2016 Mount Marathon: Marvin wins back women’s title

SEWARD — For the second time ever and the first in three years, Christy Marvin has been crowned a champion of the women’s Mount Marathon Race.

Marvin finished the Monday, Fourth of July race up and down the 3,022-foot mountain in 51 minutes and 2 seconds — a personal best by 1 minute and 27 seconds.

“I’m never one to celebrate (at the end), I don’t raise my arms and stuff coming down the road, but today … I could feel the energy and the love there with everybody cheering for me, so I couldn’t help but enjoy it a little bit,” Marvin said, flanked by her sons in the finish area.

The win not only gained the title back for Marvin — who last won in 2013 — but also for Alaska, after Swedish runner Emelie Forsberg made her Mount Marathon debut with a first-place finish last year.

Though Forsberg did not race Mount Marathon this year, another professional Scandinavian athlete had Marvin selling herself a little short before the race. She had heard Norway’s Yngvild Kaspersen had beaten Forsberg in races before, and expected her to easily take first on Monday.

“I really thought that she was out of my league,” Marvin said.

Marvin said she had planned to just run her own race no matter what, so when she reached the top of the mountain a good minute ahead of the rest of the competition, she kept her goal — but with her eyes on first place, not second.

“You’ve gotta have the courage to compete,” she said. “You either rise to the level of your competition or you fall.”

Marvin’s husband Ben, who placed eighth in the men’s race, said he was “stoked” about his wife’s performance.

“She’s awesome, I knew it was coming. She’s fit,” he said.

However, there was a moment of uncertainty between the two of them just days before the race.

“We went on a date hike last week and I couldn’t drop her,” Ben Marvin said. “I thought, ‘oh no, either I’m really, really sick or she is fast.’”

But when he clocked his fastest time yet — 46:14 — on Mount Marathon Monday morning, he knew they were both in for high finishes.

“After my race today, I told her, ‘turns out I’m fast, and you’re even faster,’” he said.

Christy Marvin isn’t literally faster than her husband, of course — Forsberg’s record of 47:48 still stands, and Marvin said she’s not expecting to see a sub-50-minute finish in her own future.

“If there was any day I was gonna do it, it should’ve been today, but … I felt like, because I had a solid lead on the climb, it was not a day let it all hang out and take risks on the downhill,” she said. “I wanted the win more than that.”

Being the woman to bring the championship back to Alaska — our “home turf,” Marvin said — was enough.

Behind Marvin was Kaspersen at 53:23, followed by Denali Foldager-Strabel in third (her husband, Eric Strabel, also took third, in the men’s race). All of the top 10 women finished in under and hour.

In the rest of the women’s competition, Colony High School graduate Abby Jahn was the second-highest Mat-Su Valley finisher at 25th place.

Jahn, who just graduated from Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois this spring, clocked a time of 1:03:54 — her second best, she said, in the four years she’s run the adult race.

“I just finished college running, so I’m kind of in retirement right now … just enjoying running, biking whenever I can,” she said.

She said she was happy to finish where she did, given the lack of hill training she’d done.

“I trained in Chicago, so when I get to the road, that’s my forte,” Jahn said.

Palmer’s Alisa Kincaid, who has run the race 11 times now, finished 4 minutes and 34 seconds after Jahn on Monday — not her best time, she said, but that’s not the only reason she runs Mount Marathon.

“I’ve always loved competitions and once I got into it … I met all these people,” she said.

Kincaid said she was particularly inspired by her friend, Tina Ervin (also of Palmer), who ran the race for her quadriplegic son.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.

