For many Juneauites, climbing Perseverance, Mount Roberts and Salmon Creek trails is suitable for an entire summer’s work. With a combined 5,000 feet of elevation gain, each trail has its own signature challenges.
On Saturday morning, about two dozen runners woke up with a mission to do all three in one go in the Nifty Fifty.
The Nifty Fifty makes the typical summer 5K look like child’s play.
The course first takes runners up Perseverance Trail, making detours on the Red Mill and Granite Creek paths. Once that’s done, the race climbs and descends Mount Roberts. The last leg requires runners to leave town to Salmon Creek trail, where a 7-mile round trip run marks the final obstacle before finishing on Basin Road.
Allan Spangler added one more impressive running feat to his busy summer. The ultrarunner reached the orange spray paint finish line less than four hours after he left it. Spangler’s 3 hours, 54 minutes, 38 seconds finish constituted a new course record, besting Andrew Schirack’s 4:00:19 two years ago.
“That was my main motivation today,” Spangler said of setting the new record.
“My calf was really, really sore,” he added. “I don’t know what I did to it two days ago. So I took it pretty easy for the first third of the race, and then once we started climbing Roberts, I picked it up a lot.”
Twenty minutes later, second-place finisher Joshua Musson came to a stop with a time of 4:19. Riley Moser was third at 4:20.
The event also hosted a 10K and 25K, which started less than an hour after the 50K and covered a portion of the long course.
Bethany Gollin finished fifth overall in the 25K. Gollin is a newcomer to Juneau after a Coast Guard transfer from Hawaii.
“I did a 25K in Hawaii, but it was a road race, so a little different,” Gollin said, showing no problems adjusting to the new terrain with her 2:46 finish.
Meanwhile, recuperating nearby Gollin outside the race tent, 24-year-old Tobie Weston just completed her third Nifty Fifty. The previous two years, Weston ran the 50K, but went with the shorter course this year in the 25K.
“I was feeling it towards the end, but it was so much fun,” Weston said. “The first years we ran it, it was super sunny and 70 degrees, and last year it was pretty rainy the whole time, so this is a good medium.”
The weather remained dry and cool most of Saturday morning, with highs in the upper 50s.
10K Results
- Alan Zhou 41:40
- Kyle Hargrav 48:47
- Roberto Solorzano 50:28
- Jim Ustasiewski 51:22
- Gus Marx 55:21
- Christy Gentemann 56:02
- Terwiliger Paige 58:10
- Don Reed 1:00:40
- Brenna Swetman 1:00:51
- Theresa Soley 1:01:13
- Becky Bohrer 1:01:52
- David Noon 1:03:42
- Becca Antonoplos 1:05:07
- Lucrecia Mervine 1:06:40
- Jamie Bursell 1:08:25
- Adrianna Edgerly-Moore 1:08:32
- Gary Mendivil 1:10:11
- Kelly Karl 1:11:09
- Catherine Steele 1:12:11
- Alyssa Hobbs 1:12:33
- Valerie Walsh 1:13:26
- Lori Crupi 1:15:38
- Mariana Hargrave 1:15:52
- Joann Rieselbach 1:15:59
- Tyler Schroeder 1:20:49
- Jeff Gnass 1:21:22
- Heather Parker 1:21:41
- Madeline Levy 1:21:42
- Beth Taylor 1:24:22
- Greg Ordner 1:26:24
- Linda Kruger 1:50:10
25K Results
- Shawn Miller 2:25:54
- Rob Swanson 2:35:20
- John Nagel 2:36:30
- Natalie McPhillips 2:44:37
- Bethany Gollin 2:46:57
- Peter Flynn 2:48:04
- John Bursell 2:52:19
- Alex Andrews 3:02:45
- Rachel Goldberger 3:03:28
- Naomi Staley 3:06:27
- Amanda Compton 3:07:20
- Alli Rosen 3:10:16
- Daniel Rondeau 3:12:54
- Ed Hand 3:13:27
- Charlee Gribbon 3:14:30
- Erin Sanborn 3:14:38
- Eric Lingle 3:17:23
- Cecile Elliot 3:22:08
- Randy Peterson 3:23:40
- April Rezendes 3:23:41
- Hristomir Dobrev 3:28:11
- Cristine Woll 3:29:10
- Tobie Weston 3:32:32
- Max Rosen 3:33:44
- Meredith Gillman 3:34:51
- Annie Thomson 3:35:40
- Megan Lea Gregory 3:36:15
- Quinn Tracy 3:41:38
- Gregory Strout 3:41:50
- Georgi Dobrev 3:42:58
- Ray Dwyer 3:44:33
- Courtney Wendel 3:57:51
- Molly Zaleski 4:03:26
- Krissy Lanyi 4:04:12
- Stephanie Harvey
- Jennifer Thorsteinson 4:06:56
50K Results
- Allan Spangler 3:54:38
- Joshua Musson 4:19:24
- Riley Moser 4:20:47
- Eran Hood 4:47:46
- Matt Callahan 4:58:26
- Aaron Morrison 5:09:21
- Thor Lindstam 5:10:40
- Laura Maruhashi 5:28:22
- Oliver Evans 5:36:33
- Simon Windell 5:43:13
- Sarah Heck 5:53:36
- Brian Ewing 6:09:23
- Jesse Carlstrom 6:25:35
- Nina Schwinghammer 6:30:46
- Jeff Boman 6:41:22
- Bill Cottrell 6:43:29
- Ryan Bischoff 7:20:26
- William Morgan 8:05:33
- Amy Paige 9:02:56
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Riley Moser placed second in the 50K. Follwing a time penalty, Moser came in third. The article has been updated to reflect the change.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
Allan Spangler speaks with fellow runners after breaking the Nifty Fifty race record set in 2015 by Andrew Schirack. Spangler’s time of just under 3 hours, 55 minutes was just over five minutes faster than Schirack’s time. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
