In Moab, on a day where extreme racing conditions caused over 1 out of every 4 entrants to drop out, Golden Harper and Shane Martin of the Runner’s Corner Mountain Ultra Team went first and second place at Moab’s Alpine to Slickrock 50 Miler (The MAS 50).  Golden and Shane both called the first 30 miles the toughest 30 miles they’ve ever seen in a race.  They were bombarded with heat down low, cold temps up on the several 11,000 ft+ passes, stinging freezing rain & hail, lightning and thunder, and energy-sapping heat and hard red slickrock near the finish.   The race course gains over 11,000 feet of elevation over a lot of very technical, rocky terrain and bad footing.

Shane and Golden both missed the start by a couple of minutes but slowly worked their way up to the front of this race that has never been won by a non-pro sponsored athlete before.   Golden said he guesses he just had “good karma” and had a great performance including just over 1 hour 20 minutes for the final half marathon and 37:30 for the final 10k.   Shane’s performance was also astounding considering he just finished the Wasatch 100 Miler two weeks ago.  Golden’s official time (including the late start and half a dozen pit stops) was 9 hours and 12 minutes.  Shane finished in 10 hours and 2 minutes.  The women’s winner was Helen Cospolich of the North Face Endurace Team.