Kashon Harrison shatters Shiprock Marathon record

SHIPROCK

A course record that stretches back over a decade was broken on Saturday morning during the 2025 Shiprock Marathon.

Former University of Colorado standout Kashon Harrison completed the grueling 26.2-mile race with a time of 2:31:43, shattering the old record which was previously held by Chinle’s Shaun Martin.

Harrison, who graduated at nearby Kirtland Central High, won Saturday’s race by a large margin with a blistering pace of 5:47 per mile. With that, Harrison finished nearly 33 minutes ahead of second-place finisher Brandon Dugi, who clocked in at 3:05:03 while Max Muller took third at 3:09:28.

Harrison, who was not present during the awards ceremony, bested Martin’s record by over three seconds as the Chinle native ran a 2:34:59 back in 2012.

“That’s pretty exciting,” Shiprock Marathon co-coordinator Tom Riggenbach said of Harrison’s feat. “He’s a great guy and his family is from right here in Cove.

“Technically, it’s a slightly different course, but everybody that has ran it say this one is harder,” Riggenbach added. “If anything, that is more impressive. I mean, Kashon did amazing and that’s pretty cool.”

In the women’s marathon, California runner Anelli Baron moved up two spots late in the race to claim this year’s title in her Shiprock debut.

Baron finished with a time of 3:29:42, ahead of Stephanie Wurtz (3:30:50) and Claire Gibbons (3:35:49).

“It’s a surprise to me because I was third most of the time,” Baron said. “In the last three miles I passed (Gibbons) and after two miles I passed (Wurtz).”

After taking over the top spot, Baron admitted she wasn’t feeling too well coming down the homestretch.

“It was a mental thing and I think that was the toughest challenge of the race, you know, the mental aspects of it,” she said.

Despite racing for over 10 years, Baron didn’t expect to win, knowing the difference in altitude from her hometown in California and Shiprock.

“I wasn’t sure about the conditions here because I’m from San Francisco and it’s at sea level,” Baron said. “It’s higher elevation so I tried to get used to the conditions by spending some time in the steam room, just trying to get used to less air.”

The California native hadn’t planned on running the Shiprock Marathon as she was initially supposed to run the Vancouver Marathon this past Sunday.

“It didn’t work out, so I was looking for other races online and I came across the Shiprock Marathon, and I was like, ‘Oh, it seemed fun,’” she said, “so I wanted to try it out.”

Dugi, who averaged 7:03 per mile, was pleased with his second-place finish in the men’s marathon as he improved his placement and time from last year.

“Last year, I took ninth and I improved my time by 12 minutes, so I definitely made some improvements,” the Page native said while adding that the outpouring of support from family, friends and spectators inspired him to complete the race.

“It’s awesome when you come out here on Navajo land and you get to see a bunch of you people supporting you because we’re out here doing something that is very challenging and hard,” he said. “I enjoy running, and for me it’s something that we’re born into, you know, being told to get up every morning to meet the Creator when we go out and run.

“That holds a lot of meaning to me,” Dugi added.

Heading into the final stretch, Dugi expressed some uncertainty on whether he was going to hold off Muller.

“I was actually running second throughout the whole race and I got caught by the third-place guy,” Dugi said of Muller, who hails from Alamosa, Colorado. “I got pushed back to third, but I held on for two, three miles and I kicked it into gear and my stomach felt good again and I was able to push again.

“The last two, three miles I was kind of running scared because I knew someone was running behind me,” Dugi said. “But it motivated me to keep going and finish strong.”

Dugi was joined at the awards presentation with girlfriend, Caleigh Curley, who placed third in the women’s half-marathon.

“I had a really great time out,” said Curley, who finished with a new PR of 1:44:29. “I’ve been focusing a lot of my efforts toward trail running, so this was a change of pace for me, but I had a lot of fun.”

Curley, who started running half-marathons competitively 18 months ago, says her running journey included using some useful running apps to guide her.

“That was a good base to start with because I wasn’t sure how to go about my training,” she said. “It helped me identify what I should being doing for the different goals I had in mind.”

The Ganado native says she is looking to train for her first full marathon next year while she continues her educational endeavors.

“After high school I continued my education at NAU and now I’m a doctoral candidate at UofA studying public health,” she said.

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