Me vs. Alaska & Alaska won!

Today was race day and that title pretty much sums it up! From the perspective of a competitive athlete's perspective, today was the pretty much the toughest race I have ever run! The geography of this city is defined by the mountains and although the marathon only went into the foothills, the first 15 miles / 25 km just kept going up and up and up! I was on 3h30 pace through half but my legs had just taken to much of a beating



Elevation profile of the marathon. The first 15 miles were mostly climbing. By the time the downhill started I was trashed.



The army base we ran by, and then THROUGH



A really cool part of this race is that is ran through the local  army base on what they call the 'Tank Trails'. These trails  were wide gravel paths that just kept going and going (up!) for miles!

 Part way up the gravel tank trails. I was still fresh and moving well at this point

The back half of this race was absolutely the most physically challenging thing I have ever done. I was unable to run for more than a few hundred meters at a time because my legs and feet hurt so much. Mentally I had given up at least a dozen times, but then I just thought about why I'm was doing this. I'd made a commitment to all of you and a few hours of pain is absolutely nothing compared to cancer and everything that comes with it. 

The bike paths that made up most of the back half of the marathon

The course was absolutely beautiful and once the tank trails and some forest trails were complete, the second half was mostly on the gorgeous bike path system through the city

Eventually, after much running, then walking and then running some more. I made it up to final big hills and into over the finish line.



Don't be impressed by the clock. That was for the half-marathon that started 1 hour after the marathon. I'll let you do the easy math! :-)



Donavan is the ever diligent photographer and caught me in the height of my agony in the finish area!



Donavan rocked his first ever half-marathon and hit his time goal! Even with stopping to take several pictures like this along the way!!

Donavan had much more fun in the half-marathon and made some friends at the water stations!



 Friends Winnie & Mimi also did the half-marathon and ran their fastest ever time!

Winnie & Mimi



Team Canada spent nearly 2 hours after the race lying on the grass in the Team & Training tent before making the several kilomtre walk back to the hotel!



Some of Team Canada in the front row, with some of our US friends  

 It's now dinner time in Alaska so we are off to stuff our faces and drink some well deserved beer!!
-Craig

Day 2 in Anchorage

It's the day before the race and when you are as pumped up as I am for an event, it's imperative to keep yourself distracted and avoid getting too excited! Still on Ontario time, I was awake at 3:30am and it was starting to get light outside! Not a good start! I had more than 4 hours to fill before our guided tour of Anchorage.

It was a cloudy morning so the scenic outlooks on the tour didn't pan out for us:

From the top of the popular Flattop Hill, Donavan is pointing directly at Anchorage. Too bad we are stuck in the clouds!

Being the day before the marathon, we decided it wouldn't be a grea idea to go on the most popular and steepest vertical hike available in Anchorage. So we just went up the first few steps and called it a good photo opp!
 

This hiking trail ascends something like 1,280ft in about 2.4km. We went up 10 steps!

 

     We caught a ride back to town on the 'Pack Moose Express'. For some reason we were getting a lot of stares. The Moose dropped us off in Bear Square where we rubbed the bear's belly!






"Legend has it that when you rub the bear's
tummy it will bring you good luck"



This evening we attended the Inspiration dinner where 103 Team In Training participants, their families, some honourees and all the coaches etc got together to carb-load and pump up our energy levels!

6 of the top 10 fundraisers were from Canada. 5 are showing here. Our friend Kristen raised over $6,000 but wasn't
on the list. :-(

Donavan and I have already made a lot of new friends on our trip. Here is a picture of with part of Team Canada!

Donavan; Rita from Montreal; Me; Stef and Kristen from Halifax.

Gotta get some sleep now! Race is tomorrow at 8am Alaska time (Noon Eastern time)
-Craig



Arriving in Alaska

Day 1 in Anchorage, Alaska. Here is a quick recap of our trip so far!

Downtown Alaska. Checking out how far away the rest of the world is!

After about 1,500kms of training over the past 6 months the day to head out to Alaska finally arrived! Preparing for a big race is nothing new to me since it is something I do 20-30 times a year! But this one is something different as it carries mearning to people other than me! Normally I will mentally set a target based on the course, my training preparation, and how my body is feeling that week. What actually happens doesn't matter to anyone else!

This time there are so many people who actually KNOW I am racing on Saturday, who have supported my fundraising efforts, and who will want to know how I did! And at the core of why I am doing this are my honourees Aaron Offord and Darren Bishop. I've undertaken this journey to raise money and awareness for the fight again blood cancers like the Leukemia that has changed their lives! This race is a little more important than anything I have done before!

I'm choosing to look at this situation as a development opportunity to on how to deal with a greater amount of pressure! LOL! This development opportunity started sooner than I thought. I'll explain:

In the weeks leading up to today many people asked me when I was running to Alaska. I would laugh and tell them that I was not running to Alaska, but running IN Alaska! Running 4,000 miles is a much bigger commitment than running 42.2km!!!

Well, I didn't have to run the full 4,000 miles, but despite arriving at the airport 2 hours prior to my flight, I got stuck in some very long lines and ended up running from security to the gate with my shoe laces untied and my belt in hand! I was so late that I had no time to deal consider such proprieties as 'dressing' since the plane was full and (hopefully!) waiting for me!

With Donavan Montanario moments after I made it on the plane

 Our flights to Seattle and then Achorage were uneventful although Donavan and I met a friendly couple who were also travelling to the Mayor's Marathon and a gentleman from the US Military who is going to be climbing Mt. McKinley - the highest point in North America at 20,320 ft! It will take him at least 22 days to summit!

The view out the window on our descent to Anchorage

 Once we got to Anchorage we walked the city, booked some tours for Friday and Sunday, and went to the Race Expo to get our race bibs!
 

Hmm....this looks like a good tour!



Donavan taking a breather outside a local shop!



Working on my Video Report at the Race Expo



The beer I am looking forward to on
Saturday night!



Since Alaska is 4 hours behind Ontario, we were in bed by 8am local time and I managed to sleep until 3am! We're not here long enough to get our bodies adjusted. Besides, at this time of year there is daylight from about 4am to 11pm!

I'll post again on Friday!

-Craig