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WORLD MOUNTAIN RUNNING ASSOCIATION

Mexico and USA split 11. NACAC Mountain Running Championship titles 2014.

21/07/2014

At 11th NACAC Mountain Running Championships 2014 held on 20. July in Ajijic, Mexico, the men&rsquo,s team gold medal went to Mexico&rsquo,s A team while the women&rsquo,s race was won by Team USA.
Same situation in the individual race: NACAC title in the men race for Mexican Mario Alberto Ramiro Allende and NACAC title in the women race for USA Brandy Erholtz.

Without Canada in the mix, it was just two countries vying for NACAC Championship honors.
The Canadian selection race for the championships was held just a few weeks ago and none of the athletes were able to coordinate their schedules to make the trip to Mexico.
When travel plans failed to pan out for the selected athletes, there was little time to recruit replacements.
The race started and finished in the town square with the first and last kilometre on cobblestone streets.
The remainder of the course included dirt single track trails, rocky sections, with steep ascents and descents. The total ascending was 1150 meters, equal to the descent. The high point on the course was over 2400 meters.
A total of 700 runners participated in the event which celebrated its 18th running this year and included the 13.8-kilometer run as well as a shorter distance race of six kilometers.
Sunny skies prevailed throughout the race with temperatures reaching into the mid-seventies.”
“Leading the field to the finish line of the 13.8-kilometer race was Mario Alberto Ramiro Allende who finished with time of 1:21:20, well off the course record set three years ago by USA&rsquo,s Joseph Gray, but over two minutes ahead of countryman Enrique Camarena Camberos who posted a time of 1:23:50. The bronze medal went to Angel Orlando Quintero Ramirez with a time of 1:24:33.
Mexico&rsquo,s A team score was eight points with Allende&rsquo,s first place, Ramirez third place, and Said Diaz Ceron in fourth. Ceron&rsquo,s time was 1:27:22. Mexico&rsquo,s B team earned 16 points with Cameros finishing with two points, followed by Albaro Reyes Espinoza with 6 points, Fernando Azael Mejia Gonzalez with eight points.
Team USA earned the bronze medal with 21 points. Top American was Eric Blake in fifth position overall with a time of 1:27:38. Ryan Woods scored seven points, followed by Jordan Chavez with nine points.
For the women, Brandy Erholtz crushed the course record by more than seven minutes with a time of 1:39:01 to win gold and lead Team USA to the gold medal with a 1-2-3 sweep. Second for Team USA was former course record holder Maria Dalzot in a time of 1:42:05. Rounding out the top scoring members was Christine Lundy in third with a time of 1:43:34. All three women went under the course record.
Mexico earned the silver medal with 16 points. Top for Team Mexico was Carmen Trinidad Ramiro Allende who finished in fourth position. Her time was 1:44:55. Second for Mexico was Susana Bautista Villegas in fifth and Alex Raudayna De La Huerta Susilla rounded out the top three scoring members in seventh position.
Race organizer Ivan Romero Garnica did an outstanding job with logistic pre and post race and all of the NACAC team members enjoyed the time in Ajijic.

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For the WMRA, Nancy Hobbs, treasurer.

Source of the pictures:
On front page (from Nancy Hobbs):
– male winner Mario Alberto Ramiro Allende (Mexico),
on second page (from Nancy Hobbs):
– female winner Brandy Erholtz (USA).

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