Low athlete turnout for Justin Fantasia Memorial means fundraiser for Eldred Rock Lighthouse may not continue
- Klas Stolpe
- Jul 21
- 4 min read
Race in its seventh year offers support for restoration of historic lighthouse constructed in 1905
Runners attend races for many reasons, but race directors oversee an event because they believe in it.
“I love the Eldred Rock Lighthouse,” Sue York, the Justin Fantasia Memorial Run for the Rock race director, said at last Saturday’s seventh annual event. “Unfortunately this may be the last year. I am trying to get someone else interested in directing the race.”
Originally titled “Run for the Rock,” it is now in its fourth year as the “Justin Fantasia Memorial Run for the Rock” to honor former Eldred Rock Lighthouse Preservation Association (ERLPA) director Justin Fantasia, who died in 2022. The lighthouse is 55 miles north of Juneau and 17 miles south of Haines.
Roughly 15 participants raced Saturday on Pioneer Road at North Douglas.
“Thank you for coming and supporting us,” York said prior to the start. “This isn't one of our bigger fundraisers, but we love to do it because we are remembering Justin Fantasia…And rest assured, if we don't continue this race in the future, there is some development of this road that's going to be happening, we will memorialize him out at the lighthouse. We'll have a display there for Justin...If you really feel strongly that you want us to continue this race next year, please reach out to me because it's kind of on the fence whether we're going to continue, but we love this venue.”
The proceeds benefit the ERLPA, a nonprofit that began work in 2021, but in reality, even on fields with over 30 athletes, the event has never done more than break even. The logistics of bringing York to Juneau — she no longer lives here — along with the possibility of access to Pioneer Road being closed or restricted and declining participation in the event all leave York wondering if the race can continue.
“The fundraiser, actually for monetary fundraising, has been kind of small as far as the grand scheme of the funding we need to preserve the lighthouse,” York said. “But we still want to continue to do it as it's a memorial now. And also just to let Juneau know that the Eldred Rock is their lighthouse, too, in Southeast. At this point, we have Skagway, Haines, Gustavus and Juneau board members on our nonprofit board of directors. So it's still important for us to continue to do events in Juneau.”
Originally constructed in 1905 after a ship carrying gold ran aground, the lighthouse was manned until 1973 when it was automated. In 1975 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Saturday’s 10-kilometer finishers were Adam Moser (male, age 47) in 46 minutes and 26 seconds, Eric Antrim (M, 52) 53:56, Steven Schmitz (M, 64) 54:04, Christine Coan (female, 24) 56:55, Michelle Morris (F, 47) 56:55, Alisha Falberg (F, 40) 57:29, Christina Schulte-Pereyra (F, 34) 59:24, Guy Crockroft (M, 65) 1:04:38, Tana O’Leary (F, 45) 1:10:15, Susana Osorio (F, 35) 1:14:06 and Shelby Nesheim (F, 34) 1:14:07.
The five-kilometer finishers were Kristin McTague (F, 53) 32:46, Marsha Squires (F, 63) 33:56, Katie Holland (F, 33) 44:53 and Alex Peplinski (M, 37) 45:00.
York said Saturday, “We are headed out to the lighthouse tomorrow for an 11-day work shift, me and Donna (Lentz). Just so you know, folks are always welcome to come out to Eldred Rock as volunteers. Just go to the website (www.eldredrocklighthouse.org) and there's a button for volunteering. We have our volunteer keeper program running at the lighthouse now for the second year in a row. And so you can actually sign up to be a keeper at the Lighthouse for a week at a time, as long as you do some training.”
Volunteers can serve as lighthouse keepers for a week, provided they do four hours of restoration work per day.
Starting next summer, Eldred Lighthouse will be manned. A ceremony will be held June 1.
“It's our grand opening,” York said. “And we will be opening up to the public for tourism and rentals. There are five bedrooms. It is a full keeper court. It's a huge facility if you've never been in, but you've probably seen it on the ferry going by.”
The grand opening will commemorate the 120th anniversary of the light station, Alaska’s oldest original lighthouse.
• Contact Klas Stolple at kstolpe@juneauindependent.com.
