Michael Tappel of Anchorage made a triumphant debut in Saturday’s Kesugi Ridge Traverse, a hilly 30-mile trail run in Denali State Park.
It was his first time on the technical route between the Little Coal Creek trailhead and the Byers Lake Campground, a trail left wet and muddy by pouring rain on Friday.
Tappel, 26, made the journey in 4 hours, 47 minutes and 41 seconds, good for a 12-minute victory over runner-up Galen Johnston of Anchorage. Miles Raney of Palmer was third in 5:13:07.
Tappel works in Seattle but is from Anchorage. He graduated from Holy Rosary Academy, and in 2018 he broke the three-hour mark to finish fourth in the Anchorage RunFest marathon.
In an email, he pointed out a piece of race history: “the K’esugi Ridge Trail was created by Dave Johnston, the father of the 2nd place finisher Galen Johnston. Dave was the park ranger for Denali State Park for many decades.”
Eagle River’s Shauna Severson, 34, took the women’s win in 5:58:03. She hit the halfway point at Ermine Hill with a 28-second lead and won by nearly 10 minutes. Briana Sullivan of Girdwood finished second in 6:07:23 and Shalane Frost of Fairbanks was third in 6:10:11.
In the 14.5-mile half traverse, Anchorage siblings Forrest Mahlen and Tsaina Mahlen turned in record-breaking performances.
Forrest won the men’s race in 2:21:30, more than three minutes faster than the previous record. Tsaina topped the women in 2:34:12, holding off Yvonne Jeschke by 27 seconds; both women surpassed the previous record by more than five minutes.