Andrew Douglas in action at the Broken Arrow Skyrace, the second leg of the 2019 WMRA World Cup (© Richard Bolt)
Britain’s Andrew Douglas notched up his second victory from as many races in the 2019 World Mountain Running World Cup series by winning at the Broken Arrow Skyrace in Lake Tahoe while Canada’s Lindsay Webster bagged maximum points in the women’s race on Sunday (23).
More than 500 runners took to the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe to contest the 26km race which includes more than 1500 meters of positive gain, with the course made much more difficult by the presence of snow at the higher altitudes.
Douglas made an early move and built up a three-minute advantage over his pursuers by the time he reached the 10th kilometre. Behind him, USA’s Sam Sahli was being closely followed by Italian duo Emanuele Manzi and Henri Aymonod.
Douglas continued to increase his advantage, even when having to face the most technical part of the course with long sections covered with snow and the need to climb the steeper points with a rope. He crossed the finish line in 1:56:31, nearly 10 minutes ahead of his nearest rival.
Sahli won the fight for second place, finishing in 2:06:18, with Aymonod taking third in 2:08:03, just 23 seconds ahead of USA’s Christian Gerring.
The women’s race was a lot closer as Webster was more cautious than Douglas for the first half. She had a slight lead over experienced US duo Morgan Arritola and Kasie Enman at 10 kilometres and managed to hold off their challenge in the second half.
Webster finished in 2:22:35 with Arritola less than two minutes adrift in second place in 2:24:24 and Enman taking third in 2:29:09.
Douglas has now extended his lead the men's overall WMRA World Cup standings while Webster joins Kenya’s Lucy Murigi at the top of the women’s leader board.
The WMRA World Cup will now head back to Europe for the third and fourth stages, both held within the space of a week: the Grossglockner Berglauf in Austria on 14 July and the Snowdon International Mountain Race in the UK on 21 July.
Alex Scolari (WMRA) for the IAAF
