Runners race again in Anchorage at low-vibe, high-stakes Hightail Half Marathon

From prerace temperature checks to postrace refreshments placed behind a protective sheet of plastic, Anchorage got its first look at what it’s like to hold a footrace during a pandemic Sunday.

A field of about 100 women started in 11 small waves — 10 or fewer runners at a time, in three-minute intervals — for the Hightail Half Marathon and Quarter Marathon. It was the first footrace of the summer in Anchorage, where dozens of races have been canceled or gone virtual because of COVID-19.

Big, colorful inflatable arches marked the start and finish lines at Westchester Lagoon, and an announcer thanked sponsors and called out the names of finishers on a loudspeaker. From a distance, it looked and sounded like a typical footrace.

Upon closer inspection, this was no typical race. No spectators cheering the finishers. No DJ, no music. No awards ceremony. Limited postrace lingering. Only one dog hanging around the finish line.

The low-vibe feel came with a high-stakes element: Could race organizers execute untested mitigation protocols intended to limit the risk of spreading a highly contagious disease?

“I have had a lot of anxiety,” said race director Mark Iverson, the head of Skinny Raven Events and Timing. “We’re exposed out here. A lot of people are watching, and we wanted things to go well.

“There is no one thing saying this is how to do this. There’s not someone saying, ‘This is the safe way,‘ so we’ve all had to develop our own systems.”

Iverson said he spent hours reading World Health Organization guidelines and looking into a few races that have been held in the Lower 48. He decided to limit in-person participation to 200 — only half that number signed up, with another 182 opting for the Hightail’s virtual event.

After Sunday’s race, held primarily on the Coastal Trail, Iverson was optimistic about holding a limited, in-person race for next month’s Alaska Distance Classic. He thinks an event with 200 to 300 runners would be manageable.

“This was a bit of an experiment for me to see how people would behave,” he said. “They needed to hold up their end of the bargain, and they did.”

The race, formerly known as the Her Tern Half Marathon, is a popular women’s-only event that pampers participants with massages, mimosas and more. This year, the mimosas came in the form of coupons — one good for a small bottle of champagne, the other good for a small bottle of juice.

Klaire Rhodes, who won Sunday’s half marathon, works for race sponsor Skinny Raven and has seen grander versions of the race.

“I’m normally here, and it’s a huge event with a big after-party,” she said. “It’s a bummer it’s not like that (this year), but I’m so excited we could do anything at all live.”

Rhodes, a 22-year-old South High graduate who switched from swimming to running after high school, won the 13.1-mile half marathon in 1 hour, 25 minutes. She was well ahead of runnerup Mandy Vincent-Lang (1:32:01), the 2017 champion.

Michelle Baxter breezed to victory in the 6.5-mile quarter marathon, clocking a time of 42:36 nine months after having a baby. Charissa Habeger was second in 53:29.

Training partners Laurie Fernandes (1:01:00) and Robin Glover (1:01:19) finished third and fourth, respectively, and were happy for the chance race again.

“With no races, we took this summer and did a lot of hiking and trail running,” said Glover, who usually competes in five or six footraces a year.

Absent their usual training for road racing, “we decided we would try to do our best,” she said.

Fernandes and Glover started in the same wave after passing their prerace temperature check, which happened as runners stood on blue dots that were placed on the ground in socially-distant fashion outside the starting chute.

“I don’t think I was ever close to anybody,” Fernandes said.

Runners had to twice fill out forms — once on the day before the race — saying they weren’t sick, hadn’t been around anyone who is sick and hadn’t recently traveled out-of-state. Everyone cleared the temperature cutoff of 100.4 degrees, Iverson said.

“They did a really good job,” Baxter, 37, said of race organizers. “It felt like a real race, just smaller. When I finished there was hardly anybody here.”

But in a summer of virtual racing, even a small race felt like a big occasion.

“Oh, this is much better — just having everybody else around you and having an official start,” Baxter said. “It’s more enjoyable when you see everybody, and it’s always fun to cheer for others.”

