Challenge met again on Lazy Mountain

But not this time.

Robinson sprinted toward the finish Saturday at the Lazy Mountain trail head parking lot. He looked relatively spry and, amazingly, clean.

This race punishes runners with 9,100 vertical feet in 14 miles. They must scale and descend 3,720-foot Lazy Mountain twice and 6,119-foot Matanuska Peak once. The effort often leaves them covered head to toe in mud -- or splattered blood -- from spills on the muddy trail.

But this year's race, the 20th running, featured perfect conditions -- no rain, a few clouds to keep temperatures cool and a sure-footed trail.

That allowed Robinson to not only win his fifth straight Matanuska Peak Challenge, but win it in record time -- 3 hours, 4 minutes, 6 seconds.

"The conditions were ideal for a record," said Robinson, who skipped the arduous Crow Pass Crossing two weeks ago so he could focus on winning Mat Peak. "You never want to go into a race thinking about a record, it's something that just happens."

Any record-breaking performance usually demands a pace setter, and Robinson had two: Matias Saari of Fairbanks, who finished second in 3:06.49 and Barney Griffith of Anchorage, who came in third in 3:15.33.

The three runners pushed each other uphill and down, trading the lead. Griffith, 50, was the first to top the lichen-covered boulders of Matanuska Peak, the halfway point.

Back down at the base of Matanuska Peak, as the race coursed through the alpine tundra of McRoberts Creek Valley, Robinson and Saari pulled ahead.

Saari then came to a crossroads in the trail.

Unsure of which way to go, he pulled up quickly to make sure he didn't go the wrong way. His legs, already jelly from the punishing up-and-down topography, seized. He slowed to a walk and tried to shake out the cramp. Robinson pulled ahead as they began the climb the backside of Lazy Mountain.

"At first, I was a gentleman and asked if he needed some Goo," Robinson said, speaking of the popular energy gel packets. "When he said no, I put the hammer down. I tried to make the decision move. I thought the race was over. I put 100 feet on (him) or more."

But incredibly, Saari reeled Robinson back in. The 37-year-old Fairbanks Daily News-Miner sports writer passed Robinson and was the first to top Lazy Mountain before the final descent to the finish.

"I started hiking and drinking water and tried not to panic, because there was still an hour left," Saari said. "I was really worried, but within two minutes I was running OK again. In the past, I'd cramped and blown up and it was all over."

Robinson, who never wears a watch during races, turned it on for the final descent of Lazy Mountain. Griffith had told him the record of 3:05.22, set by Anchorage's Brad Precosky in 2000, was within reach.

So he blazed down the steep, packed-mud trail of Lazy Mountain in about 17 minutes.

Robinson's five victories matched that of race co-founder Lance Kopsack of Palmer, who finished fifth Saturday in 3:20.23.

Kopsack's older brother Braun still holds the record with six victories.

Rachel James of Palmer won her second straight title and third in the past four years. The 27-year-old former collegiate skier won in 3:58.40, edging Gyongyver Schilling of Hope (4:01.15).

"I like this race because it's long," she said. "And because there's more hiking than running."

Fifty-two people entered. At least two scratched.

One was Annie Luck of Anchorage, who has not had much luck in the Matanuska Peak Challenge. She made the first ascent of Lazy Mountain and knew better than to keep going.

"I was puking all the way up Lazy Mountain," she said.

An upset stomach at the beginning of the race grew worse as she power hiked up the steep, muddy trail. On the cloud-shrouded mountain peak, she decided to turn around and scratch. It was the third time she'd been forced to do so.

"My first year, I was puking all the way up Mat Peak," she said. "The second year, I got lost. I thought the third time would be a charm. It's very depressing. This is the only race I've never completed."

Luck, 48, said she's run in more than 20 marathons, including Boston and the Anchorage Mayor's Marathon. Luck said her forte is road racing, but she has more fun in the mountains. She competes in the Mount Marathon race every Fourth of July in Seward. She compared the ascent up Lazy Mountain to that of 3,022-foot Mount Marathon.

In the Mat Peak Challenge, though, that's just one small section of the race.

"This race has a good name. Because it is totally a challenge," she said.

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Find Ron Wilmot online at adn.com/contact/rwilmot or call 1-907-352-6712.

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20th Matanuska Peak Challenge

Saturday's Results

Men

1) Harlow Robinson, 3 hours, 4 minutes, 6 seconds; 2) Matias Saari, 3:06:49; 3) Barney Griffith, 3:15:33; 4) Hugh Gren, 3:17:34; 5) Lance Kopsack, 3:20:23; 6) Keith Weinhold, 3:24:38; 7) Mark Brady, 3:26:21; 8) Patrick Stinson, 3:27:27; 9) Braun Kopsack, 3:31:13; 10) Jonathan Harvey, 3:34:09; 11) Paul Pletnikoff, 3:37:40; 12) R. Ewe-Wolroff, 3:44:28; 13) Karl Romig, 3:45:31; 14) Dave Bass, 3:51:15; 15) Andrew Stavich, 3:52:32; 16) Jeff Warner, 3:54:04; 17) Rudy Brueggemann, 3:59:39; 18) Joe Dougherty, 4:04:40; 19) Jason Popek, 4:14:45; 20) Mike Robinson, 4:15:36; 21) Jedediah Smith, 4:16:59; 22) Tom Smayda, 4:24:02; 23) Dane Ketner, 4:30:12; 24) Charlie Ess, 4:32:58; 25) Kyle Amstadter, 4:38:41; 26) Ben Summit, 4:47:15; 27) Cloyd Crow, 4:56:44; 28) Duke Ruzicka, 4:57:08; 29) Doug Harvey, 4:58:29; 30) James Murray, 5:00:27; 31) Arrow Brillhart, 5:06:24; 32) T. Rice, 5:21:37; 33) Evan Steinhauser, 5:35:55; 34) Larry Warner, 5:37:19; 35) Sabo Demircan, 6:07:24; 36) Eric Johnson, 6:20:26; 37) Ron Nicholls, 7:22:26; 38) Chris Dabbs, 7:28:01; 39) Corky Corthell, 7:46; 40) Fred Thomas, 7:46.

Women

1) Rachel James, 3:58:40; 2) Gyongyver Schilling, 4:01:15; 3) Jane Senaga, 4:08:54; 4) Anne Thomas, 4:45:49; 5) Ellyn Brown, 4:57:22; 6) Cheryl Ess, 5:03:39; 7) Angelica Pollock, 5:21:37; 8) Kustin Lance, 7:45:45.