Iditarod Trail Invitational racers encountering wind en route to Rainy Pass (Photo by Perry Jewett)
From the Iditarod Trail Invitational to the Lavaman Triathlon to the White Mountains 100, Alaskas excelled in multi-discipline events this past month. Here’s a round-up:
The Iditarod Trail Invitational wrapped up on Monday when Takao Katada walked across Nome’s Burled Arch to become the first Japanese finisher of the 1,000-mile event.
Katada spent 28 days and 17 hours on the trail after starting Feb. 26 in Knik.
Twelve days earlier, fat biker Miron Golfman of Anchorage won the event — despite delays while he waited for Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race trailbreakers to put in a route — and set a new Southern Route record of 16 days, 21 hours. That knocked 2 ½ hours off Jay Petervary’s previous standard.
ITI winner Miron Golfman (right) with Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race winner Ryan Redington at the Burled Arch in Nome.
With tough conditions — racers encountered days of cold temperatures, wind, snow, drifted trail and other obstacles — the 2023 event featured high attrition. Of 97 starters, 51 finished and 46 scratched. Most of the finishers stopped in McGrath to compete the 306-mile race while 13 successfully continued all the way to Nome (10 bikers and three foot travelers).
Other division winners included Leah Gruhn (Duluth, Minn.), women’s bike winner in 21 days, 3 hours; and Thierry Corbarieu (France) and Beat Jegerlehner (Switzerland), men’s co-foot division champions in 25 days and 3 minutes.
Results for the ITI 100 and ITI 300-mile races here.
Amber Stull wears her Lavaman crown.
At the Lavaman Triathlon on Hawaii’s Big Island, long a popular event for Alaskans, Amber Stull of Anchorage won the women’s division in 2 hours, 19 minutes and 3 seconds. Rebecca McKee of Anchorage placed runner-up in 2:22:32.
Stull, 45, who also raced the prestigious Ironman World Championship in Hawaii last October, also placed 19th overall among 777 entries.
For the men, Jason Lamoreaux of Anchorage — a past winner of Lavaman — took third overall in 2:02:19 and along the way recorded the second-fastest bike split.
The event, held on March 26, started with a 1,500-meter swim, continued with 40 kilometers on the bike (25 miles) — some of it on the famous Ironman World Championship course — and concluded with a 10-kilometer run.
Results here.
Fairbanks racers Tyson Flaharty and Shalane Frost continue to dominate the White Mountains 100 March 26-27.
Coming off a win just weeks earlier at Iditarod Trail Invitational 300-miler, Flaharty claimed his fourth straight overall White Mountains title by completing the 100-mile looped course just north of Fairbanks in 10 hours, 9 minutes. That earned him a 33-minute victory over Clinton Hodges of Anchorage.
Ana Jager won the women’s bike division in 11:40.
Meanwhile, Frost extended her reign as the winningest White Mountain racer of all-time by claiming her seventh straight ski title. Stopping only briefly at checkpoints along the way, Frost finished in 13 hours, 15 minutes and withstood a challenge from Olympian Holly Brooks (13:52). Their pair beat all the men to finish first and second overall in the ski division. Joe Sem of Nome was the top male skier in 14:08.
The White Mountains capped a busy and wildly successful month for Frost where she also won the Homer Epic (62 miles), Tanana River Challenge (45 miles) and Chena River to Ridge (55 miles). Together with the White Mountains 100, she amassed 262 miles of winning ski racing in 23 days.
Austin Canning (23:23) and Melissa Lewis (26:43) won the White Mountains foot division after encountering significant snowfall on the second day of the event.
Thomas Moran completed the course on foot in 31:05 and Nick Janssen biked in 14:32 to join the small club who have completed all three disciplines (bike, ski, run) while John Shook (28:36 on foot) became the first to do so twice.
Results here.
Shalane Frost crests the Cache Mountain Divide at the White Mountains 100 (Photo by Eric Troyer)
At the Homer Epic on March 11, Ben Marvin of Palmer set a new course record, completing the 100-kilometer course in 6 hours, 10 minutes.
Marvin reeled in ski leader Shalane Frost (6:21) and bike leader David Seramur (6:14) about halfway through and then gradually extended his advantage through the Caribou Hills on the Kenai Peninsula.
Fastest on foot were William Dube of Kodiak (13:46) and Erin McKittrick of Seldovia (14:20).
Full results, including the 50-mile races, here.
Skiers at the Chena River to Ridge (Photo by Jeff Fisher)
At the chilly Chena River to Ridge race outside Fairbanks on March 4, Tommy Vanvliet edged Mike Monterusso in the 55-mile bike race by two minutes to win in 9 hours, 34 minutes.
Shalane Frost won the ski race in 9:57 while Melissa Lewis claimed the running event in 12:50.
Full results, including the 26-mile race, here.
The Tanana River Challenge on March 18 saw 84 racers in 45-mile and 25-mile routes on river and forested trails near Fairbanks.
Dog power proved faster than human power, as skijorer Sean De Wolski won the overall 45-mile race in 3 hours, 36 minutes. Dylan Low was the fastest biker in 4:03 while Shalane Frost paced all skiers in 4:56.
Full results here.
Skijorer Sean De Wolski wins the Tanana River Challenge