Reigning World champions both eclipse 6-mile course records on Gnar Gnar Trail Race layout at Mount Hood Skibowl in Oregon to defend national titles, with 2011 global gold medalist King also earning opportunity to compete in Thailand

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Joseph Gray continued to add to his incredible legacy Sunday, with fellow World champion Grayson Murphy quickly building a reputation as one of the most impressive American competitors to tackle the hills at the USATF Mountain Running Championships at Mount Hood Skibowl in Government Camp, Ore.

Gray, 37, representing HOKA ONE ONE, captured his ninth title at the event and 19th national crown overall by covering the 6-mile up-and-down course with 2,000 feet of elevation change in 39 minutes, 36 seconds, a record for Gnar Gnar Trail Race – sponsored by Go Beyond Racing – as the USATF Mountain Running Championships returned following a year layoff and were back in Oregon for the first time since 2015.

Murphy, a 26-year-old Saucony professional athlete, not only eclipsed the women’s record by clocking 43:21, a performance that would have also placed her in the top 20 in the men’s competition, but the University of Utah graduate joined Gray in defending her 2019 championship achieved in New Hampshire.

RESULTS

Murphy and Gray, who has won the past five men’s national titles, already had their spots secure prior to the race on the U.S. roster to compete at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand, an event that has temporarily been postponed from November to February over COVID-19 concerns in the host country.

But that didn’t prevent both competitors from producing wire-to-wire victories. Murphy established a 37-second lead within the first mile and increased her advantage to more than two minutes by the time she reached the summit of the course. Gray was 24 seconds in front at the 3.5-mile mark and remained steady on the downhill stretch to hold off several late surges from his challengers.

Six additional athletes earned the opportunity to join Gray and Murphy at the World Championships, including men’s runner-up and 2011 global gold medalist Max King. The 41-year-old standout from Oregon ran 39:50, followed by Joseph Demoor of Colorado in 40:08 and Edward Owens of California finishing fourth in 40:23.

Andy Wacker, the reigning U.S. Half Marathon Trail national champion, placed fifth in 40:31. Stanford’s Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau was seventh in 41:39.

Rachel Tomajczyk, an All-American at Baylor who has been coaching at Liberty, finished second behind Murphy in her first career trail race in 46:09. Bailey Kowalczyk, representing Salomon Running and training in Colorado, took third in her USATF Mountain Running Championships debut in 46:21, surging late past Megan Lacy, representing Lumineye, Inc., who was fourth in 46:25.

Anna Gibson, a University of Washington athlete, finished fifth in 46:47.