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3rd Annual Flannigan's Run
| Mt. Jumbo Gym, Douglas | The third annual Flannigan's Run, five miles in Douglas on Saturday 16 March 1985, starting at 9 a.m. at the Mt. Jumbo gym on 4th Street.
Rick Thibodeau won in 28:20, playing cat-and-mouse with Matt Mulligan, who finished second in 28:31. The two switched the lead twice; Thibodeau arrived late and started slow, was passed by Mulligan and repassed him for good in the last mile approaching Douglas. Glenn Frick was third in 29:09 and Steve Reiger of Anchorage fourth in 29:24. Michelle Ramsey won the women's division in 34:17, eleventh overall, with Susie Norvell second in 36:28 and Elizabeth Shaw third in 37:44.
Conditions were miserable. While the Iditarod mushers were 1,100 miles away, the field ran through wet, blowing snow on slushy streets with two to four inches of slush along the Douglas Highway, and were splashed by passing cars. The snow stopped and the wind dropped shortly after the start. "It was really wet snow, sloppy," Thibodeau said. "The major problem was being splashed by cars. But as the race went on the wind died down."
The course looped through Savikko Park, then followed the Douglas Highway to a turnaround near the Juneau-Douglas Bridge and back to the gym - fairly flat, and the traditional opening of the Juneau running season. Entry was $7 with a T-shirt for the first 50 runners and $3 without. Representative Mike Miller finished 41st in 46:54.
SOURCES: the preview "Running season kicks off" by Richard F. Schmitz, with a course map, in the Juneau Empire of Wednesday 13 March 1985, page 8; the report "Thibodeau wins Flannigan's Run" in the Empire of Monday 18 March 1985, page 6; and the finish list published the same day.
NOTE ON THE NUMBERING: the report says 68 runners turned out and the published list names 68 - 46 men and 22 women - but the men's places run only to 44, because 31st and 35th are each printed twice on different times. The women's list puts the 16th-placed runner ahead of two faster times numbered 17th and 18th. All are recorded here as printed and have not been corrected. | DefaultRaceDirector Unassigned | 1985-03-16 09:00:00 | no | yes | yes | Registration Form |