The influx of elite Outsiders and international runners at Mount Marathon began in earnest in 2013, when American Rickey Gates finished runner-up in his race debut and clocked the second-fastest time in race history.
Gates followed with a fourth-place finish in 2014 in the Independence Day, 3.1-mile race up and down the unrelenting 3,022-foot peak overlooking Seward.
And last year, Spaniard Kilian Jornet and Swede Emelie Forsberg smashed the men's and women's race records, respectively. Gates took second again, Canadian Nick Elson debuted in fifth and Matt Shryock, an Alaskan resident still fairly new to the state, debuted in sixth.
Now it appears at least a couple more strong foreign entrants will lend even more elite depth to the Mount Marathon fields this summer.
Adam Campbell, a Canadian who finished third to Jornet in both 2014 and 2015 at the Hardrock 100-Miler in Colorado, is on the bib list for Mount Marathon.
On the list for the women's race is Yngvild Kaspersen, a Norwegian who competes on the World Skyrunning circuit. She finished seventh overall in the vertical kilometer series last year despite competing in two of six events — Kaspersen was second in the race, fourth in another.
Both Campbell and Kaspersen successfully petitioned the Mount Marathon race committee for spots in the limited-entry fields based on their elite qualifications.
Campbell is a former triathlete who is also a 2-hour, 29-minute marathoner. His third-place finish at Hardrock in 2014 came despite being struck by lightning.
Kaspersen last year also finished fifth in the Limone Extreme Skyrace in northern Italy, where athletes covered 23 kilometers and more than 9,000 feet of climbing and descending.
Jornet, who clocked 41:48 last year in Seward, is entered in Mount Marathon this year but is unlikely to race. He is focusing on generating the fastest known time up and down Mount Everest.
But Gates, who owns the third- and fourth-fastest times in race history (42:56 in 2015, 43:04 in 2013) is registered. So is three-time champion Eric Strabel of Anchorage, whose 42:55 in 2013 shattered Bill Spencer's 32-year-old race record (43:23 in 1981) and ranks second-fastest in race history. Also in the field are 2015 third-place finisher Jim Shine of Anchorage, Elson and Shryock.
The women's field includes two-time champion Holly Brooks of Anchorage (2014, 2012) and 2013 champion Christy Marvin of Palmer. The bib list also includes Najeeby Quinn of Anchorage, who finished fourth last year, and Denali Foldager-Strabel, who finished fifth.
While defending women's champion Forsberg is entered in the race, she recently said her status is doubtful because she underwent reconstructive knee surgery in February.
Soldotna's Allie Ostrander, the six-time junior Mount Marathon champion who finished second last year in her senior-division debut with the second-fastest time in race history, also is entered. But the U.S. Olympic Trials in track and field — Ostrander has qualified in the 5,000 meters — conflicts with Mount Marathon.
Shryock to worlds
Shryock recently was named to Team USA for the World Mountain Running Association's long distance championships in Slovenia on June 18.
Shryock qualified with his third-place finish last year in the Run The Rut 50-kilometer race in Montana. That race features 10,500 feet of climbing and equal descent.
Shryock, a 29-year-old nurse, enjoyed a strong 2015 season in local mountain and trail races. He won the Turnagain Arm Trail Run in record time, won the Pioneer Ridge Climb, finished third at both Knoya Ridge and Government Peak, and finished sixth at both Bird Ridge and Mount Marathon.
"It's definitely my best season,'' Shryock said. "Things came together. I wasn't working as much and I could focus on (racing).''
Runners in the long distance championships in Slovenia will compete in the Gorski Marathon, a 42K which includes 9,000 feet of ascent and descent.
"I think it'll be really hard,'' Shryock said.
More Spartan races for Novakovich
Anchorage's Matt Novakovich recently was named to the Spartan Race pro team — he's excelled the last couple years in obstacle racing.
Novakovich's athletic resume is broad, and filled with success.
He was a steeplechaser at Brigham Young University. For years, he was the top bike road racer in these parts. Then he focused on mountain running, and won Mount Marathon in 2012. His 44:07 that year is No. 11 on the all-time Mount Marathon list.
Obstacle racing is among his latest forays. And he won a boxing match in Thursday Night at the Fights late last year.
Tuesday night, Novakovich returned to bike racing in the Arctic Bicycle Club's Potter Valley Hill Climb and proved he can still turn gears well. He finished fourth, seven seconds behind winner Joey Bacala.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr