“Love,” Jason Norat, 29, said of the reasoning behind running Saturday’s Sweetheart Relay at Sandy Beach.

This is his first year in Juneau, and he had the overall fastest mile leg, hitting five minutes and 11 seconds in the second mile leg. Along with partner Kristen Strom, 28, who had the second-fastest leg one mile in 6:48, they had the top combined team time in 11:59.

“It’s just a fun two-person relay,” said Strom, who has lived in Juneau for three years. “We haven’t done a partner relay before, so, it was fun.”

Said Norat, “Super fun. And she crushed a couple more races up here last year, like the ridge race and the Juneau Marathon and so this is just a fun one to do for 2025.”

The waffles were the deciding factor.

“Oh, that’s the real reason we’re here,” laughed Strom.

Norat said, “It is not like I didn’t just find out that there is waffles, I saw the whip cream so…”

The duo commented on the importance of running in a relationship.

“I think it is good,” Strom said. “I think that’s when the truth comes out, it’s when we have our best conversations and it’s also a good way to get out all the energy together…”

Said Norat: “And bond over a beer afterward. We both suffered and then you enjoy yourself.”

The duo noted that the Juneau Trail and Road Runners — which put on Saturday’s race — had many fun races.

“And they make it so much more fun than it could be and you get to do it with your partners so it is super fun,” Strom said.

Norat said he has lived in a big city and “this is like the coolest race I have ever heard of for Valentine’s Day. It’s super fast, super cool.”

Racers had the choice of running a leg one mile or leg two mile as part of a two-partner team, running both legs solo or just accompanying a significant other in a leg, but all knew that heart-shaped waffles, ready to be topped with raspberries and whipped cream, awaited.

The course started at the Sandy Beach parking lot and went a half mile out to First Street and back for each leg.

Therese Pokorney, 25, had the fastest leg one mile in 6:32 and partner Tim Mikulski, 25, the second fastest leg two mile in 5:42.

The duo are returning to racing form after completing the Seattle Marathon in December, a hilly Washington course that training in Juneau prepared them for.

“I feel like over the holidays you kind of fall into, you know, more of a resting time,” Mikulski said. “And then the first race of the year is a super fast one or two miles so it is always a pleasant jolt at the start of the year.”

The duo said they had been looking forward to the nuances of the race.

“I think it is just not often that we’re running this fast in a race situation,” Mikulski said. “We are used to those 5Ks and 10Ks that happen more often here and it’s just a totally different event. You’re really pushing against your limits in different ways.”

This is the couple’s second Sweetheart Relay.

“We got smoked last year by Shawn Miller,” Pokorney said. “He ran it all by himself, and we couldn’t keep up.”

But waffles were the key then and now.

“I usually feel like I am not hungry after a hard effort,” Mikulski said. “But it is such a cute part of the event that I’m going to enjoy them anyway.”

Said Pokorney: “I’m excited about the waffles as well.”

Race directors Dan and Val Robinson have been organizing the race for at least 18 years.

The heart-shaped waffles came in the midst of that stint.

“That was Val’s idea maybe 10 years ago,” Dan Robinson said. “But several parents told us how fun that was — I think raspberries and whip cream, too — but especially heart-shaped waffles. And gluten-free because I’m celiac…So that is cool because some people don’t usually get to eat waffles.”

Both have run the race before or as Val noted, “I have walked it.”

One year it was cancelled for weather and the duo decided they could just stay off the highway and hold the race in any weather.

“One recent year we cancelled because it was a blizzard or a snowstorm,” D. Robinson said. “But I like the idea you do it no matter the weather in Juneau.”

Asked if the race was the glue that holds a marriage together he laughed. “Probably a dab…there’s other glue.”

Other glue is the fun of running.

“Just a fun thing to do on the weekend,” Ian Novak, 24, said. “Good way to get out and maybe have some waffles afterward.”

Partner Emma Sihler, 24, said Novak is “a big runner and I’m happy to come along.”

Sihler did make it a point that Ian was not just the runner and she the waffle eater.

“He can eat a lot of waffles, too,” she said. “He’s the runner and the waffle eater. I’m along for the ride.”

They have been in Juneau just six months.

Novak said he is training for some of the larger races in Southeast and a 50K in Montana.

“We’re trying to get into all the running stuff that we can,” he said. “It’s been very fun.”

And runners can do anything for love.

Eddie Dunivin, 40, is newer to the sport and had completed a prior Sweetheart race and a Color Run and wife, Danielle Dunivin, 34, hit a milestone of completing her 100th JTRR race last year.

