In just its sixth year, the Juneau Ridge Race has become a favorite for both elite and everyday runners and has filled to maximum entries within hours of registration opening, resulting in months of anticipation for those on the waitlist.
“I think the most unique and special thing about the race is the route itself,” race co-director Geoff Roes said. “Just the beauty of the route, and it’s a really natural route that is really fun to do, whether you’re racing it or not. And so to me, that’s the most special thing.”
Roes spoke as he was coming off the ridge portion of the route Wednesday evening. Some of the last logistical duties ahead of Sunday’s race for Roes included checking on snow conditions, flagging the route and posting signs asking hikers to leave the flagging up.
There is a good chance he will have run the 15-mile course multiple times in the week leading to the 9 a.m. Sunday start. Roes, himself a renowned ultra-distance runner, wants the outing to be safe for all runners while also challenging those who wish to be challenged.
“I think from the perspective of people that are wanting to maximize their potential and kind of get the best effort out of it, they can,” Roes said. “I think it’s unfortunate for people that are really strong uphill runners, that all the uphill happens as early in the race as it does because I don’t think the race is really ever won or lost on the climb or even the start section. You kind of get through town and get the adrenaline to calm down, and then you just sort of grind up the mountain, and whether you’re in first place at the top of the mountain or you know several places behind that, I think the race really starts at that point. You get along the ridge as comfortably as you can without using too much of your energy to then be able to just really crank on the downhill. And then what I think a lot of people forget that are racing it, they forget how much distance there is still from the final checkpoint in Granite Basin back to the finish. It is like over a third of the distance of the race remaining still. And so a lot people end up running in a really good race and then really struggling to kind of bring it down Perseverance across the flume… I think it is key to not forget that part is as long as it is.”
The race starts and ends at Cope Park. Runners briefly pass through town to reach Basin Road and continue up Perseverance Trail and ascend Mount Juneau to reach mile 4.9 at 3,500 feet. Then the three-mile ridge leads to a descent into Granite Basin and back onto Perseverance Trail at mile 11. That is followed by four miles down Perseverance to the flume and back to Cope Park.
Roes, who has introduced many locals to the area’s backcountry and who used to host a mountain running camp, said he started the race as a way “mainly to allow people to experience and race on such an incredible route. We knew there was an older, unofficial version of the race and it seemed like such a good idea to bring it back. I think it’s one of the best routes in the world that is so easily accessible.”
He has run the course in under two hours from the beginning of Basin Road. His race time would be as fast as the top finishers if he included the Cope Park official start.
“Maybe one of these years I will have enough of a break from organizing to race it but you know, I ran as hard as I could myself several times back when I was in a lot more better shape than I am now,” he said. “So it might be, I think for me, it would be underwhelming to try to race it now because I think compared to just being older that I wouldn’t be able to match anything close to what I did before.”
The course record of 2:07:37 was set in 2023 by Zack Bursell, now 32, and a 2011 Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé graduate.
“The way I did it is I studied the course really closely,” Bursell said. “I spent a lot of time out there and just tried to figure out how to be efficient where it’s really hard to be. And why the race is so special, I think, is just the proximity to town. It’s very close, it’s real easy to get to, but then it’s this absolutely world-class trail. One of the best trails you could find anywhere in the world. So I think it’s just really special to people who run in Juneau because we’re just so proud of having it as our own place.”
Bursell recently placed third behind two professional Team Brooks runners in a CIRQUE series six-mile, 3,000-vertical foot race on Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire. He is training for Seward’s Mount Marathon on July 4, a race he placed 10th in two years ago. He has raced the ridge three times but will not be in it this year.
“All of the features in the ridge race are really difficult,” Bursell said. “Like that climb is absolutely brutal and steep and rocky, the ridge is a really rough trail. I think a lot of the times running that course, it is easy to stop and walk as you struggle going over those obstacles so just trying to find a way to float over them totally smoothly is kind of what I was trying to envision when I was looking to try to win that race. And that was after racing Dakota Jones (sixth fastest time of 2:14:59) and Dylan Anthony (10th fastest 2:19:08) in 2021 and they just blew my mind how fast they could climb up the Mount Juneau Trail.”
Roes and co-director Bryan Hitchcock, another ultra-distance athlete, strive to make the event inviting for all.
“I think we really focus on trying to create an environment that people want to hang out after the race,” Hitchcock said. “And some of that has to do with bringing in a food truck and then giving all racers a meal ticket. They all get pizza and a salad at the end. So that encourages people to stay and want to hang out and we have some other snacks and some cold beverages and it’s a nice environment that’s down at Cope Park. So people, on a nice day like we’re expecting to get on Sunday, it’s a good spot for people to want to hang out and just talk about the race and share stories from their run and stuff. So I think that’s unique for Juneau in a lot of ways to kind of have such a bigger venue at the finish like that. And we wait to do awards until the 3 p.m. final runner cutoff, so all the runners are in. We hope that that encourages people to stay around as well.”
They also announce runners as they finish and play background music.
