Running

New managers take over Crow Pass Crossing

The Crow Pass Crossing wilderness trail race, canceled this year because of safety concerns, will return next year under new management.

Healthy Futures will replace UAA as the organizers of the marathon-length backcountry race, first held in 1984.

"I feel personally honored to be in a position to help carry the torch with Crow Pass," said two-time Crow Pass winner Harlow Robinson, executive director of Healthy Futures and the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame.

"It's an event I'm passionate about personally, and we as an organization want to continue the culture that surrounds the race."

Matias Saari, the event coordinator for Healthy Futures, will be the race director. He replaces longtime race director Michael Friess, the UAA track and cross-country coach.

Friess canceled this year's race in the days following a fatal bear mauling at the Bird Ridge mountain race. Both races takes runners through bear country.

As time went on, he said, "we realized maybe it's time for us to move on."

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"The university never told me I couldn't do it, never said this is too big a liability for us and we can't handle it anymore," Friess said. "The way I came to (the decision) was my level of comfort.

"… (A)nytime you draw a start line and a finish line and you pull the trigger, you've got a responsibility to the safety of those participants."

Crow Pass runners face numerous potential hazards on their journey from the trailhead near Girdwood to the finish line at the Eagle River Nature Center. There are no aid stations and no trail markers, and runners must sign a waiver acknowledging the risks, whether it's bears, bees, cow parsnip or a river crossing.

Friess said three things could enhance safety — medical aid along the trail, increased communication capabilities and day-of-race trail surveillance.

Saari, the race director for the Kesugi Ridge Traverse in Denali State Park, said he hasn't developed a specific safety plan for Crow Pass yet.

He said it's important to have people with medical experience on the trail. He said people have loaned satellite phones and texting devices for use at Kesugi Ridge, and he thinks something similar can happen for Crow Pass.

One of Saari's ideas is to provide a shuttle bus to get racers to the start line, so they don't have to retrieve their cars in Girdwood after the race. He expects the race will continue to be held in July, several days after Mount Marathon.

Robinson said the race would have continued even without a change in management. It was never in danger of going away, he said. Friess has a passion for it, as do runners. When smoke from wildfires postponed the race by a week in 2005, some ran the trail on the originally scheduled race day anyway because they weren't going to be able to make it on the new race date.

"I believe there's a lot of spirit around this race," Robinson said. "If an official organization hadn't picked up the torch, there'd be a group of people who would still do it. We're happy to keep official."

This story has been updated to include information about the shuttle bus and to current the year when the race was postponed by smoke.

Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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