Number 50 was the Anchorage Mayor's Marathon on 22 June 2024. Chip time was 4:11:37, 201 out of 733 marathoners, 7th of 28 in my group. My 50th was also the 50th Mayor's Marathon, run on the summer solistice. 50! crazy to think of that. 98% done, just Hawaii left. Sad not to run faster than Fargo a year ago, but still good to have this done. I trained for this and felt ready, but on the bus to the start the thought of running 26.2 still struck me as crazy. Every step takes a while. One mile is a long distance, one kilometer is a long distance. 42 KM is crazy.

Here is a table with my splits for the race. As this project nears its conclusion it is amazing to think of the revolutionary changes to life over its course. The table included here marks the first appearance of ChatGPT in this story, I took the text of the splits I received from the race and asked ChatGPT to make an html table, which it did very well. When this project began there was no Google, no Facebook, no Amazon. My only previous visit to Alaska was on a Holland America cruise in 1999. I have a picture of Rachael and I looking at a glacier from that boat hanging in my office, but I can't find a digital version. It may be that there never was a digital version. When this project began the cell phone camera had not been introduced. Life gets better if politics doesn't destroy it.

Splits

The Mayor's marathon course is fantastic, it almost entirely on bike paths with very few road crossings. The first 9 miles is along the Turnagain arm of Cook Inlet, then it turns to run inland and back out to the coast. The race is super well-organized, great experience from start to finish. I wish I was younger and faster, but otherwise no complaints about this run. My cummulative time in Alaska is by far the least of the 50 states. I imagine that the next least visited would be Mississippi, but several times driving through Jackson come to mind. This is too bad, because Alaska is the most interesting state and one in which I could have spent more of my life. Hopefully this trip was a first step in making up for lost time.

Rachael and I flew to Anchorage on Wednesday June 19, arriving in Anchorage at 11 pm. The airport was quite busy, Alaska airlines had two flights from Seattle arriving at the same time, lots of flights were coming in. Apparently midnight near the solstice is the time to get to Alaska. Sunset, such as it is, was at 11:40 pm. Here is the view from our airbnb at midnight

I wonder how flat earthers explain this effect. The sky stays bright and beautiful through the night.

Sunrise was at 4:30 am. Our Uber driver had recomended the Snow City Cafe for breakfast, were were there at the open at 6:30. There was already a long line. After breakfast we walked to a grocery store and ubered home with groceries. In the afternoon we visited the Anchorage Museum, where a highlight is tar and feather bears make by Paolo Pivi as shown here

Friday, after returning to Snow City, we went to the University of Alaska Anchorage campus to pick up the race packet, after which we had a great lunch on the rooftop of the 49th State Brewery. My brother, Jon, flys regularly out of Anchorage so he recognized the venue in my facebook post, which is shown here

I imagine that the number of days per year one would enjoy sitting on the roof is limited, but it is certainly nice in June. Of course, in June there is a line for roof seating from morning past midnight.

Saturday morning school buses ferried me and the other runners to the stat at Kincaid park. After the national anthem and the Alaska state song, we were off as scheduled at 7:30 am. The first couple of miles was really jammed, but folks spread out after that and the run was uneventful. Here is a photo Rachael took as I came into the finish

Sunday we took the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Spencer glacier, Monday we climbed Flatop Mountain (with a truly terrifying scrabble to the top which is nevertheless completed by 100s of people everyday this time of year) and Tuesday we drove to Talkeetna to get a peek at Denali. Denali was hiding, but we still managed to find the peak. See if you can find it in this picture

While I've hardly been there, Alaska is one of my favorite places on earth. What a treat to run there over the solistice.