A group of athletes from Mancos was ahead of most of the competition in this year’s Mount Taylor Quadrathlon.
Logan Ott, who grew up in Mancos and now lives in Los Alamos, New Mexico, completed the race second overall with a time of 3 hours, 53 minutes. Mark Ott, Larry Ott and Mark Povich made up the “Mediocre Mortals,” who came in first in the 50-59 age division.
“It’s incredible how smoothly they run such a difficult race,” Mark Ott said. “It just blows me away how well they organize it.”
The event, which takes place near Grants, New Mexico, features a four-phase race — biking, running, skiing and showshoeing. Competitors trek all the way up to the 11,301-foot summit of Mount Taylor and back down, a 43-mile round trip. Some do the entire race by themselves, but others compete as a team, with different members completing different phases of the race.
Mark Ott said it’s an intense race.
“I admire any of the soloists,” he said. “I had a hard time doing just ski and snowshoe.”
This was the 34th year for the quadrathlon, Mark Ott said. There were about 400 contestants and just as many volunteers helping out during the event, he said.
“I’m surprised that not more people from this area do the race,” Mark Ott said. “It’s not that far from here.”