Anchorage Daily News

For the first time in about 15 years Sunday, a new factor turned up at the Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb up Bird Ridge.

Nasty weather.

Rain at the bottom turned to snow and hail up top after runners gained 3,400 feet in elevation from the Seward Highway. Worst than precipitation were winds that may have gusted to 50 mph.

"I was knocked over by the wind right above the treeline, fell and got an awesome cut on my side," said Cinthia Ritchie, who finished in just over 70 minutes. "It was strong enough at points that it actually blew my jacket off from where I had it tied around my waist."

Added race director Brad Precosky, "As soon as it was exposed, it was like stepping outside in middle of winter."

But no wind could deter Brent Knight, a nordic skier who trains at Alaska Pacific University's Nordic Ski Center. Knight dusted the field in 40 minutes, four seconds, some 1:37 ahead of APU teammate James Southam. Tor Christopherson was third in 42:01.

"That's a smokin' time," Precosky said of Knight.

Seward's mountain queen, Cedar Bourgeois, served notice that she'll be hard to beat when she goes for her sixth Mount Marathon victory next month. Bourgeois won Sunday in 47:14, more than two minutes ahead of APU ski coach Holly Brooks, the runner-up to Bourgeois last year at Mount Marathon.

Knight was feeling smart -- and a tad lucky -- because he declined to strip down to the bare-chested look, one some mountain runners prefer, after the sun appeared briefly at the start.

"If I get hot, I get hot," he thought. "But once I got onto the ridge in the open, I was rolling down my sleeves."

A year ago at Bird Ridge, Knight finished second to Sam Hill, who did not race on Sunday.

"I think Sam's in another world," Knight said at the time. "I wish I was closer ... I just keep telling myself I'm about 40 pounds heavier than him. I'm coming up with all the excuses I can."

And as much as Bird Ridge can help predict who will be strongest at Mount Marathon, neither man won in Seward. Instead, Trond Flagstad captured the big race, with Hill second, nearly two minutes back, and Knight sixth. Just weeks earlier at the 2008 Bird Ridge run -- which is uphill only -- Hill beat Flagstad by two minutes.

Bourgeois did not race Bird Ridge last year.

Knight thinks a change in his workouts has made a difference. Last year, he did lots of interval training.

The result: "Halfway up Mount Marathon, my body said it was done."

This year he's gone to longer aerobic workouts.

"I don't feel super worn out -- more like light fatigue the whole time. Typically, my body would start breaking down, but I feel like I have a whole new muscle system kicking in this year."

Cold and wet, few runners lingered at the top after reaching the finish line. How miserable was it?

Miserable enough that most runners passed on a cold beer that a spectator hauled up in a backpack.

Other notable results:

• Barney Griffith, 51, continued to age gracefully, finishing sixth and topping the masters in 43:30, just two seconds behind six-time Mount Marathon champion Precosky. John Weddleton was the next runner as old as Griffith to the top, finishing 25th.

• Laddie Shaw, 60, broke a 15-year-old age group record, finishing in 52:53.

• Corky Corthell, who turned 80 this year, finished in 1:22:17. Fourteen runners trailed him up the mountain.

Robert Spurr Memorial Race

At Bird Ridge on Sunday

1) Brent Knight, 40:04; 2) James Southam, 41:41; 3) Tor Christopherson, 42:01; 4) Erik Mundahl, 42:45; 5) Robert Whitney, 43:08; 6) Rune Christopherson, 43:20; 7) Brad Precosky, 43:28; 8) Barney Griffith, 43:30 (first master's); 9) Matt Novakovich, 43:40; 10) Nathaniel Knapp, 43:43; 11) Todd Bethard, 44:07; 12) Hugh Gren, 44:11; 13) Tom Honer, 44:23; 14) Seth Downs, 44:55; 15) Andrew Dougherty, 45:18; 16) Jack Novak, 45:18; 17) Matias Saari, 45:30; 18) Alex Alonso, 45:35; 19) Mason Wick, 46:07; 20) Isaac Bertschi, 46:17; 21) Tony Slatonbarker, 46:34; 22) Keith Weinhold, 46:46; 23) Mark Brady, 46:49; 24) Silas Talbot, 46:53; 25) John Weddleton, 46:55; 26) Willie Stoll, 46:57; 27) Darin Markwardt, 46:59; 28) Alex Babos, 47:02; 29) Cole Talbot, 47:06; 30) Cedar Bourgeois, 47:14 (first woman); 31) Todd Lowery, 47:15; 32) Jonathan Harvey, 48:00; 33) David Besh, 48:01; 34) Forrest Mahlen, 48:06; 35) Tyler Kornfield, 48:20; 36) Andrew Stavich, 48:23; 37) David Apperson, 48:33; 38) Lyon Kopsack, 48:42; 39) Jason Walker, 49:03; 40) Dan Kozak, 49:08; 41) Austin Gillespie, 49:10; 42) Brandon Rinner, 49:40; 43) Benjamin Schnell, 49:48; 44) Pete McEnaney, 49:49; 45) Joe Dougherty, 49:52; 46) Scott Wick, 49:54; 47) Holly Brooks, 49:57 (second woman); 48) Kent Peterson, 50:16; 49) Jane Senaga, 50:21;

