Adams, Tietz claim Run for River 10-mile crowns, Mabe, Boonstra win 5K races

After running a blazing time last summer, defending men’s 10-mile Run for the River winner Matt Adams believed he had some big competition heading into this year’s edition.

Turns out the only problem he encountered on a morning that attracted over 200 runners came in the tiny form of bugs.

Adams defended his race victory in the 10-mile event Saturday morning with a time of 55 minutes, 58 seconds, beating runner-up Adam Reimer by over five minutes at the finish line, located adjacent to the Kenai River Festival in Soldotna.

“Other than a few bugs, it was good,” said a refreshed Adams at the finish. “I got a few in my eyes, too.”

Adams is a Seward native that ran competitively at Montana State University.

These days, Adams is busy blistering local five-kilometer and 10-mile courses in Alaska. Adams blitzed the course last year with a fast time of 52:40, but with Michigan runner Travis Mabe getting the better of him at the Mouth to Mouth Wild Run and Wide two weeks ago in Kenai, the stage looked set for a lengthy showdown in the backwoods of Soldotna.

Adams originally turned Mabe’s attention to the Mouth to Mouth run 10-miler, a course that takes runners on the beaches south of Kenai. When Mabe beat Adams by less than a minute in the race, Adams realized he had some competition.

Unfortunately, the showdown failed to materialize Saturday as Mabe ran in the 5K event.

“He probably would’ve schooled me anyways,” Adams said.

Mabe, 25, won the men’s 5K with a time of 16:07, beating runner-up Kevin Chavira by 94 seconds, and did so donning a superhero cape with the design of a blue goose. Mabe works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Kenai, and said his cape was designed by friend Elizabeth Tsang to promote the USFWS.

“It was just a spur of the moment thing,” Mabe explained.

Mabe said it was slightly disappointing to come up seven seconds short after initially targeting a sub 16-minute time, but added he’s run faster — he set a personal best of 14:51 running for Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Bethany Tietz of Key West, Florida, won the women’s 10-mile race with a time of 1:13:28, beating second-place Heather Moon by over four minutes.

Kenai runner Riana Boonstra won the women’s 5K race in 20:40, edging Becca Hitchcock by five seconds.

Tietz is visiting Alaska with her husband as part of an RV trip with friends, and said her decision to run came Saturday morning.

“Our friends are RVing for a year, but we’re just spending two weeks with them,” Tietz said. “We’ve been up north in Denali (National Park), we were in Hope last night … we plan to have some good beer and enjoy the day.”

Accustomed to 90-degree temperatures, Tietz, a 3:24 marathon runner, noted the enjoyment of racing in ideal temperatures of 50 degrees.

“Down in Florida, the only time to run is 5 a.m.,” she said. “It’s always in the dark.”

Run for the River results

10-mile

Men — 1. Matt Adams, 55:58; 2. Adam Reimer, 1:01:11; 3. Dan McIntosh, 1:02:11; 4. Matt Carletti, 1:08:52; 5. Bill Wood, 1:09:21; 6. Luke Thies, 1:12:35; 7. Sean Goff, 1:12:44; 8. Ben McGarry, 1:14:12; 9. Scott Huff, 1:16:35; 10. Don Connelly, 1:17:42; 11. Bill Taylor, 1:18:24; 12. Kevin Barnett, 1:22:05; 13. Jeffrey Meyers, 1:31:40.

Women — 1. Bethany Tietz, 1:13:28; 2. Heather Moon, 1:17:52; 3. Kailey Mucha, 1:23:38; 4. Danielle Meyers, 1:24:17; 5. Rachel Erickson, 1:32:09; 6. Elizabeth Cox, 1:39:02; 7. Melinda Dulli, 1:42:25; 8. Kristin Morrow, 1:44:45; 9. Mary Fischer, 1:44:46.

5-kilometer

Men — 1. Travis Mabe, 16:07; 2. Kevin Chavira, 17:41; 3. Todd Boonstra, 17:47; 4. Tucker Mueller, 20:03; 5. Ken Youngberg, 20:08; 6. Jon Iannocone, 20:53; 7. Josiah Martin, 21:00; 8. Carl Kincaid, 21:11; 9. Joe Charbonnet, 21:15; 10. Kent Peterson, 21:46; 11. Rustin Hitchcock, 21:58; 12. Maurizio Salinas, 22:47; 13. Jordan Chilson, 23:17; 14. Tom Seggerman, 24:41; 15. Thomas Daly, 24:43; 16. Henry Heft, 24:46; 17. Dustin Henkin, 24:49; 18. Billy The Kid, 25:09; 19. Shaun Palaoro, 25:27; 20. Zaine Lingafelt, 26:21; 21. Bob Ball, 26:48; 22. Ian McGarry, 27:05; 23. Thaddeus Lingenfelter, 27:43; 24. Pete Mauro, 27:55; 25. Eric Trevino, 28:05; 26. James Engels, 28:17; 27. Pete Sprague, 28:19; 28. Rich Bond, 28:33; 29. Rich Breuing, 28:59; 30. Alek McGarry, 29:27; 31. Dwight Brown, 30:37; 32. Tom Brown, 30:46; 33. Gus Reimer, 31:10; 34. Michael Tallent, 31:21; 35. Rob Weathers, 32:27; 36. Shawn Elliot, 34:02; 37. Ethan Hogue, 35:50; 38. Matthew Dura, 37:34; 39. Neil Reutov, 39:40; 40. Ryan Wheat, 42:55; 41. Stephen Severson, 49:05; 42. Jeff Smith, 49:05; 43. Vincent Palancia, 50:43; 44. Tom Kobylarz, 51:32; 45. James Musgrove, 53:17; 46. Isaiah Talcott, 55:24; 47. Tanner Waterbury, 57:20; 48. David Morris, 1:03:29; 49. Roy McNutt, 1:06:26.

