The Kenai River Marathon, pitched as “26.2 miles through Alaska’s Playground” drew nearly 200 participants from around Alaska and beyond last month, on Sept. 27.
It was chilly at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center as hundreds of racers waited for the Kenai River Marathon to start. The 26.2-mile course takes runners from Old Town Kenai, to Soldotna and back. They crossed the Kenai River near the mouth and ran amid fall foliage in peak hues.
Some took on the full marathon. Others opted to run a half-marathon, 5K or team relay. But all were waiting for the countdown to start their races.
Anchorage's Claire Trujillo won after finishing the full marathon at 2 hours, 59 minutes and 52.9 seconds. She said she finished seven minutes ahead of the goal she'd set for herself, and that she benefited from great race conditions.
“My goal was sub 3:07,” Trujillo said. “I thought sub-three was too ambitious, and then I was on pace and I felt good, so I kept hitting the same pace. Then I realized at the end maybe it was possible.”
Trujillo trains as a runner five days a week, and stays active by skiing in the off season. But she hasn’t run the Kenai River Marathon before. She said the marathon featured a beautiful look at the central Kenai Peninsula and kind volunteers at the checkpoints.
“It was really hard,” she said. “It was fun, it was a great race.”
Alicia Weston finished second in the women’s category at 4:03:35.5, followed by Jasmine Massingill at 4:24:18.7.
Mykola Mast, also of Anchorage, ran the second-fastest marathon at three hours and nearly 27 minutes and placed first in the men’s category. He’s originally from Nebelivka, Ukraine and crosses the finish line carrying his country’s blue and yellow flag.
“Slava Ukraini! Heroiam slava!” he said. “Now it's a really hard time for Ukraine, but I represented all Ukraine in Alaska.”
Mast is an ultramarathoner, and he said the chilly weather is good for runners.
“I am alive,” he said. “It was not easy, but I trained hard before.”
David Westendorf ran the second-fastest men’s marathon at 3:50:12.2, followed by Josiah Mercer at 3:56:51.6.
In the half-marathon, Homer’s Amanda Cherok was the fastest runner. She ran 13.1 miles in only 1:28:41.7.
“I’m super excited,” she said. “I’ve been chasing a sub-1:30 all summer, and I’ve come really close. So I was like, you know what? I’m gonna get it today. I just paced for that, and actually beat that by a decent amount.”
Cherok said she’s been running for 10 years. She trained with a coach this summer and ran several half marathons. Even though she had already won her category, she stayed near the finish line to cheer on the friends and athletes wrapping up their own races.
