There were intriguing story lines Saturday, Aug. 22 when The Elephant's Perch of Ketchum staged its annual Shop to the Top climb of Baldy.
Breaking the 11-year-old six-mile "Race Class" mark were two out-of-towners—winner Simon Gutierrez, 43, of Alamosa, Colo. and runner-up Matthew Byrne, 34, of Philadelphia, Pa. Their times were 53:19 and 54:29 among the 47 "Race Class" climbers.
Hailey's Karl Van Calcar held the previous record of 56:45 established in 1998.
Jennifer Schwartz, 39, of Hailey captured her second consecutive "Sport Class" triumph in a field of 47 over five miles with a time of 1.10:13, over four minutes better than her winning time of 2008.
Ketchum's Del Pletcher, 65, was right behind Schwartz in 1.12:38. He was among 15 "Sport" climbers ages 60-and-over, or 32% of the field. At the other end of the age spectrum, 10-year-old Henry Raff was the fourth "Sport" in 1.22:15.
2009 Shop to the Top results
Aug. 22, 2009, the annual 6-mile run and 5-mile walk from Ketchum to the top of Baldy sponsored by The Elephant's Perch. There were 94 finishers—47 "Race Class" runners (32 male and 15 female), plus 47 "Sport Class" climbers (23 men and 24 women). Finishing times are listed in hours, minutes and seconds, with age and class finish listed after name. Climbers ranged in age from 12-59 for the "Race Class," and 10-72 for the "Sport Class."
6-MILE "RACE CLASS"
PLACE, NAME TIME
1—Simon Gutierrez, 43 (1) 53:19
2—Matthew Byrne, 34 (1) 54:29
3—Bernie Boettcher, 46 (1) 59:57
4—Brad Mitchell, 39 (1) 1.00:54
5—Wray Landon, 31 (2) 1.01:00
6—Luke Nelson, 28 (1) 1.01:33
7—Kevin Tuck, 53 (1) 1.02:46
8—Whit Albright, 39 (2) 1.04:08
9—Hannes Achhorner, 30 (3) 1.05:08
10—Dave Knoop, 50 (2) 1.05:28
11—Megan Kimmel, 20 (1) 1.07:22
12—Chris Abbott, 34 (4) 1.08:19
13—Tom Borschel, 51 (3) 1.08:52
14—Scott Tucker, 47 (2) 1.10:50
15—Chad Berndt, 41 (2) 1.11:32
16—Rachel Cieslewicz, 29 (2) 1.12:43
17—Matt Hansen, 23 (2) 1.14:30
18—Cameron Lloyd, 29 (3) 1.15:38
19—Tim Shannon, 40 (3) 1.16:00
20—Brent Turner, 55 (1) 1.16:10
21—Susan Nuzam, 42 (1) 1.16:39
22—Claudia Hattrup, 41 (2) 1.17:33
23—Jeremy Skinner, 32 (5) 1.17:54
24—Robert Randall Jones, 50 (4) 1.18:16
25—Joseph Wojcik, 46 (3) 1.18:56
26—Dan Olson, 51 (5) 1.20:28
27—Richard Giudicelli, 47 (4) 1.22:02
28—India Wysong, 35 (1) 1.22:06
29—Kathy Morell, 48 (1) 1.22:26
30—Julie Ann Carney, 43 (3) 1.25:14
31—Hector Arias, 37 (3) 1.25:53
32—Tizz Miller, 41 (4) 1.26:30
33—Courtney Hays, 28 (3) 1.26:48
34—Paul Kenny, 55 (2) 1.28:51
35—E.J. Harpham, 53 (1) 1.29:34
