Incredible Mount Marathon Three Mile Race

We are in Seward, Alaska now, and attended their annual 4th of July Mt. Marathon Race.  This race was first held in 1915 when two men in a bar decided to see who could get up and down the mountain the fastest . . . . . . for the bar tab.  It has been held 84 times and is now the main event on the Fourth of July each year here in this small town of 3,200.  I had seen it on World News several years ago, and when we realized we were going to be in the Seward area, we decided to try to see it.  All of the campgrounds in town were jammed so we stayed at Cooper River and drove in for the big day.  Fireworks were at 12:01 a.m. on July 4th so we did not get to see them.  It was not even dark then -- more like dusk at home -- but that is the best they can do in perpetual daylight here in summertime Alaska.
 
The race goes up the mountain for 1.75 miles for an elevation gain of over 2900 feet.  There is significant leeway on how you get up to the top and back down.  Top people take over 34 minutes to get up, and just over 10 to get back down.

In the two pictures above a stream of people going up the mountain is visible, and I have enlarged the stream in the second picture.   Looking at the snow to the right of the people, they use that as their highway to get down.  Going more than 3 times faster going down, you can imagine how they shoot through the snow, sliding all of the way. They also do a lot of sliding on the scree slopes.  We also saw tumbles and rolls.  It is a very treacherous race.   The day of the race there was a light rain off and on so the sharp shale was also slippery.  There were a lot of cuts and bruises, but it did not show on the faces of the contestants. 

Above is the women's first place finisher, Holly Brooks.  Holly was on the 2010 Olympic Ski Team for cross country skiing.

When she came off of the mountain, she was running hard and with assurance, accompanied by a big grin on her face. There was no one close to her. I caught her picture and blew up her legs when I noticed damage. Notice the outside of her left leg in the pic. I have also included a picture of another woman who happened to be a friend of a woman standing next to us. Her right leg was bleeding. I guess these are the normal hazards of coming down the mountain fast. These pictures are a testament to how much these contestants love competition and how much they are willing to push themselves. Very impressive.

I have a video of a man who finished 8th. He looked like he came down the mountain fairly unscathed. As he was going down the last slope, he vaulted over a boulder, got bad footing when he landed and fell, landing on his chest which ruined a good ending. Normal for this race are bumps and bruises, but a tragedy is still unfolding in this race. It is Saturday afternoon now, and the race was held on Wednesday.  A 66 year old man has been missing and was last seen at the check point at the top of the mountain. He was trailing the field, and they believe he got disoriented and went the wrong way, or possibly fell into some area where it has been very difficult to find him. It has been raining at least half of the time and the temperatures have been in the low forties. There is a 35 person search team supported by dogs and helicopters. This is a horrible turn of events to something that started out as being very exciting and amazing. Since this mountain juts above the town, it has put a damper on everything. 

Sunday update:  We also just heard that another man had tumbled down the cliff at the bottom and is in the hospital with a broken leg and serious head injuries.  This has been overshadowed by the missing man for whom they have just called off the search.

Bill