Girdwood Trails Marathon Continues to Grow
By Deb Essex
Girdwood Trails Marathon Race Director
The Girdwood Nordic Ski Club held the 10th annual Girdwood Trails Marathon on Sat, Oct. 4, from the Alyeska Resort Daylodge. This event has grown considerably as we added Half Marathon and 5K Race options for participants. The sold out event showcased the varied trails throughout the Girdwood Valley including the popular Winner Creek and Iditarod Trails. This year, 331 runners from all around Alaska, seven U.S. states, and Canada, braved the 39 degree temps and rain to run the connected trails in Girdwood. This event was created by Girdwood trail enthusiast, Brian Burnett, who is constantly cruising along trails for a fun day outside and who currently serves as the Chief of Stoke for all things trail related in Girdwood.
The marathon and half marathon race switch direction every year, and this year ran in a counter-clockwise loop. The participants start at the Alyeska Resort Daylodge and follow pink flags along the trail route set by one the 60 volunteers of this event. The trails were in excellent condition, and Glacier Creek had a low flowrate so the marathon runners could cross without incident. This trail race would simply not be possible without the funding dedication of the Anchorage Parks and Recreation - Girdwood Staff, Kyle Kelley and Margaret Tyler, who annually apply for grant funding and hire trail crews to repair and maintain the valley’s trails. They also coordinate with the Friends of Girdwood Trails to host trail work parties for smaller maintenance tasks. Moreover, the USFS perennially sends a crew up Winner Creek Trail with the enormous task of hardening the trail surface. The combination of these trail maintenance efforts mean that Girdwood trails can handle year-round visitors and participants of this race.
Absolutely blistering times were posted this year by the top finishers including two SUB-three hour marathon times! Lars Arneson ran a 2:55:56 and Scott Patterson finished in 2:58:20. Amazing. We didn’t know that was even possible! The half marathon also had blistering times...but our half was really a 14 mile run, so men’s top finishers Chad Trammell, David Ryland,and Sebastian Szweda Mittelstadt, and women’s top half marathon finishers Anna Dalton, Jenna DiFolco, and Holly Brooks shouldn’t be just by their times. They were fast!
Another, standout performance was by Brian Pautzke who ran his 10th Girdwood Trails Marathon (finishing 14th in the men’s division) this year making him the only participant of ALL ten Girdwood Trails Marathons. Yes Brian, I will make you a belt buckle. And in the NEW 5K Race held on the Alyeska Mountain trails, Nonie Mucha not only finished first in junior women, but finished first overall. Outstanding! Girdwood runners had a large presence this year with 5 top 20 marathon finishers, and 22 participants overall.
Top Race Results:
Men’s Full Marathon Top Finishers. (Photos courtesy of Deb Essex)
Men’s Full Marathon: 1: Lars Arneson, Anchorage, AK 2:55:56; 2: Scott Patterson, Anchorage, AK 2:58:20; 3: Jeshurun Small, Golden, CO 3:07:18; 4: Cody Priest, Anchorage, AK 3:11:00; 5: Toomas Kollo, Anchorage, AK 3:22:00; 6: Zach Bassett, Anchorage, AK 3:42:11; 7: Ben Matheson, Anchorage, AK 3:55:50; 8: Jesse Drick, Wasilla, AK 3:59:05; 9: Josh Wilson, Anchorage, AK 4:11:30; 10: Soren Wuerth, Girdwood, AK 4:13:58
Top Women’s Full Marathon Top Finishers
Women’s Full Marathon: 1: Shauna Severson, Eagle River, AK 3:48:13; 2: Lauren Fritz, Girdwood, AK 3:58:27; 3: Bailey Matthys, Girdwood, AK 4:16:35; 4: Emily Pearson, Girdwood, AK 4:19:23; 5: Carolyn Stwertka, Ogden, UT 4:22:18; 6: Rachel Peterson, Girdwood, AK 4:42:09; 7: Kayla Nowak, Anchorage, AK 4:49:27; 8: Rachel Whitmore, Fairbanks, AK 5:08:21; 9: Emily Lamb, Homer, AK 5:20:22; 10: Dakota Carlyle, Palmer, AK