2014 Mount Marathon Race Results

Women's Results

1. Christy Marvin, Palmer 51:02 2. Yngvild Kaspersen, Tromso 53:23 3. Denali Foldager-Strab, Seward 53:40 4. Najeeby Quinn, Anchorage 54:07 5. Ann spencer, anchorage 55:11 6. Allison Barnwell, Anchorage 55:40 7. Aubrey Smith, Seward 56:29 8. Rachel Dow, SEWARD 58:07 9. Taylor Ostrander, Soldotna 59:06 10. April McAnly, Anchorage 59:08 11. Sheryl Loan, Eagle River 1:00:08 12. Lauren Fritz, Anchorage 1:00:36 13. Mackenzie Barnwell, Seward 1:01:03 14. Clare Cook, Eagle River 1:01:23 15. Christie Haupert, Anchorage 1:01:33 16. Melissa Lewis, Fairbanks 1:01:51 17. Isabel Barnwell, Seward 1:01:51 18. Angela DiBerardino, Anchorage 1:02:06 19. Paula Westbrook, Eagle River 1:02:22 20. Karol Fink, Seward 1:02:36 21. Laura Arnold, Anchorage 1:02:46 22. Annie Connelly, Chugiak 1:02:47 23. Gyongyver Schilling, hope 1:02:54 24. Tasha Folsom, Sitka 1:03:38 25. Abby Jahn, Wasilla 1:03:54 26. Sarah Freistone, Anchorage 1:04:18 27. Kelsey Coolidge, Anchorage 1:04:44 28. Anne Liotta, Anchorage 1:04:45 29. Amy Harper, Arroyo Grande 1:04:53 30. Tsaina Mahlen, Anchorage 1:05:05 31. Kristen Sieminski, Seward 1:05:05 32. Justine Reese, Wasilla 1:05:23 33. Mira Hopkins, Anchorage 1:05:28 34. Emily Evans, Anchorage 1:05:28 35. Hannah Booher, Chugiak 1:05:44 36. Jolie Glaser, Seward 1:06:25 37. erica shafer, anchorage 1:06:43 38. Colleen Powers, Lyons 1:06:51 39. Susan Casey, Eagle River 1:06:51 40. Wendy Sailors, Anchorage 1:06:54 41. Lauren Spinelli, Anchorage 1:06:59 42. Amber McDonough, Anchorage 1:07:35 43. Jessica Pahkala, Anchorage 1:07:47 44. Rachel Russell, Eagle River 1:07:48 45. Anna Widman, Kenai 1:08:00 46. Verena Gill, Anchorage 1:08:03 47. Sarah Cosgrave, Anchorage 1:08:12 48. Alisa Kincaid, Palmer 1:08:20 49. Erin Hamilton, Anchorage 1:08:25 50. Ellyn Brown, Anchorage 1:08:26 51. Patricia Kopp, Anchorage 1:08:32 52. Rachel Kidwell, Anchorage 1:09:16 53. Leslie Varys, Wasilla 1:09:42 54. Jess Klain, Anchorage 1:09:49 55. Leah Legate, Anchorage 1:10:05 56. Kristy De Yong, Anchorage 1:10:06 57. Kimberly Riggs, Anchorage 1:10:23 58. Amber Walker, Anchorage 1:10:27 59. Tiffany Hall, Anchorage 1:10:33 60. Tatjana Spaic, Palmer 1:10:37 61. Andrea Fountain, Anchorage 1:10:43 62. Justine Pechuzal, Seward 1:10:48 63. Gina Robinson, Anchorage 1:11:13 64. Marion Woods, Anchorage 1:11:23 65. Tracy Houser, Palmer 1:11:35 66. Sadie Fox, Soldotna 1:11:40 67. Cecelia Reagle, anchorage 1:11:41 68. kinsey Loan, Eagle River 1:11:48 69. Carrie Glatz, Wasilla 1:12:05 70. Tara Craytor, Seward 1:12:09 71. Margaret Cunningham, Eagle River 1:12:19 72. Tiffanie Bird, Anchorage 1:12:33 73. Jennifer Frazier, Eagle