Susitna 100 Foot Races

Susitna 100 Foot Races

Susitna Races – 100 Miles and Little Su 50 Km=20
February 17-19, 2007
Aurora Dog Mushers Facility, near Big Lake, Alaska

Winter trails, frozen lakes, rivers and swamps
4,000′ Elevation Gain

100 Mile Results
1, Geoff Roes, 30 21:43 !
2, John Stamstad, 41, WA 23:54
3, Glenn Mackie, 44, TX 24:21
4, Rorik Peterson, 35 24:38
5, Laura McDonough, 46 F 25:13
Joel Wattum, 50 25:13
7, Andrew Matulionis, 41, MT 27:52
8, Jamshid Khajavi, 53, WA 29:33
9, John Collins, 30 29:49
10, Tyler Johnson, 30 30:31
11, Walter McAllister, 27 30:43
12, Veronica Beagan, 47 F 30:55
13, Jane Baldwin, 46 F 32:27
14, Pete Hjellen, 61 34:49
15, Ron Nicholl, 64 37:30
16, Shannon Rochelle, 42 F 38:47
17, John Wells, 32 40:20
18, Marco Brignoli, 41, ITALY 43:35
19, Ken Greenberg, 52, CO 45:34
22 Starters

Little Su 50 Km Results
1. Evan Hone, 29 4:26:47
2. Daniel Monroy, 48 4:52:42
3. David Johnston, 36 5:21:50
4. Christine Cannard, 35 F 6:00:17
Ed Bennett, 48 6:00:17
6. Tony Perelli, 28 6:06:16
7. Claire Connelly, 40 F 6:06:25
8. Kevin Vig, 42 6:11:51
9. Mary Barrett, 52 F 6:32:08
10. Julie Beatty, 35 F 6:38:00
11. Annika Buck, 34 F 6:45:16
12. Janelle Gomez, 30 F 6:56:49
13. Jeanne Schaaf, 53 F 6:57:12
14. Renee Rudd, 45 F 6:57:40
15. Aurora Agee, 27 F 6:58:43
16. Ethan Caldwell, 32 7:00:03
17. Janet Tune, 47 F 7:27:19
18. Karen Williams, 45 F 7:27:25
19. Pam Richter, 49 F 7:27:38
20. Beryl Anderson, 50 F 7:27:40
21. Anne Williams, 42 F 7:27:41
22. Christopher Lutes, 26 8:09:21
23. Paul Verrier, 46 8:40:23
24. Shawn Brown, 48 8:40:24
25. Joshua Hull, 24 9:01:35
26. Jeff Jensen, 45, CO 9:01:36
27. Brian Gillin, 50, CO 9:01:37
28. Darlene Dubay, 60 F 9:26:40
29. Charles Utermohle, 57 9:26:41
30. Rick Carr, 50, TX 10:11:32
31. Alycia Beiergrohslein, 35 F 10:11:33
32. Jeannie Snuggerud, 35 F 10:11:34
33. Robert Hildebrandt, 58 10:59:00
34. Meg Kurtagh, 57 F 11:00:00
35. Joan Nelson, 44 F 11:07:00
Ron Nelson, 44 11:07:00

New course Record!
Geoff Roes, last year’s 50 Km winner, bettered the Susitna 100 Miler
course record by thirty-two minutes with a time of 21:43. The previous
record was set by Tim Hewitt and Tom Jarding in 2000, when the race was
known as Iditasport. Laura McDonough won the women’s race with a 25:13,
her 8th time as the women’s winner. Laura, the 2006 overall race
winner, has never finished lower than 6th.

The Little Su 50 Km was won this year by Evan Hone in 4:26:47 and
Christine Cannard led the women with a 6:00:17 time.

The Susitna Races are unique amongst ultras because of the three
divisions; bike, ski and run. Only the 100 miler requires the 15 pounds
of mandatory emergency gear, which some of the skiers and all the
runners place in a sled that is towed over the course.

This year’s snow conditions were excellent and favored the bikes. Some
years the bikers have soft snow that they have to push their bikes
through but not this year. The winning bike time was 10:41 and the
first skier completed the 100 miles in 14:15. The first eight 50 Km
finishers were also all bikers.

The 100 mile route was a fast course with clear skies and typical winter
weather, though the temperatures did drop to -20 degrees along a ten
mile section of the frozen Yentna River. It was a little warmer along
the Susitna River and was quite comfortable during the next day as the
racers headed back to the start.

The combination of cold and tired always seems to generate some unique
hallucination stories. In years past there have been Dalmatian dogs on
the course that turned into black rocks and snow, monster shrews that
were after runners carrying Pringles. This year, penguins were reported
on the course. No northern lights or distant howling wolf packs, just
penguins.

A tradition of the Awards Banquet held on the Monday night following the
race, is to have the “Peggy Awards.” Peggy and Kirk have hosted the
Flathorn checkpoint at their cabin through the history of the race.
There have been times when one would rather not get a “Peggy Award” but
only a few were embarrassed by her discreet awards this year. In
addition to the awards, Peggy serves up a great jambalaya, fuel for the
last 26 miles.

Two things stood out this year in the race across frozen Alaska. First,
the 50 Km race filled up for the first time in advance of race day and
second, the new men’s 100 mile record.
A big thanks to all the directors, volunteers and participants that made
2007 a very successful year.

Ron Nicholl
ronn@aknicholl.com