Birch Hill Race

By Jim Herriges, Race Director

On an inch of cold, slow, fresh snow Saturday morning at Birch Hill Recreation area, an experienced skijorer from Anchorage and a Fairbanks newcomer took top spots in both of the Alaska Skijoring and Pulk Association mass-start skijor races. In the biggest class, the one-dog 7.5K mass start race, with 11 teams starting, Anchorage skijorer Rebecca Knight and her dog Clyde came out on top, with a time of 17:37. There was a very tight group of skiers and dogs until teams reached the Biathlon Range Hill, where the stronger teams began to pull away. Knight finished 24 seconds ahead of second place finisher Greg Jurek with Che. Emily Entrikin finished third in 19:09 with Rika.

In the two-dog 9K race, three teams stayed close together through most of the race. In her first ASPA skijor race, Jamie Johnson with Wrangle and Kiska gained a slight lead near the finish. Erin Trochim and her dogs Itty and Tarsis closed the gap on the final hill but couldn’t quite pull ahead in a sprint to an almost photo finish. Melissa Smith, with Ayanna and Kilarny, finished third, just seconds back.

In the shorter interval start classes, Sara Elzey, with the only three-dog team (Dylan, Daria, Kate), had the fastest 6K time (14:01). Mike Ruckhaus who switched classes on-the-fly, covered 6K with one dog (Sasha) in 19:00. At the 4K distance, Lisa Allen finished fastest with two dogs (Indy and Piper) in 10:03, and Don Atwood travelled the 4K course fastest with one dog (Harley) in 15:09. Kimberlee Beckmen and Iris were second in that class in 16:08.

The Yellow team of Lisa Allen, Bruce Miller, and Nina Ruckhaus won the team relay in 14:35 and the Rainbow team of Sara Elzey, Jesse Warwick, and Jim Herriges were second in 15:31. Jesse Warwick and Zip had the fastest split time of the day, followed by Bruce Miller and Roy.