Hatcher Pass Marathon draws unique runners

WILLOW — Mountain running is not new to Alaska, but not many people know what it takes to do it, especially over long distances.

At the fourth annual Hatcher Pass Marathon Saturday, runners teamed up or flew solo through more than 26 miles of Willow Fishhook Road, from the Willow Creek bridge on Shirley Towne Drive to the end of the road on the other side of Summit Lake. The following day, the inaugural Pioneer Ridge Climb had 71 official finishers in a 4.5 mile run up to Pioneer Peak’s ridge at 5,100 feet.

The kicker?

Some runners did both.

Shawn McTaggart and Tony Covarrubias, recently of Palmer, are just two of the people who belong to the class of ultrarunners all over the world who think 26 miles on foot in one weekend is not enough.

“I wanted to live a healthier lifestyle,” McTaggart said simply, claiming health as a reason to run ultra-long distances.

McTaggart has run the Hatcher Pass Marathon three times, winning twice and placing third last year. Her winning time for 2014 was 4 hours, 9 minutes, and 21 seconds, but her best time on the course is almost eight minutes faster. The gap is likely explained by some muscle cramping McTaggart experienced in her legs this year after cresting the final hill by the lake, as often happens when starting downhill too fast after many miles of uphill running. McTaggart was able to sit down and take a breather 50 feet before the finish line and still win the women’s division.

But marathons are warm-ups compared to the Iditarod Trail Invitational, a 350- and 1,000-mile race in March. Racers can go by bike, on skis, or on foot, and McTaggart has run both distances. This year, she ran from Anchorage to Nome in 28 days, 17 hours, and 30 minutes.

“If there weren’t races I’d just sit at home,” McTaggart said.

Perhaps this comment explains why she and her husband, Covarrubias, decided to enter the Pioneer Ridge Climb the following day, even if at a leisurely pace.

Covarrubias, who finished sixth in the men’s division of the Hatcher Pass race, ran his first marathon in 1976, and has been running since he was a kid.

“I just love running, and it seems like the further I go, the better I do,” Covarrubias said.

Covarrubias placed seventh overall in the marathon this weekend in a time of 4:11:12, but clocked a personal best in 2012 when broke the four-hour mark, finishing in 3:57.

Saturday marked the first year McTaggart beat him.

“She was just hanging out behind us, then when we got tired she just left us in the dust,” Covarrubias said of himself and his two running buddies during the race.

Next on Covarrubias’ racing horizons is Six Days in the Dome, and it’s exactly what it sounds like: six days of running around the track in the Anchorage Dome, from 9 a.m. on August 4 to 9 a.m. on August 10. A $1,000 cash prize will be awarded to the first runner to reach 600 miles during the event.

David Johnston, Willow resident and four-time runner of the Hatcher Pass Marathon, also intends to enter the race.

Johnston, 44, has been conducting the Willow Race Series since 2008 with his wife, Andrea Hambach, and has run both the ITI and the Susitna 100, which is similar in style to the ITI.

As intense as it may seem to run all those miles, however, mountain and ultra running seems to emphasize a fairly casual atmosphere.

“The best part was at mile 22, when a guy handed me a cold beer. The second best part was at mile 25 when you’re done climbing,” Johnston said of the marathon on Saturday.

Sam Tilly, Anchorage runner and returning champion, crushed the record he set in 2011, with a 2:51:24 mark this year. Another record was set by Matias Saari, Jim McDonough, and Allan Spangler, who as a relay team ran 15 minutes faster than any team before them.

Runner-up Brandyn Roth came in 40 minutes behind Tilly, but had no less of an impressive race.

Roth, a newcomer to the longer distance running and Palmer resident of seven years, ran his first marathon this year at Mayor’s Midnight Sun Marathon and followed it up with the Hatcher Pass event a month later.

“It was amazing,” Roth said, still beaming from his second place finish this weekend.

With his lack of competitive experience, Roth was not expecting to place so high, but found himself pleasantly surprised by how “easy” the race was.

“To be honest, I thought it was going to be worse, with steeper and longer steep hills,” Roth said.

Roth is originally from Pennsylvania, and said he came to Alaska for “stuff like this,” gesturing to the pass around him. For him, mountain running has been more about being in nature and for recreation, but that could be changing.

“I’ve always been kind of anti-competition, but after I did that first race, I was like OK, maybe I should keep doing this. It’s a good social outlet, too,” Roth said.

Roth, Johnston, Covarrubias, and McTaggart all placed in the top 10 overall on Saturday, but even the more recreational runners, if there are such people who enter mountain marathons, have a similar perspective.

Becca Moore of Willow was one of several racers who started the marathon at 7:30 a.m. to finish in time for the cut-off. Runners who thought they might take longer than six hours were requested to start early for the sake of the volunteers, but Becca finished just forty seconds after the six-hour mark.

“I’m just really glad they put this on. It’s a spectacular race and an amazing place, and [the officials] are always so professional. It’s definitely a race worth coming to,” Moore said.

Moore, like McTaggart and Covarrubias, decided to brave the Pioneer Ridge Climb the next day as a hike with her family, turning back at the halfway point.

Though not as competitive as some, even those at the back of the pack in the world of mountain running and ultra marathons do what few people dare.

Hatcher Pass Marathon

Sunday, Willow

Individual results:

1 Sam Tilly Anchorage M 2:51:24

2 Brandyn Roth Palmer M 3:31:12

3 Shane Hargis Anchorage M 3:32:00

4 Chris Solarz New York M 3:36:11

5 David Johnston Willow M 3:47:06

6 Shawn McTaggart Palmer F 4:09:21

7 Tony Covarrubias Palmer M 4:11:12

8 Teri Buck Anchorage F 4:13:22

9 Ray Hafen Wasilla M 4:20:21

10 Brandon Wood Anchorage M 4:24:57

11 Benjamin Allen Wasilla M 4:32:27

12 Mike Monterusso Anchorage M 4:32:29

13 David Dufffy Anchorage M 4:42:44

14 Michele Delange Asheville F 4:49:19

15 Trent Hubbard Fairbanks M 4:51:43

16 Michelle Fabry Anchorage F 4:53:13

17 Carole Holley Anchorage F 4:55:14

18 Carla Churchman Wasilla F 4:58:07

19 Matthew Jackson Anchroage M 4:58:08

20 Jamie Whiteman Anchorage F 5:03:44

21 Kale Blankenship Anchorage M 5:05:04

22 Mikie Donaldson Palmer F 5:05:35

23 Debbie Mckinney Anchorage F 5:14:25

24 Amy Sebby Anchorage F 5:19:00

25 Marc Petersen Palmer M 5:22:21

26 James Sowerwine Anchorage M 5:24:49

27 James Shaw Anchorage M 5:28:43

28 Joy Palecek Valders F 5:48:04

29 Roger Warren Anchorage M 5:52:09

30 Mariah Summers Jber F 5:56:36

31 Rebecca Moore Willow F 6:00:40

32 Jennifer Hatcher Portsmouth F 6:21:41

33 Denine Greiner-Smith Anchorage F 6:22:50

34 Karl Hansen Chugiak M 6:25:54

35 Samantha Youmans Klawock F 6:52:45

36 Janelle Huseman Anchorage F 7:04:11

37 Peggy Crowe Anchorage F 7:04:23

38 Tracey Schaeffer Willow F 7:25:23

39 Jennifer Jabbour Willow F 7:35:24

40 Russell Cheney Torrance M 7:37:14