Anna Dalton smoked a strong field Saturday to claim her first victory in Alaska's pinkest and most popular footrace.
She broke the 29-minute mark in the five-mile Alaska Run for Women by 1.02 seconds and looked great at the finish line, where she waited more than 80 seconds before defending champion Hallidie Wilt arrived in second place, two seconds ahead of third-place Lia Slemons.
But the Run for Women has not always been so kind to Dalton, who recalled a traumatic finish from her childhood.
"I lost a tooth in the middle of the race," she said. "When I finished, I realized I'd lost it and I started sobbing. I thought the Tooth Fairy wouldn't come."
Look around at the Run for Women and you might see something akin to the Tooth Fairy. Fairy wings, tutus and feather boas are everywhere, a statement of sisterhood and girl power at a race where the most lauded participants are breast cancer survivors.
A crowd of 5,866 girls and women, many wearing something pink, enjoyed blazing sunshine and warm weather for the 23rd edition of the race, a fundraiser for programs that help fight breast cancer.
Stacy Smith, 47, wore a tiara while doing the one-mile event with her 11-year-old daughter, Mesa. Diagnosed in January 2014, Smith made her Run for Women debut last year while still undergoing chemotherapy and thought it was important to come back this year.
"Just to support the cause and to show that I'm strong," she said. "To show that if I can do it, others can too."
Smith was among 320 survivors entered in one of three events -- an untimed one-mile run, an untimed five-mile run and a timed five-mile run. Of those 320, 59 competed in the timed event, 23 of whom finished in less than one hour.
Leading the way for the survivors was Lesley Yamauchi, whose time of 38:44.7 placed her 62nd overall.
Dalton clocked 28:58.98 to reach her goal of a sub-29:00 finish.
Dalton is one of Alaska's best marathoners, placing 46th in this year's Boston Marathon. The Run for Women doesn't always fit into her training and racing schedule, but it always has a place in her heart.
"I haven't done it in recent years but it's the first race I did as a 6-year-old," she said. "I won my first age-group award here, so there's a lot of good memories, doing it with my mom."
On the eve of Saturday's race, Dalton spoke with her mom, who is spending the weekend on the Kenai Peninsula.
"She reminded me it's not just another race," Dalton said. "We have a family friend getting a double mastectomy next week.
"That keeps it in perspective."
Dalton averaged a 5:48-per-mile pace on a course that went west from Sullivan Arena to E Street and followed E Street to Second Avenue, where it hooked up with the Coastal Trail. Runners followed the Coastal Trail to Westchester Lagoon -- taking a slight detour into a neighborhood because of the Westchester bridge collapse -- and looping back to the finish line on the Anchorage Football Stadium track.
Dalton overtook Wilt near the two-mile mark, where the course reaches the Coastal Trail. She pulled away and ran the final three miles unchallenged.
Wilt, who won the 5-kilometer Heart Run earlier this year, was vying to become the Run for Women's first back-to-back champion since Kristi Waythomas pulled off that feat in 2008 and 2009.
Since then, there have been six different champions -- in order from 2010, Kelsey Jones, Najeeby Quinn, Kikkan Randall, Susan Bick, Wilt and Dalton.
Wilt, who finished in 30:22, and Bick, 19th in 34:40, were the only past champions in Saturday's race, but the field was a strong one nonetheless. Slemons (30:24) has been a force in both footrace and mountain races this year, and Holly Brooks (fourth in 31:11) is a two-time Olympic cross-country skier.
The top runners share the spotlight with the survivors, who Saturday wore special pink-and-white hats. Betty Brickel of Wasilla did the one-mile race wearing one of the hats and a long-sleeved pink T-shirt with the word "Survivor" written down one sleeve. Brickel, 76, was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago.
"My doctor encouraged me to do this but I just had a knee replacement, so I could only do the one-mile," she said. "I've been running this since 1990, back when Kristi Waythomas had a different name.
"This is my first time as a survivor. I was delighted. I had a little girl running next to me talking a mile a minute."
