Asplund a bridesmaid no longer

Saturday, May 24, 2014 5:04 AM Updated Saturday, May. 24, 2014 9:54 AM

Three-time runner up gets her first Iron Horse Bicycle Classic victory

Thrice a runner-up at her hometown Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, Durangoan Marisa Asplund finally won the signature road race, albeit a shorter version from Durango to Durango Mountain Resort rather than the usual route to Silverton. “I mean, I feel satisfied; it’s not the queen stage it usually is,” she said.

Steve Lewis/Durango Herald

Both the men’s and women’s fields started together, which played into the strategy of the women’s race, too. “I think people went out fast. There was no easy rollout through the valley,” said Sheena Carswell, who finished runner-up in the pro women’s race. “It was a little daunting being with the men.”

Steve Lewis/Durango Herald

Ivie Crawford and the professional women’s field launched the 43rd Iron Horse Bicycle Classic with the professional men’s field, as well. “It was from the gun. I was really having to toe the line with all the men,” women’s champion Marisa Asplund said. “Because everyone was fighting for wheels, it was screaming fast out of the valley.”

Steve Lewis/Durango Herald

Marisa Asplund finished runner-up three times at the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. Nobody beat her Saturday, though. Asplund, a former teacher at Escalante Middle School, won the 43rd Iron Horse Bicycle Classic on Saturday from Durango to Durango Mountain Resort.

Steve Lewis/Durango Herald

Marisa Asplund, Ivie Crawford and the professional women’s field cross over Hermosa Creek en route to Durango Mountain Resort. Asplund was first to reach the finish line, while Crawford finished 12th in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race.

Steve Lewis/Durango Herald

Marisa Asplund heads up U.S. Highway 550 on Saturday morning.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Ivie Crawford, far left in white, and Marisa Asplund, left, and other riders cross over Hermosa Creek on the way to Durango Mountain Resort.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Brianne Marshall, who competed in the pro womens division, helps a friend with her number before the start of the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic on Saturday morning in Durango.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Ivie Crawford, far left in white, and Marisa Asplund, left, and other riders cross over Hermosa Creek on the way to Durango Mountain Resort.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Pro men and women leave the start line in Durango.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Lots of cycling fans stationed themselves along U.S. Highway 550 on Saturday morning to cheer on the riders in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Marisa Asplund was the first woman to cross the finish line during the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic on Saturday morning at Durango Mountain Resort.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Cycling fans waiting along U.S. Highway 550 on Saturday morning cheer on the riders in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Ivie Crawford heads up U.S. Highway 550 on Saturday morning.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Marissa Asplund crosses the finish line on Saturday at Durango Mountain Resort.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

Marisa Asplund finally won an Iron Horse Bicycle Classic on Saturday after three runner-up finishes.

The Durango native crossed the finish line at Durango Mountain Resort in 1 hour, 26 minutes, 51 seconds, claiming the title in the shortened 26.5-mile race.

“It’s about time. Truth be told, as I’m sure a lot of people are, a little disappointed with the course,” she said. “I mean, I feel satisfied; it’s not the queen stage it usually is.”

Fellow Durangoans Sheena Carswell and Maria Santiago came in second at 1:27:01 and third at 1:33:09, respectively.

Both the men’s and women’s fields started together, which played into the strategy of the women’s race, too.

“It was from the gun. I was really having to toe the line with all the men,” Asplund said. “Because everyone was fighting for wheels, it was screaming fast out of the valley.”

Asplund, the 37-year-old coach, counselor, trainer and therapist, jumped to the front of the women’s field early, keeping up with men’s racers Ned Overend and Todd Wells out of the gate. She held that position leading into the first hill, and she kept her lead through the finish.

The field started to scatter more as they started to climb Shalona Hill, the race’s first big climb.

“I think people went out fast. There was no easy rollout through the valley,” said Carswell, a 43-year-old registered nurse at Southwest Cardiology Associates. “It was a little daunting being with the men.”

Carswell tried to stay with a group as much as she could, but she couldn’t make up the distance to Asplund, who has a decade’s worth of professional cycling experience and is a trained triathlete.

Asplund thrice times has finished runner-up to Mara Abbott, who holds the IHBC women’s record with four titles.

Abbott wasn’t in this field, which raced to the top of the DMR parking lot in front of the plaza, climbing sharply after the downhill from Needles Country Store leading to Purgatory’s front gate.

“Brutal. Totally brutal. I’ve been up here a million times, but we didn’t know exactly where it would finish,” Asplund said. “We came around the corner, and people started their sprint. Typically we’re not sprinting at 9,000 feet.”

kgrabowski@durangoherald.com