Mountain Runners finish season on Penguin Peak

Brian Stoecker/Turnagain Times Angelica Pollock pours it on as she nears the finish line of the Penguin Mountain Run. Pollock placed ninth among women, also moving her to ninth overall in Alaska Mountain Running Grand Prix points, and earning her a place in the awards ceremony.

By Brian Stoecker
Turnagain Times Correspondent

Heavy clouds threatened to convert a steep trail into a mud-luge as the Alaska Mountain Runners wrapped up their race season on Turnagain Arm’s Penguin Peak. The Saturday, Aug. 16 event began at the trailhead on Konikson Road, finishing near the summit.
The 2008 Mountain Running Grand Prix series featured six races, including three along Turnagain Arm. Penguin was considered the most relaxing of the three, as the Crow Pass Crossing is extremely strenuous and competitive, and Bird Ridge is the final tune up for Seward’s Mount Marathon race.
“Relaxing” though, is a figurative term. The course climbed 3,300 feet over a 2.5 mile, often single-track trail.
On the minds of many attendees was the recent passing of a beloved mountain runner and volunteer, Bonnie Sosa. Two weeks prior, Sosa was warm and gracious as ever, assisting at another race, yet unaware she was ill. At Penguin, race director Brad Precosky paid homage to Sosa, and the usually boisterous runners honored her with a moment of silence and reflection at the starting line.
“She was a good friend, and one of the greatest mountain running advocates eve,” Precosky said of her. He also credits Sosa as the most instrumental person involved with AMR’s hosting of the 2003 World Mountain Running Championships at Alyeska Ski Resort. “We couldn’t have done it without her,” he said.
The men’s race ended much as it began. UAA ski coach, Trond Flagstad, led a three- man battle for first, with Barney Griffith and Precosky applying pressure (the men range in age from 38 to 50).
Nearing the finish, Flagstad suggested a three-way tie as a brief gesture to honor Sosa. Had Griffith overtaken Flagstad, he would have tied for first in overall Grand Prix points. If Precosky followed in second, Griffith would have won the series. With the tie, Flagstad took the title. But could he have held off Precosky and Griffith to the finish? Perhaps. In light of why they tied, it matters not. Nobody was considering the math.
The reigning five time Mount Marathon champion, Cedar Bourgeois of Seward, won the women’s race by a three-minute margin over APU ski coach, Holly Brooks. However with two early season victories and two second place finishes, Brooks won the women’s Grand Prix over Gail Taylor (4th at Penguin). Colleen Durnford captured third in both the Grand Prix and Penguin.
The weather smiled on the racers until the awards ceremony back in the parking lot. Then summer returned to its all too familiar form. The ever-darkening clouds birthed a torrential downpour. Perfect timing.
AMR will host a final event on Sept. 6. The inaugural Alyeska Climbathon is a nine hour affair in which participants will climb the mountain then descend via the tram as many times as possible. Roughly ten round trips will net “Denali in a day”, which is the early speculative benchmark. For more information on the Alyeska Climbathon, go to www.alaskamountainrunners.org.