River 1:12:50 74. Tekla Seavey, Seward 1:13:09 75. Andrea Kettler, Anchorage 1:13:09 76. Lydia Blanchet, Anchorage 1:13:25 77. Stephanie Wright, Seward 1:13:38 78. Nicole Lesko, Anchorage 1:13:39 79. Stacy Schaffer, Seward 1:14:05 80. Andria Hayes, Anchorage 1:14:07 81. Annika Goozen, Eagle River 1:14:19 82. Julia Millon, Winters 1:14:21 83. Evelyn Bear, Cooper Landing 1:14:57 84. Christy Jordan, Anchorage 1:14:58 85. Heather Moon, Kenai 1:15:07 86. Jennifer Dougherty, Seward 1:15:09 87. Julianne Dickerson, Anchorage 1:15:11 88. Bronwen Nicholls, Anchorage 1:15:15 89. Teresa Comer, Eagle River 1:15:19 90. Christine Bennett, Chugiak 1:15:30 91. Jennifer Kach, Anchorage 1:15:47 92. Charlotte Edmondson, Anchorage 1:15:50 93. Ana (Marian Jager, Anchorage 1:16:08 94. Teal Hall, Moose Pass 1:16:28 95. Megan Olson, Anchorage 1:16:32 96. Patricia Foldager, Seward 1:16:32 97. Carri Jones, Anchorage 1:16:55 98. Melissa Johnson, Seward 1:16:57 99. Hallidie Wilt, Anchorage 1:16:59 100. Jane Baldwin, Palmer 1:17:09 101. Laura McGinley, Boulder 1:17:12 102. Cheryl Shellabarger, Loveland 1:17:13 103. Tricia Dettling, Las Vegas 1:17:44 104. Rachelle Kanady, Anchorage 1:17:59 105. Aurora Agee, Healy 1:18:04 106. Binget Nilsson, Seward 1:18:14 107. Jocelyn Kopsack, Palmer 1:18:17 108. Amy Malouf, Anchorage 1:18:19 109. Kristen Lessard, Cooper Landing 1:18:20 110. Mariah Butters, Seward 1:18:34 111. Meredyth Richards, Fairbanks 1:18:36 112. Ava Harren, Anchorage 1:18:39 113. Marion Glaser, Seward 1:18:44 114. Hope Basinger, Anchorage 1:18:47 115. Alina Rubeo, Wasilla 1:18:49 116. Meghan Dooley, Anchorage 1:18:55 117. Kayla Rowe, Anchorage 1:19:29 118. Darcy Waddell, Pueblo West 1:19:40 119. Krystal Nelson, Anchorage 1:19:45 120. Tammy LaFrancois-DeG, Soldotna 1:19:52 121. Karen Carswell Kirk, Eagle River 1:19:56 122. Katie Elliott, Indianola 1:19:59 123. Josephine Braun, Seward 1:20:04 124. Robin Ace, Wasilla 1:20:11 125. Leslie Rawson, Anchorage 1:20:21 126. Tracie Haan, Palmer 1:20:38 127. Halley Werner, Seward 1:20:40 128. Catherine Bodry, Anchorage 1:20:57 129. Tammy Weaver, Anchorage 1:21:01 130. Natalie Cadieux, Wasilla 1:21:14 131. Mariah Johnson, Seward 1:21:33 132. Michelle Fabry, Anchorage 1:21:37 133. Willow Schlenker, Anchorage 1:21:42 134. Lindy Byerly, Seward 1:21:43 135. Courtney Gritsch, Anchorage 1:21:58 136. Heidi Conway, Anchorage 1:22:02 137. Hannah Lies, Chicago 1:22:03 138. Suzanne Knudsen, indian 1:22:17 139. Kellyn Brothis, Wasilla 1:22:32 140. Jennifer Baker, Anchorage 1:22:35 141. Danielle Owens, Eagle River 1:22:36 142. Jillian Bender, Seward 1:22:50 143. Jane Mulcahy, Jefferson 1:22:51 144. Denise Brown