Tim Berntson and Amber Stull overcame soft conditions and cold temperatures to win the first Abominable Snow Series mountain bike race of the season Saturday at Kincaid Park.
The race, the first of a seven-races series for fat-tire bikes, drew nearly 80 racers.
Open-division racers made two trips around a 5.5-mile loop that included 3.5 miles of single-track trail. Cruiser-division racers did one loop.
Berntston finished in 1 hour, 17 minutes, 50 seconds to beat runnerup Matt Novakovich by 14 seconds.
Stull topped the women in 1:39:22, followed by Jessie Donahue in 1:42:11.
Erik Meyers (52:50) and Stacey Kolstad (1:07:30) took top honors in the cruiser division.
The next fat-tire bike is the Jan. 5 Frosty Bottom.
Abominable Snowman race
Cruiser Men
1 lap, 5.5 miles
1) Erik Myers 0:52:50; 2) Greg McDuffie 0:53:17; 3) Patrick Wolfe 0:54:45; 4) Bill Fleming 0:54:55; 5) Chad Stiteler 0:57:19; 6) Andrew Cunningham 0:58:31; 7) Tony Allen 1:00:09; 8) Bruce Ross 1:01:03; 9) Will Corbridge 1:03:04; 10) Josh Saxon 1:04:39; 11) Chad Burris 1:04:56; 12) Jeff Jessen 1:05:05; 13) Brian Looney 1:05:58; 14) Seth Murphy 1:07:43; 15) Peter Mejia 1:12:30; 16) Jeff Campbell 1:13:06; 17) Andy Underwood 1:14:40; 18) Mike Powell 1:21:11; 19) Shane Murphy 1:23:45; 20) Michael Miller 1:23:45; 21) Andrew Kowalczk 1:29:56; 22) Yrjo Roovers 1:31:04; 23) Fred Stewart 2:25:03.
Cruiser Women
1 lap, 5.5 miles
1) Stacey Kolstad 1:07:30; 2) Shannon Titzel 1:13:31; 3) Susan Teel 1:19:01; 4) Carey Ballard 1:20:45; 5) Lori Gonzalez 1:36:12.
Open men
2 laps, 11 miles
1) Tim Berntson 1:17:50; 2) Matthew Novakovich 1:18:04; 3) Josh Chelf 1:18:05; 4) Carey Grumelot 1:18:51; 5) Kevin Murphy 1:19:30; 6) Sean Hickel 1:19:54; 7) Ryan Greef 1:20:15; 8) James Stull 1:24:47; 9) John Lackey 1:24:55; 10) Brian Bonney 1:25:12; 11) Chris Jung 1:25:22; 12) Tom Peichel 1:26:59; 13) Jason Lamoreaux 1:27:08; 14) Andy Duenow 1:36:07; 15) Lucas O'Laughlin 1:36:50; 16) Luke Kiskaddon 1:37:29; 17) Joe Pollock 1:37:38; 18) Clinton Hodges III 1:39:58; 19) Kevin Easley 1:40:00; 20) Mike Vania 1:41:40; 21) Doug Schutte 1:44:44; 22) Jeff Dusenbury 1:45:48; 23) Stewart Osgood 1:46:56; 24) David Berg 1:47:50; 25) Peter VanTuyn 1:51:49; 26) Trevor Jones 2:15:13; 27) Cody Lee 2:21:20, One lap -- Pat Crabb 54:36; Jason Gray 0:56:05.
Open Women
2 laps, 11 miles
1) Amber Stull 1:39:22; 2) Jessie Donahue 1:42:11; 3) Janice Tower 1:49:00; 4) Danelle Winn 1:54:08; 5) Dorothy Calkins 1:54:46; 6) Amber Bethe 1:55:46; 7) Laurel Brady 1:59:05; 8) Stacy Nieder 2:06:13; 9) Kara Oney 2:08:02. One lap -- Margaret Hillhouse 1:05:45; Janus Reyes 1:14:13; Eileen Floyd 1:14:33; Jennifer Bostick 1:21:06; 5) Pam Todd 1:25:30.
sled-dog racing
Redington grabs lead in Alaska Excursion
Ryan Redington took the lead in the sled-dog race he helped create Saturday, claiming a six-minute lead over James Wheeler after the first day of the Alaska Excursion 120.
Reduced to 90 miles this year because of poor snow coverage, the fourth annual race drew a field of 27 starters including four-time Iditarod champ Jeff King, who was seventh Saturday.
Redington set the pace with a run of 2 hours, 49 minutes, 29 seconds. Wheeler was next in 2:55:49.
Teams raced on a hard, fast trail, in temperatures that hovered around zero.
The second heat begins Sunday at 10 a.m. in front of Martin Buser's Happy Trails Kennels on Big Lake.
Alaska Excursion 120
Saturday's results
1) Ryan Redington 2:49:29; 2) James Wheeler 2:55:49; 3) Ariane Jasmin 2:56:38; 4) Cim Smyth 3:02:30; 5) Wade Marrs 3:04:10; 6) Robert Redington 3:04:43; 7) Jeff King 3:20:32; 8) Ken Anderson 3:23:01; 9) Travis Beals 3:23:18; 10) Corinne Zurflueh 3:25:32; 11) Skeeter Stitt 3:33:04; 12) Ellen Donoghue 3:45:36; 13) Matt Hudson 3:50:19; 14) Jane Adkins 3:57:48; 15) Kristin Bacon 3:57:54; 16) Name not available 3:58:13; 17) Name not available 3:59:59; 18) Luan Marques 4:00:22; 19) Anja Radano 4:01:38; 20) Lisbet Norris 4:11:11; 21) Christine Roalofs 4:11:44; 22) Jason Shelley 4:25:22; 23) Susan Whiton 4:31:52; 24) Vern Halter 5:04:27; 25) Marilyn Storey 5:06:20; 26) Joe Meyer 5:22:25; 27) Gwen Bogart 5:24:46.
exhibition basketball
Payton, Kemp playing hoops at West tonight
Basketball fans can't watch the Seattle SuperSonics anymore, but they will have a chance to see some big names from the former NBA team in action Sunday.
Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp headline a charity game between the NBA & Former Globetrotter All-Stars and the Anchorage Police Department Search Team All-Stars at 5 p.m. at West High.
Former Harlem Globetrotters legend Otis Key will team with Payton and Kemp in the benefit for the APD auxiliary search team volunteers. Tickets are available in advance for $15 at local Tesoro stations, Kaladi Bros. Coffee shops and Blockbuster Video stores and at the gate for $20.
Members of the Alaska 49ers semipro team will also play.
Payton, nicknamed "The Glove," played 13 years of his 17-year NBA career with the SuperSonics, a franchise that left Seattle to become the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008.
Payton, who becomes eligible for the NBA Hall of Fame in 2013, teamed with Kemp to help make the Sonics a force in the 1990s. After reaching the Western Conference Finals at the end of the 1992-93 season, Seattle posted the best record (63-19) in the NBA during the 1993-94 season.
Payton and Kemp helped guide Seattle to the NBA Finals in 1996, eventually losing to a Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls team in six games.
Payton was an all-star nine times with the Sonics before leaving the team in 2003. He finished his NBA career with Milwaukee, Boston and Miami, averaging 16.3 points, 6.7 assists and 1.8 steals for his career.
Kemp, a six-time all-star who played with Seattle from 1990-97, averaged 14.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in an NBA career that included stints with Cleveland, Portland and Orlando.
Anchorage Daily News