Bill Mitchell Run a family affair

PALMER — Luke and Charity Walker had a busy weekend. After climbing Gunsight Mountain Saturday night, the Tok couple stopped in Palmer just long enough to run in the annual Colony Days Bill Mitchell 5-kilometer race before heading to Anchorage to drop some visiting family members off at the airport.

“We have some shopping to do, too,” Charity Walker said moments after winning the race’s women’s division in a time of 18 minutes, 49.61 seconds. “When you come here from Tok, you have a lot of things you need to do.”

Last year’s winner Katie Bialka, who just finished her sophomore year at Wasilla High, was second in 20:31:34, while Shanna Vetter was third in 21:07.48.

Luke Walker’s bid to pull off a double win for the couple fell just short, as his last-ditch sprint to catch Kevin Smith at the finish line came up just short. Smith, a recent Palmer High graduate who plans to run for UAA in the fall, won the race in 17:18.71, less than a second ahead of Walker. Walker said he misjudged the finish line and started his kick too late.

“I thought the finish line was where we started,” he said.

Smith said the race, which winds its way through the streets of downtown Palmer, started out slow as none of the runners in the lead pack wanted to break away.

“Nobody wanted to take the initiative and stretch it out,” he said.

About a mile in, Smith said he finally decided to pick up the pace, and Walker was the only runner to stay with him.

“We were going back and forth the entire race,” he said.

Smith, who finished third last year, said the slow start left him a bit disappointed with his time.

“But it’s still really nice to win,” he said. “It’s a good race.”

Schyler Knopp finished third in the men’s race, posting a time of 17:35.13. Knopp, 14 and going into his freshman year at Colony, took more than two minutes off his time from last year’s race.

A total of 104 men and women took part in the annual Colony Days race, as did 26 boys and girls who ran in the one-mile kids’ event.

Nine-year-old Tracen Knopp led from wire-to-wire in the mile race, posting a time of 5:50.5 to win for the second year in a row. Knopp’s twin brother, Dawson, was second, more than 30 seconds back, while Darren Fish placed third. The top-three finishing order was identical to last year’s race.

Tracen Knopp said he was pretty sure he’d win the race again this year, but said that’s not really what motivates him to continue entering races.

“I just feel good when I do it,” he said.

In the girls’ race, Tamara Watkins posted a time of 6:46.7 to beat Haley Hanson by nearly 50 seconds. Hanson also finished second last year. Katie Crowley was third.

2008 Colony Days Bill Mitchell Race

Sunday

5K and Kids 1 Mile

Palmer

Girls 14 and under

1. Learn, Violet, 23:13.87; 2. Richards, River, 23:50.80; 3. Stigar, Sterling, 26:26.14; 4. Mayeur, Gina, 31:15.89; 5. Whitstine, Lauren, 52:18.34; 6. Storrs, Abigail, 1:01:16.85.

Women 15-19

1. Bialka, Katie, 20:31.34; 2. Mayeur, Elena, 23:57.76; 3. Denoncour, Hillary, 25:27.11; 4. Lundt, Morgan, 25:27.77; 5. Shones, Mariah, 27:02.94; 6. Whitstine, Alex, 27:06.31; 7. Hall, Robyn, 28:50.23; 8. Learn, Brynna, 32:56.09.

Women 20-29

1. Walker, Charity, 18:49.61; 2. Vetter, Shanna, 21:07.48; 3. Wright, Kim, 24:44.89; 4. Nunley, Crystal, 48:18.66; 5. Fetchenhier, Tanya, 59:28.43; 6. Linbaugh, Crystal, 59:51.14.

Women 30-39

1. Endes, Cathy, 22:52.78; 2. Bleuel, Jane, 23:17.20; 3. Senden, Leslie, 23:46.63; 4. Marsh, Carol, 24:08.05; 5. Kastning, Jenny, 33:45.65; 6. Horacek, Jennifer, 46:30.20; 7. Moore, Deana, 59:53.08.

Women 40-49

1. Richards, Michelle, 21:43.50; 2. Walters, Robin, 26:19.90; 3. Stigar, Staci, 27:46.82; 4. Robinson, Bobbie, 30:17.53; 5. Kenshalo, Jackie, 31:07.05; 6. Melton, Marla, 32:53.51; 7. Mayeur, Terri, 37:24.71; 8. Kittridge, Erin, 37:44.81; 9. Hall, Amy, 38:10.25; 10. Keene, Shannon, 47:59.82; 11. Lamont, Sara, 48:15.96; 12. Hanson, Hannah, 52:18.01; 13. Storrs, Mary, 1:01:17.76.