50) Aubrey Smith, 50:25; 51) Tadhg Nakada, 50:27; 52) Brian Stoecker, 50:32; 53) Matt Peters, 50:48; 54) Lance Kopsack, 50:53; 55) Leslie Varys, 50:56; 56) Davis Dunlap, 51:05; 57) Amelia Hennessy, 51:24; 58) Robert Flood, 51:28; 59) Dave Pfeiffer, 51:47; 60) Abby Ridout, 51:59; 61) Scott Wheeler, 52:09; 62) Mark Carr, 52:17; 63) Roy Elie-Wolkoff, 52:21; 64) Alisa Kincaid, 52:28; 65) Ellyn Brown, 52:31; 66) Laddie Shaw, 52:33; 67) Miles Knotek, 52:35; 68) Luke Kiskaddon, 52:48; 69) Brad Benter, 52:58; 70) Samuel Crow, 53:10; 71) Gyongyver Schilling, 53:11; 72) Thomas Coolidge, 53:17; 73) Colleen Durnford, 53:18; 74) Paul Pletnikoff, 53:24; 75) Eugen Beutler, 53:44; 76) Joey Klecka, 53:45; 77) Chris Wood, 53:48; 78) Shawn Hull, 54:12; 79) Marc Johnson, 54:13; 80) Braun Kopsack, 54:14; 81) Douglas Watts, 54:15; 82) Dan Marshall, 54:17; 83) Joe Mortiboy, 54:18; 84) Michael Wheatall, 54:23; 85) Joel Wagner, 54:25; 86) Steve Gilles, 54:33; 87) Tom Smayda, 54:52; 88) Hugh Cosgrave, 54:53; 89) Karen Williams, 55:10; 90) Brett Vadla, 55:12; 91) Frank Lahr, 55:20; 92) David Rebischke, 55:23; 93) April Juliussell, 55:24; 94) Kevin Vig, 55:28; 95) Thomas Bailly, 55:29; 96) Zoe Roy, 55:34; 97) Jenna De Yong, 55:40; 98) Esther Kennedy, 55:49; 99) Gordon Wetzel, 55:54; 100) Judy Kanady, 56:38;

101) Jason Walsh, 56:40; 102) Randy Kanady, 56:42; 103) Cam Johnson, 56:44; 104) Charlie Ess, 56:51; 105) Kristy De Yong, 57:00; 106) Daniel Willman, 57:15; 107) Daniel Thorsness, 57:41; 108) Tsaina Mahlen, 57:59; 109) Kris Burnett, 58:03; 110) Rod Anderson, 58:11; 111) Aaron Christie, 58:11; 112) MacKenzie Flynn, 58:12; 113) Daniel Myers, 58:20; 114) Leah Besh, 58:20; 115) Christian Page, 58:22; 116) Teresa Russell, 58:25; 117) Duke Ruzicka, 58:28; 118) Robert Felker, 58:38; 119) Jeff Henson, 58:48; 120) Sanya Krenzelok, 58:50; 121) Lauren Spinelli, 58:57; 122) Sheamus Nakada, 59:04; 123) Kendra Besh, 59:30; 124) Niles Woods, 59:36; 125) Aaron Wheatall, 59:38; 126) Joshua Allely, 59:41; 127) Beth alta Fletcher, 59:45; 128) Marion Woods, 1:00:08; 129) Ed Strabel, 1:00:14; 130) Kenneth McInally, 1:00:34; 131) Keri Koger, 1:00:36; 132) John Zebutis, 1:00:41; 133) Steve McKeever, 1:00:43; 134) roger Kemppel, 1:00:49; 135) Sean Clifton, 1:01:03; 136) Rich Wooten, 1:01:10; 137) Susan Forbes, 1:01:31; 138) Karl Swanson, 1:01:37; 139) Julie Beatty, 1:01:40; 140) Benjamin Wheatall, 1:02:18; 141) Kelsey Coolidge, 1:02:27; 142) Elaine Nelson, 1:02:46; 143) Tim Lebling, 1:03:19; 144) Hannah Beutler, 1:03:20; 145) Cherryl Ess, 1:03:22; 146) Nick Owens, 1:03:22; 147) Stacy Johnson, 1:03:23; 148) Alec Kay, 1:03:24; 149) Suzanne Wheatall, 1:03:24; 150) Chad Lusk, 1:03:25;