Robinson, Anchorage 1:22:51 145. Jacqueline Klecka, Eagle River 1:22:52 146. Emily Veenstra, Anchorage 1:23:05 147. Christy Phillips, Seward 1:23:19 148. Carolyn Boone, Chugiak 1:23:21 149. Amie Wu, Anchorage 1:23:46 150. Emily Helland, Anchorage 1:23:55 151. Mary Beth Koster, Seward 1:24:05 152. Danielle Harris, Eagle River 1:24:06 153. Kelley Sefton, Seward 1:24:09 154. Hannah Beutler, Seward 1:24:15 155. Cheryl Ess, Sutton 1:25:05 156. Saundra Hudson, Homer 1:25:16 157. Helen Lindemuth, Seward 1:25:23 158. Diana Hill, Seward 1:25:24 159. Denise Deal, Anchorage 1:25:27 160. Meret Beutler, Seward 1:25:40 161. Rachel Witty, Anchorage 1:25:41 162. Ingrid Gavalya, Chugiak 1:25:48 163. Timeri Noren, Eagle river 1:26:06 164. Pamela Dreyer, Eagle River 1:26:16 165. Kimberley Graham, Hope 1:26:22 166. Julie Ross, Wasilla 1:26:25 167. Kristen Hansen, Anchorage 1:26:27 168. Linda Rao, Talkeetna 1:26:51 169. Jill McLeod, Anchorage 1:26:56 170. Karen Looney, Palmer 1:27:04 171. Kaleen Haines, Anchorage 1:27:11 172. Katrina Cain, Anchorage 1:27:24 173. Liana Gulzow, Camas 1:27:26 174. Rachel Sullivan, Cooper Landing 1:27:47 175. Carole Holley, Anchorage 1:27:58 176. Wendy Leseman, Anchorage 1:28:05 177. Karen Miernyk, Anchorage 1:28:07 178. Dreanna Owens, Eagle River 1:28:13 179. Amy Deschweinitz, Anchorage 1:28:43 180. Nancy Schierhorn, Anchorage 1:29:01 181. Michelle Dickson, Anchorage 1:29:08 182. Letty Swanson, Seward 1:29:17 183. Veronica bunch, seward 1:29:38 184. Billie Jo Kopsack, Palmer 1:29:40 185. Jessica Honebein, Seward 1:29:51 186. Katee Chard, Anchorage 1:30:04 187. Frances Evarts, Homer 1:30:05 188. Cecilia Jarvis, Anchorage 1:30:08 189. Annie Johnson, Poulsbo 1:30:16 190. Summer Northern, Port Angeles 1:30:20 191. Kelsey Tranel, Anchorage 1:30:36 192. Suzie Mauro, Eagle River 1:30:36 193. Trina Resari-Salao, Anchorage 1:30:58 194. Kathryn Jacobsen, Anchorage 1:31:42 195. Amy Brumbaugh, Anchorage 1:31:44 196. Diana Burbank, Anchorage 1:31:49 197. Joey Eski, Anchorage 1:32:31 198. Samantha Bassler, Anchorage 1:32:40 199. Gwendolynn Gabbert, Anchorage 1:32:47 200. Alyssa Hampton, Anchorage 1:32:57 201. Amara Liggett, Anchorage 1:33:08 202. Jean Labonte, Eagle River 1:33:11 203. Sable Hodson, Los Angeles 1:33:23 204. Megan Volk, Eagle River 1:33:42 205. Stephanie Hanson, Anchorage 1:34:27 206. Sondra Stonecipher, Soldotna 1:34:47 207. Lauran Ballesteros, EAGLE RIVER 1:34:55 208. Jessica Hutchings, Palmer 1:35:16 209. Leah Hopkins, Anchorage 1:35:23 210. Dawn Dinwoodie, Anchorage 1:35:29 211. Kathleen Meeds, Anchorage 1:35:44 212. Kate Clark, Anchorage 1:36:04 213. Jenn Parchem, Columbus 1:36:05 214. Sara Kennedy, Eagle