Brian Stoecker
Turnagain Times Correspondent
For 20 years, the Bird Ridge mountain race has usually enjoyed comfortable to hot weather. But this year’s race on Sunday, June 21, marked the ultimate exception. The Father’s Day racers, volunteers and spectators, suffered the worst weather under which the ascent-only race has been run.
As the rain fell at the starting line, participants were repeatedly warned of the trial by ice awaiting them. Pre-race announcements included reports of blowing snow at the summit. Snow could also be seen blanketing Indian House Mountain. Volunteer timer, Clint McCool (and others) even bucked extra gear up Bird Ridge for several well- planned racers.
There was one serendipitous benefit from the weather. The park service only allows 250 participants, thereby reducing damage to the trail. By race day, the field was full. But likely due to the weather, one in five failed to show up, allowing everyone on the waiting list to compete. For awhile, some may have regretted it.
The Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb (as the race is now known) starts in the north Bird Ridge parking lot, then follows a series of meandering trails to the USGS marker at the summit. The course covers 3.5 miles, with an elevation gain of 3,400 feet. Exhausted runners then must garner the energy to return to sea level.
Racers met the outer bands of the unseasonal tempest, above a point dubbed The Gateway, 1,000 feet into the race. At 2,500 feet, they forged into a wintry gale. Women in jog-bras, and shirtless men, took the brunt of the frigid fury. Icy snow, and winds nearing 50 mph, sandblasted the skin of 219 finishers.
At least one runner was blown off the trail, onto the rocky ground. She recovered and finished.
Typically, runners socialize atop the ridge after completing the climb. However, this year’s race was again the exception. Some didn’t even clear the finish chute before turning back. Consequently, the official timers, some of whom were borderline hypothermic themselves, could not accurately tally the results. “It was a disaster,” said one.
Unlike the racers, volunteers were obligated to remain upon the exposed ridge. Race director Brad Precosky’s six volunteers were to provide triple redundancy for accurate results. After 26 racers finished, the meltdown began when the bib recorder could no longer hold her pen.
Many finishers wore jackets over their bib numbers, so you couldn’t tell a “bandit” from an official finisher, said Precosky. But everyone crossing the finish line had their times recorded, further complicating matters. Race officials are still working on the final results, aided by racers who timed themselves, coupled with bleary memories of those who finished near them.
The unofficial Turnagain Times photographer, Romney Dodd, couldn’t muster the dexterity to take any photos. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t even hold the camera.” Dodd later deferred to the official photographer. Me. I wouldn’t even touch the camera. Dodd at least tried.
Kudos to all the volunteers, under the most difficult of circumstances.
The biting squall wasn’t the only blistering aspect of the race. Brent Knight won in an equally blistering, 40 minutes and 4 seconds, barely missing the coveted 40-minute barrier. Knight’s was the fifth fastest time ever.
Alaska’s perennial reigning queen of mountain running, Cedar Bourgeois, won the women’s race in 47:14, over two minutes ahead of runner-up, Holly Brooks.
The Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb is considered an important and final preview for what lies ahead on Independence Day. On the Fourth of July, many of the same runners will pit themselves against one another and Seward’s storied Mount Marathon. Bourgeois is favored to win her sixth consecutive title, in the town she calls home.
But with its furious downhill, and Bird Ridge’s notable absence of Marathon’s defending men’s champion, Trond Flagstad, any of many men could claim victory on Saturday.