8am marathon, 3pm flight. Today this back-of-pack finisher [would be] running against the clock. Only ONE Air Canada flight daily, Yellowknife to Vancouver. Work day Monday. Tight timing. Yikes!
Short walk to Somba Ke Civic Plaza. Sleeves, jacket & running shorts – fall season attire. Drip, drop rain. Better than summer HEAT. Tent-greeted by the folks @ Overlander Sports. Perfect running weather 🙂
Clover-leaf course; 2 separate out-n-backs, twice. I’d stay close first loop & alert. Signage but – if there’s a turn to miss, I generally do. After the Halfers finish, it’s often you & you alone for long spans of distance.
50 of us grouped & ready. Last minute RD announcements. Into the rain.
First loop, near repeat of yesterday’s Yellowknife self-tour. City Hall, Parliament Bldg, Northern Heritage Centre, Old Town. Missed my first turn there. Local runner gave a shout. Turnabout & tagged along first Half remainder. Igloo Building Supply, Frame Lake, Airbnb, Somba Ke return. 7 miles.
Shorter clover along the highway. Not as scenic, less tree cover & sideways rain – but great conversation with my Old Town lead. Not a myth, Canadians ARE super friendly. And Yellowknife? My new #2 – just behind Newfoundland. Hard to beat the Newfy accent & unique menu (cod tongue & scrunchions).
Loop 2 complete. Guide runner gone. Ear buds readied. Focus. Repeat.
Tune stream struggled much of the course (close 250 miles outside the Arctic Circle) so old-schooled a saved playlist from the past. My first Canadian territory. Dropped pace & enjoyed the ride. #luckyinlife
Mile 20 (Garmin buzz). Last loop, more of…the highway shuffle. More rain too – but my last lap & I’m Colorado home. Another Yellowknife runner kept company 3 miles. Trail angel. Paced up, appreciated the conversation. I HEART Canadians ❤️
Somba Ke finish, FIRST AMERICAN — ok, only American. LOL>
HOT post-race food, quick pic & territory gone. 7th medal in the Great White North.
Next month: Saskatchewan 🇨🇦
Yellowknife Overlander Sports Marathon
Keenan Haga, Racer: 56
1:06:57.5 0:56:50.2 1:21:25.9 1:10:25.7 4:35:39.4
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- sole American
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- Great White North
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- my first TERRITORY
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- next up: Saskatchewan 🇨🇦
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- marathon travel season
Overlander Sports Marathon
Alaska. Anchorage, Juneau…Cordova? By far the smallest/most remote of my three Alaskan treks – but also, the most scenic. Small fishing community on Prince William Sound. Just over 2000 residents, accessible only by boat or by plane. Day’s marathon route, the Copper River Highway, ends as the mountains get high. Cut off from the lower 48; British Columbia borders east.
Early Saturday wakes, but well after Arctic sunrise. Skies overcast; temps comfortable. Run gods continue to smile. 5 July marathons, 5 unseasonably cool days. Mile walk to Cordova’s Community Medical Center, 45-minute school bus ride to our Start. Orange cone, line drawn on an empty dirt road. Pre-race check-in, last minute announcements. Been wetter & warmer this summer – no BEARS in town, more forest feeding vs dumpster diving. [2018, one crossed the marathon course.]
13 miles of dirt, 13 miles of pavement. Race Director assured no getting lost. Literally ONE road across the peninsula, terminates in Cordova. Inlet ocean both ends. True point-to-point race.
Group photo. Popped on tunes, but only one earbud – not gonna be bear FOOD.
[They say as long as you’re faster than the guy behind you. Reality: I’m a back-of-the-pack runner. Not super comforting. Stand tall. Yell? Biggest thing I’d see all day were MOSQUITOS.]
Scenic postcard Alaska. Massive snow-capped mountains. Meadows full of summer – and swampy. Glacier melt flooding creek beds with silt & grey-coloured water. Not super eye-stunning but it’s part of the process. Cooking the planet. Arctic channels expected year-round by decade end.
Legs tight, left hamstring taped, hadn’t run in 6 days. Sunday’s Quadzilla finish outside Portland.
Went out fast. Pushed first 12 miles, coasted most of the second Half. Hamstrings tight, both legs. Body, feet banged up. Too much running too short of time. 13 marathons past 3 months, FIVE different time zones. Today, my last long run ‘til late August.
Dropped pace, talked to Halfers met on the back-end. Continued my July streak of berry feasting. Wild raspberries!
Lake Eyak last 3 miles. Sun HIGH overhead. Exposed road & warm. BUGS, ‘tis the Alaska season: Gnat swarms & MOSQUITOS. Inside my mouth/ears, ’round the eyes, welting backs of my legs/arms. If nothing less, kept ya moving. Run or be eaten alive. Yikes!
