Mount Marathon on July 4

July 4, 2019

Hi Blog!

We camped in Seward, Alaska in anticipation of viewing one of Americas most unique Independence Day Celebrations - The Mount Marathon Race! This event might be the world’s gnarliest three-miler. Calling it a "running" event is barely accurate. It’s more of a high-speed climb directly up the mountain, and then back down again. It's not like any other 5K you've ever witnessed.

Like most of the great Alaskan sporting events, the Mount Marathon Race began in a bar. Back in the first few years of the 20th century, so the legend goes, one Seward local wagered another that he could make it up the mountain and back down again in under an hour, a seemingly impossible feat. The bet was made, and the race was on. The town began keeping track of the winners in 1915, making The Mount Marathon event one of the oldest continuing running events in America.

As many of you know, Alaska is the land of the midnight sun. In the summer, it never really gets dark. To take advantage of the lowest light level, the City of Seward held their fireworks display at 12:01 a.m. the morning of July 4th. Happy Fourth of July!

Many of the campers here at the Seward Waterfront Campground are here to race. Our neighbor's son, Nick, will be running in the men's division. He placed 36 last year, so his bib number is 36. We were looking forward to cheering him on.

It wasn't easy waking up in time for the start of the festivities, but having coffee helped.

When we arrived downtown, Main Street had already been roped off. Vendors were manning their booths. Every local group from churches, civic organizations, scouting groups and indigenous clans had homemade crafts and goodies to sell. We munched on our blueberry muffins and drank our coffee as the crowds began to gather. The fireman had raised a giant flag in anticipation of the opening ceremonies. 

During our time in Seward, we have been plagued by smoke from the Swan Lake Fire near Anchorage. There was talk of actually cancelling the race. Many of the professional athletes opted not to participate. The officials brought in the EPA to help monitor the air quality. The cut-off number for the smoke particulates was 100 ppm.  The morning the race, the particulates were 185. The junior race was officially cancelled. However, this is Alaska. The kids ran anyway!!!! It was not an "official" race. There would be no timing or support from the officials. The kids who wanted to run were encouraged to run slowly. While they started with gusto, most of them were laughing and walking by the time they came back down Main Street.

We met up with our friends, Don and Julie. After the juniors took off, we went over to have some pie made by the local church ladies. We also did some craft shopping at the local clan headquarters where we picked up some fry bread for our dinner. We got everything back in the rig and then returned to the starting area in time to see the women's start. They run the first few blocks on Main Street and then turn up Jefferson and head toward the mountain. Here's the view up Jefferson Street towardthe mountain from the turn.

After the women left the starting area, it was time for the Mini Mount Marathon Races for kids ages 3 to 6. There were 8 races in total. They started with the six year old boys, then six year old girls. They rope off an area about two blocks long. Julie and I got drafted to be rope holders. For each age group, the race course got shorter and shorter. By the time the three year olds ran, the course was just about a half a block. This photo is from the four year old race, by the time the three year olds ran, the finish area was too full of concerned parents to get a photo! This little four year old left her competition in the dust.

We took a break from the race to have a little BBQ in the American Legion Beer Garden. We all agreed that the spare ribs were some of the best we had anywhere in the country. From the outdoor seating area, we could use our binoculars to follow the women up and down the mountain. Pictured below are the musicians that entertained us with some country, jazz and blues while we munched our lunch.

After lunch, we walked up Jefferson to get in position to watch the parade. Some of the women racers were still coming off the mountain. There were several spots along the route where a runner could get hosed down. This helps to cool them down AND wash some of the mud and dust off from sliding down the glacial scree fields.

Before the last women came back off the mountain, Seward's 4th of July Parade started winding its way around town.  Who doesn't love a parade!

Various organization in town sponsored floats. The one covered in stuffed dogs is sponsored by a local kennel. All the classic cars are owned by the local construction company. Every float had loads of candy and goodies to give out to the kids. Kathy even scored some Mardi Gras beads!

There are icons and then there is Smokey Bear. Iconic mascots and images come and go, but Smokey and his one clear message “Only you can prevent wildfires” has stood the test of time—75 years to be exact. The rangers from the local Kenai Fjords National Park Visitor Center joined Smokey to help us celebrate Smokey's 75th birthday, which will be August 9th. Happy Birthday Smokey!

One unique feature of the parade was that it turned on and wound down Jefferson Street, and then along Fourth Street, which comprise the end of the race course.  Throughout the parade, race marshals had to stop everyone and clear crowds so that the women racers could get through and finish their race.  The marshals had no resistance because everyone whooped, hollered and applauded the runners as they came runners (or in some cases stumbling) by toward the finish line.

After spending much of the morning near the Starting Line, we decided to hike up to the base of Mount Marathon and watch the men race by. It only took a few minutes for the leaders to sprint down Fourth Avenue and up Jefferson to our location.

It didn't take long for the rest of the pack to catch up. The trail up soon began to look like the Hillary Step on Mount Everest!

Once the leaders reach the top, it only takes them about 11 minutes to descend the 3022 feet to the base. We decided to sit a spell and wait for them to come down. The crowd swelled in anticipation. Just before the leader reappeared on his final sprint down, a spectator decided to fake out the crowd by taking his shirt off and pretending to be a runner. Everyone started cheering as he came down the rock face known as the waterfall only to be disappointed that it wasn't a runner at all. Soon, a loud chorus of boos began. It was all quickly forgotten as the actual leader of the race appeared, in the photo below:

Max King from Bend, Oregon won the men's race. Hannah Lefleur won the women's race.

If you think this looks like fun, there are four ways to get bibs.  First, those who finish the race in the top 225 places are entitled to pay the nominal fee for a bib the next year.  Then, there are three ways for hungry newcomers to get one of the approximately 200 remaining race bibs—100 each for men and women. First, they can enter the main lottery, held in April. Failing that, in the high school, the night before the race, you can buy as many $10 raffle tickets as you can afford in hopes of landing the single bib given away in a drawing. If that doesn’t work out, you are left with the auction: seven men’s bibs and seven women’s bibs given out to the highest bidders. This year, the bidding went as high as $1,100 for women and $2,200 for men. (The money goes to the Seward Chamber of Commerce to pay for the costs associated with organizing the race.)  

Once you get your bib, here's a good look at what you will be facing:

Good luck! You'll need it!