Juneau Ridge Race offers something for all

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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 country email list 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.”