Step aboard… experience the WONDER. Witness the world’s largest concentration of humpback whales, as we cruise along our beautiful coastlines. Steam through the passageway of 12,000 year-old icebergs as they arrive after breaking off from the Greenland ice shelf and slowly melt into our frigid waters.
Book a tour on IcebergQuest.com, kinda think you’re gonna see – well, icebergs. Oops, wrong season. No icebergs, no puffins, no whales. No discount either. BUT still the BEST way to see St John’s, Newfy’s harbor-nestled capital on the North Atlantic.
Downtown walk, easy to locate: Water St to Pier 6 (street parallel to restaurant-littered George). Knowledgeable upbeat crew – ALL with the Newfoundland accent. LOVED it! Sailed thru the Narrows into the cold expansive Ocean. Can’t imagine how our Pilgrim ancestors stomached the voyage OR had the courage. Blank landscape/nothing but grey rocking waves. Looked back on the North American continent: Greenland north, Ireland due east. Cool/constant breeze kept me easy, stomach steady. 2 other tourists not as fortunate. Crew comforted with trash bags, exchanged ‘em often. Uck.
Cape Spear, Signal Hill, Cabot Tower, Fort Amherst. Capt’n spouted lotta Newfy facts, furthering my O’ Canada knowledgeable. Tuned in bit more than normal, dug his pseudo-Irish brogue. ‘Round the active lighthouse on Cape Spear, then circled back to town.
Marathon tomorrow but not before dinner. Ya’ll know I’m a foodie 😊 Seafood’s what’s cookin’ in St John’s. Tops here? Mussels & cod. Heard it, lived it: LOUD & CLEAR. Cod chowder starter. Cod tongues app. Steamed mussels dinner. GREAT local eats.
Transportation fail. Bowring Park, Monday’s Huffin’ Puffin start: FIVE miles away. Taxi to the airport, last-minute car rental. These boots are tired of walking ♫ ♬ ♭ ♮ Whew!
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- downtown St John’s
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- National War Memorial (WWI)
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- Jellybean Row
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- city tour on the North Atlantic
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- the Narrows
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- Signal Hill Historic Site
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- Fort Amherst
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- Bald Eagle
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- Cape Spear
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- North America’s easternmost point
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- GREAT local eats!
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- far far from Colorado
Newfoundland Island
Two provinces every year for 5 years. Marathon goal: all of Canada by 2020.
Holiday weekend destination: NEWFOUNDLAND. Nowhere further East on the North American continent. Marathoning Labour Day Monday, holiday same-day both Canada & US. Colorado return late Monday nite; days missed from work: ZERO. Perrrrrfect – stockpiling PTO (vacation days) for Antarctica (Jan 2019).
Denver to Toronto [everything Air Canada involves Toronto] almost missed my connection clearing Canadian Customs (Nova Scotia last summer, 8 extra hours ‘til next available flight). Thankfully this time, an Air Canada rep walked [me] to the front of the line; otherwise, would’ve been Sunday first opportunity to see St John’s.
Newfoundland & Labrador. Newfoundland’s the island, Labrador mainland Canada. #10 of Canada’s ten provinces, joined the Confederation March 1949. Entire weekend spent in St Johns, province’s capital city. Booked a pricey B&B stay downtown (B&B sans one ‘b’/NO breakfast). Old historic home. Unique rowhouse experience. Capital city, sleeps downtown, why rent a car? Walking vacation. By Day 2 that flaw’d be rectified. No Lyft, no Uber. Whole lotta walking. HILL-Y! Like our San Francisco without the busy city part. GORGEOUS scenery however. Over-the-top OCEAN views, unique local foods & Canada’s FRIENDLIEST people. Crazy accent too – super FUN, more Irish than Canadian.
Late to bed, early to rise. 3 ½ hour time difference. HALF hour time change? No joke. Day’s first waking thought: MUST FIND FOOD. Missed a couple meals Saturday. Ready, ready to eat! LOL>
Classic Café East on Duckworth TOPPED the short-list. For a guy who digs diners – absolutely, bang on. Waitress recommended 2 local specialties. Add my first choice (fish cakes) & that’d make THREE. Spending Canadian $$ this trip – bring it on. Words of Scarlett O’Hara: “I’ll never go hungry again.”
Fish cakes & eggs (cod cakes), toutons with molasses (fried dough/fritter) AND salted cod/hard tack & scrunchions (fish/potatoes/onions/mystery meat, skillet’d together). SUPER TASTY. Lotta take-away — big eyes, little stomach.
