Megan Chelf, queen of the Frosty Bottom, captures 5th straight fat bike title

Megan Chelf extended her Frosty Bottom reign on a particularly frosty day Saturday by claiming her fifth straight women’s title in the 43-mile fat bike race across Anchorage.

Chelf made the trip from Kincaid Park to Bicentennial Park and back in 3 hours, 45 minutes, 20 seconds, to finish 16th overall in a field of 45 bikers.

Will Ross took his first Frosty Bottom title since 2016 by edging David Arteaga by 17 seconds. Ross clocked 3:01:19 and Arteaga was right behind in 3:01:36.

About 200 bikers and runners turned out despite subzero temperatures on the trails. Besides the 43-mile fat bike race, there was a 25-mile fat bike race, a 26.2-mile marathon and a 13.1-mile half-marathon.

Mark Iverson of Skinny Raven Sports said it was about minus 7 when the bikers took off at 10 a.m., and colder on the Hillside.

In the 25-mile bike race, Branden Lashua defeated Zachary Cole by 11 seconds to claim first place with a time of 1:53:35.

Pam Winders was the fastest woman by more than three minutes in 2:37:16. She placed 12th overall in a field of 76.

In the marathon, Allan Spangler and Kenny Brewer posted impressive times while finishing first and second. Spangler won in 3:13:49, and Brewer was next in 3:19:34. No one else in the field of 45 broke the four-hour barrier.

Denali Strabel paced the women in 4:26:24, nearly 27 minutes ahead of runner-up Samantha Wilson.

In the inaugural half-marathon, Pyper Dixon paced the men in 1:25:49 and Emily Evans led the women in 1:37:40.

Eighty people completed the footraces, 45 in the marathon and 35 in the half-marathon.

“Runners weren’t fast because the cold slowed them down,” Matias Saari, race director of the footraces, said by text. “Tough group of runners.”

43-mile fat bike race

Men — 1. Will Ross, 3:01:19; 2. David Arteaga, 3:01:36; 3. Jason Lamoreaux, 3:04:52; 4. Mark Hamm, 3:08:35; 5. Brian Bonney, 3:08:50; 6. Oliver Sternicki, 3:11:04; 7. Brent Lowen, 3:16:40; 8. Nicolas Baudin, 3:17:20; 9. Tom Peichel, 3:29:34; 10. Brad Manderfeld, 3:29:45; 11. Chris Robertson, 3:30:16; 12. Jason Rowland, 3:32:23; 13. James Howery, 3:38:21; 14. Chris Wrobel, 3:38:22; 15. Eyal Saiet, 3:44:33; 16. Keith Zemke, 3:45:58; 17. Patrick Sullivan, 3:47:15; 18. Michael Filipowski, 3:47:39; 19. Eric Teixmen, 3:58:18; 20. David Cadogan, 3:58:32; 21. Brant Grifka, 4:02:01; 22. Jeremiah Bell, 4:08:33; 23. Storm Carl, 4:09:05; 24. John Schwieder, 4:09:26; 25. Mike Monterusso, 4:10:41; 26. Owen Ala, 4:11:31; 27. Donovan Camp, 4:16:31; 28. Ben Ward, 4:22:03; 29. Christopher Wolpert, 4:23:57; 30. Mike Buck, 4:50:35; 31. Jesse Bond, 4:53:10; 32. Derek Morgan, 4:59:26; 33. John Notestine, 5:03:18; 34. Marcus Waehler, 5:17:46; 35. Benjamin Ekstrom, 5:18:22; 36. Clinton Hodges, 5:24:08; 37. Tim Thomas, 5:37:16; 38. Frank Yarbrough, 5:40:08; 39. Eric Tausch, 5:44:27; 40. Matthew Fleetwood, 5:45:21.

Women — 1. Megan Chelf, 3:45:20; 2. Christina Grande, 4:01:51; 3. Sheryl Loan, 4:35:21; 4. Julie Christensen, 5:15:08; 5. Melanie Vriesman, 6:24:38.

