Cyclist Lael Wilcox is our Alaska Athlete of the Week after completing an epic around-the-world feat.
The Anchorage native completed her ride last Wednesday in a world record 108 days, 12 hours, knocking 16 days off the previous women’s record.
Wilcox left Chicago on May 26 and returned there last Wednesday after pedaling 18,125 miles and averaging 167 miles a day.
The extreme physical and logistical effort required multiple flights and required her to follow strict Guinness World Record criteria: She covered 125 more miles than the required 18,000 miles needed for the record, and she traveled in one direction only (west to east), veering no more than five degrees off course, and passing through at least two antipodal points (Madrid, Spain, and Wellington, New Zealand).
The decorated ultra-cyclist and bikepacking racer has set numerous other long-distance cycling records, including winning the TransAM outright in 2018 and setting and fastest known time on the Tour Divide route in 2015.
Also receiving consideration:
- Lamarr Heanu-Williams – The Dimond defensive lineman scored two touchdowns on fumble returns in a 39-second span as part of a wild second-quarter scoring bonanza that powered the league-leading Lynx to a 42-28 victory over South.
- Ida Meyer – The Juneau-Douglas Yadaa.at Kale’ cross country runner won the State Preview 5K at Bartlett High School with a time of 19 minutes and four seconds, well ahead of Colony High School’s Ella Hopkins at 19:31.
- Kadyn Osborne – The UAA volleyball player from Anchorage delivered a flawless effort Saturday to lift the UAA volleyball team to a three-set sweep of North Carolina-Pembroke at the Denali State Bank Ice Block Classic in Fairbanks.
- Scott Patterson — The Anchorage mountain runner and Nordic skier won the Trifecta competition at The Rut mountain runs in Montana by finishing third in the 50K on Sunday, second in the 28K on Saturday and 4th in the Vertical K on Friday.
Klaire Rhodes — The Anchorage runner won The Rut 50-kilometer mountain run in Montana on Sunday in 5 hours, 45 minutes, shattering the previous women’s record by more than 20 minutes. Rhodes beat the runner-up by more than 7 minutes and placed 10th overall, winning $3,000. Rhodes also finished 2nd in the Rut Vertical K event two days earlier.
The Alaska Athlete of the Week is selected by a panel each Monday
Have a candidate in mind? Email us your nomination: info@alaskasportshall.org.
