BRAVING THE ELEMENTS: Records set in annual mountain race despite rough weather

BIRD RIDGE — Buffeted by high winds that drove light rain and dust into their faces, nearly 200 people conquered the mountain that ends in Bird Ridge, and a few in record time.

Anchorage racers David Norris and Scott Patterson battled in an exciting fight to the finish in the Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb on Sunday, crossing the timing pad within a second of each other in record time. Both beat Anchorage runner Jim Shine’s 2015 record of 37 minutes, 7 seconds, finishing in 37:04 and 37:05, respectively.

Patterson said he and Norris passed each other multiple times.

“He pulled away from me a little bit right before we crossed the shoulder (of the mountain), but I think I did a little better on that flat, technical (part of the trail), so we kind of jockeyed back and forth,” Patterson said at the top of the mountain.

Norris and Patterson both cross-country ski for Alaska Pacific University (APU) in Anchorage, though Norris is originally from Fairbanks. The university was well represented in the Bird Ridge run, with third-place finisher Lex Treinen, Colony High School graduate Abe Meyerhofer and more young men and women claiming ties to the APU ski team.

University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) skier and Colony High School graduate Lyon Kopsack was the first Valley finisher in the race, coming in fifth behind 2012 Mount Marathon champion Matt Novakovich. Kopsack raised his arms in victory as he crossed the line Sunday, having achieved a personal best time of 39:56 — his first sub-40-minute finish in the 10-plus times he’s run the race.

“You really pushed me there at the end,” Kopsack told Shine — who finished seventh this year — after catching his breath.

Kopsack, who finished 12th at Mount Marathon last year, said his training at UAF has made a big difference in his performances over the last two years.

“Training with a team, any time you can get out with other people, it makes yourself better. I learned from a lot of people how to race smart, how to race fast, and, you know, it just motivates you,” he said.

Kopsack also credited someone larger than life for his athletic success.

“I just wanna give a shout out to God for just giving me this gift and that’s why I run, just to use it. I think any time you’re blessed with a talent, it’s your responsibility to get out and use it,” he said.

Kopsack wasn’t the only one who put faith in a higher power on the mountain this Sunday.

Christy Marvin of Palmer, who secured her fourth consecutive win on Sunday with a personal record of 44:52, said she and her whole family had “a little power verse” to motivate them during the race:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power,” Marvin said, quoting Ephesians 6:10.

Marvin said she had hoped to finish the race a little faster this year, though she knew the all-time women’s record was probably out of her reach — a woman has yet to break Nancy Pease’s 1993 record of 42:27.

“Overall I was happy,” Marvin said. “I didn't feel the best out there today but I had fun.”

Marvin’s husband Ben finished 15th in the men’s race with a time of 42:26, and their sons Coby, 9, Jeb, 7, and even 4-year-old Isaac finished the junior race to the halfway point.

“My mom said he never stopped hiking and running,” Marvin said, of her youngest. “He tore it up.”

The climb was a family affair for the Kopsack clan as well, with Lyon’s younger sisters Alyson and Jocelyn competing in the women’s race and their parents, Judy and Lance Kopsack, cheering from the side of the mountain.

Alyson Kopsack finished 19th overall in 56 minutes flat.

The Bird Ridge race is the fourth of eight in the Alaska Mountain Runners’ Grand Prix series, which awards points to first- through fifth-place and extra points for new records. Runners must complete at least three races to compete in the Grand Prix. Individuals’ best four finishes will be counted.

The next race in the series — in which the Marvin parents, the Kopsacks, Norris, Patterson, Novakovich and Shine are all entered — is Mount Marathon on Monday, July 4.

