Headed into last weekend’s Hardrock 100 ultra race, Karl Meltzer of Sandy, Utah, gave himself 4-to-1 odds of topping the field of high-altitude runners looping through the San Juan Mountains between Silverton and Telluride.
Had he been a betting man, he’d have quadrupled his prize money as winner of Sunday’s 16th annual race. Meltzer finished the 100-mile race, including 33,000 feet of elevation gain, in 24 hours, 38 minutes, more than 1 hour, 20 minutes ahead of runner-up Troy Howard.
But the real eye-popper came from third-place overall finisher Diana Finkel of South Fork, who turned in a time of 27 hours, 18 minutes to shave more than two hours from the women’s course record in what race organizers are calling “the ultrarunning performance of the year.”
Copper to host Grand Prix.
The Olympic dream begins at Copper Mountain for snowboarders this winter when the 2010 U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix returns to the Summit County resort for the first of three stops on Dec. 11-12. A total of five Olympic halfpipe qualifying contests will take place at Copper (one contest), Mammoth Mountain, Calif. (two contests, Jan. 6-10, 2010), and Park City, Utah (two contests, Jan. 22-23, 2010), after which the 2010 snowboard halfpipe team will be named.
Following the Copper Grand Prix, the Winter Dew Tour will return to Breckenridge for the first of the series’ three stops beginning Dec. 18-20.
Pappas, Mitchell go Seismic.
George Pappas and Jason Mitchell dominated the pro division podium at last weekend’s Seismic 2009 U.S. National Championships of Skateboard Slalom Racing in Lafayette with Pappas taking top honors in giant slalom and tight slalom competition. Mitchell won the hybrid slalom event and finished third behind Joe McLaren in tight slalom.
Kevin Delaney won two open class titles (giant slalom and hybrid), and Joe Lehm, David Pirnack and Keith Hollien split the masters division hardware. Gabe Duquet was the dominant junior.
Teen wins at Money Cup.
San Diego teenager Alex Perelson has won the vert competition at the Maloof Money Cup, landing a rare 900. Perelson beat veterans Pierre-Luc Gagnon and Bob Burnquist to claim first prize of $75,000.
Scott Willoughby, The Denver Post
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
