RESULTS: Runners, bikers tackle annual Grand Traverse races between Aspen and Crested Butte
Xavier Fane/Courtesy of Crested Butte Nordic
The Grand Traverse returned to — and promptly departed from — Aspen this weekend, with Saturday’s trail run and Sunday’s mountain bike race.
A fundraiser for organizer Crested Butte Nordic, the roughly 40-mile races began with the run’s start on Saturday in Crested Butte, which also was the finish line for the bike race that began Sunday morning from Aspen.
The GT series also includes the winter’s ski mountaineering race.
The overall winner of Saturday’s trail run was New Jersey’s Will Murray in 5 hours, 36 minutes, 27.44 seconds (chip time), which broke the old course record by about 21 minutes. He won comfortably over Gunnison’s Kieran Nay (2nd, 6:14:07.17) and Boulder’s Peter Burke (3rd, 6:19:13.28).
“I feel good. My first race in a while. Legs are little tired, but I love the course and I ran well,” Murray told the Grand Traverse media team after his first GT race. “It’s a great course. We were up high for a really long time. It was misty up there today — pretty muddy — but it’s still beautiful.”
The top female finisher was Salida’s Callie Cooper, who was 11th overall in 7:02:16.4. Tennessee’s Martha Clemmer was second (21st overall, 7:43:12.27) and Arvada’s Julia Nyiro was third (23rd overall, 7:49:39.7).
“I think I underestimated how much climbing there would be,” Cooper said after the run. “I was really trying to get under seven hours.”
Notable results from Roaring Fork Valley athletes include Carbondale’s Keegan Oldani finishing seventh overall in 6:45:56.23, and Basalt’s Brett Wachtendorf finishing 10th overall in 6:53:45.95. Glenwood’s Cameron Phillips was 18th overall in 7:35:17.58.
Bike results
Moving onto Sunday’s mountain bike race, Crested Butte’s own Logan Greydanus was the first to return home, winning in 4:03:53.82. Carbondale’s Cooper Shanks finished second in 4:45:12:06, and Crested Butte’s Erin Kelly was third overall — and first among women — with a new women’s course record of 4:56:26.55.
“There was really good competition,” Kelly said after the bike race. “I feel super grateful to be out there today.”
Pennsylvania’s Aaron Longstaff rounded out the men’s podium, finishing fourth overall in 5:01:04.92. The overall fifth- and sixth-place finishers also rounded out the women’s podium, with Longmont’s Andrea Dvorak taking second (5th, 5:03:13.11) and Gunnison’s Jenny Smith taking third (6th, 5:04:59.66).
Wachtendorf, one of a handful to compete in both the run and bike race, had the best overall combined time between the two events, finishing 11th overall in the bike race in 5:19:38.93. His dual sport time was 12:13:29 (clock time).
Cooper was the women’s dual sport champ, finishing the two races in 13:20:02. She was fifth among women in the bike race, taking 24th overall in 6:17:44.09.
Race season isn’t quite over for the Aspen area, as the sold-out Golden Leaf Half Marathon, which goes from Snowmass Village to Aspen via the Government Trail, returns Saturday, Sept. 27, beginning at 8 a.m.