36—Daniel Hollis, 31 (6) 1.31:10
37—Kris Solvang, 37 (4) 1.32:05
38—Jeff Ealey, 47 (5) 1.34:19
39—Matthew Gervase, 59 (3) 1.35:14
40—Lily Fink-Debray, 19 (1) 1.35:19
41—Annie Ley, 50 (2) 1.36:18
42—Rick Roudabush, 55 (4) 1.36:59
43—Patrick Simpson, 58 (5) 1.38:23
44—Emmett Say, 12 (1) 1.42:55
45—Sonya Johnston, 31 (1) 1.44:54
46—Shauna Seguin, 32 (2) 1.49:34
47—Cindy Solvang, 39 (2) 1.57:16
Top female runners
1—Megan Kimmel, Colo. (11th) 1.07:22
2—Rachel Cieslewicz, SLC (16th) 1.12:43
3—Susan Nuzam, Ket. (21st) 1.16:39
4—Claudia Hattrup, Ket. (22nd) 1.17:33
5—India Wysong, Ket. (28th) 1.22:06
5-MILE "SPORT CLASS"
1—Jennifer Schwartz, 39 (1) 1.10:13
2—Del Pletcher, 65 (1) 1.12:38
3—Jason Vontver, 41 (1) 1.19:45
4—Henry Raff, 10 (1) 1.22:15
5—Laura Johnson, 51 (1) 1.22:38
6—Susan Crist, 54 (2) 1.23:05
7—Emma Ratcliffe, 15 (1) 1.23:14
8—Jim Field, 55 (1) 1.24:43
9—Gordon Player, 66 (2) 1.25:29
10—Phil Usher, 67 (3) 1.26:11
11—Thomas Jardin, 26 (1) 1.26:13
12—Jennett Zimmerman, 35 (2) 1.27:03
13—Shannon Richardson, 42 (1) 1.27:18
14—Donald Ebbs, 55 (2) 1.27:35
15—Jamie Enslin, 51 (3) 1.28:53
16—Karl Wadsack, 64 (1) 1.29:04
17—Dale Closner, 64 (2) 1.29:57
18—Alan Freedman, 60 (3) 1.30:41
19—Laura Welsh, 51 (4) 1.33:26
20—Diana Wadsack, 62 (1) 1.34:23
21—Karen Province, 48 (1) 1.35:31
22—Kathy Seitz, 37 (3) 1.35:52
23—John Matteson, 57 (3) 1.35:58
24—Karen Simpson, 57 (1) 1.37:01
25—Elisa Deveraux, 43 (2) 1.37:22
26—Hoyt Michener, 42 (2) 1.37:24
27—Christine Nibley, 60 (4) 1.37:49
28—Alan Pennay, 72 (1) 1.40:17
29—Tasha Koch, 28 (1) 1.43:40
30—Cassi Shelly-Samway, 30 (1) 1.44:22
31—Kandy Blackburn, 30 (2) 1.44:23
32—Gordon Smith, 72 (2) 1.45:19
33—Robert Kayyem, 71 (3) 1.45:54
34—Joanne Davis, 72 (1) 1.46:41
35—John Finke, 61 (5) 1.49:26
36—Cecilia Munoz, 30 (3) 1.50:28
37—Ben Weil, 13 (2) 1.52:39
38—Andy Parnes, 63 (6) 1.54:27
39—Bob Weil, 44 (3) 1.55:43
40—Jenny Schmitz, 33 (4) 1.55:44
41—Julie Spence, 31 (5) 1.55:45
42—Patrick Rowland, 12 (3) 2.01:27
43—Lauren Tyler, 54 (5) 2.09:14
44—JoAnn Levy, 69 (1) 2.09:16
45—Rae Schweizer, 28 (2) 2.09:18
45—Lynn Rowland, 44 (3) 2.09:18
47—Mike Morrier, 42 (4) 2.18:16
TIME IMPROVEMENTS OVER 2008
6-mile run: Hannes Achhorner 2:00 and Wray Landon 0:11.
5-mile climb: Elisa Deveraux 27:06, Ben Weil 13:28, Bob Weil 10:31, Karen Simpson 4:39, Jennifer Schwartz 4:16, Donald Ebbs 2:04, Joanne Davis 1:09, Robert Kayyem 0:43 and John Matteson 0:40.
Shop to the Top Race Class runners take off Saturday morning from The Elephant’s Perch in Ketchum. Photo by Willy Cook
