Denali Strabel
Palmer’s Denali Strabel and Wasilla’s Josh Taylor took to the trails of Mount Sunapee in a pair of loaded races, while Anchorage’s Lars Arneson and Klaire Rhodes placed third at the Breakneck Point Marathon, and Kenai’s Jason Parks took 11th at the Eugene Marathon.
Renowned mountain and trail runner, Denali Strabel, showed off her expertise on the technical terrain in Newbury, New Hampshire, which doubled as the USATF Mountain Running Championships.
The Sunapee Scramble featured a vertical race, which consisted of 1,900 feet of elevation gain over four miles. The race started at the base of Mount Sunapee, before joining a service road and ski trail en route to the North Peak Summit and upper summit.
Strabel, who grew up in Seward and is known for her fearless mountainous descents, fared quite well in the vertical race, placing 16th out of 158 women in a time of 44:21.
The mother-of-one is continuing to climb the ranks after having her son in 2021, winning the Little Su 50K earlier this year and conquering The Canyons Endurance Runs 100K last spring.
Arizona’s Grayson Murphy, a two-time world champion in mountain and trail running, topped the field in 35:47.
Josh Taylor
Coming off a recent showing at the Skyrunning North & Central American Championships, Josh Taylor navigated the steep course in 38:26, finishing 25th in the 239-man field, which featured a handful of Canadians and decorated trail runners.
British Columbia’s Alexandre Ricard won the race in 32:12, while Colorado’s Joseph Gray claimed his 22nd U.S. title in 32:23.
Day two featured the class up/down race, consisting of 3,000 feet of elevation ascent and descent on the two-lap 8.9-mile course.
Strabel, who holds the downhill record on Mount Marathon, fed into her strengths, as she powered up the hill climbs and flew down Mount Sunapee, registering the second-quickest descent among the women’s field. Strabel collected her second top-20 finish of the weekend, placing 13th in the 75-woman field in 1:24:17.
Arizona’s Grayson Murphy collected her fourth U.S. title — her second of the championships — in 1:08:56.
In the men’s race, Taylor started strategically, moving past competitors early on in the race while also picking off runners on the descents. He clocked a strong final mile to finish 29th in the 173-man field.
Vermont’s Daniel Curts finished in 1:01:04 to take the overall win.
Lars Arneson
In Beacon, New York, Anchorage’s Lars Arneson and Klaire Rhodes inched closer to representing the stars and stripes on the world stage, collecting a pair of third-place finishes at the Breakneck Point Marathon, which doubled as the USATF Marathon Trail Running Championships.
The 26.2-mile course included technical terrain and twisting single-track, in addition to long, rocky climbs with over 8,000 feet of elevation gain.
Each element challenged the runners, but being familiar with undulating terrain in Alaska toughened Arneson and Rhodes, keeping them in the mix with some of the top trail runners.
Arneson, who has become one of the top trail runners in the state, has won a variety of competitions, including the Frosty Bottom Marathon, Crazy Lazy, and Arctic Valley Rally this year. He also holds the fastest known time for the Chugach Front Linkup and unsupported Rim to Rim to Rim at the Grand Canyon.
The UAF alumn conquered the course in 4:01:46 to take third, finishing 90 seconds behind runner-up Jackson Brill of Oregon.
Anchorage’s Galen Hecht, who has competed in a variety of ultra-marathons and won the Frosty Bottom Half Marathon early this year, placed 17th in 4:50:24.
Utah’s Garrett Corcoran took the top honors in 3:55:52.
Klaire Rhodes
In the women’s race, former Anchorage resident, Klaire Rhodes was even closer to being selected for the world team, which names the top two finishers for the championships.
The 24-year-old who won the Lake Sonoma Half Marathon last month, doubled her racing distance for another podium finish. Rhodes, who is currently pursuing graduate school in Nevada, claimed third in 4:50:24 — 63 seconds behind Colorado’s Bailey Kowalczyk.
Joining Rhodes in the top five was Moose Pass’ Ruby Lindquist, finishing fifth in 5:02:07. After signing to North Face as part of their athlete development program, Lindquist has put up some significant results, including a runner-up finish at the Lake Sonoma Half Marathon and seventh place at the FOURmidable 50K.
Colorado’s Brittany Charboneau — who took third behind Rhodes and Lindquist at Lake Sonoma last month — won the race in 4:46:43.
On the West Coast, Kenai’s Jason Parks held his own in a strong field at the Eugene Marathon.
Jason Parks
Parks, who moved to the peninsula after growing up and residing in the lower-48, clicked off metronomic splits, averaging a pace of 5:28 per mile for the first 20 miles of the race.
While he maintained pace, he also stayed consistently in the top 20, ranking 17th until the 20-mile mark, where he went on to pass six competitors en route to the finish.
Parks finished in a time of 2:25:07, placing 11th overall. While his time is a mere 30 seconds outside of his personal best, he adds to his impressive resume of sub-2:30 marathons.
Juneau’s Joanna Hinderberger was the top Alaskan woman, running 3:16:52 for 78th place.
Other Alaskans at Eugene:
Jacob Mendenhall, Anchorage, 3:44:11; Ed Leonetti, Anchorage, 3:47:38; Hallie Bergwall, Seward, 3:55:40; Andrew Tighe, Ketchikan, 4:00:53; Dean Denter, Eagle River, 4:08:20; Casey Gates, Petersburg, 4:20:22; Zach Hill, Eagle River, 4:20:40; Samantha Wilson, Juneau, 4:25:28; Dayton Denter, Eagle River, 4:32:49; Cecilia Borries-Strigle, Kenai, 5:50:32