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

2016 Robert Spur Memorial Hill Climb

June 19

Results

Men

1. David Norris 37:04; 2. Scott Patterson 37:05; 3. Lex Treinen 38:55; 4. Matt Novakovich 39:08; 5. Lyon Kopsack 39:56; 6. Kenneth Brewer 40:03; 7. Jim Shine 40:35; 8. Eric Packer 40:58; 9. Jerome Ross 41:15; 10. Hamish Wolfe 41:18; 11. Eric Strabel 41:38; 12. Cody Priest 42:09; 13. Daniel Serventi 42:17; 14. Tor Christopherson 42:24; 15. Benjamin Marvin 42:26; 16. Jack Novak 43:03; 17. Ben Ward 43:17; 18. Thomas O'Harra 43:30; 19. Daniel Kane 43:47; 20. Craig Taylor 43:53; 21. Barney Griffith 44:26; 22. Mike Monterusso 44:52; 23. Gavin Block 45:15; 24. Erik Mundahl 46:03; 25. Alex Alonso 46:22; 26. Christopher Kirk 46:36; 27. Tom Bronga 46:39; 28. Nathaniel Herz 46:49; 29. Paul Kovacs 47:08; 30. Andrew Stavich 47:18; 31. Peter Brewer 47:23; 32. Isaac Bertschi 47:28; 33. Patrick Wolfe 47:36; 34. Patrick Conway 48:15; 35. Kevin Donley 48:34; 36. Tony Slaton-Barker 48:44; 37. Brad Benter 48:51; 38. Everett Cason 48:54; 39. Luke Rosier 49:04; 40. Keegan Crow 49:47; 41. Charlie Latimer 50:22; 42. Sebastian Szweda Mittels 50:53; 43. Nick Carl 51:08; 44. Karl Romig 51:11; 45. Paul Butera 51:24; 46. Michael Connelly 51:26; 47. Jacob Konrath-Bera 51:42; 48. Ali Papillon 51:44; 49. Ryan Comer 51:48; 50. Jared Green 51:53; 51. Gillean Szweda Mittels 51:53; 52. Darin Markwardt 51:59; 53. Sam Severin 52:03; 54. Mark Brady 52:22; 55. Storm Carl 52:32; 56. Bodhi Gross 52:47; 57. Dan Brokaw 52:47; 58. Dorian Gross 52:47; 59. Gary Snyder 53:05; 60. Joseph Nyholm 53:12; 61. Peter McEnaney 53:25; 62. Paul Ferucci 53:29; 63. Conor Deal 53:36; 64. John Kogl 53:53; 65. Andrew Dougherty 54:15; 66. Abe Meyerhofer 54:55; 67. Jim McDonough 54:59; 68. Kevin Knotek 55:17; 69. Tom Smayda 55:26; 70. Andy Varner 55:29; 71. Dan Virgin 55:32; 72. Mike Michener 55:41; 73. Westley Dahlgren 56:07; 74. Steve Gilles 56:27; 75. Alexander Kubitz 56:32; 76. Michael Craytor 57:04; 77. Thomas Coolidge 57:37; 78. Rick Hansen 57:47; 79. David Kingston 58:52; 80. John Clark 59:23; 81. David Rebischke 59:36; 82. Justin Smole 59:45; 83. Jonny Hughes 59:55; 84. Bryan Templeman 1:00:06; 85. Evan Jones 1:00:28; 86. James Miller 1:00:35; 87. Brian Boyle 1:00:50; 88. Joe Pollock 1:01:16; 89. Will Michener 1:01:29; 90. Kelemen Legate 1:01:47; 91. Dane Crowley 1:02:31; 92. Alec Kay 1:02:33; 93. Scott Jones 1:03:09; 94. Daniel Willman 1:03:55; 95. Keith Cook 1:04:55; 96. Kevin Lauver 1:04:56; 97. Trevor Worrell 1:04:58; 98. Duke Ruzicka 1:05:25; 99. David Brown 1:06:51; 100. Gunnar Knapp 1:07:18; 101. Tab Ballantine 1:07:27; 102. Roger Kemppel 1:08:46; 103. Evan R Steinhauser 1:09:01; 104. Devan Andersen 1:10:30; 105. Kristopher Heck 1:11:08; 106. Tom Surprenant 1:12:18; 107. Brent Williams 1:12:27; 108. Steve McKeever 1:13:32; 109. Patrick McAnally 1:15:35; 110. John Helie 1:15:55; 111. Ed Strabel 1:16:11; 112. Ole Jordan 1:16:43; 113. George Haugen 1:17:46; 114. Chris Reifel 1:17:48; 115. Scott Moon 1:18:01; 116. Norm Johnson 1:19:16; 117. Allen Clendaniel 1:25:05; 118. Michael Chard 1:27:46; 119. Timothy Garbe 1:29:13; 120. Marcus Knight 1:31:04; 121. Tom Meacham 1:40:45; 122. George Galliher 1:41:44; 123. Dennis Hanrahan 1:54:00.

