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World champs stand alone

Gray, Debats capture world titles at Dewey Mountain

Realizing a world championship title is literally just around the corner, Joseph Gray of Colorado beams while closing in on the finish line during Saturday’s 8-kilometer race at Dewey Mountain. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

SARANAC LAKE — Two athletes who finished runner-up at previous World Snowshoe Championship events finally got the titles they were looking for Saturday in Saranac Lake.

Competing on a course at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center that somehow came together and held up, Joseph Gray of Colorado and Dutch racer Ragna Debats took top honors in the men’s and women’s 8-kilometer races at the World Snowshoe Federation Championships.

The start line for this year’s world championships was originally going to be in the village at Riverside Park, with the longest run slated to be a 10-kilometer competition. But numerous changes were made during the week leading into the race as ideal weather conditions, along with the snow, deteriorated to the point where the start and finish line, as well as the entire course, were all moved to Dewey Mountain.

Gray, a 33-year-old from Colorado Springs, last competed in the World Snowshoe Championships in 2011 in Japan and took second place in the event’s longest distance run. After topping the men’s, as well an overall international field of 266 athletes on Saturday, he recalled almost quitting the sport following his trip to Japan. But with an opportunity to make amends in his home country, Gray basically led from start to finish to win by more than a minute.

Gray completed the 8k course in a blistering 28 minutes, 22.05 seconds to take the victory. Nacho Hernando-Angulo of Spain took second in 29:33.77, and another Colorado snowshoer, Josiah Middaugh, finished third in 29:41.38. The defending world champion, Stephan Ricard of France, placed fourth in 29:58, and Montreal’s David Le Porho, rounded out the men’s 8k top five with a 30:05.54 result.

Ragna Debats of the Netherlands competes Saturday during her winning performance in the Snowshoe World Championships 8K held at Dewey Mountain in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

Ragna, a native of Holland who now lives in Spain, grabbed the women’s world championship victory she was seeking after she placed second a year ago when the event was held in Italy. The 37-year-old ultra-running specialist said she was sick for much of the week leading up to Saturday’s competition, but was able to recover on race day to become the fastest women to complete the course, finishing in 34:57.41, which was also good enough for 30th place overall.

“I definitely came here to win,” said Gray, who wore a smile on his face for much of the race. “My last snowshoe race I went into a little banged up, and said I was done with it. It was a bad experience. I was injured, I was out of shape, so this year was important. I wanted to come out of here with something respectable, and I was able to do that.

“I don’t want to knock my competitors, but I did have a good lead most of the race,” Gray continued. “I didn’t want to be sitting back on anybody, I wanted to make sure I put in an honest effort on the way to the podium. Anything I had to employ to come out with a victory, that’s what I was going to do. If it needed to be a sprint at the end, then it would have been at the end. I was ready to do what I needed to do.”

Like the vast majority of participants, Gray said he was impressed that crews were able to provide a usable course despite the warmth and rain that settled in on Saranac Lake early in the week.

“I think that the volunteers did an amazing job to get this ready because there wasn’t a lot of snow here,” Gray said. “The community came together, which was really impressive to see. I really dug the course. It had a little bit of everything, which I feel is important. You don’t want to have a course that’s one-sided. It was a very diverse course. You not only had to be good on snow, you had to be ready to run on ice, run uphill and downhill.”

Juniors competitors leave the start line in their world championship 4-kilometer race Saturday at Dewey Mountain Recreation Center in Saranac Lake. Soleil Gaylord, on the left wearing bib No. 801, took the overall victory in the event. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

As an ultra-marathon runner, Ragna is no stranger when it comes to winning and placing high in big races across Europe, and now the 37-year-old has a World Snowshoe Championship crown to add to her resume after her first trip to North America. She said just missing a victory in Italy by seconds at last year’s event provided her the inspiration to get the job done this time around.

“I trained very hard this year,” Ragna said. “First, when I started I looked around to see where the other women might be, but then I decided to run my own race. I reserved myself just a little bit on my first lap so I would be able to have some gas in the tank on the second run. I think it went really, really well.

“I would have been nice to start in the village but this was just as nice. It had lots of things in it, because it had uphill, downhill, fast snow where you could run easily, it had some sloppy snow. It was variable. It feels great. I’m really pleased. I’m really lucky.

Ragna came in a little less than two minutes ahead of her next closest competition, with Canadian Annie Jean of Chelsea, Quebec finishing as the women’s 8k runner-up in 36:48.77. Michelle Hummell of Albuquerque, New Mexico rounded out the women’s podium, taking third in 37:14.82.

Before embarking on her maiden journey to North America, Ragna said she began to feel ill the night before boarding her long flight that originated in Spain and eventually ended in Montreal, where she rented a car to come to Saranac Lake.

” I got a stomach bug the night before I got on the plane, and I was ill all the way,” she said. “I didn’t feel well until this morning. Last night, I was asking some advice from different people to see what I could do to be okay to run today, and finally, I woke up and felt alright. I guess I was lucky. I went last year and I came second. This year, I wanted to hopefully win.”

Saturday’s World Snowshoe Championships also featured a 4k junior event, and a Colorado athlete also captured first in that event, as Telluride’s Soleil Gaylord topped the field of 23 competitors. Not only did the high school junior win the women’s title, she won the race overall with a finish time of 18:19.54.

A year ago, Gaylord won the junior women’s crown and the United States Snowshoe Championships in Ogden, Utah, and that’s when she first began thinking about racing in Saranac Lake this winter. As it turned out, the trip east turned out to be a multi-purpose adventure for Gaylord, who was joined by her parents. He father Kent participated in the 8K run, and finished 10th out of 34 competitors in the 50-59 age group.

“We heard about this race at nationals in Utah last year, and it was convenient that the worlds were in the U.S., so I thought, ‘Might as well go,'” Gaylord said. “My sister is in college in Mass., so it was kind of trip to see her as well as come to this race. I also looked at Middlebury College on the trip.

“The course itself was very muddy and it had some icy patches,” she continued. “Not a typical snowshoe race, but I live at 9,000 feet, so coming down here it felt like there was a lot of air and it was very nice. I like the hills, it’s kind of my specialty. The town’s been so sweet. It’s such a wonderful place, and it was amazing that they were able to pull this off so smoothly. Coming here is a first — it’s so beautiful, I love it here.”

In addition to having the benefit of living and training at high altitudes, Gaylord also credited a stop at a local coffee shop earlier on Saturday to part of her success at Dewey Mountain.

“The triple shot espresso coffee at Origin — that’s what got me going,” Gaylord said with a smile. “Being a world champion is great. I love it. It’s an amazing feeling.”

Rachael Jones of Fairport was junior women’s runner-up in 21:09.79, and Ester Molinari of Italy finished third in 21:15.54.

Jonah Thompson of Albuquerque, New Mexico took the junior men’s world title in 19:09.14, and two 17-year-olds from Morrisonville grabbed the next two spots, with Justin Burdo placing second in 19:29.13, and Andrew LePage finishing third in 19:36.90.

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