Emily Graber (University of Richmond) placed 4^th in the inaugural Collegiate Running Association National Mountain Running Championships held within the 2014 Loon Mountain Race in Lincoln, New Hampshire on July 6.  Graber spoke with us following the race, where not only did she earn $400 for her 4th place finish in the Collegiate National Championship, she also finished 19^th in the U.S. Championship. Here is Emily’s unedited video interview…

Graber enters into her junior year at the University of Richmond this fall where she competes on the cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field teams.  The Loon Mountain Race is only her second mountain running race after competing in the GoPro Spring Runoff in Vail, CO earlier this summer.

A record number of entries and participants were on hand for the 2014 Loon Mountain Race in Lincoln, N.H.. For the first time in history college students competed for a National Championship in Mountain Running on July 6, 2014.  The Loon Mountain Race served as not only the inaugural Collegiate Running Association National Mountain Running Championship but also the U.S. National Mountain Running Championship (USATF) with the top 6 U.S. men and top 4 U.S. women earning a spot on the #USMRT for the 30^th World Mountain Running Championship. With new NCAA legislation (August 2013) permitting varsity NCAA DI athletes to accept prize money, the newly formed Collegiate Running Association provided $6,000 in prize money specifically reserved for college students who were enrolled in at least 1 college course at any level (undergraduate, graduate or post graduate) between January 1 and the day of the race. The women’s race was a 4.8 mile climb with over 2,800 vertical feet of elevation gain with the final ascent reaching an incline exceeding 40%. Known in the running world as a race to put on your “bucket list” it’s mystique met every expectation.  An excellent race!

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