Pair of Battlers duke it out for Polish Mountain Challenge win

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Pair of Battlers duke it out for Polish Mountain Challenge win
Rowan, Peters finish 1-2 in women's field

FLINTSTONE, Md., Aug. 4 -- Runners at the starting line of the inaugural Polish Mountain Challenge, a low-key 4-mile footrace on Gilpin Road in eastern Allegany County, breathed a collective sigh of relief when the worst of Wednesday evening's thunderstorms passed south of Flintstone.

After all, the 1.25-mile climb up Gilpin Road to the top of Polish Mountain was enough of an obstacle on an otherwise humid but runner-friendly midweek evening race, which was sponsored by Progressive Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Clinic.

And Lucas Unger, a fifth-year senior for the Alderson-Broaddus Battler cross country program, conquered the climb better than everyone else. Unger, 22, of Berkeley Springs, W.Va., led all runners to the finish line with a time of 25 minutes, 31 seconds.

Unger beat his junior teammate at the Phillipi, W.Va., school. Chris Stewart, of Hedgesville, W.Va., was second in 28:33.7. Stewart learned of the race when he saw a write-up about it on TriStateRunnur.com. Both he and Unger enjoy races with dramatic inclines and he quickly shared the event with his teammate.

Cumberland resident Amy Rowan, 30, finished first among all women in a time of 31:22. Rowan's sister, Heather Peters, 26, also of Cumberland, was second in 33:48.6. Craig Peters, 26, rounded out the top five with a time of 40:54.

The race was originally scheduled to be staged Sunday, the second day of the annual Polish Mountain Hill Climb race car event. A variety of issues derailed the original plan and caused the last-minute switch to the Wednesday evening start time.

Rowan, for one, welcomed the change.

“I thought it was a good outing for a Wednesday evening,” Rowan said. “The uphill was a challenge and the downhill forced you to go fast. You didn’t have a choice.”

Runners raced a relatively smooth first 0.75 miles before hitting the base of Polish Mountain and the start of their 1.25-mile journey up – a net elevation gain of more than 700 feet.

Unger, who averaged just under 6:23 per mile. He hit the top of the mountain in 15:08 (7:34 pace), which made his downhill pace of 5:11.5 pretty impressive – and needed to pull away from Stewart.