Homer Alaska - Sports

Two Homer girls and five women celebrated their independence Monday by scaling Mount Marathon in Seward.

Best friends and running partners Megan Pitzman and Lauren Evarts, both 12, warmed up for the big climb by participating in the Spit Run in Homer the weekend before. The girls finished both races in under an hour. In the junior division of the 84th Mount Marathon race, Pitzman posted a time of 46 minutes, 42 seconds and Evarts finished in 54:51. The junior race course follows the adult path to the halfway point of the mountain and down, eliminating the long bare peak of the mountain while maintaining the adventure and risks of the steep, rugged course.

Five Homer women scaled the entire 3,022-foot mountain.

Fran Evarts, 39, finished 115 overall and 37th in her division in 1 hour, 23 minutes and 57 seconds. Emilie Springer, 33, finished 119, 38th in division, with a time of 1:25:08. Saundra Hudson, 42, 138 overall, 45 in division, 1:28:11. Jennifer Waltenbaugh, 39, 146 overall, 43 in division, 1:29:17. Tara Smith, 35, 278 overall, 79 in division, 2:08:39.