Alpena native Michele (Suszek) Yates earned her third national title after winning the USA 50 Mile Trail Championships on March 2 at Camp Eagle outside of Rocksprings, Texas. Yates finished in 6:53:25, topping rival Melanie Fryar, who finished in 7:31:58.
The win marks the second straight year that Yates has triumphed in the event. Last year Yates captured her first national title with a time of 7:25:41, edging Fryar by almost 20 minutes.
"My mindset going into this race was to actually race! Last year at this event, it was my first ultra...so even though I was fit and healthy, I tried to be smart. I was conservative for the first two laps and then finished hard on the last 16.67 mile lap. At Bandera, I was not fit, nor healthy...just blessed," Yates said via her Web site. "This past Saturday, I felt strong, I had a great training period, stayed healthy and had the little bit of experience in the Ultra world I needed to execute my goal of a sub 7 hour finish."
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Michele Yates won her third national title last weekend, capturing the USA Trail 50 Mile Trail Championships title for the second straight year.