A crowd of 125 runners took off Saturday to face Gavan Hill head on, and power through the rolling 7-mile traverse around Harbor Mountain for a total climb of 3,300 vertical feet in the 2026 Alpine Adventure Run.
Both the men’s and women’s champions of the trail classic posted fast times while visiting Sitka for the race; both champions are deep into training for upcoming distance races.
Christopher Brenk of Laramie, Wyoming – a former Jesuit Volunteer in Sitka – took the day with a red hot 1:05:14, ten seconds behind his 2025 time.
It was Brenk’s second consecutive victory and the fourth win over the five years of his burgeoning Alpine Adventure career.
“I’ll be here for it every year,” Brenk said today, before departing on an afternoon flight. He’ll also be competing in the Berlin Marathon on September 27, and has his sights on the Tokyo Marathon.
Joana Clere of Ketchikan led the women’s field 1:32:55 in what was her first time ever seeing the race course, on her first-ever visit to Sitka.
Clere is in training for the 108-mile Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc World Finals in France next month.
From the semi-pro athletes to recreational runners, all 125 souls who stepped up to the starting line Saturday tested their physical and mental strength on the unmatched race course.
Almost 50 people traveled to Sitka for the race, which has a registration cap of 125. Origins included New Zealand, South Carolina, Chicago, Minnesota, Wyoming, Utah, Texas, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, California, Spokane, Hoonah, Craig, Ketchikan, Juneau, Douglas, Anchorage, Palmer, Wasilla and Fairbanks.
Second-place finisher Ian Curtis (1:13:03) of Missoula, Montana, made a return trip to Sitka to complete the race with a group of Brenk’s friends from the running program at St. Olaf College.
Brenk described Saturday's conditions as "slippery," as rain had fallen on the course the night before.
"I 'ate it' for the first time," Brenk said. "I fell on the descent right before the Alpine Hut. I spun my body 180 degrees, and landed on my hands." He was OK, although he had a rush of adrenolin and the fall triggered reinodes in his hands.
The weather was perfect for trail running, with clouds keeping temperatures below 60 degrees.
Many on Saturday entered the Alpine run for their first time. After crushing the race on Saturday, former Sitkan Carrie Fenton, in town for the summer, said: “I'm one of those people who always said 'I will never do that run.”
Meanwhile, many competitors dialed in for repeat performances Saturday.
Sitkans who regularly compete, Sam Scotchmer (third place, 1:14:19), Connor Hitchcock (fourth, 1:15:13) , Devon Calvin (fifth, 1:15:28) and Asa Dow (sixth 1:16:29), pushed each other along the course.
Dozens of family, friends and neighbors got out on the Gavan and Harbor Mountain trails early Saturday and placed themselves along the mountain to encourage the brave runners.
Athletes carried an array of gear including small backpacks filled with water, cell phones and AirPods; some carried nothing but their shirts.
Calvin carried ski poles the entire race in order to propel himself up hills with both his legs and arms.
Many wore glitter to celebrate the race.
The women’s champion, Clere, arrived at the staging area Saturday morning in a Ketchikan Running Club T-shirt featuring Ray Troll's drawing of a salmon running with human legs, “The Salmon Are Running.”
Clere traveled to Sitka with a group of friends she'd met through the Ketchikan club and Southeast running events. She serves as director of Ketchikan's Southeast Slosh Trail Half Marathon, which has landed on the same weekend as the Alpine Adventure Run in recent years.
“Since the trail half landed on a different week this year, I finally had the chance to make it to Sitka with the group,” Clere said.
After the race, she reflected that “the alpine scenery was unforgettable — when the weather opened up, it was absolutely gorgeous.”
“The flowers, the view, the trail… so beautiful. I am almost jealous that we don't have those trails in Ketchikan.”
Just as memorable as the scenery, Clere said, “was the time with my girlfriends: catching up, hyping each other, putting on glitter to make the race more fun, and chatting about our next adventures.”
Clere was surprised by aspects of the Sitka race, such as the hundreds of wooden steps that scale Gavan. “The never-ending stairs made my glutes and quads burn,” she said.
