June 3, Vail, CO

	Matt Carpenter leads Clint Wells up the first climb before pulling away to a decisive victory. (photo by Galen Burrell) click for more photos

Last year on this same weekend, a full-on blizzard dumped 5" of snow immediately before and during the National 10K Trail Championships in Vail.   As usual for Colorado, this year the weather was the exact opposite:   sunny blue skies, dry and fast trails, and temperatures in the low 80's.

One thing that didn't change:   Matt Carpenter demolished the course and the field.   In 2005 Clint Wells hung with Matt on the uphills, but couldn't match him on the treacherous descents.   Indeed, last year Matt slide out on one of the turns, slamming his shin into a tree, which he said, at least kept him on the trail, and commented, "It was really fun ... every turn could be your last".

This year he ran away from the field after the first mile, posting a blazing 44:05 - not too bad for a road 10K at altitude - 1:39 ahead of Clint who was the third fastest American in the Bolder Boulder Elite race the previous Monday.   Going up the last very steep hill, where all but the top five runners were hiking, Matt was cheered on by a spectator calling out, "It's super steep now, but only another 40 meters to the top."   He replied, "I don't see anything steep around here!"

But wait ... Matt actually didn't win the race.   The USATF enforced the rules whereby one must be a member to score in a USATF event.   He was aware of and accepted that when he didn't pay his $15 membership fee, but still expected to be awarded the $1,000 first prize, presuming the situation was the same as last year, when the top two women were from the Czech Republic and New Zealand respectively and they were awarded the prize money, while the top American woman was crowned National Champion.   Although this was not apparent to most participants, the USATF said that officially there were two races taking place at the same time:   the National Championships (requiring membership and paying the prize money) and the Vail Spring Run-Off.

Laura Haefeli repeated as women's Champion, winning outright on a day where she felt, "Worse than I ever have in a race!"   A strong second place was taken by adventure racing specialist Danelle Ballengee, sporting a huge scar on her ankle from surgery in November.

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