First timers tame Nifty Fifty ultra endurance run

Klas Stolpe

Aug 9

9 min read

Updated: Aug 10

Amaral, Fellman top males in 50K and 25K, Peterson, Osborn top females

Maine's Cole Amaral, 20, leads Utah's Jackson Currit, 21, across bridges on Perseverance Trail during the Nifty Fifty on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. Amaral placed first in the 50K and Currit fourth. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

By Klas Stolpe

Juneau Independent

A field of first-time enthusiastic ultra racers mixed it up with early rain, thick brush and big, rooty climbs and descents to conquer Saturday’s Nifty Fifty ultra race, with athletes on side 25-kilometer and 10-kilometer races also getting a taste of the course.

“I kind of found out about trail running about a year ago and I thought it was super cool,” said Cole Amaral of Brunswick, Maine. He won the 50-kilometer race in five hours 14 minutes and 15 seconds. “I followed trail running on social media and watched a bunch of YouTube videos, and I knew I wanted to do one for a while. And what better place to do my first ultra than Alaska, with the mountains and the cool running community they have here.”

The 50K started at 7 a.m. from the end of Basin Road and traveled to and along the flume and through the highlands out to the Salmon Creek trail and returning to the start line. From there, it went up Perseverance Trail to Red Mill and that spur’s overlook. Runners returned to Red Mill, going out to the end of Perseverance and then down to Granite Creek Trail where they ran up past the waterfall to the valley lake and back down to Perseverance and the Basin Road start. Then it was up and down Mount Roberts and a dash back to the end of Basin Road.

Racers start the Nifty Fifty on Basin Road, on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

“I was actually on a run here a month and a half ago and ran into some people who told me about this race,” Amaral said. “I was like, ‘Oh sweet, let me sign up for it and see what happens.’ My first 50K and first actual, like, race... Going up Roberts was brutal. I wondered then why I was doing this to myself. My legs were not feeling it. But it was really cool to see the 25K runners coming down, and I talked to the race director earlier, and there were just really good vibes and having all that energy culminated in pushing me up Mount Roberts. Granite was not too fun. I didn’t know if I should run or walk it. I couldn’t see where my feet were going. But it was kind of really cool running through all the brush. It felt very Alaskan. This is a special place and I am absolutely loving the community.”

Amaral ran track at Maryland’s Montgomery Blair High School.

“I ran the 800 meters,” he said. “A little bit shorter, but I have always admired the long-distance runners and thought what they did was cool. And it is a really cool way to explore the area. I really like seeing a lot of this area in Juneau, just cover all this distance.”

Working for Temsco Helicopters brought Amaral to Juneau along with friend Jackson James Currit, 21, whose father is Utah ultra runner Danny Currit. The duo called “pops” and got info on food and other essentials.

“This was my first one,” Currit said. He placed fourth overall in 5:34:58. “I was calling my dad yesterday when we were buying stuff, like, I don’t know what to do for nutrition and he was walking me through his nutrition plan and everything and offering advice. I ate when I felt hungry and drank when I was thirsty, which turned out to not be a good plan I should have ate earlier on. I learned a lot. The hardest part was Granite Creek, going up was terrible, way hard. The funnest part was…finishing. And cruising down Granite Creek and then down Perseverance, that was awesome. Such a good time.”

Juneau's Logan Fellman, 17, races through dense brush on Granite Creek Trail during the Nifty Fifty on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. Fellman won the 25K race. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

Incoming Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Logan Fellman won the 25K in 2:40:40. The 25K and 10K races started at 9 a.m. The 25K followed the second and third portion of the 50K, while the 10K went to Red Mill overlook and returned.

“It was fun,” Fellman said. “My race plan was to not go out too fast, because I have a race next weekend down at Sandy Beach so I wanted to pace myself and speed it up at the end as I felt better and better. Because I didn’t want to tire myself out too much for the race next week. It felt good. I picked up the pace in the last five miles. The hardest part was Granite Creek, because it was really brushy, really slow going. It was hard to run in there.”

With the JDHS cross-country season underway and the first race next weekend, Fellman asked coach Zack Bursell for advice.

