Markelz wins Spit Run 10k

A teenager with Homer roots won the 2022 Homer Spit Run 10K Run to the Bay on Saturday. Under clear skies and with a slight haze from wildfires, Evan Markelz, 16, of Mountain View, California, won the run from Homer High School to the end of the Homer Spit with a time of 33 minutes, 56 seconds. The son of Todd and Nicole Markelz, Evan Markelz has been spending the summer in Homer with his family.

“It’s so beautiful, especially in the lupines,” Markelz said of the run.

Homer local Amanda Cherok, 34, finished first in the women’s 10K, part of a group running for Summit Physical Therapy. She had a time of 43:21. Cherok had run the Anchorage Mayor’s Marathon last weekend.

Both 10K runners said the haze from wildfires didn’t slow them down. Last Friday, thick smoke blanketed Kachemak Bay from numerous fires in southwest Alaska, including the 500,000-acre Lime Complex fire. The smoke dissipated on Saturday.

“I felt good,” Cherok said of her run.

The Homer Spit Run included a half marathon that started and ended at the End of the Road Park on the Homer Spit. Timothy Robinson, 42, took first place for men with a time of 1 hour, 36 minutes and 26 seconds. In first place for women was Aleah Mickelson, 44, of Yakima, Washington, with a time of 1:34:11.

The Kachemak Bay Running Club sponsors the Spit Run. Robinson credited the club for helping him get back into running.

“The local Kachemak Bay Running Club has been important to me for social connections,” he said in a phone interview after the race. “I started running again two years ago, which was my sober date.”

Running helped Robinson deal with issues like coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was a perfect storm of challenges over the past years, and then I found running and threw myself into it,” he said.

Started in 1976 as a 10K run, the 2022 Spit Run T-shirts honored former Homer mayor and former Homer News owner Gary Williams. Williams died Oct. 20, 2021, and had been an avid runner throughout his life. This year’s run had 111 participants in both events, with about a dozen people also walking the race.

Reach Michael Armstrong at marmstrong@homernews.com.

Homer Spit Run

Saturday in Homer

MEN

10 kilometers: 1. Evan Markelz, 33 minutes, 56 seconds; 2. Andrew Peters, 34:50; 3. Pedro Ochoa, 36:55; 4. Lance Seneff, 39:20; 5. Shaun Marshall-Pryde, 40:18; 6. Stirling Marshall-Pryde, 40:18; 7. Beau Wood, 41:45; 8. Craig Albers, 41:59; 9. Silas Firth, 43:49; 10. Jan Spurkland, 45:11; 11. Christian Seager, 48:06; 12. Steven Zeng, 48:11; 13. Tyler Layne, 49:43; 14. Mark Hemstreet, 50:03; 15. Tait Ostrom, 50:47; 16. Bobby Jones, 51:00; 17. Oliver Markelz, 52:27; 18. Lliam Boss-Harmon, 55:05; 19. Alex Keen, 55:34; 20. Gary Lyon, 1:05:38; 21. Jason Craig, 1:07:18; 22. William Connor, 1:09:46; 23. Brian Willden, 1:18:06; 24. Luke Gilmore, 1:32:12; 25. Richard Jennings, 2:00:10.

26. Deland Anderson, 2:01:03; 27. Lucas Elliott, 2:01:03.

Half marathon: 1. Timothy Robinson, 1:36:26; 2. Michael Tallent, 1:38:17; 3. Ryan Martin, 1:48:27; 4. Zachary Money, 1:52:36; 5. Michael Koeck, 1:55:36; 6. Bill Winfrey, 2:02:57; 7. Robert Pacho, 2:19:24; 8. Joel Cooper, 2:28:02.

WOMEN

10 kilometers: 1. Amanda Cherok, 43:21; 2. Elizabeth Roedl, 44:30; 3. Karen Anderson, 46:08; 4. Kristen Buckwalter, 46:43; 5. Allie Scurry, 47:37; 6. Elizabeth Hardie, 48:47; 7. Lauren Foley, 50:51; 8. Molly Copple, 52:24; 9. Ainsley Boss-Harmon, 53:05; 10. Michelle Cox, 53:07; 11. Elizabeth Young, 54:40; 12. Nichole Haynes, 54:50; 13. Melanie Albers, 55:18; 14. Sachiko Kwon, 55:20; 15. Sarah Hobart, 55:25; 16. Rhoslyn Anderson, 56:47; 17. Terri Mach, 56:52; 18. Jaela Marchbanks, 57:34; 19. Sarah Marchand, 58:32; 20. Joy Hobart, 58:33; 21. Judith Steyer, 58:37; 22. Tara Schmidt, 58:39; 23. Joell Restad, 59:14; 24. Laurie Montplaisir, 59:41; 25. Sarah Kleedehn, 1:02:17.

