It was a gray day, with winds gusting in off the Puget Sound up to 40 miles per hour. Temperatures were in the upper 40s with rain holding off until afternoon. Masters athletes set off across a soft field, with muddy patches, in three races. The women’s 6K started things off at 9:30 a.m., followed by the men’s 60+ 8K at 10:15 a.m. and men’s 40-59 10K at 11:15 a.m. Each year the competition typically attracts the deepest and most competitive field of all the Masters championships. Scoring for the first two races is based on up to five declared athletes with the top three finishers scoring for each team; the final race has up to nine declared, with top five scoring. Add up the scoring places for each team, the lower the score the better.
In the women’s 40+, Team Red Lizard repeated as champions, demonstrating their 40+ dominance by taking first with their ‘A’ team and third with their ‘B’ team. Club Northwest was second. In the 50+, gold medals went to Central Park Track Club, for the second consecutive year, with a 1-5-6 finish, for 12 points, edging Northwest with 21. Prado Racing finished third. The women’s 60+ honors went to Bowerman TC, with 15 points. Northwest had their third second place finish, at 25, ahead of Impala Racing. The 70+ division featured the closest contest. Just five points separated first and third. Impala took the win over San Diego TC and Red Lizard, 15 to 19 to 20. In the men’s 60+, TC Running claimed the win, as they did in 2022. Their 18 points left Genesee Valley Harriers in second at 25. GVH repeated their second-place finish from last year; Atlanta TC finished third. In the 70+ division, Boulder Road Runners enjoyed their second consecutive win, with 23 points. This was their third victory in the last four years. Northwest and Jamul Toads pressed them but fell six and nine points off, respectively. In the 80+ division, The San Diego Striders won without a challenger. In the men’s 40+ division, Northwest took top honors, with 36 points, ahead of the two teams that have won the last three years. Defending champs, West Valley Track Club finished second, at 51, ahead of 2021 and 2022 champs, Indiana Elite Athletic Club, with 74. In the 50+, the three-time defending champions, West Valley made it four in a row. Their 56 points gave them a solid win. Bowerman edged Northwest by a single point, 87 to 88 for second place. The hosts, Club Northwest, not only put on a terrific event, they turned out in force, mounting the podium in six of the nine division contests.
WOMEN – Carrie Dimoff went to the front early. Unlike last year, no one could stay with her. She had a lead of well over 50 meters by the halfway point. Dimoff poured it on from there to take her second consecutive USATF Club Cross Country title in 22:40. Jenny Kadavy and Jennifer Keenan formed a chase pack of two until Kadavy pulled ahead in the final kilometer to take second in 23:10, 15 seconds ahead of Keenan. Jennifer St. Jean, out of the 50-54 division, kicked away from the main chase pack for a top ten finish, sixth at 23:41. MEN 60+ - Paul Smith went out hard from the start, joined by Scott Lacrosse in the first kilometer. They enjoyed a 50-meter lead on the chase pack at the end of the first 3K loop. By the end of the next 3K, Nat Larson and Steve Schmidt, who finished 1-2 in this race two years ago in San Francisco, had left the chase pack behind, joined the two leaders and started dictating pace. In the end, Schmidt was able to outlast Larson, claiming the win in 31:21, with Larson in second, ten seconds back, and Smith third in 31:36. Men 40+ - Jesse Davis took the early lead, but Joseph Gray soon joined him; they were the first two to pass the 3K mark. They had 25 meters on the chase pack. Gray made a decisive move in the next 3K and added to his lead the rest of the way, winning by well over a hundred meters in 33:20. Neil McDonagh moved up to run with Davis and then pull ahead. Brian Flynn joined Davis with two kilometers to go. McDonagh powered away from the duo to claim second in 33:45, just eight seconds ahead of Davis. Flynn was two seconds back in fourth.
Age grading measures how fast an athlete ran for their age and is considered a measure of the most outstanding performance across ages. WOMEN - Jeanette Groesz, 75, ran 31:13 in the 6 Km race, earning an 87.72%. Suzanne La Burt, 61, and Mary Cass, 63, finished second and third. MEN 60+ - Steve Schmidt, 63, won the M60+ race overall. His 31:21 over 8 km earned the highest age grade at 85.38%. Daniel King, 65, and Rick Becker, 70, claimed silver and bronze. MEN 40+ - Frank Zoldak, 58, the defending age grade champion, did it again. His 37:07 age graded at 85.86%. Rusty Snow, 55, and Gregory Mitchell, 51, took second and third.
WOMEN - 40-44 Dimoff, 45-49 Gretchen Hurlbutt 23:35, 50-54 St. Jean 23:41, 55-59 Amy Halseth 25:37, 60-64 La Burt, 65-69 Trisha Kluge, 70-74 Ernestina Martin 32:26, 75-79 Groesz, 80-84 Meg Ludlum 1:03:27, 85-89 Joyce Hodges-Hite MEN - 40-44 Gray, 45-49 Peter Gilmore 35:19, 50-54 Mitchell 35:58, 55-59 Snow 36:24, 60-64 Schmidt, 65-69 King 31:53, 70-74 Becker 33:48, 75-79 Gary Ostwald 38:27, 80-84 Len Goldman 47:32, 85-89 David Turner 57:01 This event kicked off the 2025 USATF Masters National Grand Prix. Next up are the USATF Cross Country Championships in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday, January 11, 2025. Masters women’s and men’s races will be held along with U20 and Open. Details can be found here. Submitted by Paul Carlin