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Mesa Meltdown 2022/2023

Ella DeWolf and Benjamin Noren duke it out on the Summit hills!

Ella and Benjamin after the race sporting their new GMNC hats.

The Empowered Energy Systems 2022-2023 Race Series wrapped up at the Mesa Meltdown with women dominating in both the 20K and 5K distances. Ella DeWolf cruised to the 20K win. She was leading at the 10K mark and continued to maintain a gap on 2nd place Benjamin Noren on a tough course. There wasn’t much melting at this year’s Meltdown but race conditions were excellent. We pulled some strings to arrange for a tailwind up Vista Valley on the second loop trading for a chilling headwind on the final k to the finish. There was plenty of hot soup waiting at the finish to take that edge off.

In the 5K, Eva Smith had an easy win over Jim Dresser in second. Actually, nothing is easy skiing at 10,600 ft but Eva looked strong coming in with a comfortable lead. Big great effort kudos go to 7-year old Catherine Clubb who attacked the 5K in a great leprechaun hat but took a wrong turn and finished on her own short course. The other unfortunate mishap was Lori Stone who pulled a rib out of place warming up for the 20K and had to bow out. Karla Stulky enjoyed the 5K course longer than anyone as did Eileen McCullough and David Gollob in the 20K. We love to see these spirited and gritty participants in our GMNC races doing what they can and having a fun time!

We’ll miss not having an opportunity to race again on our fabulous trails until next December but we’ll have great memories of a great season and tons of snow! Empowered Energy Systems is our prime resource for making this Series a success as is an amazing cadre of dedicated volunteers who we hope have all thawed out by now. Loki Outerwear provided their wonderful jackets for our Series winners (see separate Series results) and were accompanied by many other generous sponsors that kicked in valuable door prizes: Peach Street Distillers, Peachfork Winery, Summit Canyon Mountaineering, Bestslope Coffee, Ela Family Farms organic fruit, Base Camp Brewing, artists Caryl Brown and Lori Anderson, Enstrom’s Toffee and, of course, Mom Tille with her hand-knitted GMNC hats.

Rest up and see you next season!

Start Location: 

Skyway

End Location: 

Skyway

Race Date: 

03/19/2023

Starting Time: 

10:00 am

Starting Temp: 

24
PlaceRaceTimeRacerAgeGenderHometown
20K
11:05:09Ella DeWolf26FLaramie
21:06:33Benjamin Noren31MLaramie
31:08:09Reed Sullivan31MSalt Lake City
41:09:00Kevin Koch48MGrand Junction
51:11:11Kyle Boschen54MMesa
61:12:34Chris Miller37MGrand Junction
71:13:23Brandon Hanson21MGrand Junction
81:14:19Rachel Bachman Perkins32FCarbondale
91:16:21Greg Finnoff56MTabernash
101:17:12Russ Bollig59MGlenwood Spgs
111:18:55Lew Kierkegaard53MGrand Junction
121:23:13Brian Williams40MCarbondale
131:23:33Sean Walmsley31MNew Castle
141:24:45Sarah Slaughter51FDurango
151:25:18Feeble ilg60MDurango
161:25:53Tracy Pihl32FNew Castle
171:26:37Rudy Bolona54MGlenwood Spgs
181:27:09Colleen Finnoff56FTabernash
191:31:05Brad Burritt61MHotchkiss
201:31:40Helen Carlsen62FBasalt
211:32:02Bernie Gardner67MHoneoye Falls NY
221:33:18Jim Hinman61MBoulder
231:34:43Caryl Brown58FMontrose
241:36:28Jim O’Conner56MMoab
251:36:57Erik Borling46MDelta
261:37:27Kyle Stone54MFruita
271:37:57Ken Pill62MGrand Junction
281:42:36Steve Colby70MCedaredge
291:47:51Chuck Bodie70MGrand Junction
301:53:01Mark Spoon60MMesa
311:57:51John Thrasher73MDelta
322:06:23Dave (Classic) Batten73MMontrose
332:11:17Richard Hypio67MHotchkiss
342:16:30John Unger66MMontrose
352:49:18Kevin Krause30MMack
362:51:09Eileen McCullough61FCentennial
372:51:10David Gollob61MCentennial
DNFLori Stone60FFruita
5K
117:16Eva Smith29FLaramie
223:32Jim Dresser67MCarbondale
323:40Ali Silcox51FCarbondale
423:47Ellen Polites26FLaramie
526:56Valerie Eipper62FMontrose
627:30Tina Wilson66FGrand Junction
733:46Nilam Hypio27FHotchkiss
840:05Karla Stulky56FCarbondale
DNFCatherine Clubb7FDelta