David Norris
David Norris’ Mount Marathon resume requires just one line: Legend.
Four races, four wins.
King David on Tuesday throttled the men’s field in the 95th edition of the race up and down the 3,022-foot slab of pain in Seward to add to his victories in 2021, 2018 and 2016.
The 32-year-old who grew up in Fairbanks, lived a stretch in Anchorage and currently resides in Steamboat Springs, Colo., clocked 44 minutes, 51 seconds, in wind and rain. That’s his slowest time at Mount Marathon, but it’s worth noting he ran the last several hundred meters on city streets while delivering dozens of side-fives to spectators, so it wasn’t like he was sweating the outcome, or his time.
Still, Norris said, winning was not as easy as he made it look.
“It was tough,’’ Norris told livestream announcer Holly Brooks in the finish chute.
Norris topped runner-up Darren Thomas, 29, of Reno, Nev., by 1:44 – Thomas, third in his 2021 Mount Marathon debut, clocked 46:35 in his return. Anchorage’s Lars Arneson, 33, passed Eagle River’s Michael Earnhart, 25, in the final stretch to take third place (46:44) and push Earnhart (46:50) to fourth. Lyon Kopsack, 27, of Palmer, finished fifth in 48:09.
Norris’ margin of victory in his four wins: 1:44, 1:40, :20 and 2:33.
Oh, and he owns the race record with his scintillating 41:26 in 2016.
Norris also crushed Tuesday’s race after finishing second Saturday in the Cirque Snowbird race in Utah on an 8.7-mile course that featured 3,566 feet of elevation gain. Then he hopped a red-eye flight to Alaska.
Thomas said Mount Marathon has hooked him on the event after just two appearances.
“I hope to make it a Fourth of July tradition,’’ he said. “I love this race.’’
David Norris is a four-time race winner. Photo courtesy Mount Marathon Race
Meanwhile, Taylor Turney, 28, of Anchorage, cranked the fastest known downhill time in race history on his way to a ninth-place finish that is his best in four races. Turney careened down the mountain in 9:54 to top the 10:00 former men’s overall record-holder and three-time champion Eric Strabel dropped in 2013. Turney in his four races has covered the downhill in 9:54, 10:01, 10:04 and 10:05 – or, 1-3-4-5 on the list of fastest known downhills.
“I was just trying to run as hard as I could,’’ Turney said.
Palmer’s Ben Marvin, 42, added another notable achievement to his family’s haul Tuesday. After his son, Coby, won the boys race for the second straight year and his wife, Christy, seized her third women’s title, Ben, 42, won the 40-49 age group and finished 11th overall in 49:13.
And 2009 winner and current race director Matias Saari, 52, of Anchorage, put aside his administrative duties – racing Mount Marathon is included in his contract – to win the 50-59 age group in 54:46, which placed him 39th overall.
Also, Seward’s Fred Moore, 83, finished his 53rd consecutive Mount Marathon in 1:43.30.
Norris and Thomas dueled on the bottom half of the mountain, where racers made their way through trees and serpentine bush- and vegetation-lined dirt trails that featured some slippage due to rain.
“Down in the trees, Darren kept the pressure on me,’’ Norris said. “I’d get a little bit on him and he’d catch up on me — maybe it was like, if I slipped and he got some great footing. It was a great battle.’’
Norris reached mid-mountain in 18:56 for a 24-second advantage on Thomas. On the upper half of the mountain, where footing on shale gave runners better purchase, Norris dropped the hammer. When he rounded the rock atop Mount Marathon in 34:09, his 24-second lead had ballooned to 1:26.
That cushion furnished Norris room to negotiate a perilous downhill without taking unnecessary risks, and it also gave him time to celebrate with spectators as he ran down the final blocks, royalty greeting subjects.