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Jul. 4—SEWARD — For Thale Randall, running is fun but mushing is life.
Randall, whose family operates the Rock On Racing kennel in Caswell, had a banner day participating in one of his favorite pastimes on Saturday.
The 15-year-old blasted down the mountain, grabbing the lead and running away with the boys junior title at the 98th Mount Marathon Race.
Randall has been a Junior Iditarod racer, and his sister AddieAnn is scheduled to run the 2027 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, starting a day before her 18th birthday.
"This is super cool," he said of the win. "But mushing is way more (important). I like to run, but like mushing is like our life, you know. So running is like a kind of hobby and I enjoy it."
Randall said that mushing lifestyle has helped him get in shape for other active pursuits. He estimates that he runs the family's more than 40 sled dogs 3,000 miles every winter. Some of those miles are not on the sled, but alongside the dogs.
"I have tennis shoes on inside Neos (overshoes), so when it's time to run, I get off and run up the hills," he said.
Randall also has a trapline over 20,000 acres that keeps him on the move. He said he trains for the inclines by running up and down the 30-foot hill on the family's property.
On Saturday, he trailed Fort Wainwright's Nathan Vanderlugt by a significant margin at the turn.
"The uphill is a little bit tougher than I thought, and that's generally where my strength is, on the uphill," Randall said.
But in a matter of minutes, Randall had caught and passed the early leader and never trailed the rest of the race, finishing in a time of 27 minutes, 28 seconds. Vanderlugt was runner-up at 28:11.
"I just like, zeroed in and really was able to go a little faster on the downhill," he said.
While mushing takes priority for much of the year, Randall was still enthusiastic about the Mount Marathon win. He placed 25th in 2024 and finished in eighth place last year.
"For the three years that I've been mountain running, I've really been dreaming of winning this race," he said. "So I finally was able to bring it together."
A Mount Marathon title has also been a dream for the girls junior winner Wren Spangler.
The diminutive 14-year-old had already logged three top-three finishes in the race when she took the starting line Saturday.
The Palmer runner finally earned her title, outpacing 2025 champion Calista Zuber in a time of 31:09.
"It feels really good," she said. "I'm actually really surprised, though, because Calista Zuber is super fast."
Conditions on the mountain were slick as rain fell intermittently on Saturday morning. That didn't bother Spangler, who ran her first Mount Marathon Race at age 10 in 2022.
"I'm pretty good at like, adverse conditions, so I just was going to go hard from the start, because I know that some girls are really fast on the downhill," she said. "I just wanted to get a big lead on the start, and then just hang in on the downhill."
That plan worked to perfection, as she was able to best the runner-up Zuber (33:10) by two full minutes.
Spangler, who is also a skier, said the year-round training along with family outings keep her ready to race.
"Sometimes we go hiking, sometimes we go running, sometimes we go roller-skiing and then usually on the weekends, we all do a family hike," she said. "I'm not hiking every day, but I'm usually doing something every day."
At 4-foot-9 and 90 pounds, Spangler has become a favorite with Mount Marathon crowds as she's bested older and bigger competitors en route to a runner-up finish in 2024. That race was sandwiched between a pair of third-place finishes.
On Saturday, the crowd roared as she sprinted down the final stretch, crossing the finish line with 11th-place boys finisher Sampson Antrim.
"It was like, really cool," she said. "All I could hear was just noise — just so loud."
Continue reading...
Randall, whose family operates the Rock On Racing kennel in Caswell, had a banner day participating in one of his favorite pastimes on Saturday.
The 15-year-old blasted down the mountain, grabbing the lead and running away with the boys junior title at the 98th Mount Marathon Race.
Randall has been a Junior Iditarod racer, and his sister AddieAnn is scheduled to run the 2027 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, starting a day before her 18th birthday.
"This is super cool," he said of the win. "But mushing is way more (important). I like to run, but like mushing is like our life, you know. So running is like a kind of hobby and I enjoy it."
Randall said that mushing lifestyle has helped him get in shape for other active pursuits. He estimates that he runs the family's more than 40 sled dogs 3,000 miles every winter. Some of those miles are not on the sled, but alongside the dogs.
"I have tennis shoes on inside Neos (overshoes), so when it's time to run, I get off and run up the hills," he said.
Randall also has a trapline over 20,000 acres that keeps him on the move. He said he trains for the inclines by running up and down the 30-foot hill on the family's property.
On Saturday, he trailed Fort Wainwright's Nathan Vanderlugt by a significant margin at the turn.
"The uphill is a little bit tougher than I thought, and that's generally where my strength is, on the uphill," Randall said.
But in a matter of minutes, Randall had caught and passed the early leader and never trailed the rest of the race, finishing in a time of 27 minutes, 28 seconds. Vanderlugt was runner-up at 28:11.
"I just like, zeroed in and really was able to go a little faster on the downhill," he said.
While mushing takes priority for much of the year, Randall was still enthusiastic about the Mount Marathon win. He placed 25th in 2024 and finished in eighth place last year.
"For the three years that I've been mountain running, I've really been dreaming of winning this race," he said. "So I finally was able to bring it together."
A Mount Marathon title has also been a dream for the girls junior winner Wren Spangler.
The diminutive 14-year-old had already logged three top-three finishes in the race when she took the starting line Saturday.
The Palmer runner finally earned her title, outpacing 2025 champion Calista Zuber in a time of 31:09.
"It feels really good," she said. "I'm actually really surprised, though, because Calista Zuber is super fast."
Conditions on the mountain were slick as rain fell intermittently on Saturday morning. That didn't bother Spangler, who ran her first Mount Marathon Race at age 10 in 2022.
"I'm pretty good at like, adverse conditions, so I just was going to go hard from the start, because I know that some girls are really fast on the downhill," she said. "I just wanted to get a big lead on the start, and then just hang in on the downhill."
That plan worked to perfection, as she was able to best the runner-up Zuber (33:10) by two full minutes.
Spangler, who is also a skier, said the year-round training along with family outings keep her ready to race.
"Sometimes we go hiking, sometimes we go running, sometimes we go roller-skiing and then usually on the weekends, we all do a family hike," she said. "I'm not hiking every day, but I'm usually doing something every day."
At 4-foot-9 and 90 pounds, Spangler has become a favorite with Mount Marathon crowds as she's bested older and bigger competitors en route to a runner-up finish in 2024. That race was sandwiched between a pair of third-place finishes.
On Saturday, the crowd roared as she sprinted down the final stretch, crossing the finish line with 11th-place boys finisher Sampson Antrim.
"It was like, really cool," she said. "All I could hear was just noise — just so loud."
Continue reading...
