Fall colors, fast runners put on a show at the 3rd annual Mat-Su Relay

There was snow in the mountains, a rainy start that gave way to great weather and fall colors all around Saturday for runners in the third annual Mat-Su Relay, a 50-mile race from Independence Mine to the Palmer Alehouse.

Three teams turned in record runs.

The Anchorage team of Abby Bigelow, Sarah Nicholas, Trent Fritzel, Zach Williams, Ruth Cvancara and John Farr combined for a time of 5 hours, 45 minutes, 37 seconds to grab the overall victory. Their time set a record in the three-year-old race.

Other records came in the six-woman division and the four-man division.

Anna Johnson, Sarah Webster, Samantha Simpson, Michelle Fabry, Shauna Boquist and Callie Jones finished in 6:42:14 to set a new standard for six-woman teams. William Griffith, Eric Benbrook, Robert Cassidy and Eric Deer clocked 7:26:43 for a four-man record.

This year’s course was 1.1 miles shorter than in previous years, but race organizers adjusted previous records to account for the shorter distance.

The Bigelow team easily beat the overall six-person team record of 6:31:09, which adjusted to 6:22:49.

The Johnson team broke its own six-woman record of 6:59:20 (6:50:24 adjusted) from last year. There was no previous record for the four-man division.

Fourteen teams of four to six runners started the race Saturday morning at Hatcher Pass. The course descended to the Little Susitna River and went through to a mix of farmland and forest while taking runners to Wasilla en route to the finish line in Palmer.

[Because of a high volume of comments requiring moderation, we are temporarily disabling comments on many of our articles so editors can focus on the coronavirus crisis and other coverage. We invite you to write a letter to the editor or reach out directly if you’d like to communicate with us about a particular article. Thanks.]