July 5
By Chris Bieri
SEWARD — In the past few years, Klaire Rhodes has established herself as a world-class trail runner.
The USATF Trail Marathon champ in 2022, Rhodes has excelled at distance races 50K and even longer.
In the last two years, the Anchorage runner has proved she can conquer a steeper, shorter, more technical race as well.
Rhodes topped a talented women’s field at the 97th Mount Marathon Race on Friday, giving her a second straight title in the race touted as the “toughest 5K on the planet.”
“I really don’t consider myself like a specialist in this type of stuff, but these are the kind of races that we have and we love here in Alaska, so I don’t shy away from them,” she said. “And I think being good at this stuff relatively makes me better at the long stuff as well.”
Rhodes said she was feeling some pressure after winning in 2024, but she ran a methodical race and made the turn at the top of the mountain in a nearly identical time to last year’s.
While she dueled with Fairbanks runner Kendall Kramer last year, Rhodes had a more sizable lead on the field this time around.
“There was definitely some pressure there that I was feeling. I mean, mostly from myself, of course,” she said. “I expected it to play out similarly to last year, with Kendall being really close. She wasn’t as quite as close on me as I expected. And I think that goes to show how much we pushed each other last year.”
Rhodes’ time of 50 minutes, 31 seconds was nearly 45 seconds slower than last year, but she still earned a comfortable win.
The crowd on Fourth Avenue roared as Rhodes went into full luge mode, sliding down the snowy gulley on the descent.
“I just went for it,” she laughed. “That’s what I planned on doing. And there were some more rocks in the snow than I expected. And I just thought, well, if I’m bloody, I’m bloody.”
Rhodes is headed to Switzerland to compete in a 50K race later this month.
Mount Marathon legend Christy Marvin finished second, 51 seconds off Rhodes’ pace in a time of 51:22.
Marvin has three titles and has finished in the top three in 11 of her 12 races. After finishing fifth last year and struggling with injuries, the Palmer runner was almost back to her usual self Friday.
“It felt good to be a little closer to my normal form and to feel super strong,” she said. “We had super fast course conditions, so that just made it really fun to have a good course on a day that I felt good. It felt really great to kind of put it all together again.”
While her foot injury still wasn’t 100%, she has been able to do a lot of hiking, and with a shorter road run at Mount Marathon, she was able to put together another competitive race.
“All things considered, I was super happy,” she said. “I think I was within 20 seconds of my PR on course. So at my age, you gotta take it when you can get it, right?”
With Alaskans finishing 1-2, Squamish, British Columbia runner Kalie McCrystal placed third.
She was motivated to give the race a try after fellow Squamish resident Jessie McAuley placed third in the men’s race in 2024.
“I’ve been watching Mount Marathon for a few years and always thought it was such a cool race,” she said. “I chase (Jesse) up and down at home and thought, you know what, if he could come third, maybe I better get out there and give it a try.”
She described her inaugural run as “a blur” and planned to get a fast start.
“I just wanted to have a lot of fun with it, and play with the gamesmanship of roots and cliffs, and which way are you gonna go?” she said.
McCrystal and McAuley arrived in the state on July 1 and had the chance to get on the mountain before the race for some training.
“At home we have a lot of snow and a lot of really technical trails, but we don’t usually race up and down so fast on them,” she said. “So this was a really unique race. And honestly, I loved it. It’s, it’s so great to see a race this technical and this kind of, frankly, dangerous still going.”
McCrystal finished in 52:13, just ahead of fourth place finisher Meg Inokuma of Palmer.
A trio of Eagle River racers — April McAnly, Shauna Severson and Viviana Mina — captured places five through seven, and crowd favorite and Seward native Denali Strabel finished eighth.
Marvin had multiple family members running Friday as well as training partners and runners she coaches. She said that “I feel blessed every time I have the opportunity to toe the line,“ largely because of the great community of runners in the state. And that group comes together each year in Seward.
“I love it because the mountain is so Alaskan,” she said. “It’s gnarly, it’s gritty, it’s not manicured. It’s tough, and it’s like us Alaskans, you know? And so I love that part about it, but what I also really love is the way it brings friends, family and community together.”