26. Patrice Parker, 1:02:18; 27. Ashley Keen, 1:02:36; 28. Heidi Cox, 1:03:54; 29. Meyanna Fairbank, 1:04:02; 30. Lindsay Wood, 1:08:00; 31. Megan Kirsis, 1:08:31; 32. Lillian Connor, 1:09:46; 33. Emily O’Connor, 1:09:46; 34. Julie Craig, 1:09:58; 35. Jessica Sonnen, 1:12:45; 36. Jennifer Robinette, 1:12:46; 37. Christina De La Torre, 1:14:21; 38. Alaina Anderson, 1:15:09; 39. Karen Carney, 1:15:09; 40. Kasey Moore-Ritchie, 1:18:20; 41. Kristin Oelschlegal, 1:21:31; 42. Thia James, 1:21:36; 43. Maurie Trippe, 1:21:41; 44. Kathy Hobart, 1:22:45; 45. Betsy McKitrick, 1:23:58; 46. Denise, 1:35:54; 47. Jenn Messick, 1:35:55; 48. Jillian Rogers, 1:42:04; 49. Amy Woodruff, 1:42:04; 50. Allie Justice, 1:47:30.

51. Juliet Justice, 1:47:30; 52. Katherine Koppman, 1:56:14; 53. Desiree Smude, 1:56:21; 54. Selah Sundberg, 1:57:39; 55. Rhiannon Elliott, 2:00:06; 56. Christine Anderson, 2:01:06.

Half marathon: 1. Aleah Mickelson, 1:34:11; 2. Ashley Van Hemert, 1:41:50; 3. Heather Moon, 1:43:35; 4. Kara Mickelson, 1:44:38; 5. Emily Knight, 1:52:37; 6. Ashley Hanson, 1:56:41; 7. Janelle Spurkland, 1:57:39; 8. Ashli Neese, 1:58:51; 9. Laura Peek, 1:59:31; 10. Zoe Storystory, 2:02:38; 11. Elizabeth Garvey, 2:10:20; 12. Cynthia McMillin, 2:11:18; 13. Kathy Sarns, 2:12:30; 14. Nicole Hall, 2:17:13; 15. Antonya Hall, 2:17:13; 16. Lindsay Hallam, 2:18:06; 17. Sarah Pribbenow, 2:18:06; 18. Lila Johnson, 2:19:08; 19. Kathy Trinh, 2:29:25; 20. Juley McConnell, 2:46:07.

Christian Seager shows his 2022 Homer Spit Run, with the line “in memory of Gary Williams.” Williams, a former Homer Mayor and a former owner of the Homer News, helped start the Spit Run. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

The Homer Spit Run 10k runners take off at the start of the run on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Aleah Mickelson, the first-place woman in the 2022 Homer Spit Run Half Marathon, crosses the finish line on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at the End of the Road Park in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Amanda Cherok, the first-place woman runner in the 2022 Homer Spit Run, crosses the finish line on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at the End of the Road Park in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Evan Markelz, the first-place man in the 2022 Homer Spit Run 10k, crosses the finish line on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at the End of the Road Park in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Tim Robinson, the first-place man in the 2022 Homer Spit Run Half Marathon, crosses the finish line on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at the End of the Road Park in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Shaun Marshall-Pryde, left, and Stirling Marshall-Pryde, right, finish together the 2022 Homer Spit Run, on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at the End of the Road Park in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Michael Murray was the first participant to cross the finish line in the 2022 Homer Spit Run, on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at the End of the Road Park in Homer, Alaska. Murray was part of a group of about a dozen walkers who got a one-hour head start on runners. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Walkers Jenny Johnson, left, and Jane Nollar, right, cross the finish line in the 2022 Homer Spit Run on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at the End of the Road Park in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Kara Mickelson, the fourth-place woman in the 2022 Homer Spit Run Half Marathon, crosses the finish line on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at the End of the Road Park in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Silas Firth, left, Emily Knight, center, and Craig Albers, right, run past lupines in the 2022 Homer Spit Run 10k and Half Marathon on Saturday, June 25, 2022, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)