Women — 1. Riana Boonstra, 20:40; 2. Becca Hitchcock, 20:45; 3. Bandit Damnit, 20:46; 4. Shari BeDunnah, 22:07; 5. Jeni Newman, 22:09; 6. Kelli Boonstra, 22:36; 7. Kimberly Engels, 22:48; 8. Jaycie Calvert, 23:40; 9. Gina Gregoire, 24:16; 10. Mallory Millay, 24:34; 11. Breanna McConnell, 24:35; 12. Emily Knight, 24:39; 13. Marquette Stevenson, 24:58; 14. Tessa Luecker, 25:33; 15. Tyson Mann, 26:01; 16. Lyndsi Engels, 26:15; 17. Melissa Linton, 26:31; 18. Sarah Hobart, 26:31; 19. Payton Matturro, 26:33; 20. Taylor Krueger, 26:46; 21. Denise Titus, 27:25; 22. Jessie Huett, 27:27; 23. Willow-Haven Walaszek, 27:29; 24. Sara Bundy, 27:34; 25. Maya Chay, 27:47; 26. Miriam Loomis, 28:00; 27. Kyaran Matturro, 28:08; 28. Giorgi Trembley, 28:21; 29. Elizabeth Earl, 28:39; 30. Hannah Armstrong, 29:15; 31. Kandi Barcus, 29:15; 32. Joy Hobart, 29:29; 33. Meg Carletti, 30:03; 34. Martha Carletti, 30:05; 35. Kathleen Sorensen, 30:11; 36. Julie Craig, 30:24; 37. Alyssa Frothingham, 30:39; 38. Dotty Brown, 30:45; 39. Terri Cowart, 30:58; 40. Chelsea McGarry, 31:13; 41. Jamie Beever, 31:15; 42. Sara Dennis, 31:19; 43. KatieMae Tallent, 31:21; 44. Monica English, 31:25; 45. Margaret Pothast, 31:26; 46. Madison McDonald, 32:01; 47. Becca Marcott, 32:44; 48. Lana Perry, 32:47; 49. Cassie Sheridan, 32:49; 50. Sue Comstock, 32:59; 51. Christine Morin, 33:03; 52. Erica Dempster, 33:09; 53. Katie Evans, 33:09; 54. Jordan Ruffner, 33:09; 55. Carson Dement, 33:10; 56. Maria Sweppy, 33:54; 57. Elizabeth Elliot, 34:03; 58. Julie Cisco, 34:32; 59. Leah Simpson, 34:38; 60. Carly Reimer, 34:41; 61. Angie Nelson, 34:46; 62. Becky Hart, 35:22; 63. Dana Van Brunt, 35:23; 64. Connie Wheat, 35:38; 65. Taylor Ruffner, 35:45; 66. Erika Smith, 36:00; 67. Traci Riddle, 36:06; 68. Terri Nettles, 36:07; 69. Heather Rinhe, 36:58; 70. Hailey Stonecipher, 37:19; 71. Teagen Kobylarz, 37:31; 72. Rosemary Dura, 37:33; 73. Stephanie Kobylarz, 37:41; 74. Yolanda Theard, 37:56; 75. Tara Ruffner, 38:03; 76. Sara Mullen, 38:07; 77. Lauri Lingafelt, 38:30; 78. Noami Barker, 38:35; 79. Destiny Ables, 38:46; 80. Wendy Gunn, 38:53; 81. Karen Scoggins, 39:11; 82. Unknown, 39:28; 83. Natasha Reutov, 39:37; 84. Vera Reutov, 40:35; 85. Kira Kangas, 40:38; 86. Jessica Veal, 40:38; 87. Mary Bodnar, 41:25; 88. Nancy Lafferty, 41:52; 89. Audrey McDonald, 42:13; 90. Dana McDonald, 42:15; 91. Jennifer Tollackson, 42:27; 92. Penny Furnish, 42:39; 93. Joni Engels, 42:56; 94. Hadaway, 43:13; 95. Amy Hogue, 43:44; 96. Melissa LaPlante, 44:08; 97. Kathy Hobart, 45:15; 98. Angie Brown, 46:13; 99. Yvonne Oren, 46:21; 100. Nancy Olzack, 46:27; 101. Leila Portell, 46:28; 102. Doris Palancia, 46:31; 103. Valerie Weathers, 46:46; 104. Taryn Lewis, 46:47; 105. Marissa Severson, 49:05; 106. Olivia Kobylarz, 51:30; 107. Nicole Egholm, 51:36; 108. Sharon Isaak, 52:42; 109. Paula Standefer, 52:43; 110. Mary Armstrong, 52:45; 111. Stephanie Musgrove, 53:19; 112. Summer Frost, 53:58; 113. Denice Frost, 54:00; 114. Michele Miner, 54:01; 115. Sarah Douthit, 54:05; 116. Kasey Loomis, 54:07; 117. Linda Loranger, 54:48; 118. Sara Moore, 54:49; 119. Jessica Davis, 55:24; 120. Kylie Beaudion, 55:25; 121. Taylor Stonecipher, 56:29; 122. Sondra Stonecipher, 56:31; 123. Qyndra Waterbury, 57:14; 124. Bodhi Waterbury, 57:18; 125. Cherice Waterbury, 57:21; 126. Amiel Severson, 58:39; 127. Valerie Weber, 58:40; 128. RaChelle Gruenberg, 1:04:13; 129. Katy Lee, 1:04:15; 130. Elaine Woodburn, 1:06:22; 131. Elizabeth Hardie, 1:06:24.