January 30, 2010 (Craftsbury, VT) – It was cold for the start of this morning’s TD Bank Craftsbury Marathon. Most athletes covered their faces, wore mittens instead of gloves, and added an extra layer under their spandex racing suits. The lack of wind and absolutely perfect tracks made everyone quickly forget the -4F temperatures as the gun sounded to start the race.

The lead pack of men included 2006 Olympian Justin Freeman, home-club athlete Jeurgen Uhl who is a recent graduate of UVM where he was an NCAA all-American, and another home-clubber Crafsbury Green Racing Project standout Tim Reynolds.

In the end it was Uhl by 5 sconds over Reynolds with Freeman about 30-seconds back. For his third place finish, Freeman, now a teacher at New Hampshires’ New Hampton School earned the overall masters title at this race that doubled as the Masters National Championship.

For women, the lead pack was equally impressive and included Olympic alum Dorcas Wonsavage (Ford Sayre), the US Biathlon Team’s Susan Dunklee, and former NCAA standout Anna Mcloon. The three stayed relatively close for the first lap, but Susan Dunklee’s pace was too strong and she built a commanding lead by the end of the second lap, with Mcloon grabbing an equally strong hold on second place. Wonsavage skied consistently well, with a firm grip on third place and the Masters National Champion title.

Along with being a National Championship and NENSA Marathon Series Event, the TD Bank Craftsbury Marathon is part of the TD Bank Citizen Series and will be scored for Club and Zak Age Group points. With such a big race, it will take a bit of time for those points to be updated, but they should be posted to www.nensa.net/results along with official results by the end of Monday.

More results here.

Results (brief)

1. Juergen Uhl (Crafstbury Nordic) 2:30:28.7
2. Tim Reynolds (Crafstbury Nordic) 2:30:33.6
3. Justin Freeman 2:31:06.6 (top Master)

44. Susan Dunklee (Crafstbury Nordic) 3:01:38.7 (top woman)
52. Anna McLoon 3:06:01.4
59. Dorcas Wonsavage (Ford Sayre) 3:07:20.4 (top Master)