This is just what Clere expected, as she's deep into training for the 174-kilometer (108-mile) Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc finals in Chamonix, France, on Aug. 28.
In training, “I have been accumulating big vertical gain for the last five weeks, so my legs definitely weren’t fresh going into the race,” Clere said “Even though I was hurting on those climbs, I am happy with how it went and how my body responded under fatigue.”
Clere got in her stride after cresting Gavan Hill, and built a lead of almost a minute over second-place finisher Anna Laffrey of Sitka (1:33:48).
Sitka’s Anna Prussian won last year’s race in a time of 1:29:28. Prussian, now a collegiate runner at Seattle Pacific University and rising senior, rolled her ankle on Beaver Lake trail on Friday and made the tough decision to sit out Saturday’s race for her ankle’s sake.
Instead of running, Prussian cheered on the athletes from the top of Harbor Mountain.
“I'll be back,” Prussian said after the race, while congratulating the finishers.
At the finish, race director Christine Horan congratulated all the runners individually.
Competitors stayed by the finish line to shoot the breeze and cheer on the remaining runners.
Horan announced the official race results today.
1. 1:05:14 Brenk, Christopher/Laramie, Wyoming
2. 1:13:03 Curtis, Ian/Missoula, Montana
3. 1:14:19 Scotchmer, Sam
4. 1:15:13 Hitchcock, Connor
5. 1:15:28 Calvin, Devon
6. 1:16:29 Dow, Asa
7. 1:18:10 Wheeler, Ferguson/Juneau, Alaska
8. 1:20:24 Kennedy, Garland
9. 1:20:36 Narum, Anders/Rochester, Minnesota
10. 1:20:39 Derauf, Ian/Duluth, Minnesota
11. 1:20:54 Lyford, Derk/Fairbanks, Alaska
12. 1:22:50 Stone, Parker/Anchorage, Alaska
13. 1:23:09 Lehmann, Torin/Spokane, Washington
14. 1:23:48 Novak, Ian/Juneau, Alaska
15. 1:28:07 Kanter, Abe/Juneau, Alaska
16. 1:28:44 Carpenter, Ryan/Flagstaff, Arizona
17. 1:29:08 Vu, Peter
18. 1:29:57 McGraw, Christopher
19. 1:31:08 Grutter, Ivan
20. 1:32:18 Catterson, Matt/Douglas, Alaska
21. 1:32:45 Weese, Dakota
22. 1:32:55 Clere, Joana Marie/Ketchikan, Alaska
23. 1:33:37 Hanson, Joel
24. 1:33:48 Laffrey, Anna
25. 1:34:13 Weber, Joseph/Chicago, Illinois
26. 1:34:25 Goryck, Robert
27. 1:35:03 Borges, Calvin
28. 1:35:54 Johnson, Abby/Spokane, Washington
29. 1:36:00 Busse, Tonya
30. 1:36:53 Main, Isaac/Anchorage, Alaska
31. 1:37:10 Bagley, Ian
32. 1:37:56 Folsom, Tasha
33. 1:38:55 Olesek, Brooks
34. 1:38:59 Priest, Justin
35. 1:39:07 Dozier, Nicki
36. 1:39:10 Lo Re, Ellie/Anchorage, Alaska
37. 1:39:22 Schinke, Mike
38. 1:39:33 Merryman, Ray
39. 1:40:08 O Flaherty, Fiona
40. 1:40:25 Harris, Hannah/Craig, Alaska
41. 1:41:35 Ripley, Lars/Salt Lake City, Utah