FLAT FINISH & a new Alaska PR. Shower, Salmon JAM & FOOD. Happy, laid-back HOMETOWN VIBE 😊
Canadian Arctic next summer. So long big wild beautiful Alaska, see ya 2021. Fairbanks?
AK Salmon Runs Race Results
King Salmon Marathon, Cordova, Alaska
July 13, 2019
2646 04:42:05.1 K R HAGA Louisville CO M
Cordova ✈ Yakutat ✈ Juneau ✈ Seattle ✈ Denver
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- check-in & announcements
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- ‘we don’t anticipate interactions with BEARS’
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- marathon START
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- big, wild & REMOTE
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- A-L-A-S-K-A
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- SILT & glacier melt
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- third Alaska 26.2
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- wild raspberries
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- meadows of SUMMER
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- new Alaska PR
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- HOMETOWN VIBE
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- literally ONE road
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- salmon FESTIVAL
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- Cordova ✈ Yakutat ✈ Juneau ✈ Seattle ✈ Denver
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- repair & rebuild
King Salmon Marathon
“We inter-breathe with the rain forests, we drink from the oceans. They are part of our own body.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Early wakes. Packed, hotel checkout. Scoped out a post-marathon shower. Last day, last dance – notta lotta time to overthink things. Today – this day – is marathon day. Sunday, Beaverton Oregon.
Day 4 body. Feet throbbed/toes pulsed, compressed spine, tight quads. But – spirit really GOOD. And SUNSHINE. First day of Pacific Northwest sun – internal panels recharging, ready ready to run. Oregon’s cool overcast weather the past. Today, QUADZILLA goal becomes reality. I start, I run, I finish.
Elected the early Start. Meant solely for runners finishing 5 hours+. Choice made last May. Reality, only yesterday’s run exceeded 5 hours. Zero regret; I have a plane to catch. Colorado Home tonite 😊
Timing mat readied. No group photo, no Triple G/Heather reunion, on my own today. 8 laps. Lotta turns, clover-leaf loops; crooked course avoiding Greenway Park’s flooded bike path. Rainy Portland summer.
Lined & ready, at least 20 of us. Half/full, mostly walkers. First laps with another traveler. Machu Pichu, Bhutan, Israel. Oh the people you meet & the dreams they inspire. 10-min/mile pace. Too quick for this banged body. Aid Station now readied. Coke swig, handful of Bugles, ear plugs in, music blaring.
Eleven-minute jog pace next 3 laps. Paths now participant filled. High 5’d Heather. Runner all-in. Hitting it hard, last day. She’d finish 2nd in the series, silver medal female. Strong runner, very well deserved.
Walked Lap 6. Temps warmed, lost the pep in my step. Notta lazy stroll, still a walk. Talked up a Florida gal ‘bout landscaping; body/mind refresh, said my goodbyes. Watermelon slice, Momma Mia tune return & I ran. Legs, feet, lower back, everything worked. Kipchoge smiles. Every mile, at least once, BIG GRIN.
Sunshine propelled. NO demons. High 5’d runners on the cross path. Body forward, spine up, chest out. And I ran. 9 ½ minute pace. Mile, mile, mile. Lap 7 complete. No stop, no snacks. Timing mat crossed, aid station cheers – LAST lap, LAST day. And I ran.
Mile, mile, ‘nother Eliud Kipchoge smile. Energy of others, their faces, fueled me. No fade, no fail, machine clicked. 9:35, 9:25 – each mile faster. Finish under 5? DQ’d for the early Start? Waterloo, Dancing Queen. Push, push. Smile. Timing mat ahead.
5:03 FINISH! 106 miles in 4 days.
Never ever 100 in a single week. Never ever 2+ marathons back-to-back. Never ever – BRONZE 🥉
Past 4 days, every day was marathon day. My first QUADZILLA. Absolutely anything is possible!
K R HAGA has completed the 2019 Stars and Stripes Marathon in 05:03:56!
Lap Lap Time Lap Pace Chip Elapsed Time
1 00:34:56 00:10:40 00:34:56
2 00:34:14 00:10:27 01:09:10
3 00:36:07 00:11:01 01:45:18
4 00:37:07 00:11:20 02:22:26
5 00:39:50 00:12:09 03:02:16
6 00:53:41 00:16:23 03:55:58
7 00:34:38 00:10:34 04:30:37
8 00:33:19 00:10:10 05:03:56
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- Quadzilla Day 4
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- BRONZE 🥉
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- STRONG finish
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- single week BEST
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- Firecracker Quadzilla 2019
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- FISH fest, Day 2 🐟
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- marathon LEGEND
