Alaska sat at the top of our states running list for years, so we were excited when it finally made the schedule for 2017!   Representing 4 states and 3 different races, we had a big crew on board to make the trek to Alaska for the annual Anchorage RunFest.  Melodie, Kathy, Colleen, Laurie, Tricia and I flew out of Seattle early Friday morning with plans to meet John and Joie in Anchorage later that day.   Seattle graced us with a clear and gorgeous morning as we flew out of the city.

Unfortunately, the weather forecast for Anchorage over the next few days was not so gorgeous;  rain, rain, and more rain.    Hoping for the best, we checked into the Hampton Inn in Anchorage, grabbed our jackets, and hit the streets.    Some things never change and the immediate agenda included coffee and a little shopping.

Next stop was the race expo.   We wandered around, checked out the merchandise, and stopped to say “hi” to the highly respected author/coach of the run/walk method, Jeff Galloway.    The children had a little trouble behaving for this photo.

We considered a walk out to the Tony Coastal Trail, but the rain was now coming down in sheets, so we opted to head back to the hotel and check out the hot tub.   This is not the one we used, but it made for a nice photo op.

We met John and Joie at the Fat Ptarmigan for pizza that evening.   They had been in town for a few days already and had stories to share.   It was a lively crew, and despite a rather lopsided gender ratio, a good time was had by all.

Saturday was the day we set aside for sight-seeing.   After talking to John and Joie, we decided to make the 45 minute drive to Girdwood and hike the Lower Creek Winner Trail, located behind Hotel Alyesky.   Despite cloudy, gray skies, the scenery as we drove the Seward Highway along the Turnagain Arm was awe inspiring.   It was everything and more that we expected to see in Alaska.

We arrived at the Hotel Alyesky to find that the annual Blueberry Festival was in full swing.   We were pretty sure that the entire population of Anchorage and Girdwood was there to enjoy the festivities.   We located a parking spot and headed over to walk through the hotel before starting our hike.     The locals had told us that this was the nicest hotel in the state of Alaska so we wanted to check it out.

Starting a 4 mile hike on an empty stomach didn’t work for everyone, so we waited patiently while Laurie grabbed an empanada at one of the booths.    We weren’t interested in sharing the trail with bears so made sure that none of us had food on our persons before heading up the trail.

We selected the Lower Winner Creek Hike because it was billed as an easy hike with some rare spectacles.   The hike, located in the northernmost rain forest in North America, included a boardwalk, spectacular views of Winner Creek Gorge, and a unique experience crossing Glacier Creek in a hand tram.    The easy moniker is in some doubt, but the rest of the description was on point.     Early on in the hike, we crossed a wooden bridge and were treated to views of the entire river being forced into a narrow constriction of solid rock only 15 feet wide.  Walking across it, you feel the water thundering beneath.  It shoots through the gorge like a cannon, spewing frothy white water.

The hike included about 3/4 mile of old boardwalk and afforded more photo ops.

We reached the Glacier Creek Hand Tram at 2.7 miles into our hike.   The line to cross was long, so John volunteered to hike back to the parking lot and bring the car around to Crow Creek Trailhead while we waited for our turn to cross.   This would shorten our hike by a couple of miles and at this point, considering that tomorrow was the race, that seemed like a good plan.  As we watched people climb into the tram while volunteers manned the ropes, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach and wondered what I had signed up for!   The others in our group were very nonchalant, but Colleen and I were definitely experiencing buyer’s remorse.  But at this point, there was no backing out as we had sent John back to get the car and meet us at Crow Creek and the only way to get there was cross the river on the tram.   Sigh.

We all made it over safely despite my earlier trepidation.  In fact, our only regret was that the volunteers were pulling the ropes so quickly that it was difficult to take pictures.     The remaining mile of our hike was steep and had us wondering about the wisdom of burning quads the day before a race, but thankfully, it didn’t last long.

