Two 31-year-olds ran the entire length of Perseverance Trail in under 45 minutes on Saturday.
Allan Spangler, of Juneau, and Seth Rutt, of Phoenix, Arizona, finished first and second respectively in the long course of the Perseverance Trail Run/Ben Blackgoat Memorial. The race, which featured over 60 runners, gave its participants the option of running all of the trail (7 miles) or parts of it (2 or 4 miles).
It’s the 21st offering of the grueling mountainous run, hosted by Juneau Trail &Road Runners and named in honor of Ben Blackgoat, an avid teenage runner who died while running Perseverance in 1996.
Rutt remained on Spangler’s heels throughout the race but said he lost sight of the winning runner after about three miles. Spangler crossed the tape in 42 minutes, 8 seconds. Rutt was close behind, finishing the course in 43:16.
“I didn’t feel like pushing it that hard on the climb and I think he did get quite a bit closer,” Spangler said. “But then, once we got up there, I just went as hard as I could.”
Rutt, whose last race was a 50-miler, said the race actually hurt just as much — if not more — than an ultramarathon.
“Trying to not spike your heart rate too much for 40 minutes or 45 minutes or so is a lot more difficult than just steady, easy pace at an ultra,” Rutt said. “I don’t run fast too often, but when I do, it hurts.”
It was the third year in a row Alyssa Hobbs has run in the race. Hobbs, 40, took off over six minutes from her time two years ago. She finished with the second-most points overall in last year’s Nugget Alaskan Outfitter Cup and has already run in six races this year.
“I actually started running these races three years ago; I hadn’t run prior to that,” Hobbs said. “I did it initially to lose weight and just to get out and do something. I’ve lost like 30 pounds and I just really enjoy coming out and talking to people and just running with friends.”
Finn Morley (28:50) topped the field in the 4-mile run while Quinn Tracy (19:11) won the 2-mile run.
All race proceeds go into the Ben Blackgoat Memorial Scholarship, which JTRR awards every year to a high schooler.
Perseverance Trail Run/Ben Blackgoat Memorial
Top-10 Results
7-mile course — 1, Allan Spangler, 42 minutes, 8 seconds. 2, Seth Rutt, 43:16. 3, Zach Bursell, 45:19. 4, Riley Moser, 46:31. 5, Bryan Hitchcock, 46:56. 6, Rob Swanson, 49:29. 7, Hiram Henry, 50:01. 8, Mark Churchill, 51:23. 9, Drew Stafford, 51:33. 10, Bethany Gollin, 52:30.
4-mile course — 1, Finn Morley, 28:50. 2, Sadie Tuckwood, 31:58. 3, Gus Marx, 32:23. 4, Max Rosen, 34:43. 5, Cindy Tuckwood, 35:42. 6, Jennifer Strumfield, 36:33. 7, David Noon, 36:48. 8, Lindsay McTague, 36:55. 9, Rayna Tuckwood, 37:23. 10, Maisy Morley, 37:53.
2-mile course — 1, Quinn Tracy, 19:11. 2, Darla Orbistondo, 19:44. 3, Layne Cutnose, 21:53. 4, Blake Cutnose, 21:54. 5, Karly Kelly, 22:22. 5, Heather Parker, 22:22. 6, Cooper Blackgoat, 23:05. 7, Kwame Diehl, 23:08. 8, Michael Fleischhauer, 23:40. 9, Kyla Blackgoat, 50:27.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.
