Skimo Olympian doubles up with 10K trail run and Pepi’s Face-Off victories to close GoPro Mountain Games in Vail
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
Cam Smith used to train and race with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. After reaching his lifelong goal this winter — representing the U.S. at the first Olympic skimo event in February after only discovering the sport in college — Smith’s internal source of motivation has had to change.
“I’ve always kind of thrived off trying to prove people wrong,” he said. “And so to me, I’m starting over.”
Sunday was a pretty good start.
In his first competitions (aside from a Grand Traverse he did “for fun” at the end of the winter) since the Milano Cortina Games, Smith demonstrated a different level in back-to-back victories. The 30-year-old dismantled an elite field in the 10K trail race in the morning and doubled back to dominate Pepi’s Face-Off a few hours later.
“It was great,” the Crested Butte mountain sport star said. “It’s been a long wait. I’ve felt like racing since (the Olympics), but I thought I should force myself to take a break after the build-up. It was really nice to just have a few months to just train and come down from a crazy winter.”
Support Local Journalism
-
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
-
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
-
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
-
-
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
-
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
-
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
-
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
-
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
In the early-morning 10K, Smith asserted his position in front from the gun. He was with Eli Hemming until the Adidas pro made the 20K turn.
“I could hear (Jonathan Aziz) chasing me down the fast service road and then I tried to really pour it out on the climbs,” Smith said.
After starting outside the top-25, Aziz moved into fourth by the top of the first hill. He ultimately rallied for second, putting 45 seconds on World Mountain and Trail World Championship Team USA member Tyler McCandless late to stop the clock at 43:29.2.
“It was good — I was pretty pleased,” Aziz said of his first performance since securing a fourth-straight Pikes Peak Marathon title last September. The new dad has been dealing with a partially torn achilles associated with Haglunds deformity.
“That’s the reason for the shorter races,” he explained.
Colorado Springs runners Sean McCauley and Ace Brown were fourth and fifth and the ageless Josh Eberly finished sixth to round out the prize purse podium. Janelle Lincks (51:39.2) won the women’s race. Silver medalist Grace Strongman (53:02.3) came all the way from Prairie Village, Kansas and Emily Lamena (53:09.9) was rewarded for trekking from New York with a third-place result.
Tyler Blair, fresh off setting school records in the 800 and 1600-meters at the state track meet last month, stepped up in distance on Sunday. Wearing his Team USA singlet, the two-time U18 International Mountain Running Cup competitor finished seventh (46:31.3) out of 344 runners.
“I kind of surprised myself,” the middle-distance specialist said. “It was super fun.”
Blair passed four athletes on the downhill second half.
“I just really started sending on the downs. That’s really where I catch people,” he stated. “I feel like that’s where that trail experience comes in.”
Before taking a well-earned break, Blair plans to race the 800 and 1600 at Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Oregon in a couple weeks. He’d like to go under 1:52 and 4:10, respectively.
“I’m hyped for both races,” the Montana State University commit said.
Under the afternoon sun, Natalie Kalin went wire-to-wire for the Pepi’s Face-Off women’s win. The 29-year-old Colorado Springs resident completed five laps in a time of 33:57.8. A couple of Vail Christian connections also pushed it on the iconic Mountain Games closer. Faculty member Sarah Hochtl finished five laps (38:18.7) to take sixth, one spot back from Edwards’ own Marina Egorov (36:56.0). Meanwhile, legendary former Saints basketball coach Sheldon Kuhns made three laps.
“That was brutal,” a smiling Kuhns said before adding, “Checked that off the list.”
Smith doesn’t have too many things to check off his proverbial athletic bucket list. But having ‘Olympian’ on the resume apparently doesn’t guarantee race entry everywhere: Smith applied but wasn’t accepted into the Golden Trail Series. Still, his ‘why’ these days isn’t defined by bulletin board material. Smith said this season he plans to prioritize “the races he feels like doing.”
He’ll be at Sierre-Zinal, Broken Arrow, Speedgoat (to qualify for Orsières-Champex-Chamonix-UTMB in 2027), The Rut — his favorite event — and “maybe Pikes Peak Marathon after that,” he said. The long term goal is the 2030 Olympics, but Smith has no plans to retire with a home Olympics in sight four years after that.
“I think it’s going to get tougher and tougher,” he admitted. “But my goal is two more for sure.”
For this summer, though, he’s focused on having fun. If Sunday provides any indication, that’s part and parcel with being pretty dang fast, too.
“I’m coming up with new reasons to motivate myself,” Smith said.
“I did the big thing and then I’ve been training my butt off since then to try to get fitter than ever. For me, it’s like starting a brand new season and in a way, a chapter of my life,” he continued. “I want to knock it out of the park every chance I get.”
-
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
-
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
-
Natalie Kalin, front, charges up during the Pepi’s Face Off at the GoPro Mountain Games Sunday in Vail.
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
