For the Fourth of July, I drove down to Seward to watch the Marathon Race. Apparently, this is quite the thing to do! I joined a crowd! I got there just in time to see the parade, which was primarily consisted of some local folks wanting to advertise their businesses and lots of Mud Bogger vehicles. The parade was book-ended with Fire Department trucks, regular and volunteer. The crowd was duly pelted with candy; the larger pieces were definitely more weapon-like! :) The start of the women’s race began before the parade and after the parade, some women contestants were still completing the course. The men’s race began after the parade. It’s a 3.5 mile course up and then down Marathon Mountain, 3,022 feet elevation. One picture shows the dust being kicked up be the descending runners. The fastest of the runners can complete the run in 45 minutes with about 12 minutes spent coming down. That is unbelievable, eh?! There were no white shoes at the finish line. There was no white anything at the finish line, except possibly eyeballs! The paper ran stories about the race for a couple of days before and after the event – this is the first time in my life I was digging for the sports page first! I also snapped a few general shots - there is an otter floating around in the middle of the one picture that is otherwise all water. Some more great water color, eh? The otter was huge! maybe 4 feet! Good seafood here! Seward is a fishing town on Resurrection Bay (reminds me of Mulege, the Mexican fishing village on Conception Bay) – I didn’t include a picture of a church with a poetic sign: Resurrection Christian Church. The face art picture (seen in a souvenir shop) reminds me of the Day of the Dead statues in Mexico.
Haloie, I am glad you told me about that "Face Art" I thought oh! She has had her hair done. or Is it a bad hair day or what?
ReplyDeletehey Jo,
ReplyDeleteDo people go swimming there at all? How are you, have you met up with anyone you know
The Mt Marathon Race is a big deal. I was there for the 2006 race (as a spectator!), and stood at the base of the mountain to see the runners coming (falling!) down. One poor little boy veered off the trail and fell through some trees a good 20 feet. He was carried out by rescue personnel standing by. I got so teary-eyed watching his tiny body being carried out and hearing his sobs. I emailed the Chamber of Commerce when I got home to check up on him and was happy to find out he was just fine - scrapes and bruises, but no broken bones. He was quite lucky.
ReplyDeleteSeward is a quaint little town. We like to go to Exit Glacier for a hike, and take glacier cruises when we're visiting. We'll be there in two weeks for a couple of days.
Sounds like you're enjoying Alaska!
AK is phenomenal!! Even with bad hair (and let's face it, skin too) days! ;) Yes, I forgot to mention about the kids race in the morning before the womens. This year, (Susan knows this already), a lot of the runners had problems with the heat and had to be treated at the end of the race. The leader in the mens race collapsed before the finish line and the next guy thought the leader had collapsed on the other side of the finish line, which was not the case, and so stopped running. The crowd was yelling - GO, GO and then he understood and ended up winning the race. I am just so impressed by the courage? craziness? of the runners. Definitely - fortitude!
ReplyDeletehmmm - I know there are lots of heated indoor swimming pools and people swim all year around! Not a lot of people in the water at the beaches, though. However, I read or saw on TV, there's a guy who fishes commercially around here somewhere and while he's waiting for the okay to begin fishing, he goes surfing! (in a wet suit)
ReplyDelete