A 20-year-old from Fairbanks stole the show at the Frosty Bottom bike race on Sunday.
Luke Buth, whose family owns and operates Goldstream Sports in Fairbanks, separated himself from a lead pack of four on the final hill up to the Kincaid Chalet to claim the 43-mile race on Saturday in 2 hours, 43 minutes and 13 seconds.
2023 Frosty Bottom start. Photo courtesy Skinny Raven Sports.
Buth, who sprinted away from Eric Flanders on the final stretch, averaged 15.8 miles per hour riding a fat-tire bike on snow-covered multi-use trails.
Luke Buth. Image courtesy Will Ross.
Flanders placed runner-up five seconds behind Buth, while Jason Lamoreaux took third (2:43:39) and David Arteaga was fourth (2:44:30).
Laura Fox dominated the women’s race in 3:08:04, with runner-up Alicia Tower finishing more than 27 minutes later.
The 43-mile event traveled from Kincaid Park to Hilltop Ski Area and then looped back to the Tour of Anchorage trail on several singletrack trails before returning to Kincaid.
A companion 25-miler went from Kincaid to Goose Lake and back. That race was won by Brandon Chiu (1:45:04) and Kinsey Loan (1:59:37).
Footraces of 27 miles (called the Frosty Bottom Marathon) and 13 miles were also contested.
Lars Arneson of Anchorage set a new record in the marathon in 3:05:36. Arneson now holds records in both the marathon and half marathon.
Frosty Bottom finisher. Photo courtesy Jamie Stull.
Christy Youngblood of Anchorage took the women’s marathon in 4:54:46 after holding off 62-year-old Laura McDonough (4:56:17).
In the half marathon, Galen Hecht sped to the men’s title in 1:19:43 while Kianna Wika won for the women in 1:43:15.