Unalaska’s annual Ballyhoo Run is a community running tradition that’s no easy feat.
The 2-mile out-and-back trail heads straight up the hillside of one of Unalaska’s most well-known landmarks. Standing at 1,600 feet, Ballyhoo mountain towers above the town.
Each year, dozens of competitors face off on the grueling trail, and on July 19, they’ll do it again.
The fastest known time for the annual Ballyhoo run is a speedy 24 minutes, which was set by former islander Ben Bolock in 2010.
“It took me 15 minutes to get up, and about 9 minutes to get down,” said Bolock after he’d crossed the finish line.
He may have made it look easy, but coming down the mountain still had its consequences. About halfway down the mountain, Bolock took a tumble.
"I turned my ankle inside the narrow path,” he said. “Sort of pulled it a little bit. It looks like a golf ball now… it’s gonna turn black and blue. So probably won’t be running for about three days."
The current women’s record belongs to a previous Eagle’s View Elementary principal - Joanna “JJ” Hinderberger. In 2018, she crossed the finish line in just over 30 minutes.
“Very tired. That’s a tough run, for sure,” said Hinderburger. “I’d never been to the top of Ballyhoo, so this seemed like a good opportunity to do that. The uphill always feels hard, until you realize how hard the downhill is on your knees!"
This year’s Ballyhoo Run is set for Saturday, July 19. Check-in starts at 5:15 pm at the base of the mountain, and the race starts at 6:00.
This story includes audio from Unalaska Rewind, KUCB’s new archival series. For footage from past runs, visit our Instagram: @kucb.unalaska.
