Records fall in Hardrock

Utah's Meltzer wins landmark fifth title; Finkel's repeat effort sets women's mark

by Dale Strode
Herald Sports Writer

Article Last Updated; Sunday, July 12, 2009 1:13PM

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Video by JOSH STEPHENSON/Herald

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JOSH STEPHENSON/Herald

About 40 miles into the race, Diana Finkel descends from Handies Peak to the Grouse Gulch aid station Friday afternoon en route to a first-place finish Saturday in the Hardrock 100 Endurance Race, which Finkel also won in 2008. Her 2009 time was the fastest ever by a woman.

JOSH STEPHENSON/Herald

Winners Karl Meltzer and Diana Finkel, left and right, join third-place men’s finisher Scott Jaime at the finish line of the Hardrock 100 Endurance Run on Saturday in Silverton.

SILVERTON - Every time a runner kissed the finish-line boulder, another record fell - like a rock.

Karl Meltzer was the first to smooch the namesake finishing rock in the 2009 Hardrock 100 Endurance Run on an otherwise sleepy Saturday morning in downtown Silverton.

The Sandy, Utah, trail runner kissed the rock just as the sun peaked over the ridge to the east, completing the indescribably difficult 100-mile race in 24 hours, 38 minutes, 2 seconds - a time that smashed the record for the counterclockwise Hardrock route by an hour and a half.

Meltzer, a 41-year-old icon of the ultrarunning scene, won the Hardrock 100 for the record fifth time; no one else has won it more than twice.

An hour and 20 minutes later, Troy Howard of Walnut Creek, Calif., kissed the rock in front of the Silverton school, posting a record time for a Hardrock runner-up (26 hours, 1 minute).

When Linda Finkel of South Park kissed that same sacred rock an hour later, even more records tumbled.

Finkel, the defending Hardrock 100 champion, won this year in a women's record 27 hours and 18 minutes on the counterclockwise route (Silverton to Lake City to Ouray to Telluride and back to Silverton).

Finkel, who was third overall Saturday, is a record 2-for-2 in Hardrock races with two course records.

"I think I was more prepared this year," Finkel said amid the finish-line celebration. "Since I won last year, I felt more pressure. I was super nervous before the race."

The nerves vanished shortly after the 6 a.m. Friday start for Finkel, who led the women's field from start to rock.

But what was the real secret behind her record run?

"I didn't get lost as much," said Finkel, 37.

"Last year, I got lost a lot. This year, I only got lost a little," she said with a 100-mile-wide smile, describing the course that occasionally ventures off trail and winds up, down and around peaks and passes.

An avid Nordic skier in winter, Finkel said that once she got into a running rhythm, her love of the mountains took over.