The 14th Annual Rattlesnake Ramble was a huge success this year. We had one of our largest fields on the long course and a record number of kids in the Kids' Race and we raised over $3000 that will help increase the safety for climbers and hikers.
For the first time ever, in six runnings of this race, John Tribbia did not win. He got second. The only person to ever beat John was 20-year-old phenom Jackson "Crazy Hair" Brill. Brill wasn't just racing John, though he acknowledged that John was the favorite, because the race had no less than five former champions including the winners of the first three Rambles (Brian Dayton, Andy Ames, and Dave Mackey). Along with the 5-time winner and still-course-record-holder John Tribbia, 2015-winner David Glennon toed the line.
 |
| David Glennon (3rd place) leads eventual winner Jackson Brill up the brutal Eldorado Climb. |
At the gun, John went to the front, knowing he needed to inflict as much damage on the field early, on the Eldorado Trail climb, which is his specialty. Shadowing him all the way up the climb was last year's 3rd-place finisher Joe Zamadics. Trailing those two were Galen Burrell (2nd place in 2016), Glennon, and Brill. As they turned and descended the hill, Brill made his move. With hair flopping, he surged, bounding down the hill like Tigger, whose personality he shares. He moved from fifth to first in a blink of an eye. But now he was the hunted.
Coming off the hill and out onto the Fowler Spur, it was a brutal battle of pain and attrition. Brill opened up a 15-second lead at the Fowler turn-around and was able to hold off Tribbia for an 11-second win. Glennon (2:26 marathoner) was able to run down Burrell, who had beat him earlier in the year at the Bolder Boulder, to take third in 28:00.
 |
| 5-time winner, course-record-holder, and defending champion John Tribbia giving chase to Jackson Brill |
The Master's race was won, big surprise, by 55-year-old Andy Ames. Andy has been the fastest Masters racer in every single Ramble (he's the only person to have run them all) except one: last year Peter Graf finally beat him. Andy got revenge this year, with Peter taking second. I suspect things are going to change in a big way next year because youthful-looking Galen Burrell, amazingly, is 39 years old. Tom Lekan rounded out the Master's podium.
 |
| M.E. Rauch on her way to her second title and course record. |
In the women's Masters race, it was Sarah Williamson taking the title with Kateri Ahrendt and Laurel Recket (both frequent racers at the Ramble) coming in second and third.
 |
| Timer/starter extraordinaire Mark Oveson gives final directions to the Kids' field. |
 |
| Uber-volunteers Mia Prater, Joseffa Meir, and "Homie" Prater |
Huge shout-out and thanks to Mark Oveson of OpenSplitTime.org for handling all the timing and results. This is his second year doing the timing and he works tirelessly to get this right. He's vastly improved our accuracy and speed with getting the results.
Finally, a huge thanks to our generous sponsors, especially Liberty, which for the second consecutive year made a four-figure donation! This race is known for its great prizes and that's because of the incredible generosity of our sponsors:
Chipotle
Altra
La Sportiva
Kahtoola
VerveSc
CAMP
Movement Climbing Gym
The Spot Climbing Gym
Boulder Rock Club
EVO Climbing Gym
Eldorado Water Company
Neptune Mountaineering
Einstein's Bagels
Alpine Training Center
Black Diamond
Sharp End Books
Ultimate Directions
Petzl
Rock and Resole
Scarpa
Scratch Labs
Sounds like another great Ramble. Happy to see the kids are pushing the organizers of their event. They are all in and going fast. Yeah for them. Hated missing this year, but plan to attend next year. Yeah, for Bill for never letting up and keeping this Ramble going.
ReplyDelete