Racers get dirty at Clam Scramble

In the five years the Ninilchik Clam Scramble Mud and Obstacle Run has been organized, there has been no shortage of mud, rocks and staircases on offer to make for one of the more challenging 5-kilometer races on the peninsula.

Starting Saturday at Deep Creek State Campground and ending at Ninilchik View Campground, the field of 132 racers were challenged to a tough course made tougher with various obstacles. Already dealing with sand and pebbles that suck energy out of runner’s legs, racers were also met with a bucket carry, a mud crawl and a hopscotch test along the way.

While the hopscotch was new this year, the mud crawl has been around since the beginning, and once again provided the best opportunity to get down and dirty in the silty mud of Cook Inlet.

“That was definitely fun,” said women’s winner Leah Fallon. “I was shorter last year, so this time I had to get on my knees.”

“Very fun,” said men’s winner Aaron Swedberg. “Not all serious, so that’s what helps make it fun.”

Swedberg won the race to put a stop to Maison Dunham’s two-year run of success. Swedberg held off Dunham by one second in a time of 22 minutes, 16 seconds, while Dunham finished second after winning the race in 2017 and 2018.

Fallon was the women’s winner in a time of 29:42, ahead of runner-up Megan Anderson.

The mud crawl featured a line of flags that hung just a few feet above the sticky mess, forcing racers to make their way on hands and knees through the slop. The thick soup was enough to even pull shoes off, as 12th-place finisher Jay Harris could attest to.

“The sand, the mud, it’s just so much resistance,” Harris said when asked about the challenges of the day. “But it’s still a great race, and very family oriented.”

Organized by the Ninilchik Chamber of Commerce, the event is a fundraiser for the commercial clamming industry. Commercial clamming was banned following a 2010 winter storm that nearly wiped out the clam population, and race fees for the event go to raising awareness for the situation in hopes of bringing a return to commercial clamming.

The top two racers quickly put time on the rest of the field from the get-go, running with each other through the opening series of log barriers and bucket carries.

“He’s really fast so it’s really hard,” Dunham said. “Every time I’d get close he’d push again.”

An incoming junior this fall at Kenai Central High, Dunham ran with Swedberg until they reached turnaround rock, a marker just after the mud crawl. Once they made the turn around the boulder, Swedberg began to pull out a gap on Dunham.

“I tried to just run where it was flat and where the sand was hard,” Swedberg said. “Once we got around the rock, it was a lot sandier, so I tried to really push it on that part.”

Dunham managed to keep Swedberg in sight to the very end.

“He was always on my tail,” Swedberg said. “I’d get ahead and then I could hear him behind me, and I’d have to push again.

The consensus among the field’s top runners was that the metal-grate stairs that punctuate the end of the 5K race were the most difficult challenge of all. With legs already drained from the previous obstacles, the stairs provide one last hurdle to deal.

“The stairs slowed me down more than I thought they would,” Swedberg said. “Once I got to the campground I knew I could kick to the finish.”

Fallon echoed Swedberg’s feelings about the difficult finish, even though the next closest female racer wasn’t as close as the men’s race.

“The hardest is the stairs at the end,” she said. “You’re just so tired and then there’s this staircase. That’s so challenging.”

Fallon, an incoming sophomore at Kenai Central, said she had never won an organized race before in her young running career, but knew shortly after the start that she would be in good position to do so in her fourth year running it.

Plus, she had a victory in the works. Last year, Anderson beat Fallon for the women’s victory by 1:24. This year, the tables were turned as Fallon beat out Anderson by 2:14 for the win.

“I felt like I was going to be near the top,” Fallon said.

The race ended with the traditional group of French walkers coming across the finish line with the national flag of France — longtime clammers and fishermen Pierre Morell and Jean-Phillip Hullen. For more than 40 years the two have traveled across the world from France to go clamming and fishing on the Kenai Peninsula, and have made the race a traditional event to attend.