Brickel lingered at the Anchorage Football Stadium after the race, as do most participants. There are many sobering moments at the Run for Women, but there are always more smiles than tears.
Race day begins with a yoga session. It wraps up with a Zumba session and an awards ceremony, where 35-year-old Slemons accepted her third-place award while holding Freda, her 1 1/2-year-old daughter.
Last summer when Freda was an infant, Slemons wasn't able to train or race seriously, but she still made it to the Run for Women.
"I make it a priority," she said. "Some summers it's the only race I go to. This is a race that makes you feel good no matter what happens.
"I even feel like I'm good at Zumba when I'm here. And I'm not good at Zumba."
Alaska Run for Women
Five miles
Top 100
1) Anna Dalton 28:59.0; 2) Hallidie Wilt 30:22.1; 3) Lia Slemons 30:24.1; 4) Holly Brooks 31:11.7; 5) Katie Krehlik 31:37.0; 6) Amy Reed 31:58.8; 7) Michelle Baxter 32:18.0; 8) Erin Jordan 32:26.5; 9) Greer Gehler 32:27.8; 10) Emma Bohman 32:33.1; 11) Tsaina Mahlen 32:36.3; 12) Kelly Staruch 32:36.9; 13) Leslie Varys 32:41.8; 14) Allison Melocik 32:47.2; 15) Emily Evans 33:53.1; 16) Kristy Estrada 33:59.1; 17) Lauren Fritz 34:25.3; 18) Kayle Blackmore 34:28.8; 19) Susan Bick 34:40.2; 20) Rebecca Windt Pearson 34:53.2; 21) Adrienne Clingenpeel 34:57.4; 22) Kathleene Simonson 35:05.5; 23) Laura Mcdonough 35:30.0; 24) Cindy Freistone 35:36.1; 25) Dorothy Calkins 36:03.3; 26) Jeni Newman 36:08.2; 27) Qian Chen 36:11.4; 28) Jessie Westin 36:14.6; 29) Sara Miller 36:15.9; 30) Ellie Chidsey 36:23.0; 31) Christine Fisher 36:23.5; 32) Whitney Harness 36:30.1 33) Tekla Seavey 36:37.1; 34) Laura Carpenter 36:45.6; 35) Alex West 36:46.9; 36) Adrianna Proffitt 36:47.7; 37) Ellyn Brown 36:56.0; 38) Robin Mullen 37:01.4; 39) Laura Butcher 37:10.6; 40) Emily Berliner 37:20.1; 41) Cathy Duffy 37:20.4; 42) Sara Chatham 37:20.6; 43) Alyssa Hargis 37:26.0; 44) Jackie Minge 37:28.8; 45) Kari Skinner 37:32.9; 46) Dana Diehl 37:36.7; 47) Melissa Lantz 37:36.9; 48) Jaylee Brendel 38:08.6; 49) Yuliya Fateyeva 38:17.4; 50) Julie Michels 38:19.0; 51) Summer Kathol 38:21.8; 52) Nadine Price 38:23.8; 53) Cassie Wohlgemuth 38:25.0; 54) Sharon Ehasz 38:26.3; 55) Christina Cho 38:26.5; 56) Gwen Mueller 38:28.6; 57) Jennifer Floch 38:31.9; 58) Bridget Mcbride 38:31.9; 59) Tonia Baklanova 38:35.3; 60) Alisa Aist 38:36.0; 61) Jordin Thompson 38:40.8; 62) Lesley Yamauchi 38:44.7; 63) Becky Tuominen 38:47.6; 64) Hali Young 39:02.5; 65) Emily Becker 39:03.3; 66) Hannah Armbrust 39:06.7; 67) Claire Coppel 39:10.1; 68) Charissa Habeger 39:13.7; 69) Paige Mcmanus 39:25.1; 70) Andrea Tesch 39:29.1; 71) Xinghua Turner 39:29.9; 72) Ivy Bowler 39:31.0; 73) Annette Funk 39:34.8; 74) Sydney Swanson 39:37.4; 75) Rashele Kimmel 39:44.2; 76) Ava Harren 39:45.3; 77) Mireya De La Pena 39:45.6; 78) Nancy Spence 39:49.8 79) Kristina Woolston 39:52.7; 80) Hailee Rahm 39:55.7; 81) Madison Smith 39:58.4; 82) Kate Clark 40:00.4; 83) Mandy Malone Stratton 40:02.4; 84) Ashlee Weller 40:16.2; 85) Jennifer Gates 40:16.3 86) Andrea Brierly 40:18.4; 87) Hillary Tschappat Larson 40:19.2; 88) Milca Widmer 40:19.5; 89) Calee Stark 40:27.0; 90) Kari Moss 40:30.1; 91) Cynthia Decker 40:30.5; 92) Jane Casilla 40:30.7; 93) Denise Deal 40:31.0; 94) Bailey Rogers 40:32.5; 95) Cecilia Jarvis 40:34.3; 96) Cindy Wymer 40:37.4; 97) Lydia Bushey 40:37.6; 98) Jennifer Slaughter 40:37.9; 99) Maribet Murray 40:42.9; 100) Kelsey Platt 40:46.5.