42. 1:42:19 McCarrel, Alex
43. 1:42:28 Metzger, Jacob
44. 1:42:35 Paustian, Kari
45. 1:42:54 Sheehan, Claire
46. 1:42:55 Matula, Sarah/Juneau, Alaska
47. 1:42:58 Baciocco, John
48. 1:44:08 Groshek, Mariah
49. 1:44:34 Matthys, Ben
50. 1:44:38 Schroeder, Jayme
51. 1:44:55 Hitchcock, Randy
52. 1:45:45 Dunn, Dan
53. 1:45:46 Tomczuk, Sara
54. 1:45:47 Montion, Lukas
55. 1:46:04 Damron, Haleigh/Douglas, Alaska
56. 1:48:23 Lenhart, Maggie/Juneau, Alaska
57. 1:48:33 Baucom, Jonathan
58. 1:48:34 Remund, Joli/Hoonah, Alaska
59. 1:49:14 Poulson, Addie
60. 1:49:23 McGraw, Jessica
61. 1:53:15 Colvin, Andrea
62. 1:53:30 Ferguson, Jeremia
63. 1:53:41 Prussian, Calder
64. 1:54:30 Cowles, Sadie
65. 1:54:45 Koziczkowski, Trevor/Butte, Montana
66. 1:54:57 Duclos, Nicole
67. 1:55:18 McFadden, Dane
68. 1:55:37 Pollard, Laura
69. 1:55:56 Priest, Connor/Anchorage, Alaska
70. 1:56:42 Prussian, KK
71. 1:56:44 Hutten, Reyn
72. 1:56:45 O Hanlon, Maureen
73. 1:56:56 Sullivan, Halley/Anchorage, Alaska
74. 1:57:30 Seale, Lesley/Anchorage, Alaska
75. 1:57:30 Armer, Charles
76. 1:57:31 Pickett, Benjamin
77. 1:57:47 Figueroa, Jose
78. 1:58:50 Klejka, Jennifer
79. 1:59:13 Hall, Tylynn/Laramie, Wyoming
80. 2:01:30 Prokosch, Allie/Duluth, Minnesota
81. 2:01:51 Van Den Hoogen, Christine
82. 2:02:41 Homer, Kristen
83. 2:03:15 Lund, Abby/Ketchikan, Alaska
84. 2:03:29 Finocchio, Elizabeth/Anchorage, Alaska
85. 2:04:27 Frazier, Amanda/Palmer, Alaska
86. 2:05:06 Bailey, Hannah/Juneau, Alaska
87. 2:05:20 Smith, Mikayla
88. 2:06:34 Siromch, Kolby
89. 2:06:35 De Camara, Chloe
90. 2:06:36 Morario, Nathan/Lexington, South Carolina
91. 2:07:14 Turner, Chris
92. 2:07:15 Eng, Michelle/Juneau, Alaska
93. 2:07:26 Roy, Anna
94. 2:07:40 Moore, Zach/San Antonio, Texas
95. 2:07:41 Langley, Juliette
96. 2:08:59 Magbanua, Glenn
97. 2:09:22 Beck, Maria
98. 2:09:47 Brandt-Ferguson, Susan
99. 2:10:24 Oien, Molly/Ward Cove, Alaska
100. 2:11:13 Antonio, Lisa
101. 2:11:14 Rosqueta, Valerie
102. 2:11:44 Klejka, Jessica/Wasilla, Alaska
103. 2:12:38 Fenton, Caroline/Beckley, California
104. 2:14:03 LeBlanc, Mallory/Juneau, Alaska
105. 2:14:47 Shaffer, Denise
106. 2:14:53 Knox, Erika
107. 2:14:54 Weiland, Pete
108. 2:15:47 Spann, Courtney/Anchorage, Alaska
109. 2:17:16 Becia, Angela/Butte, Montana
110. 2:18:33 Bott, Shaleena
111. 2:20:27 Rivera, Brooke
112. 2:21:04 Plunkett, Joseph
113. 2:21:48 Snyder, Dani
114. 2:22:25 Caraway, Katy
115. 2:22:38 Rinella, Hailey
116. 2:25:17 Danielson, Zofia
117. 2:32:46 Edwards, Valerie
118. 2:32:46 Grant, Tamara/Ashburn, New Zealand
119. 2:34:56 Thornton, Damon/Eagle, Idaho
120. 2:34:56 Thornton, Lola/Eagle, Idaho
121. 2:40:38 Morris, Anne/Ward Cove, Alaska
122. 2:50:26 Moctezuma, Luis
