Sports

Fat biker Will Ross wins sprint finish in Susitna Half Hundred and skier Holly Brooks dazzles in Little Su 50K

Anchorage cyclist Will Ross held off a fast pack of fat bikers to win the Susitna Half Hundred wilderness race Saturday in the Susitna Valley.

The 50-mile race was decided by a sprint finish at Happy Trails Kennel in Big Lake, where both the Half Hundred and the Little Su 50-kilometer races started and finished.

Ross edged David Arteago by .37 of a second with a time of 4 hours, 38 minutes, 22.48 seconds. It was a fantastic finish all around, with the top five bikers separated by 2.07 seconds and the top nine separated by 14.15 seconds.

The races attracted a total of 156 bikers, skiers and runners — 86 for the 50-miler and 70 for the 50K. The vast majority were fat bikers.

Kinsey Loan, an Eagle River cyclist, dominated the women’s 50-mile race with a fat-bike time of 5:27:00. She was 26 minutes ahead of the next woman and 15th overall.

A husband-and-wife duo also claimed 50-mile wins — Ben Marvin topped the skiers in 7:18:58 and Christy Marvin topped the runners, including all of the men, in 10:15:00. Jonathan Richner was the top men’s runner in 11:11:00.

No women entered the 50-mile race.

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In the LIttle Su 50K, two-time Olympic skier Holly Brooks turned in an impressive performance by showing that skiers can hold their own with all but the fastest fat bikers. She placed 16th overall in 3:33:22, beating everyone but 15 bikers. She was the fastest skier by 45 minutes.

Bikers ruled the 50K, with Brandon Chiu clocking 2:46:37 to take the men’s title and Amber Stull pacing the women and finishing 15th overall in 3:18:31. Stull was the only woman to beat Brooks.

Other 50K winners were Eric Auten in the men’s ski (4:18:30), Ben Lavigueur in the men’s run (5:31:15) and Zoe Ash in the women’s run (5:43:49).

Susitna Half Hundred

Top 10 men’s fat bikers — 1) Will Ross 4:38:22:48; 2) David Arteaga 4:38:22:85; 3) Jason Lamoreaux 4:38:24:52; 4) Oliver Sternicki 4:38:24:53; 5) James Stull 4:38:24:55; 6) Clint Hodges 4:38:33.29; 7) Brian Bonney 4:38:35.14; 8) Erik Flanders 4:38:35:98; 9) Nicolas Baudin 4:38:36.63; 10) Brad Manderfeld 4:41:34.09.

Top 5 men’s skiers — 1) Ben Marvin 7:18:58; 2) Chet Fehrmann 7:49:50; 3) Bob Gillis 10:00:00; 4) Mike Beiergrohslein 10:42:00; 5) Sven Berglund 13:14:42.

Top 5 men’s runners — 1) Jonathan Richner 11:11:00; 2) Brandon Wood 11:24:00; 3) Wilmer Higgs 12:00:00; 4) Martti Lindke 12:06:00; 5) Tim Neckar 2:06:00.

Top 5 women’s fat bikers — 1) Kinsey Loan 5:27:00; 2) Libby Kugel 5:53:00; 3) Nikki Potter 6:19:01; 4) Janice Tower 6:22:26; 5) Kate Roch 6:38:50.

Top 5 women’s runners — 1) Christy Marvin 10:15:00; 2) Eeva Latosuo 11:48:12; 3) Melissa Lewis 11:48:00; 4) Laura McDonough 11:58:59; 5) Christine Bennett 12:03:00.

Little Su 50K

Top 3 men’s fat bikers — 1) Brandon Chiu 2:46:37; 2) Bryan Hudson 2:49:15; 3) Nicolas Straka 2:58:30.

Top 3 men’s skiers — 1) Eric Auten 4:18:30; 2) Patrick Sartz 4:42:11; 3) Robert Whitney 5:00:44.

Top 3 men’s runners — 1) Ben Lavigueur 5:31:15; 2) Siddharth Rajan 5:34:06; 3) Riley Robertson 5:40:54.

Top 3 women’s fat bikers — 1) Amber Stull 3:18:31; 2) Sheryl Loan 3:47:01; 3) Pam Conn 3:47:34.

Top 3 women’s skiers — 1) Holly Brooks 3:33:22; 2) Rosalind Worcester 6:17:37; 3) Rachel Anderson 6:36:04.

Top 3 women’s runners — 1) Zoe Ash 5:43:49; 2) Letta Stokes 6:30:38; 3) Ivy Bowler 7:25:51.

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