Last year, at the Sky Peaks 50K on and around the San Francisco Peaks, Flagstaff’s Claire Rogan earned her first major ultra victory in the 50K.
So, what does the 33-year-old do for an encore?
Saturday, Rogan won the Sky Peaks 50 Mile women’s title — and was third overall — with a time of 9 hours 48 minutes 24 seconds. It was the longest race Rogan has attempted, and she ended up with the fourth fastest women’s time in race history (though, it should be noted, Aravaipa has tweaked the course several times). She beat second place Courtney Capper of Durango, Colo., by 10 and a half minutes.
This was the second straight ultra win for Rogan, who in April was the top woman (and eighth overall) in the Double Chubb 50K in St. Louis.
Flagstaff’s top male finisher in the Sky Peaks’ 50 Mile was Nick Helder in 10:01:02. He was the top masters runner. The top master’s woman was Flagstaff’s Shani Boesen in 10:32:13.
In the Sky Peaks’ 50K, Flag’s Eric Wise was the male winner (and third overall) in 6:01:26, while Flag’s Kira Donnelly was the second woman in 5:39:51. The top masters was Flag’s Reid Swan in 6:15:53.
In the 26K, Flagstaff has two men reach the podium, as Jacob Hojnacki (2:12:26) and Sean Baker (2:21:46) finished second and third, respectively, with Baker being the top masters. And in the 10K, Flagstaff’s Jesse Chettle took the overall victory in 39:45, while Flag’s Sara Osterberg was the top woman in 46:19.
— Across town at the Babbitts Backyard Last Person Standing event, in which runners have an hour to complete a roughly 4.1-mile loop in an hour and then repeat the feat at the top of the next hours, ad nauseum, Brian Smith was the winner, completing 22 “yards” for 91.6 miles. Sam Kemper lasted 21 yards for 87.5 miles. Full results have not yet been posted.
— In pro road racing, the Boulderthon Half Marathon, Flagstaff-based Canadian Olympic Marathoner Rory Linkletter won in 1:04:44 in what essentially was a tune up for the New York City Marathon in early November. The Boulderthon 5K was won by McKirdy Trained’s Yemane Haileselassie in 13:56.
— Flagstaff marathoner Aaron Davidson won Saturday’s Akron (Ohio) Marathon in 2:25:30, coming off his 2:16 marathon last year at Grandma’s in Duluth. More recently, Davidson placed 28th at the USATF Road 20K Championships in New Haven, Conn., in 1:04:40.
Davidson is 24 and was a standout NCAA Division 3 runner at Cornell of Mount Vernon, Iowa, before moving to Flagstaff.
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