"Wildlife Out and About in Anchorage" would have sufficed, given the multiple critter sightings.
• A young moose literally gate-crashed just off the Glenn Highway bike path near Fort Richardson about four miles into the race.
• A black bear sow and her two cubs showed up on Campbell Airstrip Road near the intersection with Tudor Road, about the 19-mile mark.
• And an adult moose was spotted just a few feet off the Chester Creek bicycle trail less than four miles from the finish line.
Marathoners in their fourth mile spotted a young moose who hustled through a fence gate designed for moose, only to subsequently run into another section fence. That drew a chorus of sympathetic "oohs'' from the runners.
Shortly before marathoners arrived at the intersection of Campbell Airstrip and Tudor, nearly 19 miles into the 26.2-mile course, a black bear sow and her two cubs were out and about.
And when second-place marathon finisher Jeff Heuseveldt of Anchorage was running his 23rd mile, on the Chester Creek trail between Lake Otis and the Seward Highway, he spotted a moose on the side of the trail.
Heuseveldt said he briefly considered stopping. But he figured nothing much good happens when stopping that late in a marathon -- runners can begin to cramp, or lose focus and motivation -- so he ran past.
Local runners rule
Anchorage runners, and one blast from the past with Anchorage running connections, swept the shorter races Saturday.
Mike Wisniewski, 29, of Anchorage blistered the half-marathon, clocking 1 hour, 11 minutes, 46 seconds. That put him more than three minutes ahead of Michael Boyle, 22, of Anchorage, who covered the 13.1 miles in an impressive 1:14:51.
On the women's side, Gretchen Flora, 37, of Anchorage, banged out a 1:27:43 time that gave her a three-minute cushion over Colleen Miller, 26, of Anchorage. Miller was timed in 1:30:47.
Meanwhile, in the 5.6-miler, 2002 Mayor's Marathon champ Ben Sauvage, 39, of Seattle won easily. Sauvage, who went to high school at Bartlett, clocked 30:28. Jacob Kirk, 15, of Anchorage, seized second place in 33:26.
Danielle Gerik, 16, of Anchorage, took the women's crown in 39:18, a 10-second advantage over Erin Jordan, 29, also of Anchorage.
In the marathon relay, the team from Skinny Raven clocked 2:36:03, which allowed them to edge Skinny Raven employee and overall marathon winner Jerry Ross by 35 seconds. Relay members, in the order they ran, were Mark Iverson, Charlie Renfro, Brent Knight and Todd List.
From bench boss to marathon man
Former Alaska Aces coach Davis Payne, back visiting with his family, made his marathon debut Saturday and met his goal.
Payne, 37, the former NHL winger who is now an assistant coach with the Peoria Riverman of the American Hockey League, clocked 3:46:46 to finish 124th among men.
Going into the race, Payne's goals were, in order: To finish in less than four hours; to make a run at the 3:45 barrier; and, best-case scenario, sniff the 3:30 mark.
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