Sports

Saari seizes Angel Creek 50-Miler for second straight year

Anchorage's Matias Saari won the Angel Creek 50-Miler, a grueling race near Fairbanks that includes more than 11,000 feet of elevation gain, for the second straight year Saturday.

Saari clocked 9 hours, 58 seconds, to win by nearly two hours. His time was 2:08 off his time in last year's inaugural race, but proved a better performance because Saari lost some time Saturday in foggy conditions while trying to find flagging marking the course in the Chena River Recreation Area.

Saari is a five-time champion of the Equinox Marathon, which he has won the last two years. He's scheduled to have his history of the Equinox published soon.

Nikki Potter won the women's title in 11:50:54 and took eighth overall among 19 finishers.

Ron Kaczaja (10:57:17) took second among men and Jeremy Vandermeer claimed third (11:08:47). Becca Rolph (12:07:43) finished second among women, and ninth overall, and Laura McDonough (13:02:09) earned third, and 11th overall.

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