Anchorage Daily News

SEWARD -- Mired in a shockingly unfamiliar position -- second place -- Cedar Bourgeois of Seward spent late Saturday morning in a physical duel with Holly Brooks and a mental gymnastics meet with herself.

After Brooks passed the five-time defending Mount Marathon women's champion and began pulling away from her two-thirds of the way up the 3,022-foot torture test, Bourgeois alternated between thoughts of confidence and considerations of humility.

One minute she believed her chances of extending her reign seemed remote. The next minute, she reminded herself the downhill was still to come and that she is unsurpassed at rocketing down the slope overlooking her hometown.

Back and forth went the debate, like a long tennis rally inside her skull.

"I was holding onto the little voice in my head -- 'You've got your downhill; hold on, girl,' " Bourgeois said. "I was calculating in my mind. But I swear, I thought, 'She's on fire and I'm toast.'

"Then I thought, 'OK, I've got the (downhill). Then, 'Fair and square, she's gonna beat me.' "

The happy voice won on the 70-degree day that drained runners -- Bourgeois passed a faltering Brooks on the downhill and became the third person in the 82-year history of the race to win six consecutive years.

Bourgeois, a 33-year-old cook, crossed the finish line surrounded by a chorus of celebratory cheers in 54 minutes, 19 seconds.

Brooks, 27, suffered from heat exhaustion and required a stop in an emergency room located along the race's return route before walking to the finish.

Olympic nordic skier Kikkan Randall, 26, of Anchorage, a former junior Mount Marathon champion, was runner-up for the fourth time and clocked a personal-best 56:04. Aubrey Smith, 29, of Seward, the junior record-holder, staked herself to third in 59:36.

Leslie Varys, 30, of Wasilla, bagged fourth in 1:00:36, and Rachel Dow, 30, of Seward charged into fifth in 1:01:14. Sixth place went to Anchorage's Ellyn Brown, 56, in 1:04:46.

Bourgeois' sixth straight win tied her with Sven Johanson (1954-1959) for the second-most consecutive wins in race history. The record belongs to former Olympic skier Nina Kemppel of Anchorage, who won eight straight races (1996-2003) and a record nine overall.

"Six straight -- whew, I never thought it,'' Bourgeois said.

Getting to such lofty territory required Bourgeois to conquer her be-careful-what-you-wish-for scenario. In her previous five victories, her average winning margin was more than four minutes, and she long expressed a desire for competition to push her and enliven the women's race.

Brooks was happy to oblige, moving past Bourgeois and taking a lead of perhaps one minute when she rounded the rock atop the mountain that signals the race's halfway point.

"I felt great,'' said Brooks, runner-up in her Mount Marathon debut last year. "I knew I had to make a move on the uphill because she's faster than me on the downhill.''

As friends and fans cheered Brooks -- "All 'Holly! Holly! Holly!' No Cedars,'' Bourgeois said, bemused -- the champ felt tested as never before.

"I thought, 'This is what the guys deal with; this is what racing is supposed to be,' " she said. " 'This is what you wish for, girl -- God dang it.' "

But Brooks' legs began to weaken on the descent, and Bourgeois passed her on the bottom half of the mountain.

"Right before I passed her, Holly came to a stop and teetered,'' Bourgeois said. "She seemed like she lost her trail and was confused.''

Brooks said she stopped a few times to gather herself. Randall, who overtaxed herself in the race several years ago, said her friend and her coach looked bad when she passed her at the base of the mountain.

"I gave her a pat on the back and said, 'Good luck, man,' " Randall said. "I could tell she was in trouble. It just slowly sets in.''

Randall's time marked a personal best by 63 seconds. That was especially satisfying because, with the 2010 Olympics beckoning, the world championship nordic medalist told herself to be safely sure-footed on the downhill, where one slip could mean injury.

"I told myself, 'Little bit of speed, be careful; little bit of speed, be careful,' " Randall said. "2010 is the Olympics I've been aiming for. I want to be ready.

"I'm really happy to do this race and be part of it.''

Sixth-place finisher Brown cut 3:23 off her time in 2008, when she finished 15th. Still, it was one place lower than her best.

"I was fifth one year when everyone in Seward was pregnant,'' Brown laughed. "(Two-time champion) Patti Foldager was pregnant. (Four-time champion) Carmen Young was pregnant.''

Brooks, who suffered a nasty blister on her left heel, eventually hobbled across the finish line in spectacular spirits. She said she finished to keep her spot next year in the limited entry race and because that's how she rolls.

"I want to do the race next year -- you've got to finish. You can't not finish,'' Brooks said. "I had a coach in college who said if you don't finish in one race, you don't start the next race.''

And she is already counting down the days to the 2010 race. Though Brooks' race didn't pan out, she was motivating by putting a scare into Bourgeois.

"I am psyched for next year,'' said Brooks, who is marrying Rob Whitney next week. "No more of this Cedar-racing-against-the-clock stuff. This gives me a lot of inspiration for next year.''

Given Brooks' challenge and the heat that baked runners, Bourgeois was happy, and relieved, to extend her streak.

"I felt throbbing in my head,'' she said. "I felt the shivers. I felt everything. It took everything I had to survive.''

Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

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