David Norris wins a fifth Mount Marathon, smashing his own record, while Klaire Rhodes claims her first victory

A group of racers pile up near the end of a patch of snow near the top of the Mount Marathon race on Thursday in Seward. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

David Norris won his fifth Mount Marathon on Thursday, shattering his own race record, while Anchorage’s Klaire Rhodes won the women’s race for the first time.

Nearly 900 runners participated in the 96th running of the race. The iconic July 4 race starts and ends in downtown Seward, with competitors ascending a 3,022-foot mountain before coming down. It’s a distance of around 3.1 miles.

Women climb through the woods during the start of the Mount Marathon race. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Conditions Thursday favored a fast race, with cool temperatures, dry ground, and almost no wind. Many racers took advantage of a patch of snow near the top of the mountain to improve their downhill time.

[Complete 2024 Mount Marathon results]

David Norris nears the top of Mount Marathon during his record-setting win in the annual race on Thursday. Norris, who has won the race five times, broke his own course record from 2016, finishing the 2024 race in 40:37. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Norris, 33, shattered the race record, which he set in 2016, with a time of 40 minutes, 37 seconds. That’s 49 seconds off his 2016 record of 41:26. He finished more than 2 minutes ahead of second-place finisher Max King of Bend, Oregon. Norris, an elite cross-country skier and mountain runner originally from Fairbanks, now lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He’s won every Mount Marathon he’s entered, taking home the championships in 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2023.

Klaire Rhodes smiles as she wins the Mount Marathon race with a time of 49:49 on Thursday, July 4, 2024 in Seward. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Rhodes, 26, won the women’s race with a time of 49:49. It was her first win and fourth straight finish in the top five. Kendall Kramer of Fairbanks was second, Meg Inokuma of Palmer was third, Hannah Lafleur of Seward was fourth and three-time Mount Marathon winner Chrisy Marvin of Palmer was fifth.

[Photos from a fast Mount Marathon race]

Junior Mount Marathon racer Patrick McSharry leads a group near the turnaround point on Thursday, July 4, 2024 in Seward. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Olive Jordan of Seward won the girl’s race while Coby Marvin of Palmer won the boy’s.

Full results here.

Wayne Humbert runs past a patch of lupine as he descends Mount Marathon on Thursday, July 4, 2024 in Seward. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Junior Mount Marathon racers take off from the start line on Thursday, July 4, 2024 in downtown Seward. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Racers recover after the Mount Marathon women's race on Thursday, July 4, 2024 in Seward. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

A slightly bloody Mike Kramer leads a group of runners down the scree field near the top of the Mount Marathon race on Thursday, July 4, 2024 in Seward. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

April McAnly, left, and Meg Inokuma celebrate after finishing the Mount Marathon race on Thursday, July 4, 2024 in Seward. McAnly finished in seventh place, and Inokuma in third. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Runners descend a creek during the Mount Marathon race on Thursday, July 4, 2024 in Seward. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Curtis Townsend gets a cold shower from Doug Wight as he runs to the finish line during the Mount Marathon race on Thursday, July 4, 2024 in Seward. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Shannon Davis crosses the finish line with an American Flag cape during the Mount Marathon women's race on Thursday, July 4, 2024 in Seward. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

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