By DAVID MORSE
For the Star

Refusing to let a little drizzle rain on his parade, first-time marathon runner Ross Voorhees of Eagle River placed second in the men's age 15-19 age group and 100th overall among all males in the Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon Saturday in Anchorage.

Eagle River's Brent Voorhees (left) and son, Ross, acknowledge well-wishers five miles into Saturday's Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon. The pair worked together the entire 26.2 miles, clocking an identical time of 3 hours, 36 minutes, 45 seconds. Brent is a nine-time veteran to the distance race, while Ross, age 17, completed his first marathon, placing second in the men's 15-19 age bracket. PHOTO BY DAVID MORSE

The lion's share of those competing in the marathon were part of the worldwide Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training network, leading to a nearly unbroken sea of purple in the early stages of the race. More than 30,000 runners worldwide are part of the movement initiated in 1988.

The 26.2-mile race, commencing from Bartlett High School, wove along bike trails along the Glenn Highway then took the tank trails in the Chugach foothills, followed the bike trails through east and midtown Anchorage before ending on the West High School track.

Voorhees, a 17-year old Chugiak High School senior, ran step for step alongside his 53-year-old father Brent, a veteran of 16 marathons. This was his ninth Mayor's.

"It was a mutual effort," said Brent. "Actually Ross wanted to sprint it in at the finish."

The pair crossed the finish line at matched stride, with the father listed 99th among male finishers and his son 100th. Their identical time was 3 hours, 36 minutes, 45 seconds.

"They must have sorted alphabetically, giving me the higher finish," said father Brent Voorhees. "I wish they would have listed him before me."

The family bond through the race will be a lasting memory for the father, whose next best memory may be his 1998 running of the Boston Marathon.

"We started late in our training, perhaps in March, but we did cross country ski a bit last winter," said the elder Voorhees. The pair also skied the Tour of Anchorage together this spring.

"Our peak (mileage) was perhaps 50 miles a week in May, then we went into a two-week taper," said Voorhees.

On the other end of the distance scale, Mirror Lake seventh-grader Darryl Bailes and Gruening Middle School seventh-grader Jordyn Caldwell placed third in the boys and girls division of the third annual Youth Cup run around Westchester Lagoon in Anchorage. The pair finished the 1.6-mile race in 14 minutes, 29 seconds and 15:25, respectively.

The race was a stretch for Bailes, a comp hockey player formerly with the Mustang Blue Devils and a track member for the Coyotes this spring. Caldwell, a competitive swimmer, caught the bug to run after assisting with lap counting as a volunteer for the Eagle River Triathlon at Chugiak High School the previous week.

The top local in the 5-mile race was age-group winner Mary Marsolais, Eagle River's Grand Lady of Running, with a time of 53 minutes, 30 seconds. She was 33rd overall among women but first in the women's 65-69 age group

Former Eagle River resident and University of Alaska Anchorage cross country runner Kirk Fisher placed third in the men's 35-39 age group, 22nd overall among men, in the half marathon (13.1 miles) in 1:30:23.

Amanda Wilkens, a 2000 Chugiak graduate, was the area's best in the women's half marathon, placing 30th among women, with a time of 1:44:39.

Brent Voorhees said his other two children, Hannah, a 2001 Chugiak graduate, and Ian, a sophomore, also are avid runners but were not part of this year's race.

"But I haven't gotten them up to the marathon level yet," he said.

For complete results, see www.mayorsmarathon.com.

Reach the reporter at damorse@ak.net.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, June 23, 2005.