25-mile fat bike race

Men — 1. Branden Lashua, 1:53:35; 2. Zachary Cole, 1:53:46; 3. Bryan Hudson, 1:53:55; 4. Nicholas Straka, 1:53:56; 5. Matthew Tabinor, 1:56:33; 6. Tony Hardwick, 2:07:53; 7. Jared Sarten, 2:12:31; 8. David Gamez, 2:18:18; 9. Brandon Chiu, 2:19:12; 10. Will Corbridge, 2:21:45; 11. Dominic Shallies, 2:22:26; 12. Lee Warnick, 2:28:52; 13. Brian Baus, 2:28:55; 14. Morgan Stanton, 2:33:01; 15. Mark Geuss, 2:35:29; 16. Lance Arnold, 2:36:49; 17. Toby Hubbard, 2:36:59; 18. David Twyman, 2:38:33; 19. Josh Hedberg, 2:40:20; 20. Robb Christenson, 2:41:32; 21. Kris Hinrichsen, 2:41:38; 22. Brandon Hoxie, 2:45:46; 23. Ryan Kofoid, 2:47:15; 24. Paul Cartier, 2:50:02; 25. Trent Taylor, 2:50:23; 26. Dan Pemble, 2:52:34; 27. Peter Seiffert, 2:55:25; 28. M. Scott Moon, 2:55:35; 29. Roger Joys, 2:56:57; 30. Brian Pekar, 2:58:39; 31. Carlos Dobbs, 3:01:59; 32. Howard Levine, 3:05:09; 33. Kent Stuber, 3:06:10; 34. Andy Underwood, 3:06:24; 35. Michael Riley, 3:17:09; 36. Jonathan Hughes, 3:20:28; 37. Brian Quam, 3:22:08; 38. Randy Armstrong, 3:23:32; 39. Greg Vancil, 3:24:03; 40. Jon Schultz, 3:24:07; 41. Joseph Reser, 3:34:16; 42. James Ingersoll, 3:34:47; 43. Dan Kimball, 3:36:40; 44. Jeremy Novakovich, 3:38:23; 45. Jeffrey Kelly, 3:39:40; 46. Warren Libby, 3:41:20; 47. Ellison Libby, 3:41:20; 48. Stephen Spencer, 3:44:21; 49. Jeffrey Adamczyk, 3:54:06; 50. Robert McNeil, 3:57:43; 51. Bill Mendenhall, 4:38:29; 52. Bryan Kirby, 5:03:47; 53. Clark Bassham, 5:04:11.

Women — 1. Pam Winders, 2:37:16; 2. Katrina Mejia, 2:40:03; 3. Megan Neale, 2:41:14; 4. Rebecca Noblin, 2:41:14; 5. Genevieve Nolan, 2:52:06; 6. Lauren Grippo, 2:53:02; 7. Lanara Forgit, 3:07:19; 8. Laura Mullin, 3:08:18; 9. Nicole Wollgast, 3:11:10; 10. Rachel Heath, 3:11:42; 11. Carolyn Harley, 3:32:15; 12. Marci Cartier, 3:33:03; 13. Cathleen Kelly, 3:36:13; 14. Lorena Knapp, 3:36:39; 15. Aimee Young, 3:44:20; 16. Wynne Auld, 3:45:54; 17. Amanda Lopez, Palmer, AK 3:52:33; 18. Carrie McGrann, 3:52:34; 19. Kristin Riall, 3:56:54; 20. April Erickson, 3:57:40; 21. Traci Bradford, 4:37:31; 22. Shannon Hardwick, 4:57:59.

Tandem — 1. Dawn Danner-Lars Danner, 3:36:46.

26.2-mile run

Men (top 3) — 1) Allan Spangler 3:13:49; 2) Kenny Brewer 3:19:34; 3) Paul Lafrance 4:03:01.

Women (top 3) — 1) Denali Strabel 4:26:24; 2) Samantha Wilson 4:53:21; 3) Amber McDonough 4:59:44.

13.1-mile half marathon

Men (top 3) — 1) Pyper Dixon 1:25:49; 2) Cody Priest 1:27:07; 3) Franklin Dekker 1:33:02.

Women (top 3) — 1) Emily Evans 1:37:40; 2) Katie Krehlik 1:42:53; 3) Adrienne Voss 2:01:44.