Traditionally, the everyday runners are greeted at the finish by the elite racers, and this year’s cast of runners is another strong field.
University of Alaska Fairbanks’ college runners Derk Lyford, 23, from Anchorage, and Clem Taylor-Roth, 23, from Juneau, were last year’s winner and runner-up in 2:15:40 and 2:18:22, respectively. Roth is a 2019 JDHS graduate.
“At the very start of the race, I definitely go slower than most of the other top runners,” Taylor-Roth said. “I was maybe sixth going into the climb last year because the flatter running on Basin Road is just not my forte and I just always feel like stressed out at the beginning of the races so I’m going to go really chill. And then last year I tried to keep the tempo up the switchbacks, get at the top without putting myself in a hole and then be able to push hard on the ridge. I’ll push a little bit harder on the uphill this time around because I think I can put more time on people. I was second at the top of the climb, Josh (Taylor, 25, of Wasilla) was the only person who beat me up last year, but I think it could have dropped Derk on the climb if I had just pushed harder. But it’s like a balance because you can definitely go too fast and then you’re just trying to play catch-up and trying to desperately fuel and hydrate and that’s just really difficult when you’re already dead…. There is a snow shortcut that’s banned this year and most of the top runners are really comfortable coming down the snow gully, which is not banned. The Granite Creek Trail section is definitely a spot where people can separate as well… It’s a much different type of racing than most other stuff that I’ve done. I prefer it over, like, NCAA cross-country. I think it suits my strengths more and there are so many different aspects to it. It’s not just go out and run hard. It’s go out, run hard and eat enough and drink enough, and figure out when to push and how to keep yourself going for two and a quarter hours.”
Taylor-Roth does not recommend one practice he uses.
“I don’t carry any liquid with me and I wouldn’t recommend this,” he said. “But this is what Zack (Bursell) told me to do my first year. He just said fill up in the waterfalls and so I just drink from the waterfalls. I like to carry an empty soft flask from the start. But I’ve gotten giardia twice, so…”
Taylor-Roth and Lyford will be joined by college teammate Finn Morley, 22, a 2021 JDHS grad, who posted the fifth fastest time of 2:11:40 in 2023 and has run the race four times. Others include UAF incoming freshmen teammates and 2025 JDHS graduates Nick Iverson, Ferguson Wheeler, 17, and Owen Woodruff, 17, two of whom ran under three hours last year. Another face locals will recognize is University of Alaska Anchorage runner Edgar Vera Alvarado, 18, a 2024 JDHS graduate and who placed seventh in 2024 with a 2:43:00.
“The race is so appealing because it’s just kind of like a wild race,” Morley said. “You get up there in the mountains and especially the ridge, because we checked it out last week and is very snowy. So it is going to be really interesting to see how it goes racing in the snow, which I’m super excited about. I think it adds an extra element, an extra challenge and a fun element to it… I would love to be in a group on the ridge. I think that’d be fantastic. Get through that slog of the snow together. So I think that’s what I’m shooting for. Zack obviously has the fastest time, it is incredible, 2:07, that’s always something I’m looking at, but I am just excited to run.”
Abby Jahn, 32, has run the race four times and holds the female record of 2:39:39, set in 2023.
“I was motivated to push the boundaries of the women’s race to challenge myself to be better and to motivate others to keep pushing the boundary,” Jahn said. “My hope is that the women’s times keep dropping.”
She noted the race “is a snapshot of the community and a celebration of summer. It’s a blast to go out there, challenge yourself and race alongside friends. This year I’m excited to volunteer and watch friends and some of the athletes I’ve coached over the years race the ridge and see what they can do out there.”
Many runners will be chasing their own personal times and enjoyment of the outing, hence the generous cut-off time of two-and-a-half hours to reach the first water check point atop Mount Juneau and the overall six hour time limit at the finish.
“I’d summarize the course as a very appealing route for experienced hikers and runners outside of the race itself,” Hitchcock said. “It does require some general knowledge of mountain trail travel and the ability to follow primitive trail.
Participants are limited to age 18 but ages 16 and 17 can petition race directors for entry. The race is capped at 125 and has been filled.
Both Roes and Hitchcock note the ridge has a big snowpack this year and with the projected warm weather will be soft and punchy.
“Those are kind of the two things that I’m thinking about for folks this year,” Hitchcock said. “Folks should be well hydrated, bringing water and being able to fill up on course when they can. The water access for the checkpoints this year are going to be pretty light for racers so they really need to be able to manage their own water for the most part.”
Water check points are at the top of the Mount Juneau climb, the back of the ridge before dropping into Granite Basin and the swimming hole in the lower Granite area so racers must rely on their own supply first. They should also carry their own nutrition, a jacket, long sleeve shirt, hat, gloves and emergency blanket.
Taylor-Roth noted his preparation includes “having a big pasta feed at my house on Saturday night, which I’m excited about, having all my friends who are doing the race over to fuel up.”
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
Juneau’s Zack Bursell is shown racing the CIRQUE Series Cannon Mountain six mile in New Hampshire last month. (Photo courtesy Jamie Bursell)