151) David Watsjold, 1:03:30; 152) Anita Felker, 1:03:35; 153) Jerry Cosgrave, 1:03:39; 154) Jennifer Payne, 1:03:41; 155) Alex Okeson, 1:03:45; 156) Celia Haering, 1:03:49; 157) Matt Johnson, 1:04:01; 158) Brian Dranzo, 1:04:04; 159) Carolyn Knueppel, 1:04:05; 160) Rhianne Waggood, 1:04:16; 161) Clarence Ess, 1:04:31; 162) Rachelle Kanady, 1:04:37; 163) Gunnar Knapp, 1:04:44; 164) Martin Cassens, 1:04:55; 165) Brent Kirk, 1:05:15; 166) Laura Cluberton, 1:05:38; 167) Vladimir Hill, 1:05:47; 168) Veronica Vania, 1:05:56; 169) Joseph Marshall, 1:06:19; 170) Jeff Bool, 1:06:23; 171) Greg Brown, 1:06:32; 172) Sandy Ford, 1:06:55; 173) Kristen King, 1:07:02; 174) Andrew White, 1:07:16; 175) Norm Johnson, 1:07:17; 176) Brandon King, 1:07:19; 177) Allen Clendaniel, 1:07:23; 178) Nancy Osborne, 1:08:02; 179) Jeremy Hinshaw, 1:08:03; 180) Heidi Biggs, 1:08:26; 181) Sue Skvorc, 1:08:30; 182) Steve O'Hara, 1:08:45; 183) Megan Merrihew, 1:08:49; 184) Gisel Figallo-Florez, 1:09:26; 185) Evan R. Steinhauser, 1:09:31; 186) Cinthia Ritchie, 1:10:16; 187) Kent Williams, 1:10:27; 188) Scott Simms, 1:10:33; 189) Quentin Reuer, 1:10:38; 190) Sunday Stinson, 1:10:51; 191) Russ Dunlap, 1:11:10; 192) Alberta Laktonen, 1:11:56; 193) Richard Clendaniel, 1:12:44; 194) Amy Haddow, 1:13:17; 195) Koe Sturgulewski, 1:13:40; 196) Jennifer Babos, 1:15:34; 197) Ashley Kelly, 1:16:56; 198) Paul Beever, 1:17:59; 199) Aubrey Morrison, 1:18:42; 200) Mark Tuovinen, 1:19;

201) Mary Kemppel, 1:19:08; 202) Kneeland Taylor, 1:19:53; 203) Erica Zeigler, 1:20:37; 204) Dane Crowley, 1:20:44; 205) Corky Corthell, 1:22:17; 206) Jim Lieb, 1:23:29; 207) Sandy Johnson, 1:23:34; 208) John Frost, 1:24:22; 209) Emily Dougherty, 1:24:28; 210) Kelsey Tranel, 1:28:38; 211) Pat Dougherty, 1:29:03; 212) Karen McMaster-Skogs, 1:29:05; 213) Stacee Frost, 1:29:06; 214) Mary Hensel, 1:29:41; 215) Joani Welch, 1:30:18; 216) Trula Acena, 1:30:53; 217) Nelson Fern Figallo-Florez, 1:31:23; 218) Millie Spezialy, 1:32:50; 219) Al Pedersen, 1:34:21.

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