Lars Arneson beat the best in the sport to become the third Alaskan to win a major obstacle course race on October 22.
Arneson, originally from the Kenai Peninsula and now living in Anchorage, came from behind to claim his first Spartan Race in the “Beast” event at Blue Mountains, Ontario, Canada. He completed a 13-mile course that included 30 obstacles and about 5,000 feet of vertical gain in 2 hours, 7 minutes and 30 seconds.
Men’s podium Ryan Atkins (left), Arneson (center) and Tyler Veerman (right).
Tyler Veerman of Colorado placed second in 2:08:28 and Canadian Ryan Atkins — called the greatest Spartan racer of all time in a Spartan.com article — took third in 2:09:20 (Atkins also was the co-winner of the 2022 Iditarod Trail Invitational from Knik to McGrath on a fat bike).
Arneson joins Matt Novakovich as the only Alaskans to win a Spartan Race. Chad Trammell of Anchorage has been victorious at another obstacle course series called the World’s Toughest Mudder.
The Beast race came down to the wire between Arneson and Atkins.
“On the last climb Ryan put over 20 seconds on me but I was able to gain all that back on the last descent,” Arneson said via text.
Atkins regained a 5-second lead entering the homestretch, where three obstacles remained. The spear throw — “the silliest obstacle in my opinion,” Arneson said — determined the race as Arneson hit the target while Atkins missed and was penalized with 30 time-consuming “burpees” exercises.
That allowed Arneson to run the final 200 meters unchallenged. His Spartan victory — his first in six tries — was worth $3,000 in prize money.
Arneson performs a final jump just before the finish line of his first Spartan win
Arneson, a former runner and skier at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, also won the Alaska Mountain Runners Grand Prix series in 2022 after setting a record at the Matanuska Peak Challenge and placing third in the Mount Marathon Race.
In other races, two-time Mount Marathon women’s champion Hannah Lafleur of Seward added another feather in her cap by placing second among women (and ninth overall) at the 100-kilometer Puerto Vallerto Mexico by UTMB event.
Lafleur finished 62 miles in 11 hours 47 minutes and 18 seconds to place runner-up to Canadian Emmiliese von Avis (11:25:25). This was Lafleur’s second strong result of the month: on October 1 she won the women’s division and placed 2nd place overall at the Girdwood Trail Marathon.
Suffering from the effects of food poisoning, Galen Hecht of Anchorage dropped out of the 100K race after 16 miles.
In the 50K race in Puerto Vallerta, Cody Priest of Anchorage placed 4th in 5:58:42 while Mariah Graham was 37th among women in 8:56:42.
Not to be outdone, Abby Jahn of Juneau dominated the 31-kilometer event at Javalina Jundred Ultras in Arizona on October 30.
Jahn finished in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 4 seconds, more than 25 minutes ahead of the next woman and third overall behind two men from Arizona.
In the event’s signature 100-mile race, Natalie Bickers of Palmer finished during the “golden hour” — the final hour before the time cutoff — to earn her belt buckle in 29:35:27.