Tim Berntson and Jill Valerius both used blazing bike rides to claim wins Saturday in the Eklutna Challenge, which combines a three-mile run with a 15-mile bike at Eklutna Lake.
Berntson trailed the leader by nearly a minute after the opening run along Edlu Bena Trail, but outpaced the field on the bike portion on Lakeside Trail in 50 minutes, 3 seconds to win the race by more than two minutes at 1:08:56.
Valerius trailed the fastest woman by one minute after the run, but finished the bike portion in 1:03:34 to win the women's race in 1:29:34.
Jeff Ellis was the fastest male runner, clocking 18:04. Pam Todd turned in the fastest run for women, finishing in 22:49.
Eklutna Challenge
Top 15 men and women
Men -- 1) Tim Berntson, 1:08:56; 2) James Stull, 1:11:02; 3) Justin Nash, 1:11:44; 4) Jeff Ellis, 1:18:54; 5) Kevin Easley, 1:20:09; 6) Justin Neff, 1:20:44; 7) Daniel Vetsch, 1:21:19; 8) Sean Sullivan, 1:22:29; 9) Dugan Greenwell, 1:23:24; 10) Alex Loan, 1:23:58; 11) Scott Clemetson, 1:24:07; 12) John Groat, 1:26:11; 13) Jacob Thompson, 1:26:14; 14) Kevin Heck, 1:27:58; 15) Brendan Karchere, 1:29:39.
Women -- 1) Jill Valerius, 1:29:34; 2) Julie Berberich, 1:30:57; 3) Jessie Donahue, 1:34:03; 4) Pam Todd, 1:36:48; 5) Sarah Moore, 1:39:56; 6) Vastyl Mangold, 1:40:36; 7) Dawn Bird, 1:42:09; 8) Laura Tuttle, 1:44:01; 9) Karen Kurtz, 1:46:09; 10) Jessica Kauffman, 1:49:48; 11) Jordin Thompson, 1:50:36; 12) Janet Flaherty, 1:53:45; 13) Bayli Jenski, 1:55:24; 14) Tishe Link, 1:58:47; 15) Kelly Fehrman-Royce, 1:59:20.
