4th of July Mount Marathon Race

I said in my last post that Seward really celebrated the 4th. It started at 12:01 am with fireworks to begin the 4th. Now it continues into the day with one of the greatest show of athleticism …the Mount Marathon. This is the 3rd oldest foot race in the country.

Seward’s 4th of July celebration has all the traditional goings on that you would have at a fair or festival like street foods, booths for kids to get toys, t-shirts, and a parade.

This kid was good on this ,

I guess it’s called a unicycle.

But the star of the day is the mountain, the 3022 ft mountain. These athletes start the race on the streets of Seward, run through the town, up this rugged mountain, and down again. Three categories, junior (they will climb to the 1/2 way point), women, and men.

This mountain offer some of the steepest terrain Seward has to offer. Look closely,

in the center

of the pic you

can see the racers

climbing up the hill.

See the dots

on top of

the mountain,

yup the racers

The racers will climb 1.75 miles with a total gain of 2800 ft in elevation rising 25 ft for every 100 ft they run. They will climb boulders, cliffs, and jagged rock. Then when the rise to the crest of the mountain it’s back down the 1.75 miles. Going down can be even more tricky than going up. With the loose scree and your legs already spent can make this very dangerous. Some of the runners come down the chute bloodied.

How did this woman run this race with this costume on is beyond me.

The only other female contestant that I saw in costume gets help at the finish line.

Now here is story of inspiration. Corky Corthell decided at age 70 he would run this race and at age 71 he did. He has raced every year since and at 81 he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He completes the race with a smile and in under 2 hours, leaving some younger racers in the dust. The race began on a dare in a bar in 1915. Two local sourdoughs challenged themselves to run up the mountain in an hour and it was done in 1 hour and 2 minutes. The looser had to pay the bar bill. Now, the record has been held since 1981 at 43:23. Winner of the mens category completed the race last year in 48 minutes and women around 54 minutes. These are iron machine athletes and I cannot imagine doing this mountain in an all day hike with a packed lunch. Congratulations to all who made the attempt to make this run. It is awe inspiring.