By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Local runners turned out in unexpectedly large numbers for the WhaleFest 5k race Sunday morning at Whale Park.
The annual event wasn’t held in 2020 out of concern for the pandemic, and race director Brian Beall told the Sentinel it almost didn’t happen this year, but went smoothly nonetheless.
“It went very well considering all the COVID precautions and everything. We initially weren’t going to hold the race again this year for fear of COVID and we decided to go ahead and run it, just have a real informal race,” Beall said over the phone. “And I really didn’t expect too much of a turnout, but we actually had one heck of a turnout – we had about 60 runners come out Sunday morning this year.”
And they were fast, too.
“We actually had a real fast time, probably one of the fastest 5ks, if not the fastest 5k. I’ve been doing this for 24 years and I think it’s the fastest 5k I’ve seen run.”
Chris Brenk runs downhill in the annual WhaleFest 5k race, Sunday morning. Brenk won the race, though formal times were not kept. Dozens of runners turned out for the event in ideal conditions on a cool, sunny morning. (Sentinel photo)
While the race was kept informal and times weren’t recorded, Chris Brenk ran the course at a blistering pace, finishing in about 16 minutes to take first place.
Sitkans young and old raced under a blue sky on a cool morning –ideal conditions for a run along the trail that descends down Sawmill Creek Road from Whale Park and follows the coastline of Eastern Channel to the end of the road and back.
After more than two decades at the helm, Beall was concerned that if the race didn’t take place for a second year in a row, it might never return.
“It was super to have the race back, and I was afraid that if we waited another year, if we skipped two years, the race may just go away,” he said, “and I was hoping that I could keep the race alive for at least 25 years ... next year will be the 25th running of the WhaleFest run. I founded the race 24 years ago.”
The run is one of many events in the Sitka Sound Science Center’s annual WhaleFest, which this year centers on the relationships between ocean predators and their prey.
Runners even saw whales in Eastern Channel during the event.
“What more could you ask for?” Beall asked.
In hindsight, he was grateful that the community supported the event, which had been pieced together only in recent weeks.
“It was great, people were really fired up about it. It was a real informal race. For example we didn’t give out any race numbers or anything like that, and we kept a real unofficial time – we didn’t even write down the times,” Beall said. “We pulled this thing together within about a week of the race and we decided to keep it alive... We should probably just be thankful that we’re putting it on, and we’re going to have a few runners come out… and everybody just had a great time, the weather was perfect, picture perfect.”
