Sports

Konrath-Bera, McDonough run to 100-mile victories on Resurrection Pass Trail

Jacob Konrath-Bera celebrated his 43rd birthday and Laura McDonough celebrated yet another triumph Saturday by finishing 1-2 in the Resurrection Pass 100, a 100-mile trail race on the Kenai Peninsula.

Konrath-Bera, the cross-country coach at Eagle River High School, was the only person to complete the race in less than 24 hours. He reached the finish line in Hope just before 3 p.m. Saturday -- his birthday -- and finished with a time of 23 hours, 40 minutes, 11 seconds.

McDonough, a 59-year-old from Anchorage, placed second in 25:16:32 to take the women’s title. It was her 10th win in the 100-mile race and her 12th total victory -- she is also a two-time winner of the Resurrection Pass 50-mile run.

Grabbing wins Saturday in the 50-mile race were Chad Trammell and Meg Inokuma, who recorded two of the fastest times in the history of the shorter race, first held in 1996.

Trammell took the overall win in 7:03:10 seconds, which ranks as the fourth fastest time. He was well off the course record of 6:21:48, set in 2015 by Matias Saari, who placed second this year in 7:18:14

Third place went to Inokuma, who topped the women in 8:04:21, the fifth fastest women’s time in history. The fastest time belongs to Holly Brooks (7:46:40 in 2015).

The 100-mile race, which dates back to 2003, began Friday afternoon and followed the Resurrection Pass Trail from Hope to Cooper Landing and back, with a brief detour to the Devil’s Pass trail to pick up a few extra miles on the return trip.

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Course records belong to Dugan Greenwell (18:57:40 in 2014) and Shawn McTaggart (22:01:36 in 2014).

The 50-mile race started Saturday morning in Cooper Landing.

The self-supported races are held on a trail originally used by gold miners. Hope and Cooper Landing are both about 300 feet above sea level, and the trail’s high point -- the 2,600-foot Resurrection Pass -- comes about midway between those towns.

A dozen runners finished the 100-mile race and 36 finished the 50-miler.

100 miles (Hope-Cooper Landing-Hope)

1) Jacob Konrath-Bera 23:40:11;

2) Laura McDonough 25:16:32;

3) James Benkert 26:06:24;

4) Tracie Curry 26:40:43;

5) Rocky Higgs 27:03:00;

6) Richard Birbilas 27:14:35;

7) Kari Konrath-Bera 28:06:42;

8) Bill Dube 28:26:34;

9) Aaron Foye 28:50:59;

10) Adam Gottschalk 29:01:50;

11) Carol Seppilu 32:10:28;

12) Teri Buck 32:48:37.

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Did not finish — Samuel Jordan, Matt Blood, Brian Burns,Donald Rhinehart.

50 miles (Cooper Landing to Hope)

1) Chad Trammell 7:03:10;

2) Matias Saari 7:18:14;

3) Meg Inokuma 8:04:21;

4) Jan Tomsen 8:31:44;

5) Chris Zerger 8:54:34;

6) Rachel Topf 9:05:54;

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7) Jacob Case 9:19:34;

8) Adrian Barniak 9:21:39;

9) Zoe Ash 9:32:11;

10) Tim Lemaire 10:08:03;

11) Will Steffe 10:15:35;

12) Clinton Brown 10:16:03;

13) Shauna Severson 10:18:25;

14) Stephanie Schmit 10:30:22 6;

15) Ryan Stanley 10:32:36;

16) Michael McGuire 10:33:20;

17) Jarrad Henry 10:46:30;

18) Elijah Haines 10:52:29;

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19) Greg Stocker 11:24:05;

20) Chelsea Riekkola 11:43:17;

21) Jess Johnson 11:43:56;

22) Dean Denter 11:49:03;

23) Neeka Erchinger 11:57:10;

24) Marek Kolendo 11:59:11;

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25) Aaron Christie 12:03:41;

26) Ognjen Joldzic 12:39:59;

27) Kamie Miller 13:09:53;

28) Heather Velazquez 13:09:53;

29) Jessica Johnson 13:09:53;

30) Todd Vorisek 13:15:29;

31) Cole Grigg 13:15:59;

32) Anna Straka 13:31:27;

33) Jen Novobilski 14:19:43;

34) Natalie Bickers 14:24:28;

35) Lucas Horn 14:34:38;

36) Wade Walker 16:07:17.

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Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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