21 June 2008 MAYOR’S MARATHON, Anchorage Alaska

The unwelcome cell phone alarm drags me from deep oblivion. I got up twice last night at 1:20am and again at 3:50am. As advertised, it was light outside both times. I realize I’ve written about this every day since arriving but I still find it amazing and a bit unsettling. The proprietors of this B&B delivered breakfast items last night so we could eat early today before leaving.

When she heard about my then upcoming trip this summer the co-owner of Track Shack, Betsy Hughes, graciously gave me a matching technical T-shirt and hat with the Track Shack name and logo. The shirt has a smiley face with the slogan “Have a Nice Run.” I saved these for today since Mayor’s Marathon was always to be the capstone event of the trip. Conventional wisdom holds that one should not do anything new on marathon day that wasn’t first tested during training but that’s for people that actually train. Essentially all my running these past two months has been during marathons. That didn’t provide much opportunity to screen new apparel. Fortunately the hat and shirt served me well and you’ll see them modeled in the race photos posted here as soon as they become available. At least three times today on the course other runners or volunteers specifically commented on the shirt.

Janice, Debbie and Jim deliver me to the starting line. It is a difficult trip even with an address and a GPS system since several roads are closed for construction or for the marathon. I am let off at the school it in plenty of time.

It’s overcast and drizzling lightly but the conditions seem good for running. The temperature is in the mid-50s . It feels cool but not really cold. I have old socks that are being redeployed as gloves. Normally I would discard these after getting warmed up during the first couple miles but recently I’ve learned to hold onto them since later on it may get colder again.

A men’s a cappella quartet sings our national anthem and the gun goes off.

My first on-course relationship today is with a strongly-constructed man in his twenties moving about the same pace I am. I note with curiosity that he’s wearing a large military-style backpack and combat boots.

“Wow, you’re tougher than I am. Have you ever run this far with that before?”

“I’ve never run more than eight miles.” he replies optimistically.

I offer unsolicited advice “It’s a long way so go easy and take care of yourself.”

He continues to run confidently at about 9 minutes/mile. I’m predicting his future and it doesn’t look good. We take turns passing one another starting at about 3 miles. He gets ahead when I make short stops I the woods but I catch back up quickly. The last time I passed him he was still running fairly well at about mile 9. “Hey you’re still going strong. Good job and good luck.” Although I never saw him again, I later ask my friend Christine who finished a bit behind me if she’d seen him. She reports passing him at about 19 miles so we know he made it at least that far. Tough young man I’d say.

I stopped off in the woods twice to address hydraulic issues. Both times mosquitoes (which locals joke are the state bird) attack immediately when I stop moving. Floridians know mosquitoes but ours are small and wimpy compared to these in Alaska, which are about twice as large. After a few bites from these I’ll need a transfusion so I get moving again quickly.

At the half marathon point I’m feeling pretty good and am on pace for a 4:15 finish.

The middle third of the marathon is on gravel and dirt roads. Entering this area I see a vaguely troubling road sign that reads “Road Maintained for Military Only. Use Four Wheel Drive and Chains.”

At 17 miles I feel stronger than I did at mile 7. A keen-eyed runner a few steps ahead of me spots a black bear in the dense woods just off the road a few meters in. He points it out and I slow slightly for a better look and notice that it’s a mother with her cub. We alert several others near us of this lucky sighting. Almost immediately officials come and shoo the bears away by blowing whistles loudly. Since a bear cub will sometimes inspire unpredictable behavior from its mother officials are concerned about safety.

Trouble starts at 22 miles when I have a major bonk. I suspect its because there has been no food or gel so far. By mile 23 I begin walking and hoping to reinvigorate. I walk almost the rest of the way in feeling dizzy, disoriented, and delirious. I’m zigzagging and staggering occasionally but am glad that it’s late enough in the race that I’m sure to finish even if I have to walk all the way in. At the 25-mile aid station volunteers are handing out red licorice sticks. I chomp down two of them while still walking and almost immediately start to perk up some. This recovery might be from the 3-mile walk break but it feels like caloric revival. I walk a little faster and continue to feel better. When the high school track on which the event finishes comes into view I muster enough to at least run the last 0.1 mile for the fans and photographers.

Tonight the event website is showing my chip time as 4:36:25 and 15^th out of 37 in my age group. http://www.mayorsmarathon.com/Results/2008Results.cfm That’s 10 minutes slower than last week but considering the bonk, I’ll gladly take it and am happy to have finished at all.

The huge finishers medals are round with a polished pewter look. The front shows the event name, logo, and year. The back shows the Alaska state seal featuring a growling bear with the state flag blowing in the wind at his shoulder.

The shirts okay but the same one goes to finishers of all the events: Marathon, Half, 5-miler, and fun run. They are short sleeve olive-green cotton with mostly words and not much in the way of graphics.

After a hearty lunch, shower, and 2-hour nap the 8 of us from central Florida meet for a celebration dinner at Romano’s where we exchange war stories. It’s a warm and friendly time. For me it’s nice to be with people again after 7 weekends of near-solitude.

The local Sunday newspaper has several feature stories related to the Marathon including a photo gallery that includes my backpack friend and bears mentioned above. http://www.adn.com/sports/

To see official race photos paste the link below into a web browser and search using my bib number 977

http://orders.racephotonetwork.com/QPPlus/SearchBibNumber.aspx?EventID=662094&_AccountNumber=74244&EventName=mayor&EventDate=