Anchorage Daily News

Saturday brought something new to a grizzled Anchorage road race that dates back to when a sponsor named Clinkerdagger's was a player on the Anchorage restaurant scene in early 1980s.

New champions were crowned in the Alaska 10-K Classic -- one new to Alaska, one new to 10-K road racing and both, apparently, new to the nuances of pacing oneself on the fast but deceptive 6.2-mile course.

And on a cool, cloudy morning, new racers were strung out along city streets and trails -- about 324 of them, a 21 percent increase from last year.

Michael Wisniewski, 29, led wire to wire, winning in 31:05. A blistering start afforded the smooth-striding, black-singleted Wisniewski a 33-second lead halfway through the race, a margin he expanded to leave Jerry Ross and UAA's Kenyan stud Paul Rottich battling for second.

"Everyone was kind of shuffling off at the start," Wisniewski said afterwards at the Delaney Park Strip finish line. "Nobody went for it, so I decided to make a move."

In the women's race, veteran triathlete Lori Deschamps took the opposite approach, one seldom seen on the course that begins with a steep downhill from the Alaska Pacific University campus.

She and racing partner Andy Duenow went out slow -- too slow, in fact.

They had planned for a 6:10 per mile pace over the early portion of the race that veteran runners typically burn. Instead, Dechamps said, "we did 6:30s," and she found herself in second place about five seconds behind at the midpoint.

No worries. For all her experience in triathlons -- she's won the last two Gold Nugget Triathlons -- this was Deschamps' first open 10-K, and she soon realized her leisurely start had advantages.

"I was just building the whole time," said Dechamps, who normally would race in Sunday's state triathlon championships instead but planned to be out of town. "With triathlons, you get some breaks with the pain. With a race like this, it's constant."

The gain for her pain was victory in 39:18. Debbie Cropper was second in 40:01 and Lori Stich took third in 40:09.

Deschamps' coach, Lisa Keller of Multisports Training of Alaska, was pleased and hopeful.

"I think that's a great time for her today, but I think she's capable of running 36 or 37 (minutes)," Keller said.

That may be, but Kristi Waythomas -- whose 34:43 back in 1991 remains one of the fastest times ever run by an Alaska woman on the course -- couldn't help ribbing her multi-sports-playing friend on the park strip after the race.

"Not bad for a non-runner," Waythomas said with a laugh. "You still have that soccer shuffle."

Nobody would dare accuse Wisniewski of not being a runner. After all, the cardiac sonographer who works at the Alaska Native Medical Center logs 90 training miles a week and holds a 10-K personal record of 28:55.

Wisniewski, his wife Loren, son Eli, 2, and daughter Emily, 1, moved to Alaska in late March from St. Paul, Minn., and he's quickly made his mark on the Alaska racing scene.

In June, he dominated the Mayor's Half Marathon in 1:11:46, topping UAA track star Mick Boyle by more than three minutes. (Ross won the marathon that day, setting up Saturday's showdown).

And despite a tough training week, Wisniewski never was challenged on Saturday, opening up a lead of nearly a minute on the Chester Creek bike path.

"In the woods, it was nice and quiet," he said afterward. "I had to get through a couple of rough spots, and that was the place to do it."

He left the Alaska race veterans impressed.

"It was a good little piece of humble pie for me," said Ross, the defending champion, who finished in 31:57. "It's been a while since that happened to me up here.

"He took off and was putting 10 seconds a mile on us."

Ross and Rottich ran side by side much of the race, until Ross edged ahead in the last couple of blocks as they raced down Ninth Avenue. After 4 1/2 miles, the pair were 50 seconds behind Wisniewski. All of a sudden, there was a glimmer of hope.

"Coming up A Street (hill), you could tell he was slowing down," Ross said. "He looked back more than anybody I'd seen in a long time. I thought the hill might sneak up and bite him."

At best, it was a nibble. "I was hurting the whole time," Wisniewski acknowledged, but he still managed to win comfortably.

And so Anchorage's oldest and typically its fastest 10-K had a new champion. While Wisniewski's time didn't approach the record 28:35 set by Anchorage Olympian Don Clary in 1987 -- nor any of the dozen or so sub-30 minute clockings littered throughout the 1980s and early 1990s -- the race may have taken a step to reclaim some of its old luster.