“Because she wanted me to run it with her,” E. Dunivin said of his reasoning for Saturday’s outing. “And we’re married so I may as well do it. I can run one mile at least. And, oh yeah, the waffles. I had forgotten.”

Added D. Dunivin, “It’s just a fun run and the first race of the season so it is just a good way to kick off year. I think the waffles are a fun incentive and fun family event…and it’s 101 races now!”

Heather Parker, 39, and husband Quinn Tracy, 44, have found the appeal of team races at home and abroad.

“Team races are just really fun,” Parker said. “And there aren’t that many team races in Juneau. There’s this and there’s the Seacoast Relay and then there’s the Klondike. But it is pretty fun to run it with your favorite person.”

Added Tracy, “Yeah, there really aren’t any other races like this where we run together as a team. It’s just different.”

Asked what the prize was awaiting each at the finish Parker responded with “heart-shaped waffles” and Tracey said “huffing and puffing.”

But both have the importance of running in their relationship, too.

“For us, it is fun and important because it is something we can do together that we both enjoy,” Tracy said.

Added Parker: “Running is something we can do in Juneau or we travel a fair amount, we can run in other places too so I think it is pretty special to both of us.”

Faith Davis, 40, and Myron Davis, 47, have found rewarding the family aspect of running as a team with children Jet, 8, Dominic, 6, Orion, 4, and Soren 2.

“Less drama with the kids,” M. Davis said. “I think it helps the kids start off in life and interacting with other people and having fun.”

Added F. Davis: “It is fun to have something to do together and to get out of the house. It brings time spent together and a common goal and just something to enjoy together.”

At the finish as runners and walkers went through the waffle buffet, Val Robinson began cleanup.

“We were trying to remember this morning how many years we have been doing this and I was wondering when the heart-shaped waffles came,” she said. “At some point we just had a heart-shaped waffle maker and thought, ‘Why not?’ And people loved it and so then it became a tradition.”

Asked if there was a secret recipe involved she noted it was a family recipe that has been used for a long time.

“It’s got cinnamon,” she said. “Maybe that’s the secret… extra cinnamon and love, absolutely.”

Leg One finishes were Pokorney (25, female) 6:32, Strom (28, F) in 6:48, Tracy (45, male) 6:57, D. Dunivin (34, F) 8:39, Sihler (25, F) 9:02, Jenna Schlener (31, F) 9:24, Dylan Nielsen (7, M) 10:18, April Rezendes (40, F) 10:19, Mae Peterson (0.25, F) 10:19, Kelan O’Leary (6, M) 11:48, J. Davis (8, M) 11:48, Tana O’Leary (45, F) 11:49, Amelia Jenkins (50, F) 13:01, Isabelle Sullivan (9, F) 13:16, Jessica Sullivan (40, F) 13:20, D. Davis (6, M) 13:28, S. Davis (2, M) 19:54, M. Davis (47, M) 19:55), O. Davis (4, M) 20:16 and F. Davis (40, F) 20:17.

Leg Two finishes were Norat (29, M) 5:11, Mikulski (26, M) 5:42, Novak (24, M) 6:30, Annette Jarosz (26, F) 6:56, Kaili Nielsen (41, F) 7:14, Parker (39, F) 8:05, E. Dunivin (40, M) 8:41, Randy Peterson (39, M) 10:24, Jonathan O’Leary (9, M) 10:53, Daniel O’Leary (43, M) 10:53, Clint Sullivan (44, M) 12:13, and Maddie Sullivan (8, F) 12:17.

Team finishes were Strom and Norat in 11:59, Pokorney and Mikulski 12:14, Tracy and Parker 15:02, Sihler and Novak 15:32, Schlener and Jarosz 16:20, D. Dunivin and E. Dunivin 17:20, D. Nielsen and K. Nielsen 17:32, Rezendes and Peterson 20:43, K. O’Leary and J. O’Leary 22:41, T. O’Leary and D. O’Leary 22:42, I. Sullivan and M. Sullivan 33:00, and J. Sullivan and C. Sullivan 33:00.

Top solo finisher was Andrzej Piotrowski (47, M) in 14:38, followed by Holly Handler (51, F) 16:20, Mindy Shaw (43, F) with 16:27, Becky Bohrer (47, F) 16:58, Michelle Morris (47, F) 16:58, Hannah Bailey (29, F) 17:00, Finn Peterson (3, M) 20:43, Christina Schulte-Pereyra (34, F) 21:51, Karinne Wiebold (47, F) 21:52, and Guy Crockroft (65, M) 34:00.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.