Hightail Half Marathon (13.1 miles)

1. Klaire Rhodes, 1:25:00; 2. Mandy Vincent-Lang, 1:32:01; 3. Kylie Judd, 1:32:36; 4. Mary Reinbold, 1:32:46; 5. Breanna Day, 1:34:26; 6. Ashlee Weller, 1:36:00; 7. Michelle Mitchell, 1:42:33; 8. Kristin Riall, 1:43:20; 9. Karina Packer, 1:43:49; 10. Lindy Henrick, 1:44:55; 11. Anna Cantrell, 1:47:22; 12. Tricia Fields, 1:47:30; 13. Elizabeth Crookshank, 1:48:17; 14. Jessica Burk, 1:50:20; 15. Sarah Nicholas, 1:50:31; 16. Petra Richards, 1:50:48; 17. Eva Hall, 1:51:01; 18. Julie Aloysius, 1:52:52; 19. Teal Stanley, 1:55:20; 20. Linda Barnack, 1:55:22; 21. Haley Hughes, 1:56:09; 22. Davina Salsbury, 1:56:22; 23. Leslie Hoffman, 1:58:16; 24. Antonya Hall, 1:58:35; 25. Angie Meahan, 1:59:22; 26. Melissa Tholl, 1:59:44; 27. Jen Novobilski, 1:59:58; 28. Sandy Morrell, 2:03:02; 29. Erin Howe, 2:03:48; 30. Loralie Baus, 2:07:31; 31. Cinda Devine, 2:07:32; 32. Sylvia Craig, 2:07:57; 33. Deanna Beck, 2:08:07; 34. Kristi Davis, 2:09:09; 35. Jamey Bradbury, 2:10:26; 36. Madison Vincent-Lang, 2:11:48; 37. Hannah Farr, 2:12:40; 38. Amanda Wilson, 2:14:21; 39. Kimberly Buskirk, 2:16:22; 40. Deann Denter, 2:16:24; 41. Ashton Stubblefield, 2:18:08; 42. Lisa An, 2:19:39; 43. Lexi Fernandez, 2:19:54; 44. Jennifer Midthun, 2:20:08; 45. Jeanine Huston, 2:20:27; 46. Maggie Nelson, 2:21:42; 47. Mandy LaRose, 2:22:15; 48. Kathleen Grimes, 2:23:24; 49. Brittany D’Amico, 2:23:32; 50. Erika Descutner, 2:26:11; 51. Elizabeth Dickinson, 2:28:45; 52. Meghan Paulson, 2:29:36; 53. Kristine Casteel, 2:29:52; 54. Nicole Kordik, 2:31:53; 55. Kate Bradley, 2:32:06; 56. Jennifer Marshall, 2:34:46; 57. Denise Lutton, 2:36:31; 58. Monika Knight, 2:36:54 59. Kelly West, 2:37:06; 60. Mary McCormick, 2:38:08; 61. Tiffanie Poteet, 2:39:18; 62. Mollie Pate, 2:39:58; 63. Gabrielle Brugato, 2:44:55 64. Stephanie Smith, 2:47:17; 65. Madison Brees, 2:47:28; 66. Alice Hildreth, 2:49:57; 67. Rennea Goff, 2:50:14; 68. Allison Jones, 2:50:15; 69. Chelsea Boardman, 2:53:40; 70. Leann Stubblefield, 2:57:23; 71. Trudi Livermont, 2:58:41; 72. Pauline Tise, 2:58:43; 73. Judith Farley, 2:58:45; 74. Jolene McDowell, 3:10:07; 75. Andee Burke, 3:13:56; 76. Christina McCoskey, 3:38:41.

Hightail Quarter Marathon (6.55 miles)

1. Michelle Baxter, 42:36; 2. Charissa Habeger, 53:29; 3. Laurie Fernandes, 1:01:00; 4. Robin Glover, 1:01:19; 5. Carly Fielding, 1:01:26; 6. Meghan Owens, 1:04:02; 7. Kristina Peterson, 1:07:44; 8. Lena Lafferty, 1:07:50; 9. Renae Werner, 1:08:09; 10. Rebecca Haviland, 1:08:47; 11. Maureen Van Wagner, 1:09:14; 12. Suzanne Armentrout, 1:12:05; 13. Breanne Weiss, 1:13:15; 14. Hannah Kelley, 1:13:54; 15. Sanjana Greenhill, 1:16:37; 16. Christine McCulloch, 1:20:10; 17. Mindy Bush, 1:27:55; 18. Anne-Marie Lilly, 1:38:45; 19. Colleen Moran, 1:40:05; 20. Tiffany Schuyler, 1:40:06; 21. Denise Demetree-Tromb, 1:43:36; 22. Iesha Jones, 1:46:36.

[Because of a high volume of comments requiring moderation, we are temporarily disabling comments on many of our articles so editors can focus on the coronavirus crisis and other coverage. We invite you to write a letter to the editor or reach out directly if you’d like to communicate with us about a particular article. Thanks.]