NEWS RELEASE
Contact:
Allison Knox, (907) 263-5194
Jeanette Moores (907) 261-6032
Trail and Mountain Runners Take to the Anchorage Hills and Trails for Early Season Training
Anchorage, AK – April 24, 2003— With an early spring, Alaska’s hikers, trail and mountain runners have been taking to the local trails for fresh air and an opportunity to stretch their legs after such an unusual winter. Minutes from the Anchorage bowl is Turnagain Arm Trail, a popular route for eager enthusiasts that winds 9.4 miles along the Seward Highway from Potter to Windy Corner.
According to mountain and trail runner Brad Precosky, this trail is excellent for early season training since it is south facing to the sun and melts away the snow early. Also it is somewhat exposed to the wind which keeps the snow away from the trails.
“The Turnagain Arm Trail is very popular. It can handle a lot of traffic and it’s the site for the Turnagain Arm Trail Run,” Precosky said.
For Cameron Reitmeier, another trail running enthusiast, the Turnagain Arm Trail is ideal to work up a base for the summer mountain running season.
“It’s inspiring to run the Turnagain Arm Trail in the spring after winter running. This trail is usually the first trail to open up in the spring, you’ve got great views of mountains and the ocean, and you start seeing the first trace of vegetation of the year. It's what spring time in Alaska is all about,” he said.
Reitmeier also appreciates the camaraderie of joining his friends weekly to run the trail and prepare for the summer mountain running season.
“Getting together with friends in the spring helps get you in a rhythm, and you start pushing each other to better your weekly times,” said Reitmeier. “It’s also good to get that early season hill work in and have others to push you.”
The Turnagain Arm Trail Run is Wednesday, May 28, 2003. Runners have a choice of a four-mile Potter to McHugh route or an eight-mile Potter to Rainbow Valley route. Visit www.goseawolves.com for information or to register.
Another popular training venue is the Bird Ridge Trail, located 25 miles south of Anchorage along the Seward Highway. Reitmeier, who grew up in Seward and at the age of 12 began training for the Mount Marathon Race with former winner Sam Young, likes the proximity of Bird Ridge from Anchorage and the steeper slopes it offers. Although not comparable to Mount Marathon in Seward, it does offer a fairly quick elevation gain.
In fact, Bird Ridge is the site of the Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb, the first Alaska Mountain Running Grand Prix event of the season. The event, slated for June 14, 2003, is an uphill three-mile ascent of 3,400-foot Bird Ridge.
“The mountain runners’ inspirational award is actually named after Robert Spurr, a man famous among our older hill-prone athletes for being the first person to run a time on Bird Ridge under his age,” said Precosky. “He no doubt has run the furthest under his age. And he was such an inspiration that after his death from a fall in Colorado, the Bird Ridge race was named the Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb.”
Precosky and others still enjoy the talk of Spurr’s mountain running exploits on Wolverine and Bird Ridge, where he spent much of his time. “Keeping with the Robert Spurr tradition, the Alaska Mountain Runners annually awards a most “In-Spurr-ational” award to exceptional athletes who encourage and motivate the rest of us in a heart felt way much like Robert himself,” Precosky said.
The 2002 award went to Alan “Corky” Corthell. Corthell joins an elite group – Tom Corbin, Ellyn Brown, Pam Richter, Heinrich Gruber, Barney Griffith and Tim Neale – who have contributed greatly to Alaskan mountain running. Corthell has been running mountain races for a few years. Last year, at the age of 73, he ran five of the six Alaska Mountain Runners Grand Prix races.
“Corky ran all but Crow Pass, which just shows that he’s smart as well,” said Precosky. “He ran back to back brutal round trip races in a span of one week – the Matanuska Peak Challenge and the Alyeska International Mountain Run. I’m sure we’d all hope to have his youth and vigor in our 70’s. Congratulations Corky!”
The Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb is a fundraising event for the World Mountain Running Trophy, an international mountain running championship event to be held on Mount Alyeska, in Girdwood, Sept. 19-21, 2003. According to Precosky, event director of the World Mountain Running Trophy, the Alaska Mountain Runners organization is developing a "mountain runners’ season pass" which will provide entry in the Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb, the Alyeska Mountain Run, and the open races at the World Mountain Running Trophy, a World Mountain Running Training jacket, and entry into an "Elite Treats" event. More information will be available on the World Mountain Running Trophy web site, at www.wmrt2003.org.
The 19th Annual World Mountain Running Trophy is being staged for the first time in the United States and only the second time the event will be held outside of Europe. Approximately 400 athletes representing more than 30 nations are expected to compete in four categories: junior men, junior women, senior men, and senior women. For more information about the event or to volunteer, visit www.wmrt2003.org.