River 1:36:10 215. Brittney Cornell, Anchorage 1:36:49 216. Charlotte Harrington, Anchorage 1:36:52 217. Willow Hetrick, Moose Pass 1:37:22 218. Wendy Bryden, Moose pass 1:37:58 219. Megan Arnoldy, Moose Pass 1:38:16 220. Heather Shank, Seward 1:38:50 221. Amber Sheffield, Big Lake 1:38:53 222. Jennifer Sonne, Solotna 1:39:36 223. Kara Moore, Eagle river 1:40:07 224. Kris Kile, Austin 1:40:12 225. Rita McKenzie, Anchorage 1:40:17 226. Erika Lewis, Coeur d' Alene 1:40:26 227. Brittany Smith, Eagle River 1:40:26 228. Mary Vollendorf, Anchorage 1:41:01 229. Autumn Sperry, Eagle River 1:41:14 230. Cynthia Martensen, Anchorage 1:41:27 231. Nancy Osborne, Seward 1:41:36 232. Leslie Dickson, Anchorage 1:41:45 233. Yereth Rosen, Anchorage 1:43:03 234. Shirl Kendall, Anchorage 1:43:06 235. Cynthia Kupczynski, Anchorage 1:43:20 236. Joan Antonson, Anchorage 1:43:21 237. Jeanette Nienaber, Seward 1:43:32 238. Susan Craig, Soldotna 1:44:38 239. Morgan Aldridge, Sterling 1:44:43 240. Heather Anderson, Eagle River 1:45:00 241. Shannon Titzel, Anchorage 1:45:28 242. Christina Lindh, Alexandria 1:45:32 243. Brynn O'Hara, Anchorage 1:45:43 244. janus reyes, Anchorage 1:46:05 245. Whitney Hitchcock, kenai 1:46:22 246. Arielle Wiggin, Anchorage 1:47:59 247. Grace Williams, Seward 1:48:31 248. Deb Essex, Girdwood 1:50:41 249. Holly Willman, Anchorage 1:50:56 250. Sheri Boggs, Eagle River 1:51:54 251. Shelby Berg, Colorado Springs 1:53:25 252. April Erickson, Anchorage 1:53:28 253. Aimie Chase, Anchorage 1:53:55 254. Lanara Forgit, Anchorage 1:54:07 255. Cora Nimmo, Columbia 1:55:00 256. Michelle Wilson, Anchorage 1:55:56 257. Tina Ervin, Palmer 1:56:08 258. Bonnie Moore, Anchorage 1:56:50 259. Janet Ponder-sutphin, Eagle river 1:57:18 260. Lia Keller, Anchorage 1:57:23 261. Joyce Hudson, Anchorage 1:59:26 262. Bernice Kindred, Eagle River 1:59:41 263. April Juliussen, Anchorage 1:59:51 264. Audrey Juliussen, Anchorage 1:59:51 265. Rachelle Alger, Anchorage 2:00:48 266. Mari Eaton, Anchorage 2:00:49 267. Susan Windle Beam, Anchorage 2:02:22 268. Lela Benson, Anchorage 2:03:03 269. Clarice Conley, Eagle River 2:05:40 270. Michele Buchicchio, Lisle 2:06:34 271. Kristin Blees, Anchorage 2:08:47 272. Ellen Davidson, Green River 2:10:16 273. Susan Ernst, Lewisburg 2:12:01 274. Erin Galles, Anchorage 2:12:22 275. Margaret Griffin, Soldotna 2:13:36 276. Michelle Moore, Kasilof 2:15:42 277. Alexandra Guilbeau, Austin 2:16:52 278. Ashly Beckes, anchorage 2:18:30 279. Jessica Stern, Anchorage 2:19:04 280. Clare King, Palmer 2:23:06 281. Annie Luck, High Rolls 2:26:24 282. Courtney Retten, St. Petersburg 2:26:36 Record 47:48 by Emilie Forsberg in 2015

