PINKHAM NOTCH (AP) — Joseph Gray, the reigning World Mountain Running Champion, raced to the top of the tallest mountain in the Northeast on Sunday to collect his fifth Mount Washington Road Race victory.
Gray, 37, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, led from the sunny start to the cold, blustery finish at the 6,288-foot summit, finishing the grueling race with a time of 1 hour, 1 minute and 40 seconds.
Eric Blake, 42, of West Hartford, Connecticut, finished second in 1:03.53 and Lee Berube, 30, of Syracuse, New York, finished third at 1:04.28.
The 60th race Mount Washington Road Race took runners up the 7.6-mile (12.2 kilometers) auto road, covering 4,650 feet of elevation gain.
On Sunday, the conditions were perfect at the start of the race but the temperature plummeted, clouds limited visibility and winds gusted to 50 mph (80 kph) at the higher elevations.
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