Rosie Frankowski, Thomas O’Harra repeat as Tour of Anchorage champions

For Rosie Frankowski, all roads lead back to Alaska.

Frankowski, a 2018 U.S. Olympian and longtime APU Elite Team skier, has spent much of the last year traveling. She’s lived for monthslong stretches in South America and Mexico, and spent the last six weeks at a dry cabin outside Fairbanks.

But Frankowski made it back to Anchorage in time to defend her title at the Tour of Anchorage. Not that she takes it that seriously.

Donning a pink wig, flashy headband and flannel shirt, Frankowski crossed the finish line Sunday in the 50K freestyle race in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 22 seconds. The time was nearly 50 seconds ahead of the runner-up, APU stalwart Hailey Swirbul.

“I try to keep skiing very, very fun and casual these days,” she said. “I was super excited because so many of my former teammates are doing the race, and it just felt like a party and so fun. I wore this wig at the Oosik last year and it just kind of gives you that sense of like, we’re just out here having fun.”

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Finn Morley passes by Westchester Lagoon in the 50K freestyle race during the Tour of Anchorage cross country ski race on Sunday, March 3, 2024. Morley finished in 11th place. (Bob Hallinen Photo)

While she has transitioned away from professional skiing — hence the extended travel schedule — Frankowski said she yearns for the community she first found during her competitive skiing days.

“I keep finding myself coming back to Alaska, different communities in Alaska,” she said. “On the course, I literally had so many people cheering for me, and I’m from Minneapolis originally but it feels like not just Anchorage, but Alaska is home and I just am so grateful for that feeling — that feeling like it’s just your community.”

In total, Frankowski has now four Tour victories, with wins in 2017, 2021 and 2023. The 2024 win allowed her to ski the final stretch with friends Cole Talbot and Kenny Brewer and exchange salutations with others as she maneuvered through the course.

“I’ve lived in various houses on the trail, and so friends from like, different neighborhoods just walk out of their house, which is so cool,” she said.

The first time Thomas O’Harra won the Tour, he wasn’t even old enough to claim the full victor’s prize, which included a bottle of wine.

On Sunday, O’Harra earned a second consecutive win in the 50K freestyle, giving him three titles in total.

Like Frankowski, O’Harra also got to spend some time skiing with a friend: fellow APU skier Hunter Wonders. Unlike in 2023, when he sprinted out early and skied a vast majority of the course by himself, Wonders and O’Harra went back and forth, teaming up for much of the day.

“We kind of talked before the race a little bit and we’re like, trying to work together,” O’Harra said. “You know, having done this race alone, it’s a lot more fun if you can do it together. So we were like working together, trading leads, you know — it was really enjoyable. We ran into a couple of moose and had to kind of figure out what to do. But felt pretty good today.”

O’Harra raced a strong American Birkebeiner field last weekend, finishing 16th with Wonders placing 11th. O’Harra described his season as up and down, but said “it’s a process” and he’ll continue to try to improve.

“It didn’t go quite how I wanted, but it’s nice to come home and reset a little bit and race the home course,” he said.

As for the bottle of wine that was part of his 2017 victory, O’Harra said organizers allowed him to pick it up a few weeks later after he turned 21.

UAA skier Matt Seline caught Wonders in the final stretch to finish second. Annika Landis placed third in the women’s race.

The 50K classic race was won by Eric Auten on the men’s side and Alexandra Otto in the women’s race. In the 40K classic race, Susan Forbes and Jim Falconer were crowned champions.

The 40K freestyle winners were Anna Engel and Elias Watson. Marit Flora and Derek Richardson earned 25K freestyle wins. Beatrix Brogan and Rory Stark took the 25K classic titles. In the fat bike categories, Melanie Beale and Will Ross took 50K titles and Bri Keifer and Fred Stewart were winners in the 25K.

Tour of Anchorage

Sunday

50K freestyle

Women

1. Rosie Frankowski, 2:25;22; 2. Hailey Swirbul, 2:26:11; 3. Annika Landis, 2:26:18.

Men

1. Thomas O’Harra, 2:06:55; 2. Matt Seline, 2:08:19; 3. Hunter Wonders, 2:08:28.

50K classic

Women

1. Alexandra Otto, 2:56:43; 2. Debbie Wrigley, 4:01:28; 3. Aurelie Barnel, 4:37:55.

Men

1. Eric Auten, 2:59:16; 2. Stacey Moon, 3:00:25; 3. Tyler Henegan, 3:09:56.

50K fat bike

Women

1. Melanie Beale, 2:36:22; 2. Esther Hough, 3:26:45.

Men

1. Will Ross, 1:55:46; 2. Jason Lamoreaux, 1:58:27; 3. David Arteaga, 1:58:56.

40K freestyle

Women

1. Anna Engel, 1:58:12; 2. Karina Packer, 2:01:10; 3. Nicole Hjelm, 2:01:21.

Men

1. Elias Watson, 1:49:11; 2. Troy Fritzel, 1:50:48; 3. Grayson Melocik, 1:51:25.

40K classic

Women

1. Susan Forbes, 2:48:10; 2. Molly Vaughan, 2:56:44; 3. Tamara Brabson, 3:09:40.

Men

1. Jim Falconer, 2:10:02; 2. Ethan Green, 2:17:40; 3. Matt Komatsu, 2:18:04.

40K fat bike

Women

1. Rose Garner, 1:56:10; 2. Elizabeth Arteaga, 1:57:12; 3. Casey Mapes, 1:59:25.

Men

1. Bruce Giffen, 2:00:32; 2. Alex Ede, 2:03:06; 3. Jacob Sonneborn, 2:16:43.

25K freestyle

Women

1. Marit Flora, 1:15:44; 2. Lily Pannkuk, 1:15:47; 3. Camilla Brinchmann-Prosser, 1:18:01.

Men

1. Derek Richardson, 1:05:27.0; 2. Davis Isom, 1:05:27.1; 3. Owen Lovejoy, 1:17:23.

25K classic

Women

1. Beatrix Brogan, 1:42:24; 2. Kari Skinner, 1:46:56; 3. Claire Kaufman, 1:54:15.

Men

1. Rory Stark, 1:33:45; 2. Talven Wigglesworth, 1:33:47; 3. Adam Lewis, 1:38:52.

25K fat bike

Women

1. Bri Keifer, 1:27:33; 2. Katrina Garner, 1:28:10; 3. Tara Brunger, 1:47:43.

Men

1. Fred Stewart, 1:11:46; 2. Joshua Estes, 1:13:21; 3. Walker Battreall, 1:21:44.

(Check back for complete results)