Men’s Half Marathon: 1: Chad Trammell, Anchorage, AK 1:40:35; 2: David Ryland, Eagle River, AK 1:40:58; 3: Sebastian Szweda Mittelstadt, Indian, AK 1:41:15; 4: Eric Vilce, Anchorage, AK 1:44:49; 5: Joshua Taylor, Wasilla, AK 1:45:44; 6: Sebastian Reed, Anchorage, AK 1:52:41; 7: Spencer Newins, Anchorage, AK 1:53:49; 8: Marcus Walsted, Anchorage, AK 2:02:21; 9: Nathan Kelley, Anchorage, AK 2:03:14; 10: Dmitry Surnin, Anchorage, AK 2:04:17
Top Women’s Half Marathon Top Finishers
Women’s Half Marathon: 1: Anna Dalton, Anchorage, AK 1:52:01; 2: Jenna DiFolco, Fairbanks, AK 1:58:19; 3: Holly Brooks, Anchorage, AK 2:06:43; 4: Alison Matthews, Anchorage, AK 2:08:13; 5: Megan Murphy, Anchorage, AK 2:10:11; 6: Nylene Warner, Wasilla, AK 2:15:10; 7: Delaney Whalen, Eagle River, AK 2:14:54; 8: Kaitlin Huskey, Kenai, AK 2:15:23; 9: Meghan Adair, Anchorage, AK 2:16:41; 10: Jackie Harmon, Anchorage, AK 2:16:41
Junior Men Half Marathon: 1: Tyson Ruckel, Indian, AK 2:05:18; 2: Bretton Lyon, Wasilla, AK 2:24:22; 3: Kade Harmon, Palmer, AK 2:43:40; 4: Alexander Johnson, Anchorage, AK 2:54:15
Junior Women Half Marathon: 1: Ali Keller, Wasilla, AK 2:43:24; 2: Andrea Smith, Anchorage, AK 3:08:40; 3: Mischa Wiest, Anchorage, AK 3:41:13
Women’s 5K Race: 1: Nonie Mucha, Girdwood, AK 1:21:00; 2: Alisa Vereshchagin, Anchorage, AK 1:49:00; 3: Brittany Sedlacek, Anchorage, AK 2:07:00; 4: Abbi Wagle, Hampton, VA 3:35:00; 5: Serenity Steinfort-Leeds, Anchorage, AK 5:26:00; 6: Mary Bartell, Anchorage, AK 7:12:00; 7: Rhiannon Nicoll-Huggins, Big Lake, AK 8:13:00; 8: Richelle Sonnenberg, Wasilla, AK 8:25:00; 9: Kelsey Turney, Chugiak, AK 9:16:00; 10: June Takagi, Anchorage, AK 10:41:00
Non-Binary 5K Race: 1. Wyatt Renaudineau, Anchorage, AK 50:37
Men’s 5K Race: 1: Cohen Newins, Anchorage, AK 1:34:00; 2: Micah Strickland, Anchorage, AK 2:31:00; 3: Andrew Essman, Palmer, AK 3:19:00; 4: Darren Essman, Palmer, AK 5:53:00; 5: Connor Priest, Anchorage, AK 6:46:00; 6: Taewoong Jang, AK 8:31:00; 7: Burt Spence, Eagle River, AK 9:02:00; 8: Chris Steinfort-Leeds, Girdwood, AK 9:51:00; 9: Chase Berenson, Girdwood, AK 11:33:00; 10: Hannan Veera, Kingwood, TX 13:30:00
For complete overall results of the Girdwood Trails Marathon, Half, and 5K Race to go: https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/98426#resultSetId-593308;perpage:100
The marathon-behind-the-marathon included sixty volunteers who marked the course, crewed the aid stations and road crossings, swept the course, and fed the racers. Even if runners didn’t win, they were definitely well nourished by The Bake Shop, Coast Pizza, Great Harvest, and Beach Tribe Soda Works, and SPORTea.
Huge thanks to Skinny Raven Events & Timing for the tracking and timing all the participants, and to all the business that sponsored this race: Alyeska Resort, Birch & Alder, Girdwood Brewery, Skinny Raven, Moose's Tooth, Great Harvest Bread Company, The Bake Shop, Spoonline Bistro, Powder Hound, Alpenglow Coffee House, The Ice Cream Shop, Bear Tooth Theatre, Girdwood Nordic Ski Club, SPORTea, and Coast Pizza!
Jar of Pickles Winner
The highlight of the awards ceremony is handing out pumpkins & dry socks to the podium winners, and jars of pickles to the Red Lantern finishers. The pickles seem to be the most coveted of the prizes. The Girdwood Trails Marathon is hosted by the Girdwood Nordic Ski Club and is a fundraiser for the Ski Club and Girdwood Trails.
(Corrected Photo Captions and Race Results, Oct. 6)