While 324 finishers won't make any race director blush with pride, it is nearly 57 more than last year and a 70 percent increase over 2006.

A few more years of that, and the Alaska 10-K Classic may be back to where it once was.

Reach Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.

Alaska 10-K Classic

Top 50 Men

1) Michael Wisniewski 31:05; 2) Jerry Ross 31:55; 3) Paul Rottich 31:57; 4) Jake Moe 33:26; 5) Jeff Heuseveldt 33:32; 6) Sam Hicc 33:41; 7) Ryan Cox 33:55; 8) Michael Adams 35:32; 9) Jeff Young 35:37; 10) Evan Home 35:55; 11) Ryan Davis 36:19; 12) Lloyd Raines 36:31; 13) Scott Clemetson 36:48; 14) Levi Younger 37;16; 15) Chris Morgan 37:35; 16) Ben Wheatall 37:49; 17) Michael Stuart 38:03; 18) John Weddleton 38:07; 19) Kjell Sporseen 38:10; 20) Bob Davis 38:12; 21) Tyler Maxwell 38:20; 22) Ian Rhude 38:51; 23) Alex Odegaard 39:00; 24) Patrick Lavin 39:13; 25) Robert Walgren 39:17;

26) Andrew Duenow 39:21; 27) Timothy Rawson 39:55; 28) Allen Rosenthal 39:57; 29) John Wiram 40:17; 30) Matthew Didier 40:27; 31) Jared Reando 40:43; 32) Eric Skidmore 40:51; 33) Travis Simoncic 41:08; 34) Jacob Richey 41:19; 35) Alex Morris 41:21; 36) Geoffrey Murray 41:35; 37) Bernie Obluda 41:40; 38) Kirk Fisher 41:53; 39) Greg MacDonald 41:59; 40) Quentin Reuer 42:24; 41) Mark Fineman 42:29; 42) Anthony Nicholas 42:50; 43) Carlos Gomez 42:55; 44) Michael Stahl 43:12; 45) John Pontarolo 43:15; 46) Blair Munro 43:25; 47) Chris Wolpert 43:34; 48) John Brewer 43:51; 49) Gary Aarow 44:20; 50) Daniel Ocanas 44:43.

Top 50 Women

1) Lori Deschamps 39:18; 2) Debbie Cropper 40:01; 3) Lori Stich 40:09; 4) April Nelson 42:39; 5) Amanda Nelson 42:47; 6) Katie Lange 42:51; 7) Shanna Vetter 44:11; 8) Rene Gomez 44:39; 9) Erin Jordan 44:54; 10) Polly Wheeler 44:54; 11) Catalina Myers 44:58; 12) Kirsten Kolb 45:08; 13) Angie Meahan 45:36; 14) Sarah Thomas 45:44; 15) Kaitlin Solmonson 45:59; 16) Polly Wiram 46:24; 17) Shannon Gramse 46:46; 18) Christine Bouffard 46:58; 19) Cindy Diekemper 47:05; 20) Alia Parker 47:35; 21) Janet Morrone 47:37; 22) Denise Wilson 47:51; 23) Rebecca Culver 47:53; 24) Katie Swenson 47:53; 25) Tina Moronell 48:08;

26) Ivy Spohnholz 48:16; 27) Lesley Yamauchi 48:28; 28) Kristen Bell 48:41; 29) Volanni Munro 48:44; 30) Peggie Gallagher 48:51; 31) Marie Evans 49:10; 32) Peggy Hicks 49:17; 33) Penelope Glifort 49:29; 34) Patrice Parker 49:39; 35) Robin Stramp 49:48; 36) Leslie Rawson 49:53; 37) Leah Rinder 50:08; 38) BethAnne Clary 50:31; 39) Corrie Smith 50:32; 40) Debra Kinn 50:32; 41) Joleen Smith 50:39; 42) Kristen Kemerling 50:43; 43) Lela Benson 50:44; 44) Jamielyn Archer 50:46; 45) Jennifer Schmeisser 50:47; 46) Larissa Pestryakova 51:12; 47) Jillian Simpson 51:28; 48) Colleen Stephens 51:29; 49) Rachael Pope 51:34; 50) Stephanie Flores 51:49.

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