Mt. Marathon "Marathon"

Mt. Marathon is one of several mountains that surround Seward.  There's a trail up to the summit which starts right from downtown.  Every year on the 4th of July there's a race to the top of Mt. Marathon and back down.  It's not actually a marathon, but it's slightly longer than a 5K.  Runners from around Alaska and across the United States vie for one of the limited spots in the race each year.  This year was the 93rd running of the race, and because of the ongoing pandemic, the race was moved to July 7th in the middle of the week to limit the crowd size.  That's fortuitous for us as we had no idea the race would be taking place since we weren't here on the 4th.

Why is there such a race in the first place?  From the race website:

According to folklore....the tradition of the Mount Marathon Race began when two sourdoughs argued about the possibility of climbing and descending the mountain in less than an hour.  "Impossible" one said.  To settle the argument, and the resulting wager, a race was held, with the loser to furnish drinks to the crowd.  Enterprising merchants put up a suit of clothes and other attractions for the winner and proposed the race take place on a holiday - why not the 4th of July?  The optimistic sourdough lost his bet.  The winning racer took one hour and two minutes.

**A sourdough is the term used to refer to an Alaskan who has lived here "for several winters," i.e., a long time

So essentially the race is the result of a bar bet.  This is small town Americana at its best.  The whole town comes out to cheer the racers on, and it's now celebrated as a multi-day festival.  The all-time record winning time for men is 41:26 and for women is 47:48.  Basically about 30-35 minutes up the mountain (3,022 foot elevation) and about 10-12 minutes down.

After watching runners slip on the mountain and come down covered in mud from falls, I'll stick to being a spectator.