5th annual Clam Scramble Mud & Obstacle Run

Saturday in Ninilchik

1. Aaron Swedberg, 22:16; 2. Maison Dunham, 22:17; 3. Garrett Koch, 26:05; 4. Jack Laker, 26:11; 5. Gregory Fallon, 26:52; 6. Chase Laker, 29:07: 7. Tyler Hippchen, 29:36; 8. Zachary Ricketts, 29:39; 9. Leah Fallon, 29:42; 10. Jesse Hostetter, 31:48; 11. Megan Anderson, 31:56; 12. Kylee Verkuilen, 32:34; 13. Jay Harris, 32:44; 14. Blake Lemons, 33:16; 15. Nathan Anderson, 33:19; 16. Rylee Fifer, 33:36; 17. Julie Mages, 33:39; 18. Aaron Gutzwiler, 33:45; 19. Rick Dunaway, 33:50; 20. Jess Gutzwiler, 33:52; 21. Teresa Fallon, 33:57; 22. Jennifer Blossom, 34:55; 23. Loren Prosser, 35:03; 24. Bryan Kirby, 35:09; 25. Jon Marsh, 35:22; 26. William Holterman, 35:35; 27. Keegan Baker, 37:03; 28. Klaus Beplat, 37:35; 29. Sarah Hobart, 37:39; 30. Rodney Erosky, 37:56; 31. Mackenzie Lindeman, 38:00; 32. Brandy Johnson, 38:07; 33. Isabella Hill, 38:22; 34. Jennifer Hill, 38:23; 35. Joy Hobart, 39:02; 36. Karalyn Veihdeffer, 39:42; 37. Carl Kincaid, 39:44; 38. Corbyn Crisp, 39:45; 39. Tammy Fann, 40:11; 40. Kaylee Fann, 40:16; 41. Chloe Deatherage, 40:20; 42. Elijah Deatherage, 40:20; 43. Walt Stevens, 40:34; 44. Cody Blossom, 41:03; 45. Natalee Finley, 41:06; 46. Brian Blossom, 41:07; 47. Parker Rose, 41:15; 48. Jancee Corey, 41:27; 49. Luis Yoder, 41:32; 50. Martin Fallon, 41:55; 51. Onyx Allen, 43:17; 52. Maryjane Hadaway, 43:23; 53. Dwight Brown, 43:29; 54. John Baker, 43:42; 55. Jenny Andersen, 43:57; 56. Morgan Spies, 44:12; 57. Domanika Sanarov, 45:02; 58. Kapetolena Reutov, 45:09; 59. Jason Gilbert, 46:03; 60. Mirimia Sanarov, 46:45; 61. Kira Martushev, 46:47; 62. Shelly Yoder, 46:54; 63. Dakotah Buhr, 47:37; 64. Elise Buhr, 47:56; 65. Maria Sweppy, 48:13; 66. Leif Laker, 48:38; 67. Julie Laker, 48:39; 68. Tina Hensley, 48:49; 69. Danielle Harrison, 48:49; 70. Troy Tuttle, 48:51; 71. Jessica Burke, 48:59; 72. Kendra Rose, 49:10; 73. Christine Anderson, 49:28; 74. Deland Anderson, 49:28; 75. Jenica Rose, 49:37; 76. Terry Tuttle, 49:48; 77. Haley Clark, 49:48; 78. Parker Schollenberg, 49:56; 79. Heartley Blank, 49:57; 80. Audrey Anderson, 50:11; 81. Whitney Schollenberg, 50:12; 82. Kourtney Blank, 50:12; 83. Rhee Stables, 50:37; 84. Mattie Johnston, 50:38; 85. Joseph Cooper, 52:03; 86. Jade Robuck, 52:04; 87. Dakota Morris, 52:09; 88. Rich Stables, 52:26; 89. Rian Ofstad, 52:45; 90. Ceiony Allen, 52:55; 91. Lukiya Reutov, 55:55; 92. Vasilisa Sanarov, 55:55; 93. Ava Sizemore, 56:07; 94. Nicole Sizemore, 56:08; 95. Kathy Hobart, 57:03; 96. Garnet Morey, 58:00; 97. Melissa LaPlante, 58:06; 98. Sally Berger, 58:21; 99. Elizabeth Schoeser, 58:24; 100. Bridgette Colton, 58:25; 101. Hunter Kirby, 58:48; 102. Dionne Kirby, 58:49; 103. Pam Ehlers, 58:55; 104. Jim Taylor, 1:00:23; 105. Jade Jackinsky, 1:00:25; 106. Rachel Gilbert, 1:03:35; 107. Tammy Farrell, 1:03:41; 108. Tom Farrell, 1:03:49; 109. Debra Erosky, 1:04:22; 110. Starla Franklin, 1:07:21; 111. Kael Aamodt, 1:07:44; 112. Sarah Stevens, 1:07:53; 113. Rebecca Whaley, 1:09:35; 114. Connie Wheat, 1:11:37; 115. Rick Sawyer, 1:11:55; 116. Dustin Hamilton, 1:11:56; 117. Trena Richardson, 1:12:13; 118. Tasha Reynolds, 1:12:40; 119. Jeff Reynolds, 1:12:40; 120. Avilyn Reynolds, 1:12:40; 121. Eric Swedberg, 1:12:50; 122. Alice Berger, 1:18:20; 123. Emma Berger, 1:18:20; 124. Stephanie Carlson, 1:19:42; 125. Robyn Hamilton, 1:20:06; 126. Brittany Berger, 1:20:18; 127. Fernanda Berger, 1:20:18; 128. Wanda Hamilton, 1:20:19; 129. Lili Morel, 1:32:25; 130. Jean-Phillip Hull, 1:32:25; 131. Pierre Morel, 1:32:25; 132. Mary Chenier, 1:32:38.