An early morning accident on Highway 152 Saturday threatened to derail the 38th Annual Bill Flodberg Mt. Madonna Challenge. But for the extreme runners taking part in the grueling challenge, a little thing like a road closure wasn’t going to stop them from reaching the race.
About 120 runners turned out to take on one of the South Valley’s toughest races. Runners competed in 6, 12, 18 and — for the extreme runner — 30 kilometer distances, winding through the trails that brought competitors up Mt. Madonna.
The highway accident delayed the start of the race by 15 minutes, allowing participants inconvenienced by it to trickle in. At 8:15 a.m. the airhorn sounded and the runner took off up the mountain in a colorful blur, with most runners taking on the 12K challenge.
“We were like ‘Oh, what’s going to happen with people coming up?’,” Race director Kim Moyano said. “We were a little worried, but we sent a guy down there (to the site of the road closure) and hopefully people found their way up. Other than that, things are going smooth.”
The number of runners appeared to be down from last year, with race day registration only seeing about 10 people where it normally sees 20 or 30. Numbers indicated the number of registrants for the 6, 12 and 30K were down, while the 18K numbers stayed the same.
The 30K race did see at least one new face, 40-year-old LeTia Tybor from San Jose who finished 13th overall in a time of 4:48:06.
“This is the first time I’ve ever done it and it’s a new distance for me. With the elevation climb, it’s going to be a challenge,” Tybor said prior to taking on the grueling 30K course. “I’ve been running for over a year and I’m currently doing marathon training. I just figured that this would be a perfect distance to go for what I’m supposed to be doing today.”
John Dixon, a 41-year-old runner from San Martin, was the first victor to cross the finish line. The third time was the charm for Dixon who finished his 6K course in 31:35 to claim his first victory in three years of attempting the challenge.
“I feel great. I feel light, quick and better than I expected,” Dixon said. “I didn’t think it was possible (to win), but obviously it is.”
Other first place male finishers were Everado Lomeli, who completed the 12K course in 58:10, Rudy Tovar, who won the 18K in 1:31.58 and Bihama Vedaste from San Jose who completed the 30K in 2:36:01.
Catherine Frye, a 52-year-old West Valley Joggers and Stridders runner from Campbell, was the first female winner of the day. Frye, who finished fourth in the 12K last year, completed the 6K race in 37:10. She said she was using the race as more of a workout for her triathlon training. She opted for the shorter course this year since
she is in the process of tapering down after running a national race just a couple weeks earlier. Next year, however, she plans on running the 12 or even 18K.
“It’s a great race and I’m so happy the club puts it on,” Frye said. “It’s very nice, it’s beautiful — it’s one of the best races around.”
Frye was joined in the female winner’s circle by Lisa Prieto, 42 from Gilroy, who won the 12K in 1:25:56, Tracy Christensen, 32 from Morgan Hill who completed the 18K in 1:56:49 and Kellie Dibble from Bakersfield who finished the 30K in 3:50:31.
All winners received a custom vase, medal and gift certificate to The Running Shop. Proceeds from the race are put towards the South Valley Running Club’s Dave Thoms Memorial Fund — a scholarship awarded to high school runners in the Gilroy and Morgan Hill area.
Though the Mt. Madonna Challenge draws mostly local runners, Debbie Pereira has made the trek down to the race from Washington State the last four years and has no intention of breaking her tradition any time soon. The 59-year-old runs the 6K course with her niece and said she just likes taking in the scenery the Mt. Madonna offers.
“I like that it’s really beautiful here,” Pereira said. “The hills I don’t like so much but it’s a really pretty race and it’s small and it’s fun and I get to run it with my niece. I’m training for a marathon right now, so this is like really easy (compared to that). When I have to do my long runs at home, they’re like 20 miles. … I’ll definitely be back next year.”
Erin Redmond can be reached at (408) 842-1694. Follow her on Twitter@DispatchERed.
