All in the family

Gil Hjellen is a veteran of more than 20 ultramarathons -- races that are normally at least 100 miles long, some of which are held in the worst of conditions. For most of his 62 years, he has made his way to the front of the pack, challenging to beat competitors half his age.

Saturday morning, though, was a little different for Hjellen. At the start/finish line of the Susitna 100, he had already decided to hang in the back of the pack for the first time in his racing career. And he had some butterflies in his stomach, which isn't normal for him. He was starting a race that had been six years in the making.

"It's amazing -- I'm more nervous now than I have been before any other competition," Hjellen said as a light snow fell. "I didn't expect to be nervous, either."

Hjellen was nervous because, for the first time, he had a partner on the trail with him. Competing in her first ultramarathon was his 17-year-old granddaughter, Laura Wesser, a Wasilla High School senior. Together, with Hjellen riding a mountain bike and Wesser cross-country skiing, they were trying to tackle 100 miles of trail.

"When you are only responsible for yourself, that's not a problem," Hjellen said before the race. "This is different."

Wesser has watched her grandfather compete in ultramarathons as long as she can remember. While she was in middle school, she decided that one day, she wanted to try one, right beside him.

"We would go to the start and see him go out, and then see him at the finish line. I was always fascinated by it, but we only saw the end result," Wesser said. "In ninth grade, I joined the cross-country team and thought I would gear up for a couple of years. This had to be the year, because next year I'll be in college and won't have the time or the energy," Wesser said.

Going into the race, their strategy wasn't to try and win. Just being beside each other on the trail was victory enough.

"The main thing is to go slow. The thrill of finishing one of these races gives you a real sense of doing something big," Hjellen said. "That's what we are shooting for."

Wesser said that while she has been training for the 100-miler, she was a little nervous prior to the start. When asked if she had any concerns prior the race, she said she only had two.

"That I either overestimated myself or underestimated what is out there," she said as she pointed her ski poles to the trail. "But having my grandpa's experience with me makes a big difference."

Wesser sacrificed the Region III ski meet to participate in the Susitna 100, but she said she had the support of her peers.

"They know that I really wanted to do this race, and they are interested in it," Wesser said. "It definitely adds to the pressure, though."

At 9 a.m. Saturday, the race began and almost immediately, the Hjellen/Wesser team fell behind the leaders. As they started down the trail, their nerves calmed and they got down to business. One spectator's nerves, however, failed to calm.

"Oh yeah, I'm real nervous for them," admitted Wendy Wesser, Laura's mother. "But with her grandpa out there with her, she'll be fine."

Wendy Wesser's nerves finally calmed around 6 a.m. Monday, once the duo crossed the finish line. Upon finishing, Wesser became the youngest female finisher in the race's history, and they became the first-ever third-generation finishers. And after two of the competitors scratched, Hjellen became the oldest finisher in the 2002 race, while Wesser was the youngest.

After the race, Hjellen said he is extremely proud of his granddaughter for her positive outlook during the grueling 100 miles.

"She had such a great attitude the whole time. The only whimper I heard out of her the entire race was on the Yentna River. It was nighttime, and there was a pretty good head wind going, and we thought we were close to the checkpoint," Hjellen said. "Then we saw a little sign that said the checkpoint was five more miles. That was the only time I heard anything negative from her."

There was about a foot of new snow on one portion of the trail, which led to racing speeds of less than two miles an hour. At the next checkpoint, all the racers were bunched up, trying to recover the energy they expended pushing through the deep snow. Still, Hjellen said his granddaughter pushed through and kept her spirits up.

"It's absolutely amazing what the human body can do when it has to," Hjellen said. "I don't think Laura slept at all during the race. I may have slept two hours."

Hjellen said there never came a point when finishing the race was a doubt.

"We hung in there together," he said.

Racers had to finish before 9 a.m. Monday morning -- exactly 48 hours after the start.

The Hjellen/Wesser team finished around 6 a.m., with plenty of time to spare. Hjellen headed home to recover, but Wesser had to get to school, because with an absence, she wouldn't be able to go to the state cross-country ski meet this week.