In total, almost 200 runners took on Bethel’s notorious sand pit cross country race on the final day of August 2024.
The annual meet is a multi-community affair. Trucks and four-wheelers parked in the center of the race course. Some of the athletes, family, and friends from villages around the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta gathered under alders. Others speed-walked or ran around the course to cheer on runners as they powered up and down hills and across flat and dusty expanses. Little kids played on piles of sand scattered throughout the pit.
Elementary school and junior high runners raced together, but got separate awards. They ran one lap around the course.
Bethel seventh-grader Maya Iverson won the combined elementary and junior high girls’ race by almost 30 seconds.
In 2023, she won the elementary race as well. She said that her strategy is to keep her cool.
“Just keeping my pace and trying to not let everyone get in my head,” Iverson said. “I was just breathing, controlling my breath, making sure my form was good like my coach tells me to."
For the rest of the season Iverson has a simple goal: “I'm hoping I get better, and I hope to push myself throughout all season.”
Fourth-grader Darrien Nanuk from Hooper Bay placed ninth in the elementary school race. Her summary of the race was more succinct.
“Good,” Nanuk said of the elementary school race. “And fun.”
Bethel’s cross country invitational was also the cross country meet debut of the Gladys Jung Elementary School cheerleading team, dressed in matching maroon and teal uniforms and black shoes.
The cheerleaders stood along the start, shaking pom poms and shouting cheers in support of the Gladys Jung Cranes.
As runners completed the race, they were funneled into a chute so tags could be ripped from their bibs to record their finishes. After the intense exertion, the chute can be a place of high emotion. Some runners hyperventilate, cry, or throw up.
Eleven-year-old Cayson Ulroan of Chevak repeated his victory from last year to win the combined elementary and junior high race for the boys. He said that Bethel’s sand pit offers a good training opportunity.
“I love how the straight roads there are to run fast on,” Ulroan said.
With the younger athletes finished, race officials redrew the starting line, painting over the original orange with red spray paint.
As the high school girls’ race started, Derrick McDonald live-streamed from his phone to an audience of 13 back home. He’s an elementary and middle school cross country coach for Chevak School.
“I think they did a wonderful job,” McDonald said of the elementary and middle school runners from Chevak. “I like how they maintained the pace. Some stayed up front, where they’re supposed to be, and the other ones, they grouped together and finished strong together. So that's what I like to see.”
“Some people look at it as an individual sport,” McDonald said. “But I look at it as a team sport.”
McDonald said that Bethel’s course is difficult.
“I believe the Pit is – like compared to state at Bartlett – it's pretty hard,” McDonald said. “It's a pretty hard course. They might want to have state here once, you know, here in Bethel, believe it or not.”
Fourteen-year-old Bethel freshman Claire Dyment took an early lead in the high school girls’ race and didn’t let up.
“I felt good,” Dyment said after winning the race. “I like to go a little bit faster, though.”
On the home course, Dyment said that her issue isn’t the sand or hills that other runners struggle with.
“There's just no one really to push me,” Dyment said.
Dyment has been running since fourth grade, and she won the junior high girls’ race at the sand pit last year. She said that she hopes to keep getting faster throughout the season, as other races bring new competition and opportunities for the team.
Chevak junior Laney Green came in fourth for the high school girls.
“I feel so proud of myself,” Green said. “I feel like I've accomplished so much throughout this year, and I got my goal to place top five, and I'm very excited, and happy, and ready for the next race.”
Green also commented on the uniqueness of the Bethel course.
“Oof, if it's tough with the sand and these hills,” Green said. “I felt like I wanted to stop a lot of times, but I just pushed myself and kept going. It was a good learning experience to see who's my competition for regionals, and I think I could do better the next time.”
The high school boys’ race was the final one of the day. It was a race dominated by the hometown Warriors. All but one of the top 10 finishers were from Bethel, and even sixth-place Payton Nanuk of Hooper Bay was a Warrior, albeit a Hooper Bay Warrior.
Sporting mirrored wraparound sunglasses, 17-year-old Bethel senior Ned Peters won the boys’ race handily after a more conservative start.
“It felt good,” Peters said, standing near the finish. “Went out pretty slow the first k[ilometer], kind of ran with the team, then I took off a bit. It was fun.”
As Peters crossed the finish line, he stuck his thumbs in the armholes of his jersey to display “Bethel” emblazoned across his chest. He said that he’s got some big goals for the rest of the season: “I want to win regions and see if our team can get top two at state this year,” he said.
Peters said that the pit race has a special place in the season.
“It's fun because it's our home course and the community supports us here,” Peters said.
Brothers Jackson and Cole Iverson, a sophomore and a freshman respectively, placed second and third in a close finish.
While Bethel’s team was stacked deep, Conrad Hooch of Emmonak was the only runner from the Lower Yukon village to make it to the Pit race.
“My other teammates didn't have enough practices, so they couldn't come,” Hooch said. “I just think it's cool I'm the only person from Emmonak that's representing.”
Without teammates to run with, Hooch said that he had to rely on himself.
“Just push myself. Believe in myself and keep pushing myself,” Hooch said.
As the meet wrapped up, Bethel assistant coach Nate DeHaan said that he was excited about what he saw in both high school races.
“We've been talking about building consistency and building confidence towards the end of the season, and I think they did just that today,” DeHaan said. “Talked about running as a team, and I saw them doing that out there, pushing each other. It's a little bit of a smaller race than some of the other ones they have this season, but I saw them working together and pushing each other, and it was really fun to watch, exciting to see what they're doing out there as a team.”
DeHaan spent the morning running back and forth across the course, encouraging runners and keeping track of times.
“It's always a lot of fun. It's fun to see all the spectators out here, to have a local crowd. That's really cool to see. And I think there's a really cool environment here at the pit,” DeHaan said.
DeHann said that some slight adjustments made this year to the course didn’t take away from the success of the unique race.
“We had to do a new course this year because part of the normal course is flooded from all the rain we've been having, so this was kind of a new experience in this section of the pit,” DeHaan said. “But I thought it went really well and really great for spectators to be able to see the kids for a lot of the race.”
DeHaan thanked the teams who come to Bethel from all over the Y-K Delta region, and said that he hopes to see even more teams at the pit next year.
Next, the Bethel Warriors head to Palmer to race on Sept. 7. While DeHaan was using his watch to time the pit race, he’s expecting to do a lot of running himself on the road system. At a previous meet this season, he clocked 7 miles while keeping up with the athletes.
Find the full Bethel Cross Country Invitational Pit Race results here.
