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There's winning ugly, and then there's what Jerry Ross did Tuesday night.
Ross, one of Anchorage's top distance runners, easily outpaced the field in the first Tuesday Night Race on the 10-kilometer "Lightning League" course, winning in a time of 31 minutes, 24 seconds. Erik Mundahl was more than two minutes back to claim second. But it was Ross's attire -- or lack thereof -- rather than his blistering time that truly turned heads. Ross ran the race wearing a multicolored Speedo swim suit, the result of a wager last spring with friend Matt Novakovich. As the story goes, Novakovich and Ross were discussing Novakovich's chances in the upcoming Mount Marathon race in Seward. Ross said he thought Novakovich -- himself an accomplished Anchorage runner and cyclist who won Tuesday's 5-kilometer Farm League race -- might be able to crack the top 30 in the annual Fourth of July mountain race. Novakovich thought he could do better. A bet was born. At first, Ross said, the bet was for money, but that changed quickly when both men realized that wouldn't be much fun. Next, Ross suggested that Novakovich would have to wear a moustache for three months if he didn't finish in the top 10, while Ross would have to wear his hair in "rat tail" fashion. But Novakovich balked at that idea, as well, worried that a three-month moustache would be more than he could bear. So they settled on Speedos, with the loser having to enter Tuesday's race sporting the skimpy suit. "I really didn't think I was going to end up running in a Speedo," Ross said Tuesday night after his win. But, alas, gambling is a cruel endeavor. Thanks to a late surge by Novakovich -- and a timely collapse from race leader Brent Knight -- Novakovich finished exactly 10th on July 4, leaving Ross out in the cold. Ross said losing the bet didn't really sink in until Tuesday afternoon, when he had to go Speedo shopping. "I knew since the Fourth of July that I'd be doing it, but I guess I didn't want to think about it," he said. Adding further insult to Ross's win was the fact that an extremely large crowd of runners got to gawk at the starting line. A total of 843 runners turned out for the first race of the series, which kicked off its 42nd season. Lia Slemons cruised to victory in the women's Lightning race, finishing in a time of 36:49 to beat second-place Danielle Winn (39:30) by nearly three minutes. Novakovich was first in the men's Farm race with a time of 16:49, while Delia Luch took the women's Farm race in 19:43, besting Kaley Stachan by just six seconds. In spite of the strange looks he got Tuesday, Ross said the suit wasn't terribly difficult to run in. "It wasn't that bad," he said. Winning the race wasn't all laughs for Ross, however. Early in Tuesday's race, he said he "blew out" his right calf, which he blamed on a poor choice of footwear. "I wanted to get done with that thing so much I thought I'd bust out the spikes," he said. For someone used to tackling road courses in running shoes, the decision proved costly. "It was okay to run on, but once I stopped I said, 'this is bad,' " he said. Ross said he likely won't know the severity of the injury for a couple of days. In the meantime, he figures he might as well keep a low profile. "I guess I have some well-deserved rest coming," he said. "Not only did my pride take a beating, but my body did as well."