The Skyway Skuffle winners receive their awards. Albert Hesse, Graydon Walker and Eric DiFolco were the top three men; Eva Smith, Sammy Veauthier and Tai-Lee Smith (not pictured) were the top three women. They prevailed over a large and competitive field on a very blustery day. The course featured the Summit Trail for the first time. The comments on that trended toward “very hard but fun!” Seven different universities were represented by racers and were joined in the mix by our usual avid bunch of citizen racers. Everyone got a chance at some wonderful door prizes provided by Ela Family Farms, Peachfork Winery, Summit Canyon Mountaineering, Bestslope Coffee, Basecamp Brewery, author Christie Aschwanden and artists Caryl Brown and Lori Anderson. And, as always, we owe a huge shoutout to Empowered Energy Systems for sponsoring this season’s GMNC Race Series!
The previous day the university racers competed in the 1K Classic Sprints. This was a great spectator event as the racers completed a time trial followed by elimination heats leading up to the final heat. The top three men and women are pictured receiving their awards. 1, Sammy Veauthier and Kaj Taylor; 2, Eva Smith and John Henry Paluszek; 3, May Lamb and Albert Hesse.