Klaire Rhodes won her third straight title in a blistering time. Photo courtesy of Mount Marathon Race
Klaire Rhodes may not have been the first to the summit of Mount Marathon, but she made sure to reach the finish line in first.
The resilient runner conquered the 3.1-mile course that included 3,022 feet of elevation in 49 minutes, 55 seconds to claim her third straight victory in women’s race history.
Rhodes, who used a convincing lead in both of her previous wins, found herself in unfamiliar territory after navigating slightly off trail before the mid-mountain checkpoint.
“Today was a lot more hard-fought than I would have liked, or kind of expected,” Rhodes told reporters Nina Kemppel and Dave Goldman. “I took an alternative line to the right up to the mid-mountain and kind of got myself in a place where I didn’t expect. It was pretty rugged.
“So I kind of thought my race was at that point, but getting up halfway, I had some catching up to do.”
The 28-year-old quickly made up ground to be within striking distance of the early leaders — Olympic skiers Rosie Fordham of Australia and Kendall Kramer of Fairbanks — as the trio battled to the peak.
Kramer overtook her former UAF teammate, reaching the summit in 36:39, while Fordham and Rhodes trailed four and 11 seconds back.
It was on the descent that Rhodes seized the lead for the first time, speeding down the demanding terrain as she entered the final section of the race.
With the competition in the rearview, The North Face athlete took a couple of peeks behind her. And although no one was at her heels, she knew Palmer’s Christy Marvin — a three-time champion, herself — was giving chase.
“I had people telling me, ‘there’s no one behind you, but Christy’s coming,’” said Rhodes. “So I tried to just keep pushing as strong as I could.”
Once on the road, Rhodes glided to victory, high-fiving a few lucky spectators before reaching Fourth Avenue.
Despite the slippery conditions and a brief trek off-trail, Rhodes’ time is the fifth-fastest in women’s race history and just six seconds behind her fastest from 2024.
Only Allie McLaughlin (47:09), Emelie Forsberg (47:48) and Allie Ostrander (49:19) have ever run faster, with Rhodes becoming the first woman to go sub-50 twice.
“I’m pretty shocked to hear that it was a faster year for me, especially considering my lower half of the mountain,” said Rhodes, who credited Kramer and Fordham for setting a strong pace. “We were all really close, and it always brings the most out of each other.”
The Anchorage runner also becomes the first woman to claim three wins in a row since Seward’s Cedar Bourgeois won seven straight from 2004-10.
Rhodes also joins an elusive club of women who have won three or more titles: Christy Marvin (’23, ’16 & ’13), Cedar Bourgeois (’04-10), Nina Kemppel (’94 & ’96-03), Nancy Pease (’84, ’89-92 & ’95), Carmen Young (’82 & ’86-88) and Betsy Haines (’79-81).
Marvin, 45, used a strong downhill to surge into the runner-up position in 50:51 — a personal-best and the ninth-fastest in women’s race history — while earning her 12th top-3 finish to move into No. 1, ahead of Nina Kemppel. The mother of three also reset her own 40-49 age group record, after flying down the mountain in 12:48 to collect her eighth sub-13-minute downhill, the most of any woman since downhill times were first recorded, starting in 1989.
Eagle River’s Shauna Severson blasted the fastest downhill in the women’s race in 12:22, catapulting into third in 51:22 and lopping more than 2.5 minutes off her previous best. Her downhill and overall time ranks 14th and 15th in race history.
Hometown favorite Denali Strabel took fourth in a personal-best 51:44, while Canada’s Emma Cook-Clarke (52:25) rounded out the top-5.
The ceremonial starter was Minnesota’s Brent Hadoff, the great-grandson of 1917 champion Tom Hadoff, honoring his late great-grandfather.
The top finisher in the non-binary division was Anchorage’s Sam Goldon in a course-record 1:03:41, followed by Arizona’s Ace Wilder (1:13:37) and California’s Val Ehlers (1:19:07).
On the longevity front, Ellyn Brown and Patti Foldager — the 1985 and 1993 champion — each achieved their 43rd finishes.
The ageless Gail Taylor placed 25th overall, while running her age for the second straight year. Her time of 1:00:32 is a new 60-69 age group record, slicing nearly 5.5 minutes off Sheryl Loan’s mark from 2019.
Olympic gold medalist Lydia Jacoby of Seward placed 98th in her debut in the women’s race, after serving as the ceremonial starter for the men’s race.
Mount Marathon
Women’s Top 10
- Klaire Rhodes, 49:55
- Christy Marvin, 50:51
- Shauna Severson, 51:22
- Denali Strabel, 51:44
- Emma Cook-Clarke, 52:25
- Meg Inokuma, 52:32
- Kendall Kramer, 52:53
- Rosie Fordham, 53:09
- Katey Houser, 53:56
- April McAnly, 54:41
Full results here.
