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Photo by Tom Boyd
Headline RSS FeedA toast to the Teva Mountain Games, pros and amateurs alike
June 9, 2008 —
The beautiful thing about the Teva Mountain Games is that anyone who’s anyone can compete in the many, various events ongoing throughout the weekend.
Case in point: RealVail’s team was populated with people who contribute to our website, myself, Chris Anthony, Matt Inden, and my sister.
Chris puts together an amazing blog for us as he travels the world, skiing, guiding, and ski modeling for Warren Miller films. He is a hell of a skier, but he had to borrow a mountain bike from the GIANT tent to compete in the grueling, 15-mile mountain bike race Saturday. The bike was awesome (thanks Rich!) and so was Chris, who apparently marked third place among those competing in the UMC.
Telling me he was, “In a coma,” during the last lap, Anthony limped over with his bike, also borrowed from GIANT, after the race. He was mud splattered, bloody, and convinced that finishing that race had been one of the toughest things he’s ever done (this from a man who fell into a bottomless crevasse this past winter skiing Alaska … read more about that one by clicking here.
Matt Inden also borrowed a bike, and donned a sweater and a pair of old soccer shorts to his race day Sunday where he competed in the 9.8-mile Hill Climb. He competed against the likes of Ben Day, a Toyota-United team pro who broke the course record in 25 minutes 48 seconds. Matt’s time was slightly longer (like an hour or so?) but it’s not the time that matters, it’s the fact that he was out there, riding his heart out, just to make the weekend a more interesting place to be.
And my lovely sister, who incidentally made the regional demo team as one of the best ski instructors in the land this winter, and then kicked serious butt in the trail running race Sunday morning. A lifelong trail runner, Cait hasn’t focused on the sport in any competitive way in quite some time, but she ran the best race she could along with many other locals, pros, and people who love to compete not against each other, but against themselves, trying to break their own records and meet their own demands.
Along with all the other amateur teams and competitors this weekend, including the amputee team, and the Senior snow pigs team (which includes my 71-year-old kayaking dad), this weekend’s glory came just as much from those who managed to finish (barely) as it did with the big-time pros whose athletic prowess was on glorious display.
Somehow realvail.com finished third in the amateur division of the UMC … but I have a sneaking suspicion that result will change once I call up the Teva Games’ folks and ask them to double check their numbers!
In fact, as I write this, I notice that the results on the Teva Mountain Games' site have been retracted ... before we celebrate too much let's see how we do when the results are re-posted.
Photo gallery by Dan Davis of trekkerphoto.com
See all of RealVail’s Teva Mountain Games stories and photos at the links below:
- Teva Mountain Games 2008 photo slide show
- A toast to the Teva Mountain Games pros and amatuers alike
- Tired happy the Teva Mountain Games are coming to a close
- How a defunct Vail dam brought luck to the Teva Games
- Got stripper skills Teva Mountain Games nightlife poised to deliver for a cause
- Vails Teva Games bring out the best in outdoor community
- Whitewater could be big for upcoming Teva Mountain Games June 5 8
- Teva Mountain Games Green Pledge is a welcome gesture
- Teva Mountain Games comes to Vail June 5-8
- Slopestyle charity crawl featured tonight as part of the Teva Mountain Games
- Town to improve whitewater park
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