Survivors
1) Lesley Yamauchi 38:44.7; 2) Annette Funk 39:34.8; 3) Cynthia Decker 40:30.5; 4) Elaine Tibbetts 41:41.4; 5) Lisa Huffman 42:02.0; 6) Catherine Mormile 42:16.8; 7) Teresa Arnold 42:22.1; 8) Jean Bokman 44:49.6; 9) Thea Agnew Bemben 46:56.6; 10) Melissa Erhard 47:06.6; 11) Agnes Walsky 47:30.3; 12) Heidi Voeller 48:07.3; 13) Linda Staats 48:37.2; 14) Jean Funatake 49:46.1; 15) Mary Flanigin 49:54.8; 16) Sharon Tobias 50:40.3; 17) Susan Windle Beam 51:05.1; 18) Mary Marsolais 51:11.4; 19) Kimberly Graham 53:18.4; 20) Becky Crandall 55:39.9; 21) Margaret Bondi 55:41.80; 22) Deeta Lonergan 57:25.9; 23) Luba Belavtseva 58:08.6; 24) Memry Dahl 1:00:04.3; 25) Blanca Buffone 1:03:22.2; 26) Tammy Oswald 1:03:47.0; 27) Sarah Scanlan 1:03:49.0; 28) Rebecca Graham 1:04:13.8; 29) Lorraine Krueger 1:04:19.3; 30) Jonda Lutz 1:04:50.3; 31) Lori Pedersen 1:05:15.8; 32) Issa Forrest 1:05:55.; 33) Carol Russell 1:06:15.4; 34) Molly Ridout 1:06:23.1; 35) Dawn Hansen 1:06:46.6; 36) Patricia Anderson 1:08:02.4; 37) Diane Buls 1:11:10.9; 38) Alicia Froh 1:11:59.0; 39) Hazel Ballinger 1:14:11.1; 40) Lynn Garrison 1:18:13.5; 41) Katerina Soloview 1:20:11.7; 42) Crystal Upton 1:20:21.9; 43) Susan Long 1:21:44.1; 44) Karen Bohne 1:21:45.8; 45) Susan Musgrove 1:24:53.7; 46) Jackie Ohlson 1:25:43.7; 47) Anna Maria Knutson 1:25:50.8; 48) Brenda Hearn 1:25:51.2; 49) Kimberly Wise 1:27:32.0; 50) Gretchen Taylor 1:29:13.5; 51) Patti Irwin 1:29:14.9; 52) Ann Brudenell 1:30:41.7; 53) Elaine Allen 1:32:17.6; 54) Renee Hammett 1:33:07.8; 55) Marilyn Pettit 1:37:54.7; 56) Joan Narsavich 1:46:41.2; 57) Patsy Martinez 1:52:02.8; 58) Kimberly Buskirk 1:59:31.4; 59) Carolyn Lyons 2:26:50.7.