Climbathon tests rugged racers for 9 hours

Saturday's Alyeska Climbathon, a race to see how many times competitors could climb Mount Alyeska in nine hours, was different. For racers who dealt with cramping thighs, burning hip flexors and other pain, the 7 p.m. finish seemed far, far away until early Saturday night.

The idea was simple. Racers climbed 2,000 feet at Mount Alyeska -- a 3.5-kilometer jaunt -- as often as they could in nine hours.

The reward? A ride downhill on the tram.

And as if the terrain wasn't tough enough, wind and rain picked up in the afternoon, turning the trail into muddy soup.

Finishers weren't timed -- just measured -- and three of them managed nine laps, or 18,000 feet of elevation gain. Todd Borke, Gail Taylor and Brian Burnett grabbed that top spot.

"It sure as heck felt like a lot," Burnett said Monday afternoon. "It was a blustery day -- in the mid-40s, raining hard and blowing about 20 (mph).

"But it was awesome."

When the rains came, some of the 40 starters ended their race "but a dozen or so hardy folks kept plodding along," said race organizer Brad Precosky. "By the end of the day," he added, "some of these runners were going so slow that their exposure time on the north face became significant."

Burnett, a former ski racer who works as mountain services manager at Alyeska, said he was impressed with how many mountain runners showed up for a race not listed in the annual Alaska runners calendar. The race doubled as an early trial for the new North Face Trail up the mountain. Burnett said it included 1.34-K up the Autobahn workroad and 2.2-K up a hiking trail that gains 1,200 vertical feet.

Despite the steepness, "A lot of us were running the trail," he said, noting that his lap times went from less than 40 minutes early on to more than an hour.

"It was exhausting. I covered over 30-K of running, and that's more than enough for me.

"I was hoping a couple of the young bucks could have gotten that 10th lap. Next year."

Burnett said he hopes that Alyeska forged a close relationship with the Alaska Mountain Runners organization and that the Alyeska race might become one of that organization's Grand Prix events.

2008 Alyeska Climbathon

Saturday at Mount Alyeska

Nine laps (18,000 feet) -- Todd Borke, Gail Taylor, Brian Burnett.

Eight laps (16,000 feet) -- Jane Senaga, Abraham Gioffre, Mark Brady, Carolyn Brodin.

Seven laps (14,000 feet) -- Chris Dabbs, Colleen Durnford, Katherine Ellsworth, Norm Johnson, Rosalyn Singleton, Ron Tenny.

Five laps (10,000 feet) -- Paul Beever, Ellyn Brown, Mark Carr, Martin Cassens, Zach Davidson, Steve Gilles, Jonathan Harvey, Linda Masolini, Matt Novakovich, Nora Tobin.

Four laps (8,000 feet) -- T.J. Connelly, Shannon Erickson, Matt Kenney.

Three laps (6,000 feet) -- Deb Essex, Mary Hensel, Sandy Johnson, Tom Meacham.

Two laps (4,000 feet) -- Jim Magadan, Paul McConnell, Belinda Mehlschmidt, Dinah Merril, Stacy Vege, Sue Wilkens, Zach Zipsir.

One lap (2,000 feet) -- Ginny Grupp, Judy Jonsen, Carol Makar-Gibbs.