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Photo by Eric Engman

More than 950 people crossed the finish line on Saturday morning at the 27th Annual Chena River. The 5K course stretched from Woodriver Elementary to the Princess Hotel.

Fairbanks, weather decided to cooperate, giving the runners bright blue sunny skies that had everyone running with a smile.

Ashley Feaver was happy to cross the finish line in the sun.

“We couldn’t ask for better weather today,” she said.

Feaver had a baby a few months ago and was happy to be out and running.

“I went slow for me, but it was all right, I think I have sort of a good excuse,” Feaver said.

Last year, Feaver actually ran the Equinox Marathon with her son, as she was five months pregnant.

On the women’s side, the field was fairly competitive with several Alaska Nanooks crossing the finish line in the top five.

Anna Coulter placed first among women with a time of 17 minutes, 37.7 seconds. Laura Brosius, a masters student at UAF, trailed behind by a minute and 18 seconds to take second place in 18:56.5.

Julia Coulter, twin sister to Anna, took third with a run of 19:41.6.

Dave Leonard, Jon Gerken and Stephen Taylor didn’t cross the finish line in record time, but all three walked away with a smile, and hopefully, a tan.

They spend most of their time indoors swimming for the Fairbanks Masters Swim Team.

“It’s the best of both,” Leonard said. “Runners are just toothpicks with big lungs, but swimmers have to use their muscles.”

Gerken said it was slightly painful, but thought his training had paid off.

“That helped us go fast, but not too fast,” he said.

Leonard was happy with how the race turned out.

“Everyone took off way too fast, but Jon (Gerken) and I just kept a steady pace and held our own,” he said, “Good times.”

Speaking of good times, Chris Eversman of Salcha crossed the finish line first in 16:36.8, followed by Mark Lindberg at 16:53 and Ray Sabo of Whitehorse, Yukon, at 17:09.

“I’ve never been in a race this big before,” Sabo said.

Despite being just half a minute behind the first place finisher, Sabo was slightly less than thrilled about his final time.

“It was just OK,” he said.

Sabo currently runs and skies for the Alaska Nanooks. He and his teammates use the summer runs to stay in shape for ski season.

Reese Hanneman came in just 57 seconds after his friend Sabo. He was aiming for a personal best time of 18 minutes.

“Man, I was so close,” he said after crossing the finish line. The ski buff at Lathrop High School came in at 18:02.1, a personal best but just short of his goal.

“It’s been just awesome today,” Hanneman said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better turnout or better weather.”

Hannemans’s younger brother, Logan, also ran the race and won first place in his class with a time of 20:14.4.

Aisha Bray was thrilled with this year’s turnout. She has been directing the Chena River Run for the last 10 years with the help of sponsoring Fairbanks Downtown Rotary Club members.

“We’ve had such a great turnout today,” Bray said. “The course is just perfect because it’s fast and flat and it’s a perfect kickoff race for the season.”

The Chena River Run marks the first of the Flint Hills Series, which includes eight different runs held throughout the summer and concludes with the Equinox Marathon in the fall. The Equinox stands as one of America’s toughest marathons because of the 4,000 foot elevation range from start to finish.

On Wednesday, Golden Heart Utilities will sponsor the 5K Water Walk and Run along the Chena River bike path. The race starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Golden Heart Utilities Water Treatment Plant on First Avenue.