 4 hours, 55 minutes.

Boulder runner Trent Briney was first in 4:47. Steamboat Springs’ Bill Goldsmith — despite a nasty gash on his arm — was third in 4:57.

Briney, who was an alternate marathon runner on the 2004 Olympic team, never had ran a distance longer than a marathon.

But with a buddy doing the Leadville Trail 100 Ultramarathon in a couple of weeks and in need of a pacer, Briney thought Saturday’s race would be a great way to get in a training run.

“There is a lot of course out there when you talk about 31 miles,” said Briney, who took the lead at the two-mile mark and never looked back. “Your legs are pretty smoked after you do the long climb. But I started feeling better on the way back.”

Saturday’s run spoke to the growing popularity in longer trail runs. In Steamboat alone, there was Saturday’s race, the Aug. 12 Steamboat Stinger trail marathon and September’s 100-mile Run Rabbit Run.

“Marathons are really popular,” said Evergreen runner Rebecca Hall, who was the top women’s finisher in 5:28. “Those keep growing in popularity. But it seems like people like to be outside, plus trails are a lot easier on your body.”

Karen Lapides was the second women’s finisher in 5:38, and Liz Koop was third in 6:11.

The next 2012 Steamboat Springs Running Series event is the Steamboat Stinger trail marathon.

Results

Men

Open

Trent Briney 4:47:00

Jake Lawrence 4:55:00

Bill Goldsmith 4:57:00

Donnie Haubert 5:01:00

Patrick Garcia 5:08:00

Jon Dyck 5:11:00

Sean Meissner 5:15:00

Brad Higdon 5:33:00

Peter Jones 5:56:00

Mike Randall 6:02:00

Alex Pashley 6:07:00

Thomas Reuter 6:10:00

Matt Wiencek 6:11:00

Michael Guzek 6:20:00

Neal Saxe 6:34:10

Scott Schwasnick 6:43:00

Steve Bunch 6:56:00

Derrick Adrian 7:21:00

Sherpa "John" Lacroix 7:22:00

Jeff Fink 7:22:30

Richard Williams 7:26:00

Matthew Anderson 7:40:00

Todd Burgess 7:55:00

Masters

Allen Belshaw 5:41:00

Rick Schuette 5:50:00

Todd Nott 5:51:00

Michael Sandlin 6:03:00

J Russell Gill III 6:18:00

Chris Stone 6:39:00

Mike Deblasis 6:41:00

Russ Garrity 6:46:00

John Lilly 6:50:00

Tim O'grady 8:52:00

Open young

Ethan Lockwood 5:40:00

Kyle Downey 6:34:00

Jonathan Zeschin 6:40:00

Women

Open

Rebecca Hall 5:28:00

Liz Koop 6:10:30

Sarah Kostin 6:38:00

Valerie Zajac 6:59:00

Amanda Grimes 7:00:00

Cara Marrs 7:00:15

Maria Danz 7:20:00

Katie Yturri 7:29:00

Nicole Olexa 7:29:00

Karen Brandenburg 7:37:00

Cammy Ravenscroft 7:52:00

Masters

Karen Lapides 5:38:00

Adria Owens 6:39:30

Melissa Uchitelle-Rogers 7:37:30

To reach Luke Graham, call 970-871-4229 or email lgraham@SteamboatToday.com