My childhood home was full of books. Although we spent most of our time outside, on our family farm, in the woods and in the mountains, for as long as I can remember my dad would read aloud to us at night. This practice instilled a deep love for reading and a hunger for knowledge that can be found between the pages. We had big books, small books, books of fantasy in far off lands, like the Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings, in addition to the World Book Encyclopedia, and how-to books such as Square Foot Gardening and Keeping Goats. There was one book in particular that caught my eye at a young age, it was a tall, slender, clean looking book with glossy photos of a fascinating fantasyland. That land was Alaska.
Fast forward to college where I studied Earth Science and Geography, had taken up running for fun, and continued to be enamored with reading and learning about the natural world.
During my junior year I was itching to head somewhere out of town for a summer job (I attended college 15 minutes from my parents’ house), so I began searching for jobs. As I looked, I slowly honed in on both the geographical and topical areas I would like to go and a job in Homer, Alaska popped up. It was a seasonal position as a naturalist and I jumped at it. That job and the experience it provided, in large part shaped who I am today.
I lived alone in a dry cabin (no plumbing) and so when the opportunity to road trip with new found friends to Seward for July 4th was presented, I was all in! We all piled into a car with not quite enough seat belts and drove the scenic 3+ hour drive over to Seward.
Seward on July 4th is THE place to be. The town spills over as thousands of Alaskans and people from all over the world swarm the streets, bars and campgrounds. Leading up to the 4th itself the festivities begin with a street fair and a parade, but the main act takes place on Independence Day itself, Mount Marathon.
Mount Marathon began as a bar bet between two sourdough debating whether the ascending and descending the mountain could be done in under an hour or not. That first race the winner took 1 hour and two minutes. In 1915, the first official race was held, and in 1985 an official women’s category was added. Over the years the numbers have grown from a 200 racer cap to 375, per gender. There is also a youth race now that runs a portion of the course.
I arrived in Seward not knowing what to expect. I figured we’d watch the parade, tour the town, head to the Yukon (the local watering hole), and watch, or rather listen to the fireworks since the sun does not really go down far enough for them to be visible. What I witnessed that day was one of the most impressive tests of human strength and grit I had ever seen and I was completely hooked. I learned that Mount Marathon was not a marathon at all but a gritty mountain race starting from town and running up the nearby “Mount Marathon ” before turing around and “running” back down, sometimes in a practically free-falling, scree sliding descent. The total distance is 3 miles, the total elevation gain is just shy of 3000 feet. We had binoculars with us and were able to peer up at the mountain and watch the runners ascending and descending like an army of mountain ants. People crossing the finish line were bloodied, muddied and beat. It was not quite like anything I’d ever witnessed and I knew at that moment that I had to run this crazy race.
Fast forward to 2017 when after 7 years in the lottery I had finally gained entry into the race. Running the race that year was one of the most memorable things I have ever done, and what I thought would be a one and done quickly turned into a “I can’t wait until next year!” I have been back every year except 2020 (canceled due to covid) and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon.
0 Comments