Mars Hill, ME—July 8 marked the 16th running of the Mars Hill Climb, a grueling uphill race used as a fitness test by Maine Winter Sports Center athletes and local endurance junkies. The course brings athletes from the bottom of the chair lift to the USGS marker on the top of Mars Hill mountain, a 1.3 mile course that gains some 1,019 feet.
Hilary McNamee at the top of the chair.
This July’s edition of the event was held in hot, hazy and humid conditions. The field was filled with younger junior racers eager to take a crack at the records held by Brian Olsen (13:11) and Heather Zimmerman (16:36). While senior athletes aimed for Jerry Ahrlen’s time of 11:59 and Denise Teela’s 15:50.
At the end of the morning, the records still stood, but some outstanding performances did move athletes into the top 10 overall time bracket.
Tom Keefe came out on top as the overall winner in a time of 12:50 just a few seconds shy of his personal best from last October’s edition of the climb. Junior Hilary McNamee topped the women’s field and set a new PR of 17:56 good for 3rd in the all time junior women’s list.
Other top performers were junior Newt Rogers in 15:19, master Sarah Dominick in 18:47 and master Paul Cyr in 17:25. Full results are listed below.