Girls Results

1. Molly Gellert, anchorage 31:55 2. Riana Boonstra, Ninilchik 33:11 3. RUBY LINDQUIST, moose pass 34:02 4. Brook Wedin, Mora 34:22 5. Kendall Kramer, Fairbanks 36:02 6. Adrianna Proffitt, Chugiak 38:33 7. Jania Tumey, Anchorage 38:36 8. Hannah Brown, Anchorage 38:37 9. Alyson Kopsack, Palmer 38:44 10. Aubrey LeClair, Anchorage 38:46 11. Rya Berrigan, Palmer 39:10 12. Alejandra Legate, Anchorage 40:09 13. Kaylee Heck, Anchorage 40:17 14. Summer Frazier, Eagle River 40:33 15. Kaitlyn Kogl, Chesterton 40:52 16. Ruby Woodings, Palmer 40:52 17. Annie Burns, Soldotna 40:53 18. Ruth Cvancara, Anchorage 41:08 19. Sadie Benter, Anchorage 41:10 20. Emily Unrein, Seward 41:22 21. EmmaLee Moore, Seward 42:04 22. Teagan Smith, Anchorage 42:19 23. Abigail Beveridge, Anchorage 42:32 24. lauren Evarts, Homer 42:44 25. Grace Annett, Anchorage 42:54 26. Emma Axelsson, Fairbanks 43:00 27. Lake Bethard, Anchorage 43:08 28. Katie Stull, Peyton 43:21 29. Kellie Arthur, Soldotna 43:37 30. Kiana Trupp, Anchorage 43:51 31. Ellie Burns, Soldotna 44:08 32. Alison McCarron, Homer 44:12 33. Shelby Sieminski, Seward 44:32 34. Brooklyn Kopsack, Palmer 45:01 35. Brooke Satathite, Soldotna 45:01 36. Hannah Tossie, Littleton 45:07 37. Elizabeth Mans, Anchorage 45:15 38. Rosemary Reynolds, Anchorage 45:20 39. Mackenzie Lindeman, Soldotna 45:41 40. Lydia Jacoby, Seward 45:58 41. Corey Frazier, Eagle River 46:07 42. Josi Zugg, Palmer 46:11 43. Samantha Legate, Anchorage 46:31 44. Zoe Chang, anchorage 46:33 45. Ella Silverman, Anchorage 46:48 46. Olive Heatwole, Anchorage 47:08 47. Gretta Pickett, Anchorage 47:35 48. colette zidek, anchorage 47:45 49. Aliann Schmidt, Soldotna 48:05 50. Haley Finch, Anchorage 48:12 51. Lauren Hepler, Anchorage 48:35 52. Lucy Hankins, Seward 48:36 53. Anevay Mari Ambrosiani, Seward 48:56 54. Kylar Westbrook, Eagle River 49:14 55. Danica Schmidt, Soldotna 49:26 56. Aila Berrigan, Palmer 49:47 57. Brittyn Werner, Palmer 49:57 58. Ivy Eski, Anchorage 49:58 59. Erika Arthur, Soldotna 50:17 60. Gwyneth Gavalya, Chugiak 50:21 61. Hannah Armbrust, Anchorage 50:46 62. Julia Johnson, Seward 51:16 63. Brenna McCarron, Homer 51:34 64. Coral Petrosius, Seward 51:52 65. Naomi Ifflander, seward 52:00 66. Emerson Lorring, Seward 53:19 67. Colleen Haan, Palmer 53:29 68. Logan Satathite, Soldotna 53:32 69. Patricia Casey, Eagle River 54:12 70. Kalyn McGillivray, Soldotna 54:24 71. Elizabeth Johnson, Anchorage 55:04 72. Haley Buckbee, Soldotna 55:05 73. Brianna Gill Anderson, Anchorage 55:09 74. SADIE LINDQUIST, moose pass 55:09 75. Shane Rinner, Edmond 55:13 76. Brianna McKeel, Wasilla 55:23 77. Reilly Hall, Eagle River 55:27 78. Maisie Zugg, Palmer 55:28 79. Katie Kilfoyle, Kenai 55:40 80. Sophia Dow, Seward 55:52 81. Annika Nilsson, Seward 55:52 82. Julianna Auld, Wasilla 55:58 83. Ainsley Rinner, Anchorage 56:12 84. Tali Novakovich, Anchorage 56:16 85. Emma Craig, Soldotna 57:06 86. Sydnee Barndt, Eagle River 57:12 87. Erin Lowe, Anchorage 58:42 88. Renee Elhard, Seward 58:51 89. maria bunch, seward 59:38 90. Isabella Dammeyer, Soldotna 1:00:01 91. Sonora Martin, Kenai 1:00:59 92. McKenna Meyers, Seward 1:02:06 93. Hanna Henrie, Anchorage 1:02:14 94. Katelyn Sawyer-Lemme, Seward 1:03:05 95. Emily Anger, Seward 1:03:16 96. Isabella Watsjold, Eagle River 1:05:07 97. Ruby Tarango, Seward 1:07:16 98. Zoee Beiergrohslein, Eagle River 1:10:49 99. Emma Uschmann, Palmer 1:12:00 100. Kate Martin, Anchorage 1:12:00 101. Tiana Lee, Palmer 1:12:01 102. Madilyn Moore, Seward 1:13:41 103. McKenzie Allen-Charmley, Anchorage 1:15:47 104. Miracle Fontana, North Pole 1:15:53 105. Sarah Warnke, Eagle River 1:18:02 106. Allie Dixon, Seward 1:18:28 107. Elsa O'Neill, Wasilla 1:19:59 108. Stella Dow, Seward 1:21:48 109. Keegan Lorring, Seward 1:22:31 110. Margaret Adams, Anchorage 1:25:02 111. Christyna Nyholm, Anchorage 1:26:23 112. Noelle Buck, Wasilla 1:26:36 Record 28:53 by Allison Ostrander in 2014