Rugged new race at Alyeska challenges mountain runners

A new mountain race quite literally had runners on the ropes Saturday at Alyeska Ski Resort.

The Alyeska Cirque Series race, one of five races being held this summer on alpine ski slopes around the country, put a field of nearly 200 runners to the test on an overcast afternoon in Girdwood.

Beginning and ending at the Sitzmark Bar & Grill, the 6.4-mile race featured 3,805 feet of steep climbing up the bowl to the Headwall ridge, followed by a slick, technical descent of Max's Mountain.

The downhill ended on such precipitous terrain that ropes were installed to accommodate runners.

"I've never seen that in Alaska mountain running," said winner David Norris of Anchorage. "You were sort of belaying your way down.

"… It was probably the steepest tree section I've gone through."

Second place went to Scott Patterson of Anchorage (1:10:09.3), and third place went to world-class mountain runner Brett Hales of Utah (1:12:09.3). Kenny Brewer of Anchorage finished right behind Hales in 1:12:19.0.

[Norris wins Mount Marathon with record time]

[Patterson crushes uphill to win Mount Marathon]

The women's race was a battle between Anchorage runners Najeeby Quinn and Marine Dusser. Dusser was first to the ridge, but Quinn caught her on the downhill to win in 1:24:41.0. Dusser clocked 1:29:48.1.

The race was the first to include Center Ridge and Headwall and the first to include a descent of Max's Mountain, according to Matias Saari, who placed seventh. Previous races on Max's Mountain were uphill only, he said.

All of that made for an exciting and challenging day of running, hiking and scrambling, Norris said.

"A lot of the mountain-running regulars were stoked to have something new to spice things up," he said.

"It was definitely challenging compared to Bird Ridge or something that's really well-established. The downhill was pretty exciting, and again, kind of more of a goat trail than a maintained (trail).

"… You had to go within your comfort zone and be safe."

The race is the fourth in the five-race Discrete Cirque Series, which also includes races at Colorado's Arapahoe Basin and Utah's Deer Valley, Alta and Snowbird ski resorts.

First place was worth $500, second place paid $300 and third place paid $200.

The race lured a number of Lower 48 runners to Alyeska, a group led by Hales, who placed 22nd in this year's World Mountain Running Championships.

Hales, a 30-year-old who was an All-American runner at Weber State, used his running prowess to take an early lead.

But as the course became more rugged and technical, the two Alaskans – Norris, a Lathrop High graduate, and Patterson, a South High graduate – reeled him in.

Norris was the first to reach the Headwall. Hales was second to the top but Patterson caught him on the run along the ridge.

Norris said by the time he began his descent, he had a big enough cushion that he could afford to play it safe on the most treacherous stretches of the downhill.

That was the plan all along, actually.

Norris, 26, and Patterson, 25, are among Alaska's best mountain runners – Patterson won this year's Mount Marathon and Norris set the Mount Marathon record in 2016.

Both men are also elite cross-country skiers. Teammates on the Alaska Pacific University ski team, they hope to qualify for next year's Winter Olympics in South Korea.

With that goal in mind, Norris said they both entered the race willing to hold back if needed.

"Scott and I talked about it (and said) if we were all bunched up battling for the win on the downhill, we wouldn't be like 'Let's go kill ourselves for the win.'

"… The prize money's paying for my skiing, so there was a little incentive to race, and I just had to be reasonable about it. If I was in third place or something I may have had to settle for third place, because there's no sense in getting a couple hundred dollars if you ended up with a broken arm."

Pro division

1) David Norris 1:07:56; 2) Scott Patterson 1:10:09; 3) Brett Hales 1:12:09; 4) Matias Saari 1:15:56; 5) Taylor Turney 1:18:06; 6) A.J. Schirack 1:21:30; 7) Christopher Kirk 1:23:36; 8) Craig Taylor 1:23:55; 9) Najeeby Quinn 1:24:41; 10) Marine Dusser 1:29:48.

Expert division (top 5)

Men — 1) Kenny Brewer 1:12:19; 2) Cody Priest 1:14:01; 3) Peter Mamrol 1:15:46; 4) Erik Bjornsen 1:18:03; 5) Mark Iverson 1:20:36.

Women — 1) Mitzi Gray 1:33:46; 2) Jocelyn Kopsack 1:35:12; 3) Sadie Fox 1:35:23; 4) Tatjana Spaic 1:48:57; 5) Julianne Dickerson 1:50:02.

Sport division (top 5)

Men — 1) Robert Schoff 1:22:29; 2) Jack Consenstein 1:22:46; 3) Kyle Willard 1:34:05; 4) Chris Cronick 1:34:33; 5) John Naylor 1:38:34.

Women — 1) Juliet Parke 1:55:06; 2) Carrie Koso 1:57:22; 3) Annie Ridgely 2:02:36; 4) Molly Lukes 2:03:29; 5) Jane Boer 2:06:57.