PORT ANGELES — This year, it was the Sun-Kissed Relays.
Warm temperatures and bright skies welcomed a total of 78 teams and nine ironman individuals finished the long-distance Frosty Moss and Mini-Moss relay races Saturday.
The Frosty Moss in past year has been run in rain and cold temperatures, but Saturday, temperatures were near 70 for the opening event of the Peninsula Adventure Sports season.
Sixty teams ran the 80-kilometer Frosty Moss Relay from the Sol Duc Valley to Blyn, running a total of 15 legs over paved and unpaved trails along the Sol Duc River, Lake Crescent and the Olympic Discovery Trail between Port Angeles and 7 Cedars Resort. The race features vehicles and runners decorated in costumes.
The overall winner was Prentice Financial Planning of Olympia with a time of 8 hours, 50 minutes, 44 seconds. Prentice Financial Planning, made up of Jesse, Joe and Wesley Stevice and Andy Prentice, was one of the 55 four- to five-person teams. Only 10 minutes behind (8:50:44) was Suitcase of Courage from the Carolinas and Irvine, Calif., which won the trophy for best two- to three-person team. Suitcase of Courage, made up of Cameron Dorn, Dylan Scott Fuquay Varina and Tyler Schimpf, beat the second-place two- to three-person team, 3 OGs (10:39:50), by a whopping 1 hour, 50 minutes.
Third place for the two- to three-person team was Moss-tley Running at 11:22:21.
The second-place four- to five-person team was El Dot Dot (8:31:16) and the third-place team was Semi-Clean Machines (9:17:23).
Winning the 50K (30-mile) Mini Moss from Ediz Hook to Blyn was a local team, The Petersen Crew of Port Angeles, made up on Halden and Muir Petersen. This team finished in 4:08:21.
The second-place Mini-Moss team was Just a Flesh Wound in 4:15:10 and third was Frosty Sloth in 4:26:18.
There was also a 50K individual ironman race, a few miles longer than a marathon. Ten people entered and nine finished, with Steven Renard of Spanaway winning in 4:18:34. The 50K women’s winner for the second straight year was Stacia Givens of Port Townsend with a time of 5:04:04, good for second overall.
Todd Clayton was the second-place ironman finisher in 4:27:14 and third was Steve Moore in 5:04:47. Elizabeth Fitzpatrick had the second-best women’s time in 5:53:57 and Gay Hunter was the third-place women’s finisher in 6:14:44.
As part of the fun of the race, the mediocrity award, the team finishing in middle place, was given to TsvyetScotts (Ilya and Taylor Tsvyetkov, Aaron Scott and Hallie Austin of Port Orchard), which finished in a time of 12:15:31.
Last Slug Standing (Molly Kay, Crystal Bullard, Darlys Jacobsen, Holly Davison and Christine Buchanan), a Skagit County squad, won the award for last team finishing. They came in last, but more importantly, did finish, in a time of 15:46:37.
Best team theme was Stupid is as Stupid Does (Tracy McKeown, Stephanie Green, Helen Gibbons, Christine Almond and Nicole Nordli) from Nanaimo, B.C.
The best exchange zone, exchange-four “Sasquatch,” hosted by the Bryant family from Sequim and the Rhodes/Massingham family of Port Angeles.
The Frosty Moss team of Runner Ducks: Poultry in Motion, at the event’s Sasquatch-themed exchange zone 4. (Matt Sagen/Cascadia Films)