Boat tour scheduled early afternoon. Plenty of time to walk off breakfast – well, maybe part of breakfast. Who am I kidding? 2½ kilometers to Quidi Vidi Village. Would have to add 40 to that figure to walk off MY breakfast. SOOOO very FULL 🙂
Hafta/MUST do while in St John’s: Quidi Vidi [pronounced kiddie-viddie].
Village on the water, hemmed in the island’s rolling hills. Fishing boats, sea gulls, brightly-coloured dockhouses. Super scenic, quiet/peaceful, reminiscent of Maine. HIGHLY recommended. HUGE FAN of Newfoundland. LOVE LOVE this place ❤️
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- Labor Day Holiday
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- Jellybean Rowhouses
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- fish cakes, toutons, salted cod/hard tack & scrunchions
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- HILLY; like our San Francisco without the busy city part
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- hip artisan co-op
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- day’s WOW pic!
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- in from Boston, LIFE’s moments BETTER when SHARED
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- fishing boats & sea gulls
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- brightly-coloured dockhouses
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- LOVE this place ❤️
Quidi Vidi Village, NL
Mountains & glaciers and marathoning too.
Totem Pole START
Late morning start. How often have I said that? School bus pickup 7:15am from the Juneau Library. Largest building ‘downtown’ – in Juneau that’s maybe a quarter-mile long. Small town locked between water & mountain peaks. Absolutely no reason to have a car, unless you home on Douglas Island. 10% of the town’s population live on this Island, today’s marathon stop/start – Sandy Beach, a man-made shore to appease the locals during the region’s 45 days of summer.
Juneau Marathon: a true grassroots event. Two/three key people & a whole lotta volunteers make this race happen. No frills, course map drawn in orange chalk near the Start. Out-n-back trek; Douglas Bridge (Island’s traffic connection to Juneau), course’s only landmark to maneuver.
Totem pole selfie, last minute instructions, on the road 10 minutes past 8. Not the most scenic Start (considering this is ALASKA) but everything lush, GREEN & ‘Sunday morning’ quiet. Digged our Start temps – 50’s in July? FAN-FRICKIN-TASTIC! says me, guy who melts in summer heat.
13 miles UP, 13 miles down. Slight grade but always UP. Reminiscent to January’s ultra with Sis, Hilo to Volcano. Grey/cool/overcast or maybe just my 2018 love of everything UPHILL, but KILLED IT first Half. Managed 9 min/pace first 12 miles, pushed thru & ran the hill at 13. STRONG!
2nd Half, big FADE. Stopped & soaked up Mendenhall Glacier miles 14 & 15. WOW memory ❤️
Tagged along with two 50 Staters who took the early Start at 7am. Ran/walked last 9 miles with Paula Boone – one of 2 Boones (husband Steve) who co-founded our 50 State Marathon Club. GREAT heart, GREAT conversationalist. Promotes childhood running (Marathon Challenge Program) in hometown Houston with proceeds from their January 1st Texas Marathon.
Mile 25, sunshine. 26.2, FINISH pic w/ friends 🌞 Marathon #124, my second in Alaska.
Only one last Juneau hafta/gotta/must do (before flying HOME). Alaskan King Crab. Taste bud CELEBRATION!
Event Name Juneau Marathon/Half Marathon 2018
Event Location Savikko Park, Sandy Beach, Douglas
Event Description The Marathon and Half Marathon are USATF-certified, out and back courses. The events are run at sea level on the lightly traveled, two-lane Douglas Highway/North Douglas Highway in Juneau, Alaska. By virtue of its certification, the marathon can be used as a time qualifier for the Boston Marathon. The moderately hilly course has been compared in difficulty to the Boston Marathon. The scenic course offers views of mountains, glaciers, forests, and the ocean. The start/finish is near the picnic shelter at Sandy Beach, in Douglas.
Event Date 2018-07-28 08:00:00
Race Distance 26.20 miles or 42.16 km
Global Overall Results
Bib Name Gender Time Hails From
88 KR HAGA M 05:09:32 Louisville, CO
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- Douglas Island grassroots event
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- overcast, cool temps & GREEN
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- 1st Half STRONG!
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- Mile 14: Mendenhall Glacier
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- “Biggest Ski Fence in Alaska”
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- sunshine FINISH 🌞
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- Taste bud CELEBRATION!
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- Goodbye Juneau
