Juniors: Flagstad seeks first win, Jordan out with illness
By MATIAS SAARI
Mount Marathon Race Director
Vebjorn Flagstad has won plenty of major running and skiing races, but one title has thus far eluded him: the Mount Marathon Junior Boys race.
Flagstad, the runner-up the last two years, seeks to change that in his last junior race before aging up to the men’s event in 2026.
“I am definitely hungry for a win,” said Flagstad, whose father Trond still owns family bragging rights with two wins in the men’s race.
Flagstad, now 17, ran an exceptionally fast time of 25 minutes, 52 seconds in 2024 while wearing a red USA singlet. The only problem: Palmer’s Coby Marvin, holder of the second-fastest time in junior history, was also entered. Unlike 2023, when Marvin got a big gap on the climb to the junior turnaround pole, Flagstad hung close to Marvin the entire way last year but still finished five seconds behind.
Marvin won’t be a factor this year: he’s 18 years old now and making his men’s race debut.
“Not having Coby (in 2025) will make it interesting since I will most likely have to lead and pace myself,” said Flagstad, who focused on track training this spring and won a state championship in the 3200-meter run.
If any returning racers are going to challenge Flagstad, they’ll likely have to speed up several minutes from their 2024 races.
Also entered are Cedar Ruckel of Indian (third in 28:22 last year), Blaze Rubeo of Wasilla (fourth in 28:24 last year) and Raven Spangler of Palmer (fourth in 2023).
One top newcomer is Nathan Vanderlugt, a talented Nordic skier and mountain runner now living at Fort Wainwright near Fairbanks. Vanderlugt raised some eyebrows at the 2024 Bird Ridge Hill Climb when he placed 10th overall as a 15-year-old ahead of many seasoned Mount Marathon adult racers.
Missing from the roster is Robbie Annett, who was fifth last year. He accomplished a rare feat at the 2025 state high school Division 2 championships by taking the 800-, 1600- and 3200-meter races.
Junior boys compete together in one large wave of about 300 runs starting at 9 a.m. on July 4 in downtown Seward.
In the junior girls race, it’s a good thing for hometown girl Olive Jordan that the race isn’t only uphill.
Last year Jordan, then 14 years old, reached the turnaround point in fifth place with a seemingly large deficit of 68 seconds. But Jordan rocketed down the mountain in 8 minutes, 41 seconds to take the win in 33:59, which was 23 seconds clear of Palmer’s Wren Spangler.
“I was surprised (about coming back to win), but I do have the local advantage,” Jordan said. “So I have a pretty fast downhill and my town cheering me on. … One reason I’m fast at the downhill is I do downhill skiing which is sort of the same, and helps me not be scared of falling or going too fast.”
Being from Seward can be beneficial but also has a drawback for Jordan. “It does make me super nervous,” she said. “I feel like I have a lot of pressure but it’s also a race I do for fun!”
(UPDATE June 27) The above section was written before Jordan announced she will not race due to illness (pneumonia).
With all but Jordan returning from the top 12 runners in 2024, who will win is anybody’s guess.
The tiny, blond-haired Spangler is a crowd favorite. As an 11-year-old in 2023 she took third. Spangler climbed to runner-up in 2024 so perhaps she’s now ready for the top step of the podium, even though she has five years of junior eligibility remaining.
Tania Boonstra of Kenai, the 2023 girls champion, will race for the last time as a junior alongside Hannah Bodkin, the Eagle River native who led at midway last year.
And don’t sleep on another 17-year-old, the 2022 champion Rosie Conway of Anchorage. After three straight top-3 finishes from 2021-23, Conway had a down year (for her) by taking seventh last year. But she has regained good form in 2025 and won the 1600-meter run at the Alaska Division 1 track and field championship in May.
“This year is going to be very competitive,” Jordan said. “I know some girls really want that first-place spot because it’s their last year or they were close to first (in the past).”