Bednosky and Woods win at Bel Monte 25k
March 28, 2011 by Bryon Powell · 108 Comments
The La Sportiva Mountain traveled back east for the challenging Bel Monte Endurance Run 25k. As with the previous Mountain Cup race, the Nueces Endurance Trail Run, Bel Monte is a festival of trail running events with a 50k and 50 miler in addition to the 25k. Mark Lundblad (7:41:56 – course record) and Sara Pragluski (11:27:40) won the 50 mile, while Brad Hinton (4:52:59) and Amy Lane (5:09:51) won the 50k… but back to the Mountain Cup where the men’s winner set a new course record.
On the recommendation from race directors J. Russell Gill and Francesca Conte, La Sportiva presented the Standout Award to Virginia local Nick Hamblet. Hamblet is well known within the local trail running community and has regularly been a tremendous help to Francesca, Gill and the Charlottesville Running Company. Special edition Bel Monte Going the Distance race tees (right) will be available from the Charlottesville Running Company
After kicking things off with our LSMC race coverage, we’ll take a look at the Mountain Cup standings. Next, we’ll move on to our La Sportiva shoe giveaway contest before calling for your comments and finishing up with the full La Sportiva Mountain Cup schedule.
The Race
Men’s Race
Two Mountain Cup regulars, Ryan Woods and Jason Bryant, went at it again outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. This time, Woods came out ahead by a bit over three minutes. He won in 1:56:04 with Bryant following up in 1:59:33. Chad Motz was well back in third with either a dead heat or a heck of a sprint finish between John Heermans and Thad Minshall for fourth and fifth.
- Ryan Woods – 1:56:04
- Jason Bryant – 1:59:33
- Chad Motz – 2:12:07
- John Heermans – 2:14:28
- Thand Minshall – 2:14:28
Women’s Race
Two familiar names also dominated the women’s race. Annette Bednosky, a top ultrarunner, ran away from the field to win in 2:26. Although Bednosky normally focuses on ultras, she’s showing that she could be a threat if she decided to make a go for the Mountain Cup. After spending more than 2 months off due to injuries, LSMC regular Alison Bryant ran well to finish second.
- Annette Bednosky (race report) – 2:26:06
- Alison Bryant – 2:42:50
- Laren Rusin – 2:52:03
- Coro Cope – 2:52:29
- Carol Krill – 2:59:32
Full Results
Full results are available.
Top finishers at the 2011 Bel Monte 25k: (l-to-r) Annette Bednosky, Laren Rusin, Alison Bryant, Jason Bryant, Ryan Woods
La Sportiva Mountain Cup Standings
Here are the unofficial LSMC standings through 3 races.
Men
With his win, Ryan Woods (42 pts) moved himself into sole possession of first. Jason Bryant (30 pts) jumped from a seventh-place tie.
- Ryan Woods – 42 points (2 races – 22 pts from Bel Monte)
- Jason Bryan – 30 pts (2 races – 17 points from Bel Monte)
- Waylon Calabrese – 20 pts (1 race – Did not race Bel Monte)
- (T-4) Jared Scott – 17 pts (1 race – Did not race Bel Monte)
- (T-4) Justin Gonzales – 17 pts (1 race – Did not race Bel Monte)
Women
Annette Bednosky moves into first place for the women on the strength of her win. Rachel Cieslewicz remains in second.
- Annette Bednosky – 35 pts (2 races – 20 pts at Bel Monte)
- Rachel Cieslewicz – 32 pts (2 races – Did not race Bel Monte)
- Megan Kimmel – 22 pts (1 race – Did not race Bel Monte)
- Martha Nelson – 20 pts (1 race – Did not race Bel Monte)
- Melanie Fryar – 19 pts (1 race – Did not race Bel Monte)
Official Mountain Cup standings can be found here.
iRunFar.com La Sportiva Mountain Cup Contest
Trevor Woods of Austin, Texas wins the La Sportiva’s Raptors (iRF review) for the Nueces giveaway. Uncharacteristically, we’ll be giving away the same La Sportiva models in back-to-back contests. Per our contact on the ground, “The Raptor would have been a great choice with its cushioning and its grip on the extremely loose and rocky sections that took down several would be finishers and left many more bruised and bloodied.”
If you want a second chance to win your own pair of La Sportiva Raptors? Simply leave your name and town (in the US or Canada) in a comment before we write about the next Mountain Cup race, the Dry Creek Half Marathon on April 2 in Hidden Springs, Idaho. As a reminder, if you enter to win the Raptors you’ll also automatically be eligible to win the grand prize at the end of August. Read up on the iRunFar.com La Sportiva Mountain Cup giveaway grand prize.
