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Torgeson conquers Mt. Taylor
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Posted on Feb 27 2009
Former Saipan resident and perennial triathlon winner Eli Torgeson continued to show his might in multi-sports events after finishing second overall among 103 male participants in the 2009 Mt. Taylor Quadrathlon held early this month in New Mexico.
The Mt. Taylor Quadtrathlon was a race up and down the highest peak in Northwest New Mexico. It consists of a bike leg, run, ski and snow shoeing, which is an aerobic activity that involves walking through the snow using snowshoes.
Torgeson, who left Saipan in December after about 16 months of dominating local tournaments, was the fastest in the bike with his time of 45 minutes, 50 seconds, en route to posting the second-fastest time in the race at 4:16:06. He clocked in at 40:35 in the bike down leg, 41:31 and 32:53 in the run (up and down), 34:38 and 34:39 in ski, and 18:38 and 7:25 in snow shoeing.
“I apparently did not get enough cross country ski practice while on Saipan, and that hurt me in the race. Still, it was great fun,” said Torgeson, who was runner-up to Travis Macy (3:52:10).
“My skiing was not so great, but I did not expect much. I did well in the bike leg and thanks to Nate [Hawley], Kieran [Daly], Russ [Quinn], and Kevin and Mieko [Carey] for my bicycling work while on the island,” said Torgeson, who used to work as an anesthesiologist at the Commonwealth Health Center.
Torgeson joined 142 other participants in completing the race to the 11,301-foot high mountain
The event started with a 13-mile bike road race through the streets of Grants and began the 1,800-foot climb from Desert Cactus to Ponderosa Pine.
The run up portion is about five miles on gravel roads. The road generally starts out dry but usually turns to snow pack. This part of the course will climb 1,200 feet in elevation.
The cross ski leg is a 1,200-foot climb of the mountaineering ski course that covers two miles. During the final yards of this course, participants must face the infamous “Heart Break Hill” that lies waiting for weary racers.
The snow shoe leg is a one-mile climb en route to the summit of Mt. Taylor. After reaching the top, participants will reverse the four events and race the 22 miles back to the start/finish line.
