I give in easily to Melissa’s requests for a vacation when
she searches out running events near the destinations of her choice. It’s really not a bad thing I suppose, as we
mutually benefit in the travels. I had
never been to Alaska and it posed a great opportunity for not only the race,
but much needed days away from work and home.
My father –in –law is in Alaska all summer to help out some
family members at their gold mine. He
has been working some long days in getting everything up and running so they
can have a successful season. Melissa
and my arrival gave him a good excuse to take a break, do some visiting and
sightseeing. We flew into Anchorage and
he met us at the airport. He had to
drive for nearly 9 hours, as the mine is several hundred miles away, but he was
more than happy to do so.
We headed to our hotel, checked in and then went for dinner. It was nice to catch up on Frank’s arrival in
early spring and all the challenges faced with his trekking into the deep woods
with several feet of snow to trudge through.
The mining claim is hours away from the nearest town, and that is in
good weather. After dinner, it was time
to relax back in our room and get ready for the days ahead. We had to draw the curtains tightly for
sleep, as there is no real darkness in summer in Alaska.
The race expo was held at the downtown Sheraton, which is
where I would also catch a bus to the start the next morning. I did all the usual stuff, with picking up my
bib, a few schwag items and briefly looked over the half a dozen or so
vendors. It was small and simple, which
is the way I prefer an expo. The three
of us then headed out to check out some sights close to Anchorage.
Our first stop was Earthquake Park, which is along a coastal
trail and small airfield. The basic gist is that it commemorates the
destruction of a 9.4 tremor from March of 1964.
I snapped a few photos of some descriptive signs, but we quickly
retreated back to the truck as there were ruthless swarms of mosquitoes. I have never encountered them as dense and
bitingly furious before! Our next stop
was a small port town called Whittier.
The only access is through a 2.5 mile tunnel through a mountain, or by
sea. We then headed back to Anchorage
and attended a summer solstice festival with a large array of merchandise and
food vendors.
The pre-race pasta feed was held at a restaurant in the
Sheraton, to the cost of $25 per person.
Being that our vacation had just begun, we opted for a cheaper option,
and headed to the Golden Corral. This was
a first for a pasta feed! It was sufficient
and was within walking distance of our hotel.
On race morning, I caught a bus for the start and rode a
short distance of maybe 10 miles to Bartlett High School. The bus was only half full and we were some
of the first to arrive. Most of the
other participants seemed to arrive with around a half hour before the start,
and I can assume they were locals who knew where to park or caught a ride with
friends or family. Waiting for the start
gun to go off passed quickly as I drew up conversation with a guy from Los Angeles, watched the “Marathon Maniacs” have their photos taken, and then a military flag ceremony
followed by the Alaska state song and the National Anthem.
The race headed out to a paved pathway which followed
alongside a main highway for about three miles.
It was rolling, as would be the case of the entire course. We then crossed over to a secondary roadway
from about miles 4-7. I was feeling
decent, and just ran by feel rather than time or specific pace. Relay runners were hanging out at an aid
station which also doubled as the first exchange point. We turned onto a dirt road and then a single
path trail through the forest. The pack
of runners had really started to spread out, but I maintained some leapfrogging
with 4 or 5 other runners through mile 14.
One such runner was singing out loud to his headphones and seemed
confident in his pacing capabilities. It
provided me some entertainment to see someone so theatrical and expending such
an excess of energy. I later found out
that he fell short of his time goal by over a half hour!
Once the leapfrogging had ended, I ran mostly solitary for
the next 5 or so miles as we headed back on to some paved roads and then to
paved pedestrian and cyclist trails. The first place female runner was in my
sights around mile 20 and I briefly passed her just before the 21 mile aid station. She flew by me as I slowed for a cup of
water. I then lacked the speed and
energy to once again overtake her. I did
however, latch on and kept her in my sights.
I had no doubt her position in the field of other females as spectators
called out “Anna” and shouted encouragement.
She was definitely a local celebrity.
The last 10k was somewhat difficult as I felt myself fading
out and struggled to maintain my pace while perceived effort increased. I was definitely bonking. By mile 25, it seemed like I was crawling,
yet I reeled in Anna and passed her by. The
course played a cruel joke in the last half mile with a couple uphill stretches
which really tanked my energy. It was
encouraging though to pass many half marathoners that had resorted to speed
walking.
The finish was in an area called Delaney Park Strip, which
is within downtown Anchorage. Melissa
and Frank were there to greet me, as well as a friend of my mom’s who had driven
from a nearby town. My finishing time
was 3:08:37, which is within 4 minutes of my other 3 marathons I’ve run this
year. I suppose I am fairly consistent
with this margin. Surprisingly, I managed to pull off a 3rd. place finish in my age division, so I brought home a nice medal for that.
After the race, Melissa, Frank and I spent the night in
Anchorage and then headed north to Fairbanks for a couple days. There were a few sights along the way, such
as Hatcher Pass with Independence mine, Denali National Park, and Mt. Mckinley.
We met up with some relatives who did an awesome job as tour guides. They
showed us some old mining properties, a section of the Alyeska Oil Pipeline, an antique auto museum, and a town park
with a Salmon bake dinner. I was able to
do an out and back 7 mile run one of the evenings.
From Fairbanks, we headed to North Pole Alaska, which has a
Santa Claus house, and street light posts throughout the town are striped and
shaped as candy canes. It was kind of
unusual to see the spirit of Christmas in June!
Our next stop was at the gold mine for a few days of atv riding and
relaxing at their camp. Melissa and I
slept in an old school bus equipped with a queen bed, a stove, and a sofa. It made me think of the movie “Into the Wild,
“which is based upon a true story of a college graduate that headed into the
wilderness of Alaska to escape society and took shelter in an abandoned bus he
came upon. We then headed across the
Canadian border for a day excursion to a small town in the Yukon called
Dawson. Travelers from the road we took
have to drive onto a ferry to cross a river to get there. The town was once home to Jack London, the
author of “White Fang, and “Call of the Wild.”
It has also recently served as a base for gold miners featured in the Discovery
Channel’s show “Gold Rush.”
Frank drove Melissa and I back to the mining camp for one
final night, and then graciously drove us 8 more hours to Anchorage the next
morning. We checked into our hotel and had
one final dinner together. I headed out
for an impromptu run which put me on a coastal shoreline trail for an out and
back of 10 miles. It was nice to stretch
my legs and to see the Anchorage skyline from afar. Frank headed back to the mine in the morning,
where he will be until October. I felt
somewhat guilty when we said our goodbyes for his solo drive back. That was another 8 hours driving for
him! Melissa and I spent the day
meandering through gift shops and then waited at the airport for our 12:55 a.m.
flight back home.
I had an incredible experience being in Alaska and appreciate
the opportunity given by Melissa’s relatives.
A few months ago, I had no idea I would be traveling there and would be
able to run the marathon as a bonus. It
is a beautiful place to visit and definitely a national treasure.
My race split times were:
1st. half:
1:31:38, 2nd. Half: 1:36:59
1. 7:02
2. 7:03
3. 6:58
4. 6:57
5. 6:37
6. 6:50
7. 7:13
8. 6:32
9. 6:47
10. 6:57
11. 7:22
12. 6:53
13. 7:15
14. 7:52
15. 6:55
16. 7:03
17. 7:02
18. 6:54
19. 6:55
20. 7:08
21. 7:18
22. 7:27
23. 7:30
24. 7:46
25. 7:38
26. 7:42
.20 3:03 (7:14/mi., read ..42)
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