Women

1. Christy Marvin 44:52; 2. Jessica Yeaton 46:19; 3. Mara Rabinowitz 48:47; 4. Becca Rorabaugh 49:00; 5. Denali Strabel 49:14; 6. Nancy Pease 50:09; 7. Nicole De Yong 50:10; 8. Sheryl Loan 50:36; 9. Laura Fox 51:48; 10. Molly Gellert 52:23; 11. Allison Barnwell 52:36; 12. Rosie Frankowski 52:53; 13. Clare Cook 52:59; 14. Lauren Fritz 53:16; 15. Christie Haupert 54:30; 16. Lisa Morris 54:52; 17. April McAnly 55:16; 18. Rachel Dow 55:44; 19. Alyson Kopsack 56:00; 20. Hannah Booher 56:17; 21. Shannon Donley 56:37; 22. Wendy Sailors 56:54; 23. Annie Connelly 57:02; 24. Justine Reese 57:12; 25. Heidi Friese 57:14; 26. Wendy Gellert 57:25; 27. Kelsey Boardman 57:41; 28. Gyongyver Schilling 57:46; 29. Amber McDonough 58:17; 30. Kristy De Yong 58:36; 31. Jordyn Block 58:48; 32. Kristen Sieminski 59:17; 33. Verena Gill 59:25; 34. Erin Hamilton 59:50; 35. Kimberly Riggs 59:52; 36. Ellyn Brown 59:53; 37. Leah Legate 1:00:06; 38. Katie Green 1:00:26; 39. Tatjana Spaic 1:00:30; 40. Annika Flynn 1:00:34; 41. Jane Baldwin 1:00:54; 42. Audri Jirak 1:00:56; 43. Yvonne Lamoureux 1:01:18; 44. Shannon Brockman 1:02:23; 45. Jessie Westin 1:03:40; 46. Katherine Sind 1:04:05; 47. Nicole Lesko 1:04:42; 48. Charlotte Edmondson 1:05:51; 49. Michelle Dickson 1:06:17; 50. Jana Seaman 1:07:08; 51. Tammy Weaver 1:07:23; 52. Heather Moon 1:08:58; 53. Rachel Witty 1:09:07; 54. Emily Veenstra 1:10:00; 55. Erin Leighton 1:10:11; 56. Jocelyn Kopsack 1:12:20; 57. Sara Kennedy 1:13:13; 58. Denise Brown Robinson 1:15:06; 59. Isabella Watsjold 1:20:11; 60. Trina Resari-Salao 1:20:20; 61. Susan Skvorc 1:24:39; 62. Jessica Jones 1:26:16; 63. Bianca Purcell 1:27:35; 64. Mary Kemppel 1:57:44.

Junior boys

1. Michael Earnhart 24:03; 2. Aven Elsberg 25:37; 3. Finnigan Donley 26:46; 4. Tucker Lien 26:57; 5. Henry Michener 27:06; 6. Cole Posthumus 28:29; 7. Eli Robinson 28:40; 8. Alex Carl 28:50; 9. Coby Marvin 29:18; 10. Sebastian Kogl 29:36; 11. Henry Zidek 29:48; 12. Kaeden Anderson 30:01; 13. Daniel Ferucci 30:09; 14. Braun Precosky 32:21; 15. Nathan Rehberg 33:09; 16. Logan Kemppel-Cuddy 34:25; 17. Rowan Robinson 34:30; 18. Jebediah Marvin 35:14; 19. Max Carl 36:54; 20. Noah Rehberg 37:39; 21. Ryan Hansen 37:56; 22. Legend Kopsack 45:52; 23. Isaac Marvin 52:42; 24. Kaiden Browne 1:37:46.

Junior girls

1. Kaitlyn Kogl 29:47; 2. Sadie Benter 29:51; 3. Fiona Witty Daughert 30:00; 4. Rosie Conway 30:23; 5. Lily Slaton-Barker 30:50; 6. Ziyi Rao 32:35; 7. Hannah Tossie 32:37; 8. Sammy Legate 33:42; 9. Haley Finch 35:12; 10. Sierra Anderson 35:15; 11. Amanda Michener 39:43.