“Lactic Alaskan Trip” wins 175-mile Alaska Relay

Team "Lactic Alaskan Trip" was the first to cross the finish line of the inaugural 175-mile Alaska Relay in Seward on Saturday. They finished the race, which took runners from Chugiak's Mirror Lake Park to Seward High School, in 23 hours, 47 minutes.

Sixteen 12-person teams covered 36 legs, with each member running at least three legs. The legs varied from 3 to 10 miles long. Teams started in three waves at 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and noon Friday. The final teams finished Saturday evening.

[Alaska Relay photo gallery]

Lactic Alaskan Trip started in the third wave and passed every team by the 24th leg at Hope Highway Junction. The team's winning time was faster than the second-place team by over an hour, and it was the only team to crack the 24-hour mark. The winning team averaged 8 minute and 10 second miles on 175 miles of varying terrain.

The team consisted of captain Kristina Storlie, David Berg, Leah Zumwalt, Sean Zumwalt, Corbyn Zahn, Benn Schlapia, Marliese von Huene, Christi Meyn, Thomas Nenahlo, Katherine Sind, Ross Ring-Jarvi and Jennifer Baker.

All 16 teams finished by Saturday evening, but complete results were still being tabulated by race officials.

This year's race, organized by Nathan Luke, attracted 192 runners.

[How the Alaska Relay began]

"The 200 or so runners, they're ecstatic," said Alaska Relay marketing director Dave Luke, "The response was way more than expected."