The Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center put on the second Kenai Summer Solstice Fun Run on Saturday.
The event, with 5- and 10-kilometer options, drew 47 runners. Samantha Springer, executive director of the chamber, said the first year drew a similar number of entrants.
“June is kind of an opening month for us,” Springer said. “We don’t really have anything going on, so it was a good time to get something else going and kind of get us prepared for any hiccups we might have for the Kenai River Marathon in September.”
The event is not timed.
“We’re hoping that it keeps growing,” Springer said. “If it does keep growing, then we’ll probably end up having a timed race.
“But at this point, we’re not ready to do it.”
Anna Berington of Knik is in the area for the summer to work at a lodge. The first women’s finisher in the 10K said she did not mind that the event was not timed.
“When I run, I do it because I love it,” she said.
Berington thinks the event has potential. She’d love it to grow, because the more events there are, the more a running community has a chance to develop.
“I’m going to spread the word to get more people to do it,” Berington said.
She said the course has a good mix of trail, dirt road and pavement.
The 5K course is the same one used for the 5K at the Kenai River Marathon. It hits highlights like the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church and an access road along the Kenai beach.
Kenai’s Austin Bradford was the first finisher in the 10K.
He also did the event last year and said he does not mind that it is not timed.
Bradford enjoys the course because it winds past his house.
“It was hard not to stop, but it was fun,” he said.
The only good-natured complaint about the course came from Sterling’s Carl Kincaid.
“There was a lot of good food smells along the course,” Kincaid said. “That’s not what you want during a race.”
Springer said the chamber will try to improve the race, which raises funds for general operations, every year and see where it goes.
The improvement this year was a kids zone with cookies, chips, Gatorade, chalk and bubbles.
Austin Bradford of Kenai and Anna Berington of Knik run past the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church during the Kenai Summer Solstice Fun Run in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, June 21, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Carl Kincaid of Sterling runs down a path toward the Kenai beach during the Kenai Summer Solstice Fun Run in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, June 21, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Runners take a Kenai beach access road during the Kenai Summer Solstice Fun Run in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, June 21, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Andrew Warfle of Kenai leads the 5-kilometer pack during the Kenai Summer Solstice Fun Run in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, June 21, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