Call for Comments
If you ran any of the Bel Monte Endurance Trail Runs, please leave a comment letting everyone know how you did and what you think about the race. Past racers are invited to comment, too!
Related articles:
- Woods and Bryant Win Uwharrie Mountain Run Results and recap of the 2012 Uwharrie Mountain Run 20 miler....
- Woods and Bryant Victorious at Hell’s Hills 25k Results and recap of the 2012 Hell's Hills 25k, the fifth event in the 2012 La Sportiva Mountain Cup....
- Byrne Scorches Woods At Rock2Rock Run iRunFar covers the Rock2Rock Run, the third race in the 2010 La Sportiva Mountain Cup....
Filed under Races ·
Bryon Powell is the Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar.com, which he founded five years ago. Also the author of Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, he's quickly approaching 10 years as an ultrarunner and 20 years as a trail runner. These days he calls Park City, Utah and its trails home.
All posts by Bryon Powell
peter
harrison ny
Mark
Hermitage,TN
Chris
Houston, TX
John
Shelby Township, MI
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Shoes! You know I love ‘em!
Jen
Campbell River, BC
Canada
Jadon Ross
Kemmerer, WY USA
Kate
Fayetteville, WV
Been wanting to try a pair of La Sportiva’s for a while.
Tim
Arlington VA
Perrysburg, OH
Jenny
Stanardsville, VA
I volunteered at one of the aid stations at Bel Monte this year. It was amazing to see the determination on people after they came down off a seriously rocky section. Great job to everyone!
We were sure glad you were there. Thanks for standing out in the cold for us!
Jeff
Fairfax Station, VA
Todd
Surrey BC Canada
Mariko
Portland, OR
Francesca and I had a great time directing the 7th Annual Bel Monte Endurance Run this Saturday. This year’s 50M race proved to be a battle from start to finish. Both Mark L. and Brian R. ran within seconds of each other for the entire race, while maintaining a pace to break the course record.
Mark finally took the lead with about a mile to go and was able to break Jason Bryant’s course record by seconds.
This year’s race will go down as the Battle at Bel Monte!
Bradley
Puyallup, WA
Chris Talley
Morgan Hill, CA
Thanks for the contest!!
Peter
Vanccouver, BC Canada
Blair Williams
Manchester Center, VT
Sean Salmon
Jersey City, NJ
Would love a pair to complement my beloved La Sportiva Crosslites
Paul
Centerville, CA
Scott
Anchorage, AK
Shad
Boulder, CO
Beautiful Course and very well marked. Have some sore feet and quads today but had a great time. Thanks Gil and Fran…..d
Josh
Belvidere, IL USA
Chris Freet
Honesdale, PA
Jonathan wesley,
Holland, MI
Mike, Salt Lake City, UT
Would like to try out a new pair of shoes.
Henry Bickerstaff,
Alva, OK
Arnie,
Londonderry, NH
Payam
San Francisco, CA
Keith
Holly Springs, NC
I really wish I could make the Dry Creek 1/2 marathon. One of my favorite races to date.
Enjoy.
Alex
Pocatello, ID
Loïc, Norfolk VA
Ran the Bel Monte 50m this year but alas did not make the cutoff at an aid station. Finished the 50K+ and boy was this a hell of a course! Thank you to Gill and Francesca for putting this race on. Had a blast! Also much thanks to all volunteers a aid stations! You guys rocked
cathi
chattanooga, tn
Elaine
Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
Love my raptors!!
Holly
North Vancouver, BC
Craig
Lexington, KY USA
Kevin
Columbia, SC
jacob todd
Williamson, GA USA
Kay
Seattle, WA
Shawn
Solana Beach CA
Washington, UT
The Toronto Raptors are a tough team to follow, but I bet I could get a lot of followers if I had some new raptors to run in!
San Antonio, TX.
Great race and course! I probably should have picked an easier 50 miler for my first one, but I managed to stagger across the finish line.
Casey
Springfield, VA
Gots to get me some new shoes! My feet were killing me after Antelope Island! It was nice to meet you Bryon and run with you a bit.
Mike D.
Casper, WY
Great meeting and running with you, as well, Mike. Enjoy the mostly snow-free environs of Capser… it’s snowing again here in Park City!
Melanie
Charlottesville, Va
anchorage, ak
Benjamin
San Luis Obispo, CA