Oregon high school runner surprises Palmer Invite officials with entry in race

PALMER — The Palmer Invitational is typically among Alaska’s most popular cross-country events. Hundreds of athletes from dozens of teams across Alaska flock to the Micheal Janecek Trails at Palmer High School each year for the meet.

And the 2017 Invite was no different, with more than 800 runners from 42 Alaska programs participating. But this year, the Palmer Invite went beyond its usual reach.

A runner from Oregon competed.

Gabe Garboden, a junior at Marist High School in Eugene, made an impromptu trip with his dad to Alaska, and surprised meet organizers Saturday morning. Race director Mike Janecek said Garboden asked to run in the Division I boys’ varsity race. Janecek said he asked Garboden if he could hang with the field. Garboden said yes, and he didn’t disappoint.

Garboden finished fifth, clocking a time of 16 minutes, 30 seconds.

After the race Saturday, Garboden said, as wildfires continue to burn in Oregon, his high school’s first race of the cross-country season, The Invitational in Richardson Park, Oregon, was canceled due to the smoke and air quality. But he still wanted to run, so the Garbodens got online.

“Me and my dad found really cheap flights up here,” Garboden said.

Garboden said he was looking for races in places he could get away from the smoke.

“I was looking really far north,” Garboden said. “I was looking at several races.”

Garboden said it’s first trip to the 49th state, but he’s always thought, “Alaska’s pretty cool.”

He searched athletic.net, a popular online database for high school cross-country running, and found the Palmer Invite. Garboden said he and his dad flew out of Portland about 9 p.m. Friday night, and arrived about 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning in Anchorage. They finally got to bed about 3:30 a.m. and were at Palmer High School Saturday morning to try to enter the race.

“I wasn’t feeling super rested, but I wanted to come in here and do my best,” Garboden said.

Garboden, running in a T-shirt instead of a jersey, was among the top three runners in the field for most of the race. Garboden said he was aggressive early in the race, and was passed by a pair late. West Anchorage junior Everett Cason slipped by Garboden during the final meters. West senior Luke Jager, who finished seventh in Alaska’s 4A boys’ race at the state championships last season, won the varsity boys’ race Saturday with a mark of 16:05.

Saturday marked the first race of the season for Garboden, who finished 25th in Oregon’s 5A state championships as a sophomore.

Garboden’s run in the Palmer Invite comes on the same weekend a prep football team from Alaska, the Soldotna Stars, had a game against an Oregon opponent moved to California due to smoke from the wildfires. The Stars were slated to play Crater High School in Central Point, Oregon, on Friday, but instead met the Crater Comets at Del Norte High School in Crescent City, California.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.