“We talked about tempo for a ways and then picking it up at the end, just to go conservatively for a while,” Fellman said. “I feel good, my legs feel good, my spirits are up. My body feels good. Just going to make sure I rest well. I have an interest in ultras, they are very cool and the sport is growing.”

Fellman trailed Abe Kanter, 32, through Red Mill and the end of Perseverance but took over the 25K lead just before the Granite Creek trailhead and joined the bushwhack into Granite behind the then-current 50K leader Ian Novak.

Juneau's Abe Kanter, 32, leads Logan Fellman, 17, along Perseverance Trail during the Nifty Fifty on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

Kanter, a state lawyer, moved to Juneau in October and has done the Juneau Ridge Race and various ultras. He had done AmeriCorps work in Sitka before law school and fell in love with southeast Alaska.

“I had been looking for a way to come back ever since,” Kanter said. “This race is great. All the fun little off-shoots, you have everything. You have elevation, that brush, you have good trail and bad trail, and the best part is they timed it so the weather was clear at ground level when we were running on the trail, and it was clear on Mount Roberts when we were running on Roberts… So someone has some kind of connection up there. I appreciated that.”

Kate Osborne, 27, was the top female finisher in the 25K, with a time of 3:27:50, placing third overall.

Juneau's Kate Osborne, 27, races up the Granite Creek Trail during the Nifty Fifty on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. Osborne was the top female 25K runner and third overall. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

“I did the ridge race,” Osborne said. “So this is my second. The hardest part was trying to not let my stomach get too upset. I don’t think I ate enough. I am really new to the fueling thing, I definitely didn’t eat enough. I felt nauseous. And going up Granite Basin with all the bushes was hard, like, not really being able to get a good flow because I couldn’t see anything. Going down was fun, I was concentrating really hard. It was hard and fun at the same time. My favorite part was going down Mount Roberts. I love going down Mount Roberts. It kind of feels like a game, with all the roots and the rocks, and I have done it so many times. And I was like, okay, I am almost done. And since it was an out and back, I really liked seeing everybody and giving everybody high fives and cheering on everyone.”

Fellman’s JDHS classmate Austin Huang, 17, upped the Crimson Bears’ game with his first ultra race, placing third in the 50K with 5:34:58.

Juneau's Austin Huang, 17, races up Granite Creek Trail during the Nifty Fifty on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. Huang placed third overall. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

“Yeah, my first ultra, dude, I don’t know,” an exhausted Huang said at the finish. “My longest race before this was Juneau Ridge Race, but this was a crazy experience. My goal was to run an ultra marathon before I turned 18 years old, and I got to do that and I think that is really cool. This race lived up to my expectations for sure… Coming down Perseverance my right calf cramped and I was sitting on the ground for 15 minutes trying to massage it. Other than that, my nutrition was good. I ate six GUs and I am happy with how it went.”

Juneau’s Ashley Peterson, 33, was the top 50K female and sixth overall in 6:14:34.

Juneau's Ashley Peterson, 33, races across a bridge on Perseverance Trail during the Nifty Fifty on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. Peterson was the top female 50k finisher and sixth overall. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

“Super fun,” the Northstar glacier tour guide said. “I really enjoyed the course. It was the first one I have had that was a good dose of bushwhacking, which was very Southeast Alaskan style. That also was probably the hardest part. The bushes were over my head. Some of the downhill descents were pretty fun. Roberts was a little more hard, but when it gets a little more into the flowing downhills I love them.”

Novak finished his 50K in seventh place with 6:25:33. He used the course as part of his training for mid-September’s The Rut Mountain Runs, a three-day series of epic races in Big Sky, Montana that can include single-race vertical gains of up to 11,000 feet.

Juneau's Ian Novak, 25, races up Perseverance Trail during the Nifty Fifty on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

“I will be doing the Trifecta,” Novak said. The three runs will total 52.5 miles and 21,500 vertical feet. “I did that last year, and just a 50K the year before, we’ll see if I keep the tradition going… I have done the Nifty, this one, twice. I remember how I first got into ultras. I like backpacking, and we were doing this big backpacking trip. I just remember seeing these trail runners zoom through and thought, ‘these guys are seeing all the same stuff in, like, half the time and don’t have to carry this 40-pound pack.’ It is just nice to cover a bunch of terrain and see a bunch of stuff, that is what I like.”

