SPOKANE, Wash. – Scott Bauhs keeps running in freezing temperatures but nothing seems to cool him off. Bauhs, wrapping up his Chico State education this week, won the U.S.A. Track & Field National Club Cross Country individual title Saturday at Plantes Ferry Recreation Park in Spokane, Wash., besting a field that included 2008 Olympic marathoner Brian Sell, 2008 U.S. 15 kilometer Champion Andrew Carlson, and two-time World Cross Country Championships qualifier Max King. Bauhs, currently Running Times’ 10th-ranked U.S. distance runner, has now won five straight races, including the first two of his professional career.

Bauhs, who broke the tape in 30:47, was the first of 324 competitors to cross the line in 10-kilometer race. Carlson finished second two seconds later. Bauhs took the lead shortly after the mile mark, while hotly pursued by several members of the winning McMillan Elite squad.

As the wind gusted up to speeds hovering around 30 miles per hour at times during the race, Bauhs began to extend his command over the rest of the field, except for Carlson, who hung on gamely to Bauhs through the final lap. The pair finished with a gap of 10-plus seconds on the rest of the field.

“I ran in snow at the NCAA D-II meet a few weeks ago, but this was worse,” said Bauhs.

According to Chico State Head Coach Gary Towne, Bauhs’ shoe came untied early in the race and he bent down to tie it, only to give up that effort because his hands were failing him in the freezing temperatures. Thus, he ran almost the entire race in fear that he would lose his shoe.

Recent winners of the U.S.A. Track & Field National Club Cross Country Championships include Alan Webb, the U.S. record-holder in the mile, and 2006 U.S. 10,000-meter champion Jorge Torres.

Bauhs wrapped up his collegiate career by winning his third NCAA crown at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships on Nov. 22, just days after announcing his intentions to turn pro following that race.

Read more about Bauhs’ thoughts on the race on his blog at http://www.flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/xcrun04/5373-cold

RACE RESULTS