Women 50-59

1. Bauer, Suzy, 25:59.48; 2. Troxel, Joen, 27:25.03; 3. Learn, Candy, 31:12.87; 4. Robinson, Kim, 35:30.49; 5. Kolivosky, Melinda, 35:30.82; 6. Walsh, Darlene, 36:37.97; 7. Austin, Verla, 38:59.57; 8. Badillo-Moreno, Sherry, 48:17.21.

Women 60-99

1. Hills, Meg, 28:19.60; 2. Mathews, Betty, 49:28.10.

Boys 14 and under

1. Knopp, Schyler, 17:35.13; 2. Peltier, Wyatt, 19:01.68; 3. Gumminger, Dylan, 20:20.31; 4. Heru-ra-ha, Khephran, 21:33.59; 5. Looney, Tucker, 21:35.08; 6. Heru-ra-ha, Alaya, 24:36.03; 7. Wehde, Brendan, 24:55.21; 8. Gibson, James, 26:28.90; 9. Mayeur, Nick, 28:28.66; 10. Learn, Roger, 32:55.15; 11. Gibson, Bryan, 34:41.51; 12. Gibson, Mathew, 34:48.53.

Men 15-19

1. Smith, Kevin, 17:18.71; 2. Ashland, Christopher, 17:37.39; 3. Reimer, Alex, 19:26.03; 4. Gumminger, Nathan, 19:45.83; 5. Sullivan, Tim, 20:23.27; 6. Walters, Kameron, 23:15.06; 7. McCavit, Chase, 24:07.49; 8. Matthigen, Bryan, 25:21.48; 9. Saindon, Brody, 25:21.82; 10. Secoy, Lucas, 27:05.61; 11. Leckband, Christian, 27:18.95; 12. Farnum, Sam, 36:03.25.

Men 20-29

1. Walker, Luke, 17:19.30; 2. Priest, Cody, 17:55.07; 3. Melton, Jake, 25:53.86.

Men 30-39

1. Gibson, Shawn, 21:55.99; 2. Silberberg, Aron, 24:23.49; 3. Crowley, Dane, 32:31.57.

Men 40-49

1. Knopp, David, 18:42.75; 2. Doyka, Chris, 21:55.00; 3. Colberg, Talis, 25:05.47; 4. Goodale, Greg, 26:05.79; 5. Kittridge, Kim, 26:23.87; 6. Alcantra, John, 27:42.60; 7. Mayeur, Clint, 28:30.20; 8. Matthisen, Barry, 28:32.69; 9. Smith, Brad, 30:42.90; 10. Fetchenhier, Larry, 59:27.98.

Men 50-59

1. Davis, Bob, 17:44.09; 2. Brautz, Joel, 20:41.89; 3. Huppert, Robert, 22:46.49; 4. Hogan, Bill, 23:21.04; 5. Holladay, David, 24:56.23; 6. Jones, Chris, 25:21.23; 7. Denoncour, Jeff, 26:59.86; 8. Melton, Dee, 27:45.61; 9. Stigar, Mark, 27:47.24; 10. Frost, Bob, 29:13.01.

Men 60-99

1. Lieb, Jim, 22:17.69; 2. Mathews, Dave, 24:11.56; 3. Warble, Don, 32:35.35; 4. Soucek, Jim, 33:51.21.

Girls 14 and under mile run

1. Watkins, Tamara, 6:46.70; 2. Hanson, Haley, 7:32.50; 3. Crowley, Katie, 7:54.90; 4. Peltier, Aries, 8:02.20; 5. Gibson, Kim, 8:32.00; 6. Fish, Kiley, 8:55.30; 7. Gibson, Karen, 8:57.00; 8. Looney, Grace, 10:09.80; 9. Senden, Tate, 10:17.10; 10. Weiss, Isabella, 10:21.80; 11. Vanema, Eva, 10:22.20; 12. ?, Sylvia, 10:39.10; 13. Senden, Blaine, 11:58.80; 14. Burtch, Kendra, 13:50.70; 15. Weiss, Gabby, 15:22.20.

Boys 14 and under mile run

1. Knopp, Tracen, 5:50.50; 2. Knopp, Dawson, 6:22.40; 3. Fish, Darren, 6:26.20; 4. Richards, Noah, 7:28.60; 5. Fish, Dillon, 8:23.80; 6. Farnum, Mike, 9:03.70; 7. Schaef, Josh, 10:06.10; 8. Gibson, Jonathan, 10:06.70; 9. Gibson, Thomas, 10:12.50; 10. Havel, Cade, 11:28.90; 11. Hall, Kevin, 19:00.00.