Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

31st annual Tioga Pass Run: Another great year

Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

This post was written by Morgan, 2011 Policy Coordinator.

The Mono Lake Committee hosted the 31st annual Tioga Pass Run on September 11, 2011. Just under 100 participants raced up Highway 120 West, starting in front of the Committee in Lee Vining and finishing at the east entrance to Yosemite National Park. That’s 12.4 miles … but only one hill!

And they’re off! Tioga Pass Run participants start the race in front of the Mono Lake Committee in Lee Vining. Photo courtesy of Dick Erb.

Locals once again dominated the run, with 51 of the 84 participants coming from the Eastern Sierra communities of Bishop, Crowley Lake, Mammoth Lakes, June Lake, Lee Vining, Mono City, and Walker. But participants also came from all over California and Nevada.

First-place finisher Eric Lynch leads from the start.

Rock Creek Lodge employee and summer resident, Eric Lynch, age 23 (originally from Eugene, Oregon), raced to win with a time of 1:28:19. Rebeka Jensen, age 35 from Awahnee, placed first female and tenth overall with a time of 2:01:40.

Bill Dickey, 72, of Arcadia, raced well for his 29th time at Tioga Pass Run. Bill has only missed two out of the 31 races and was also the oldest participant in this year’s race. The youngest participant was Daniel Lampson of Minden, Nevada, age 15, who finished in just 2:16:45. Lindsay Larson was the sole representative of the fire crews this year. Dan Yarborough, of Bishop, age 48, and a multiple winner of the event, raced to his personal best and a strong second with a time of 1:31:24.

This year, we recognized those who completed the “Granite-Man Challenge”—Mike Karch and Chris Bulkley. The challenge consisted of a Friday one-mile swim in June Lake (Karch circumnavigated the lake for an over three-mile swim), the Saturday High Sierra Fall Century Ride of 100-miles, and the Sunday Tioga Pass Run of 12.6 miles (Karch ran back down the road for a total of 25.2 miles!). Two other participants, Kelly Gooddick and Pam Lonza, completed both the Saturday Century Ride and the Sunday Tioga Pass Run. Dave Stefanides completed Saturday’s White Mountain Double Century  and the Sunday Tioga Pass Run.

Congratulations to all who participated! Thank you for joining us in the challenge.

Eric Lynch on his way to a win—running past Tioga Lake toward Yosemite. Photos courtesy of Dick Erb.

A huge thank-you goes to all the volunteers who checked everyone in, handed out water and Gatorade, recorded finishing times, and shuttled racers back down the mountain. Thank you to all the sponsors of the Tioga Pass Run, especially the Whoa Nellie Deli, who provided delicious lunches for all participants and volunteers after the race. We’d like to give a special thank-you to Ken & Elizabeth Corathers, who have been working hard for the past four years to organiz the Tioga Pass Run.

We look forward to next year’s race: Sunday, September 9, 2012. For information on next year’s Tioga Pass Run, please check the website.

Tags

One comment