This year marked my first 4th of July in Seward. Travis, well, he’s been doing 4th of July here for pretty much ever. Because of the late setting sun, the fire work display was actually held at midnight. Travis was driving down from Anchorage and ended up missing it but didn’t care. The morning of the 4th he hemmed and hawed about whether or not he actually wanted to do the race — he hadn’t trained a bit — but ultimately he decided (with a little poking and prodding) that he should do it.
In the end, Travis beat his time from last year. He finished the race 15 minutes behind the leaders. It took him 1 hour and 1 minute to get to the finish line. The Mt. Marathon race is described as “a climb and descent on Mt. Marathon – a mile and a half up and a mile and a half down, complete with cliffs, scree fields, waterfalls, and a spectacular view.”
It was pretty cool watching from down below. Although I couldn’t pick Travis out of the hundred of people up on the mountain, it was interesting watching them scurry up! up! up! As soon as the racers made it to the top, the descent was done with lightening speeds. Apparently, it only takes about 10 minutes to go down the whole mountain.
Travis’ trick for the whole thing was to never stop moving. It was a pretty amazing feet of athleticism on his part…but he sure will be sore the next week or two, I’d bet!
