Quad enjoys success despite lack of snow

Matt Hinshaw The soloists take off toward Mt. Taylor on Saturday morning in Grants for the start of the 23rd Annual Quadrathlon. Despite a lack of snow, the Quad was well attended. See additional coverage on Page 12 and Sports Page 1 of today's Independent. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

By Jim Maniaci
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — It'll be a few more years before Malachi Harvey of Albuquerque can compete in the annual Mount Taylor Winter Quadrathlon.

The son of Juan and Shandiin Harvey is one and a half years old. They said this was the first Quad for them.

But his grandpa, Johnny Harvey of Gallup, quipped "You gotta start 'em young," while holding him in his arms as the little boy munched on a blueberry mini-muffin less than two hours before the soloists left the starting line in downtown Grants.

Perhaps by the time young Harvey is ready to compete in the bicycle-running-snow skiing-snow shoeing event, the long drought will have eased enough to have at least a 2-foot deep cap of snow on Mount Taylor.

Two feet is what Race Director Mary Savachek said Wednesday night is the minimum for safety's sake. While Mount Taylor received a dusting Friday night, that merely made it what one competitor called "treacherous" on the steep upper legs. Another racer labeled conditions up high as "slippery." No serious injuries were reported.

Before the race, Terry Fletcher his wife Karen will succeed Savacheck at the 24th annual Race Director in 2007 explained,"We had a little skiff of snow. That should make it interesting. It'll keep down the dust on the road. The weather is better today that I thought it would be yesterday."

Before the race, the Riverwalk Park parking lot on Fifth Street seemed to be almost a bicyclists' garage, as racers loaned each other pumps to make sure their tires were at just the right air pressure.

Thoughts on biathlon
They also had some interesting things to say about the quadrathlon being converted into a biathlon of pedaling and running instead of peddling, running, skiing and snowshoeing the 42-mile round trip.

Seven-time entrant Doug Gibbs of Fort Collins, Colo., quipped, "It's always cold to start with. I hope we get tailwinds this afternoon."

It turned out to be headwinds on the 13-mile downleg section to cross the computerized finish line run by Champion Chip of the Rockies.

Rookie competitor Gerd Van Glinski of Fort Apache, Ariz., admitted, "I wish I'd had time to practice on the course, first."

And they're off!In honor of the event being mostly on U.S. Forest Service land, Chuck Hagerdon, district ranger of the two-unit Mount Taylor Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest, fired the starting gun for the soloists at 9 a.m. and the pairs-teams at 10 a.m. He brought smiles to everyone's faces by pointing out no smoking is allowed because of fire restrictions. He also thanked the entrants, about 325 this year, which is about half the number of competitors when there is snow.

The lack of snow eliminated the use of skis and snowshoes and forced the most drastic adaptations since the event began in 1983. There are actually eight legs to the journey, which rises almost a mile in elevation on the 21-mile route that stretches from the start-finish at 6,420 feet to the 11,301-foot elevation sign at the top.

Before Grants Police Department motorcycle officer Jason Fank and New Mexico State Police Department officer Billy Cunningham raced their vehicles "code three" with red-blue lights flashing and sirens roaring eastward on High Street, another race official promised snow next year, jokingly saying the Quad would bring in snow machines. Again, everyone smiled at the levity, which illustrated why the Grants event is so well received in the racing community.

Terry Fletcher and Bob Vandiver, some of the key race officials, pointed out that when the competitors pick up their trophies and head home as far away as Lawrence, Kan., Minneapolis, Minn., or Long Beach, Calif. there is still a lot of work to be done. Normally, the clean-up crews do what they can the day after the race, then return in May to finish.

Avoiding backfire
Fletcher also said he feels strongly that any attempt to shorten the race, even in weather as severe as last year, would backfire on the sponsors.

"The racers come here to reach the top of the world in western New Mexico, no matter what the weather. If we shortened it even 200 yards I expect they wouldn't come back because it wouldn't be the same," he commented.

During the day the biting, Arctic-like, wind increased in speed.

Four men crossed the final timer before new women's champ Keri Nelson of Gunnison, Colo., zoomed her bike into the cones forming a timing tunnel.

And she was only part of a Colorado sweep, which prompted award ceremony emcee Star Gonzales, manager of the Grants-Cibola Chamber of Commerce and the Cibola Communities Economic Development Foundation, to comment, "Aren't we glad Colorado came to compete!"

After picking up his award for second place in the solo men's 30-34 age group, Jergen Montegomery said, "It was an interesting race" this year. "We had some snow going up and you really couldn't run it. It was pretty icy." He also thanked his wife for helping him.

In the team event, a local squad calling itself GOX2S climbed on stage in the Cibola County Convention Center on Saturday night to claim its first-place prize in the 50-59 age group. Team members are Les Gaines, Edward Sanshu and Donald Sanshu, all of Grants, and Daniel Otero of New Laguna.

Taking a beating
Gaines said, "This year was a little tough, missing the snow. But we've done this for a long time. It was a little windy. The skier and runner took a beating. I'm a biker, too, so it didn't affect me as much."

Another local team called itself "Local Yocals," and took second place in the 30-39 mixed team age group. Members are Jessica Rappleyea, who did the regular run, Daniel Mandragaran, who rode the bicycle, and Bobby Martinez, who did the running.

"We've been doing it for years. We didn't find any surprises. It was wonderful, but different with no snow, just as much fun as always," Rappleyea said. All are from Grants. The emcee said she wondered how so many teams come up such unique names, saying it must be like naming a musical band.

All Cibola County entrants who started also finished. The others included soloists Randy Mattila, Kenneth O'Connor, Charlton Taylor, pairs Marcie Malaj and Ann Mattila, Harry Little and Harsh Kathard, Scott Zschetzsche and Marc Gladney, Sean Smith and Keenan Sanshu, and team Seve, Arnold, Pablo and Patricia Valdivia.

Overall winners, plus the outgoing race director, received deep two-handled silver trays. Smaller trays went to other winners, along with T-shirts to many. First, second and third place winners overall also were handed checks for $1,000, $500 and $250 respectively. Other trophies included three-dimensional stars, pillars cut with a steep front slope like the mountain and medallions on Olympic-like ribbons.

— To contact reporter Jim Maniaci in Grants, telephone 285-6184 or (505) 870-7775 (cellular).