Lauren Gregory, an All-America distance runner at Arkansas, won the women’s title at the United States Track and Field Vertical Mountain Running Championships held Sunday in Lincoln, N.H.
Gregory, 22, ran the 6.1-mile course on dirt roads, trails and steep, grassy slopes with over 3,000 feet of vertical gain through New Hampshire’s White Mountains to win in 58:36, according to a story posted by trailrunner.com.
“I feel good now,” Gregory said after her victory in a video posted on trailrunner.com’s website. “I caught my breath and got to enjoy some wild strawberries and drink some water and hang out up here where it’s so beautiful.”
Gregory, who after her senior year at Fort Collins (Colo.) High School finished third at the 2017 World Mountain Running Championships in Premana, Italy, was asked about the course for Sunday’s race.
“It was awesome,” Gregory said. “Perfectly runnable, but also super challenging with the steep climbs.
“I liked it because you could climb and get out of breath and really work yourself, then catch your breath a little bit and change up your muscles, then climb really hard again.”
Rachel Tomajczyk, 29, who ran collegiately at Baylor and now lives in Williams, Ariz., was second behind Gregory with a time of 1:00.24
Gregory will be a senior at Arkansas in 2023 with eligibility in indoor and outdoor track. She doesn’t have cross country eligibility remaining for the Razorbacks and, according to trailrunner.com, by winning Sunday she will represent the U.S. at the Challenge Stellina on Aug. 28 in Susa, Italy, and at the World Mountain & Trail Running Championships in Thailand in November.
Joseph Gray, 36, from Colorado Springs, Colo., won the men’s race Sunday in 47:19.