Mayor's Marathon

Like many runners, I did this one because...Alaska. We arrived in Anchorage a few days early, and we went to the group run at Skinny Raven running store on Thursday night to meet locals and get an idea of the course. VERY glad we did that. No bears on course. Thank goodness. I am afraid of bears to the point of phobia, and the sign at about mile 16.5 that said 'Caution: Black and Brown Bears frequent this area during salmon spawning season' did not help. I covered that portion of the course very quickly. We did see a moose in the first couple of miles. Hid behind bushes until the moose vacated the area. Spectators -- none to speak of. Lots of planes taking off and landing as we passed Ted Stevens Int'l Airport. Lots of people not connected with the race on the bike paths in miles 6-15 and 19-26. I cannot thank the woman who came out to run me in enough. We'd met her at the group run on Thursday night and when she heard I was still out there she headed out and accompanied me the last 1.5 miles. THANK YOU RACHEL. I probably won't be back to do this one again any time soon -- still terrified of bears! -- however I would recommend this race to people who want to see a bit of Anchorage and want to add Alaska to their state list.

Pre race involved a packet pick and not really an expo at a local college with free parking a little ways from downtown. Race day started at a soccer field that had sufficient free parking and enough port o potties for the size of the field. A pleasant course featuring Anchorage's extensive park trail system. The first few miles are downhill, including a very steep downhill first mile. Most of the middle of the course, after about mile 7, is relatively flat until you get to a very steep climb at mile 25.5 that was reminiscent of Marine Corp's finish. Not many spectators, but there is really not many places for them to be anyway. A solid finish line experience as well with a big, impressive medal. The parking/shuttle system worked for me, but I talked with some folks who waited over an hour for the shuttle back to the start. Happily, this was not my fate. Overall, a good, low key well organized race that got all of the important things right in my opinion. Several very good breweries in Anchorage with King Street and Turnagain being my favorites. As a first time visitor to Alaska, I was stunned by the beauty and encourage everyone to plan on enjoying the area for several days.

The organization and volunteer support for this race was top notch. This was apparently a new course this year which was almost exclusively on a bike trail in and around Anchorage. There was one small stretch (2 miles or less) of gravel/packed dirt trail but the rest was paved. A little bit of up and down hills, but a net elevation loss. I didn't notice the downhills as much as the up until my quads were less than happy late in the race. The course was very well marked with both signs and arrows on the path at intersections. If you are looking to BQ, this is probably not the race to try it as a bear on the trail caused at least a 10 minute delay for some runners (I was one of them) before a re-route around the bear added around 0.4 mile to the total distance. Post race food was minimal (banana, granola bar and water bottle), but this was likely due to Covid still being a PITA. We stayed at a B&B (Susitna Place) within walking distance of the finish area which worked out very well for the shuttle to the start area. All in all a fantastically organized race if you need to mark Alaska off your list.