Jul 09 2008
4th of July in Seward, Alaska
Every 4th of July, in Seward, they have the annual Mount Marathon race. What is the Mount Marathon race you ask? It’s a race that is 3.1 miles in length. It starts in downtown Seward and involves climbing to the top of a mountain and running back down. The vertical ascent in many areas is 65 degrees.
I’ve witnessed this race twice now. It’s broken into several classes (Juniors, Men’s, Women’s, etc.) and it’s amazing to see how torn up and muddy these folks are when they reach the finish line. The trek up the mountain is so high, that they are in the snow at the top and many times are sliding down that snow on the way down. Sliding down snow while wearing running shorts is never a good combination and thus the reason you see so many people bleeding on their return.
Here is a link to a full history of the race. And here are pictures that we took.
The race start.
Remember the mountain I said they had to climb??? Well, here it is. All the way to the top!
The beginning of the men’s race.
More men…..
In addition to the race, they have their 4th of July parade as well. Parades in Seward, just aren’t like the parades you are used to if you are from an area with a population greater than a thousand, but they are cute nonetheless!
Take this float for example. This is an actual couple, actually getting married, on this float.
and no parade is complete without a trolley car…
Or a whale!
Or best yet…. the senior citizen rock band! (and they ROCKED!!!)
All in all… it was a good day! I have more pictures from the rest of the trip, but I’ll save those for another day… as they are all about the absolute beauty of south east Alaska!!!! (and I promise… they are PERTY!!)