The Greatest Race - Anchorage (And a hidden contest)

The Greatest Race - Anchorage (And a hidden contest)

(Originally posted on MySpace on 6/29/2007)

Special Note: Some where in this blog is a link to a hidden contest.  Depending on how this goes, I may do this weekly.  Seemed like a fun thing to try on a half-day Friday after a few margaritas.

Anchorage's Mayor's Marathon is one of the four events Team in Training San Franciscodoes in Spring (including Avenue of the Giants, Vancouver and Rock n Roll San Diego).  Anchorage is easily my favorite because both courses are beautiful, the parties are great and hell, it stays light 19.5 hours/day so you can stay out late!

We had a short pre-race because we got in so late on Thursday. Coach Alice and I walked over to the Walmart after we landed at 10 PM to get some supplies and saw some guy in his car doing donuts in the parking lot.  I though "geez, this knucklehead is already drunk?  It isn't even dark out...  oh...".

Apparently, you get used to the white nights.

Just a few pre-race pics. Two years ago I started marathoning with TNT.  The first person I met outside my local chapter was Betsy, a mentor from Georgia. We bumped into each other maybe a half dozen times in a city of 150,000 and 1,700 TNT participants.  That was 2005.

Day 1 after landing, we saw each other on the street again.  I think the years have been kind to both of us (well, more her than me )

My wife didn't make this trip since she was busy at work and wanted to stay home with the puppies.  She's also a vegetarian, so I just had to take a picture of Earl's Reindeer Sausages:

I DID get my fill on fresh seafood though - crab, salmon, LOTS of halibut. 

Race morning:
We put on the gear with all the names from my past and present cancer victims, survivors and patients.  We carry them on our backs:

In our minds:

And in our hearts:

The bus from the hotel to the starting line was pretty tense for some reason.  Lots of newbies, I guess.

It was a great day though.  Temps started in the low 50's and got up to maybe 65.  Great shorts weather.

The usual congestion at the start didn't last long.  Only about 2,000 runners and walkers compared to the 25 - 28,000 for RNR San Diego or Honolulu.  It made for a great course to push yourself harder without having to throw elbows.

Here's a milestone.  For the three years going to Anchorage, I saw my first sign of wildlife!  In the distant background was a mama moose.  Word has it, there was a calf behind her, but it's hard to make it out.

The scenery was spectacular:

About this time, I realized that my normal "pace song" (Dontcha by the Pussycat Dolls) was actually putting me at a 12:45 minute mile.  Knowing that I needed about a 13:30 to break 6 hours walking, I had to pick a different one.  I ended up with "Bringing Sexy Back." This got me some weird looks as I was singing it to myself as I passed a few people. The gal in front here was Jenn.  This was her first marathon.  The guy in front... definitely not a sexy back. 

Miles 4 - 15 are in a military tank trail, so instead of having huge cheering stations like the urban marathons, people had to get creative on the remote trails.

I sure hope no one was in this...

Since I was concentrating on time, I didn't take too many pictures that weren't blurry or badly composed.  This one is one I never miss.  Her name is Faith.  She's a two-time leukemia survivor.  Every year she stands at mile 25 for 8 - 9 hours, rain or shine holding the same sign.  It always brought a tear to my eye and reminded me why I keep coming back. As I went by, I shouted "You look better every year!"  She smiled.

Between mile 25 and the finish, I ran into Coach Alice and begged her to pace me the rest of the way.  By my GPS, I was well on my way to breaking my PR (5:57:50).  Somewhere up "Insult Hill" (an 80 foot rise in the last half mile), she looked at her watch and told me I was late and needed about a 12:30 mile to finish under 6 hours.

Dontcha wish your girlfriend was.. hot like me...

I was one of the first if not THE first pure walkers to finish this year.  Final chip time was 5:58:20.  I heard later that the race officials made a mistake in routing mile 20 - 23 around some construction in the University of Anchorage and accidentally added a quarter mile to the course. 

See this?  Emily, one of the team managers bought this for me after the race.  It was the BEST fricking hot chocolate I've ever had.

Just a few of the great stories:

Remember Jenn from mile 4 (the gal in front of sexy-back guy)?  I caught her at the finish line calling a relative at home who was her 'patient hero' to let them know she'd finished the race for her.

This is my mentor Nancy.  She's 72 and finished 2nd in her age group.  At mile 7, she was walking behind a guy wearing a Michigan shirt and started singing the school fight song.  He slowed down, sang it with her and they got to talking.  She said she was a Beta Gamma Sigma - he made a crack about BGS's and said he was a Sigma Xi.  She said "well, I MARRIED a Sigma Xi".

He stopped.  Looked at her and said, "NANCY?"

It turns out he and his wife were witnesses at Nancy's wedding, 48 years ago.  This was the first time they'd seen each other since.

One more that I didn't even know about.  Mary (in the yellow) walked with her brother Mark (tall guy).  Mary's husband used to do marathons with Mark regularly and Mary would sit on the sidelines to cheer.  Her husband passed away from cancer this January. She walked her first marathon in his memory.

Other than getting stuck in Seattle for 5 hours on the flight back, this couldn't have been a better trip.  Even that delay was pretty enjoyable.  It just depends on the company