Calls run fastest five kilometers on Front Beach

VICTORIA BARBER

March 07, 2008 at 9:33AM AKST

If you’ve been feeling the urge to run five kilometers outdoors through the chill of Unalaska winter, last Sunday’s Polar Bear Run would have been a good time to lace up your sneakers and get to it.

While the day was not completely windless, only a slight, brisk breeze blew off Iliuliuk Bay at the Feb. 24 race, which saw 62 participants race about five kilometers down Front Beach road and back.

The fastest were siblings Zac and Tori Call. Zac, a ninth-grader who wrestles but did not otherwise train for the race, finished 17 seconds ahead of runner-up Conrad Booth.

Zac’s time of 18 minutes, 52 seconds is the second fastest on record for teen boys in the history of the race and a minute behind Ben Hladick’s 2005 record of 17:59.

Tori Call, who led both girls and women with a time of 22:05, also took her place as the second-fastest record-holder for Teen Girls. Tori, an eighth-grade cross-country runner and soccer player, has run the race for the past four years before making the top three.

It’s been 12 years since the overall record for the race was set by Joey Echevarria when he finished in 17:43 in 1996.

However, Shelly Lawson, who organized the race, cautioned that timing methods and even the location of the finish line are not entirely consistent from year to year, so the records may not be accurate. Lawson referred to the Polar Bear Run as an "almost 5-K."

That may be some consolation to Tony Garcia, who led the men with a time of 22:22 but was widely teased for finished a minute slower than the previous year. It was the result, he said, of too little training and "too many hamburgers."

Unalaska School teacher Heather Hawkins, on the other hand, set a personal record. Hawkins said that she’d never raced in such windy, cold conditions before but didn’t feel that it hurt her results.

"I ran faster than I ever had in my life," Hawkins said, who at 25:04 came in second among women. "But then again, I hate to be hot."

Some participants were running for two – or more – as a few mothers pushed strollers to the finish line. Kris-Ann Wilcox ran with her daughter, Esther, in a backpack, 16-month-old twins in a stroller and dog Sandy alongside her.

One runner was accompanied by her dachshund, who wore a crimson, cable-knit sweater for the occasion.

Lawson said that she was pleased with both the turnout and the weather for the race.

She said that "big improvement" to the race this year was the donation of Kris-Ann and Dave Wilcox’s garage for the awards presentation.

Once past the finish line, runners could walk up the short driveway to the Wilcox’s house and help themselves to hot cocoa and snacks.

"Kris-Ann and Dave’s garage was a huge help, because it got runners out of the wind and off the cold ground," Lawson said. "Last year we had runners saying that their feet were like blocks of ice."

The Polar Bear Run has been held every year since 1995. 2008 featured a new category for runners over 55.

The event is hosted by the city of Unalaska Department of Parks, Culture and Recreation, which will hold three more races this year.

The Solstice Run is June 21. A vertical race up Mount Ballyhoo is scheduled for mid-July, and the Summer Bay Classic will take place sometime in August. The PCR will also host a triathlon in September.

Victoria Barber can be reached at (907) 342-2424 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 424.