This past 4th of July holiday, Toby and I drove two hours south of Anchorage to the majestic coastal town of Seward, Alaska. The town celebrates with the festivities of many small communities, complete with food booths, parades of children riding ribbon-covered bicycles, and the traditional fireworks (which are really quite difficult to appreciate with the midnight sun).
However, the one mark setting Seward aside from all others is the annual 3.5 mile Mount Marathon Race. While most races of this length can take less than 15-20 minutes, this legendary journey lasts upwards of 1.5-2 hours! An amazing course winds down main street, through a wooded trail, and then straight up an extremely steep mountain. Reaching the top, contestants brace themselves as they begin heading back down the 38 degree pitch, scree covered slopes, while shale and slivers of rock break away under their feet. Exhausted, muddy, often bleeding, they finally return to crowds cheering for these courageous athetes.
This year, a great friend of ours ran the race for the first time. Jon and his wife, Katie, go to church with us, and when we heard that he won the lottery to run the race we knew we couldn’t miss it! As we watched him round the bend toward the finish line, we hollered out and he beamed with pride, exhaustion, and perhaps delirium.
Hats off to you, Jon! You blew us away…
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