PA dominates Run for Gold field, but a Marylander wins it

August 10, 2014

Home

Lowe, Maloney pace 16.28-mile footrace

* Preliminary results
Race reports
* Caitlin
Julien
Photos
* by Julien and Judy
* by Joe Nichols
* by Judy Dames
* by Laura McShane
* Permanent event page
* Runners, send your race reports (or links) to fotm@phdispatch.com

FROSTBURG, Md. — Adam Lowe shaved off 89 seconds from last year’s Run for Gold Metric Marathon performance to the same race on Saturday.

Adam Lowe, in the white PHDC singlet, leads the fields from the start of the 3rd annual Run for Gold Metric Marathon presented by Heavenly Prints Digital Media.

Adam Lowe, in the white PHDC singlet, leads the fields from the start of the 3rd annual Run for Gold Metric Marathon presented by Heavenly Prints Digital Media.

Better yet, he moved up three spots — to the point where none were left to chase.

Lowe, 32, of Mechanicsville, Md., completed the third annual Run for Gold Metric Marathon, presented by Heavenly Prints Digital Media, in 1 hour, 45 minute and 38.6 seconds to earn the overall win in a field of 53 individual finishers and two relay teams.

The race is a point-to-point event along the Great Allegheny Passage from Meyersdale, Pa., to the Frostburg (Md.) Depot. The terrain features a softer, low-impact rail trail with a 7.5-mile gradual ascent to the Eastern Continental Divide at the start and, from the half-mile-long Big Savage Tunnel near the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, and an 8-mile descent from the tunnel to the bottom of the switchbacks below the Frostburg Depot.

The race ends with a 0.45-mile zigzagging climb up the switchbacks to the depot.

“Two minutes faster than last year,” Lowe said after crossing the finish line. “I’ll take it.”

Erica Maloney gives the thumbs up as she approaches the Frostburg Depot and the Run for Gold Metric Marathon finish line.

Erica Maloney gives the thumbs up as she approaches the Frostburg Depot and the Run for Gold Metric Marathon finish line.

He earned it. Michael Pease, 39, of Pittsburgh, went out with Lowe for the first mile-plus but backed off. He knew the pace set by Lowe was too much for him and could hope only that Lowe might suffer for the early punishing pace later on. He didn’t. Lowe’s winning time was nearly seven minutes of Pease, who stopped the clock in 1:52:21.4. Chad Merrill, 33, of Hagerstown, Md., was third overall — and the final runner under the two-hour barrier — in 1:56:42.8.

James Edgar, 45, of Allison Park, Pa., was the top Masters (40-plus) runner. Edgar finished seventh overall in 2:07:36.8. Ray Hunt, 51, of LaVale, Md., was top Grand Masters (50-plus). Hunt placed 31st overall in 2:39:06, considerably faster than his 2:50:59.2 performance from a year ago.

There was considerable competition among the men’s Senior Grand Masters (60-plus). David Dames, 62, of Pittsburgh, finished 38th in 2:53;11 while Jim Myers, 64, of York Haven, Pa., was just behind him in 2:54:18.3. John Means, 69, of Hagerstown, Md., was a few spots down in the standings with a 3:01:30 (43rd overall).

While only two women cracked the top 14 in the 2013 Run for Gold, they fared much better this year as women took six of the top 15 spots in the overall standings. Erica Maloney, 33, of Verona, Pa., led the way with a 2:03:36.7 effort, good for fifth overall.

Elisa Edgar, 42, of Allison Park, claimed the women’s Masters title with a 2:08:11.4. She took second in the women’s standings and eighth overall. Caitlin Helsel, 25, of Munhall, Pa., rounded out the top three females by placing ninth in 2:08:28.5.

A special thanks to volunteers today – Judy Dames, Julien Delange, Dr. Tom Chappell, Art Simon, Joe Nichols, Suzanne Garoian and David Mertz. 

 

No comments yet.

Leave a Reply