Check out the NEW website for
the Hall of Fame for the Northeast Delta Dental Mt Washington road race!
Today the press release went out with the 2015 HOF class:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Northeast Delta
Dental
Mount Washington Road Race
Mt. Washington Auto
Road
June 20, 2015 – 9
a.m.
&
6th Annual Mount
Washington Road Race Hall of Fame Inauguration
Saturday, June 20 -- 1
p.m.
· Race’s Hall of Fame honors Eric
Blake (W. Hartford, CT), Eleonora Mendonca (Cape Cod, MA), Eric Morse (Berlin,
VT) , and Peter Watson (Cape Ann, MA)
March
20, 2015 -- Pinkham Notch, NH
Formed in 2010 to recognize
outstanding performers in and contributors to this footrace to the summit of the
highest peak in the northeastern United States, the Hall of Fame this year will
pay tribute to the achievements in a ceremony at the base of the Mt. Washington
Auto Road on Saturday, June 20. The ceremony will take place after the 2015
Northeast Delta Dental Mount Washington Road Race which starts at 9 a.m. The
race attracts 1300 runners who will make their way up the 154-year-old Auto
Road.
The
2015 Mount Washington Hall of Fame inductees:
Eric Blake is a 3-time winner of the race,
taking the top spot in 2006, 2008, and 2013. He owns the state record for CT
(59:57) and NY (61:07) and is one of only eight people to have ever run under
sixty minutes. No one has run more times under 1:02 than Eric who has done so
eight times. Eric currently works as the head men’s and women’s Track &
Field/Cross-Country coach at Central Connecticut State University. He resides
in West Hartford CT. Eric notes that his most memorable moment at Mt Washington
was his win and sub-60 minute effort in 2013. “I had my wife and a lot of
friends and family there watching so it was a pretty special day”. Eric is
still at the top of his game and “feel(s) I can run faster and still want a few
more wins!” Tops among Eric’s many accomplishments beyond the Mt Washington
road race are his world record for a marathon on a treadmill (2:21) and being a
scoring member of the 2010 USA Mountain running team which took home a silver
medal at the World championships.
Eleonora Mendonca had three consecutive wins from
1976-1978. She set the course record in 1977 and again in 1978. She and Hall
of Famer Chris Maisto are the only women to have set course records multiple
times. She recalls “I could not pass
the opportunity to do a different type of race – only one hill. I could not
forget the incredible view as I approached the summit...The beauty carried me
on”. She was inducted into the Cambridge Sports Union Hall of Fame in 2000.
The CSU website notes “Ellie joined Cambridge Sports
Union in 1974 and had an immediate impact on the women’s running scene in
greater Boston by being a top finisher in road, track and cross-country races”.
Her biggest accomplishment was to qualify (for
Brazil) at the Los Angles Olympic Games where she ran in the first women’s
marathon. Eleonora is retired and currently
living on Cape Cod.
Eric Morse is possibly the most prolific
runner to not have an overall win at Mt Washington. He has the
Vermont state record for this race with his 1:01:09 from 1999. He is tied for
the third most top 10 finishes with fourteen and is also tied for fourth with
ten top five finishes. He ranks 14th in all-time earnings at Mt
Washington taking home $4,200. He scored on course record setting teams
(Central Mass Striders) an amazing nine times, setting course records five times
on the open squad and four times on the masters. He has finished the race
sixteen times, including three times as runner-up. Eric was inducted into
athletic Hall of Fame at Harwood High School (Moretown, VT) in 2010 as “one of
the most successful athletes in Harwood cross-country and track-and-field
history. As a junior, he won four Vermont state championships...as a senior,
Eric won two state championships… (and) was a member of the first hockey team at
Harwood”. His most memorable moment at Mt Washington was the “halfway race” of
2002 where he finished in second place, 10 seconds out of the win. His many
accomplishments outside of Mt Washington include being a 7-time member of the
USA Mountain running team. He has quite a range of ability from a sub-4 minute
mile to a 1:03 half-marathon. Eric is a graphic designer residing in Berlin,
VT. In recent years he has excelled at racing with his West Highland Terrier
“Murdoch”. They have won nearly every race they’ve entered and can boast
personal bests of 4:59 for the mile and 16:44 for 5km.
Peter Watson - Peter, who passed away in
2012, ran the race 23 times from 1988-2011. He was the supreme organizer of Team
Gloucester (TG), which annually accounts for an impressive number of runners in
the field. He created the Mt. Washington Practice Run in Rockport, where he
lived, and he organized it year after year. He publicized the race every way
possible, from the newspapers he published to the word-of-mouth network that
extended from him to thousands of people in many directions, but especially
around Cape Ann, Mass. He dedicated large amounts of time and energy to
promoting the race to all. He inspired, encouraged and led Team Gloucester to
form as an official club. Each year he would email every runner he knew when
the lottery would open. To get more runners past the lottery he offered to
provide volunteers. Peter always organized and planned who would volunteer and
supervised to make sure it was done well. He kept detailed records of each TG
member’s races up the Mountain and compared times to previous year. He cajoled
runners into competing on behalf of TG and generally orchestrated everything
they did relative to the Mountain race. He is the reason for the strong TG
women’s presence at the mountain to this day.
The
Mt. Washington Road Race Hall of Fame recognizes athletic performance at the MWRR
or efforts to assist the Race or promote it. Consideration is given to
athletes, advocates, race staff members or volunteers. Inductees are chosen by a vote
of the Hall of Fame committee from a longer list of nominees compiled by
December 31 of the preceding year.
The
Saturday afternoon Hall of Fame induction will precede the race’s award
ceremony. The induction ceremony will start at 1 p.m. in the large tent at the
base of the Auto Road, on Route 16 just north of Pinkham Notch.
The
public is invited.
Regularly updated information
about the Mt. Washington Road Race Hall of Fame is available any time on the new
website at: http://mwrrhalloffame.com/
Other
HOF sites include: Facebook
(facebook.com/mwrrhof), Twitter (twitter.com/mwrrrecords) and the
Records/Hall of Fame blog (mtwashingtonrecords.blogspot.com ). For other information about
the race, visit www.mountwashingtonroadrace.com.
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