Tor Howley, 23, from East Greenwich, Rhode Island, ran high school track and cross country for Exeter-West Greenwich there, and wanted to get into trail running.

“I am wondering why myself,” Howley said when asked why she wanted to get into the sport. “I love torturing myself in a way. I don’t know. I just feel like I enter this meditative state when I move my body for a long time and I am, like, completely out of my head. And I love that feeling because usually I am very much in my head. So I just get nice and clear. Today though, it was hard going up Mount Roberts. Yeah, that was tough. But it happened, and now I am here.”

Rhode Island's Tor Howley, 23, races along Perseverance Trail during the Nifty Fifty on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

The 50K finishers included Cole Amaral (Maine, M, 20) 5:14:15; Sam Fernandez (JNU, M, 28) 5:30:46; Austin Huang (JNU, M, 17) 5:34:58; Jackson Currit (Utah, M, 21) 5:40:43; Daniel Leder (JNU, M, 39) 5:58:54; Ashley Peterson (JNU, F, 33) 6:14:34; Ian Novak (JNU, M, 25) 6:25:33; Edward Richardson (JNU, M, 41) 6:26:02; Adam Jones (JNU, M, 34) 6:31:17; Matt Cheng (JNU, M, 26) 6:50:26; Allen Dwyer (JNU, M, 40) 7:10:17; Rachel Ohmer (Petersburg, F, 43) 7:22:06.

The 25K finishers included Logan Fellman (JNU, M, 17) 2:40:40; Abe Kanter (JNU, M, 32) 2:59:58; Kate Osborne (JNU, F, 27) 3:27:50; Christy Genteman (JNU, F, 37) 3:38:59; Nicki Dozier (Sitka, F, 46) 3:46:32; Christine Woll (JNU, F, 41) 3:53:16; Kate Glover (JNU, F, 47) 3:54:39; Tor Howley (Rhode Island, F, 23) 3:56:06; Jenna Schlener (JNU, F, 32) 4:19:03; John Eldridge (JNU, M, 75) 7:14:13.

The 10K finishers included Peter Flynn (JNU, M, 43) 58:37; Danielle Dunivin (JNU, F, 36) 1:01:17; Daniel Thornton (JNU, M, 47) 1:01:26; Steven Schmitz (JNU, M, 65) 1:02:41; Melody Millard (Auke Bay, F, 64) 1:05:49; Madeline Sayet (California, F, 37) 1:07:49; Cory Padron (JNU, M, 38) 1:08:31; Kenny Ramos (California, M, 36) 1:09:52; Eric Antrim (JNU, M, 53) 1:13:15; Melissa Anderson (JNU, F, 50) 1:15:37; Kristin McTague (JNU, F, 54) 1:22:31; Shierlly Suarez (JNU, F, 42) 1:26:37; Tana O’Leary (JNU, F, 46) 1:31:09.

Juneau's Sam Fernandez, 28, races along Perseverance Trail during the Nifty Fifty on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

Sitka’s Nicki Dozier celebrated her 46th birthday in the 25K.

“I just did the Sitka alpine race,” Dozier said. “I am just getting into trail running and I found out there was a trail run on my birthday so thought, why not? I planned on doing the 25K, but I am a little shy because I have never done any of these trails.”

Dozier took a brief wrong turn, then missed the Granite Creek portion. Her time of 2:46:32 was corrected to 3:46:32.

“I was just hoping for the best and following the signs,” she said. “But it was fun, and that is the whole point of trail running. I loved the part I did do. The Perseverance (section) was great and then it kind of switched it up for the Mount Roberts so you get a little bit of everything.”

Juneau’s John Eldridge, 75, earned his time of seven hours 14 minutes and 13 seconds in the 25K.

“Famous last words,” he said as he stepped off the Mount Roberts descent onto the final quarter mile along Basin Road. “I am never doing this again.”