We found the Crow Creek Trailhead and sat down to wait for John.   The master plan was for John to bring the car around to the trailhead, pick up Joie and a driver for the van, head back to the parking lot, get the van and come back for the rest of us.   The flaw in this plan was that we hadn’t accounted for the Blueberry Festival and traffic was backed up for miles.   Laurie decided we should all “dog pile” into John’s little rental car and get it done in one trip.    Well, you do the math.   8 full-sized adults and one economy car.   Hilarity, pain, and claustrophobia ensued in equal measure.   We were a bit worried about getting pulled over by the local police, but we made it back to the hotel without further incident, except perhaps some very sore body parts.

We hit the Blueberry Festival once again and by this time, all of us were hungry, not just Laurie.    We filled up on fair food then decided to treat ourselves to some delectable blueberry pie.   Colleen and Kathy braved a line that took a full hour and purchased two, steamy blueberry pies.   We drove to a little picnic spot and celebrated our day.   The sun was shining for a change, the company was great, and the pie and ice cream did not disappoint.

We headed back to Seward Highway for the drive to the hotel, which of course, included a stop for a cup of coffee.    The rest of the evening was spent relaxing and taking advantage of the indoor swimming pool and hot tub at the hotel.

Race morning dawned overcast and cool – just as the weather reports indicated, with the expectation of rain later in the day.    Tricia was running her first ultra, the Anchorage RunFest 49K (30.6 miles), so her race started bright and early.   The rest of us were running either the half marathon (9:30 am start) or 5K (10:00 am start) so our morning was a bit more leisurely.   We met John at the race start for a few photos and marveled at the lack of porta potty lines, a universal at most races.

Despite struggling with a bad cold, the familiar excitement of running a half marathon took over, and off we went with smiles on our face.   Thanks to Kathy and Laurie, we got some fun photos during the race.   By mid-race, the rain had started coming down in earnest, hence the drowned rat look.

John and Colleen ran the 5K and waited patiently around in the rain for the rest of us to finish.   John, in his typical speedy fashion, ran the 5K in 26 minutes and took first place in his age group.   Colleen ran a very respectable race also.    The half marathoners started coming in about an hour later – Melodie in the lead, and yours truly, Laurie and Kathy following.

Meanwhile, our hardy ultra marathoner was out chewing up the miles.    She had a spectacular race – we were all so proud of her!   She placed 2nd in her age group, and fifth female overall.   She held a 9:28 pace for 4:49 and crossed the finish line, drenched but smiling.   What a girl!

We managed to grab one post-race group photo, sans John and Joie who had headed back to their hotel to shower and change.

We treated ourselves to a post-race dinner at the Moose’s Tooth Pub & Pizzeria, a spot that had been highly recommended to us.   The popularity of the restaurant meant we had to wait an hour for a table, but we managed to survive our post-race hunger and enjoyed a great meal with the 8 of us.

That evening we treated ourselves to a viewing of “Aurora – Alaska’s Great Northern Lights” at the Performing Arts Center in Anchorage.   Created by Dave Parkhurst, one of the first photographers to capture the northern lights on film, this 40-minute movie features thousands of his photos streamed together and choreographed to an original music score.   Despite the somewhat bland music, the pictures were incredible and showcased the best of 30 years of work.    We said goodbye to John and Joie after the show, as they were catching the redeye to Utah that night.

On Monday, we had another half day for sight-seeing, so decided to tour the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, a nonprofit facility dedicated to the preservation of Alaska’s wildlife through conservation, education, and quality animal care.    It would give us a chance to see some of Alaska’s wildlife in somewhat safer surroundings.   The only dampening thing was the pouring rain, but decided we wouldn’t let that deter us from experiencing as much as we could during our short visit.

We left the refuge muddy, wet and cold, but glad we took the time to visit.   Before heading to the airport, we grabbed our last Alaskan meal at Spenard’s Roadhouse, a race sponsor that had also been highly recommended.     We decided that Alaskans are very good at ensuring their visitors have good food to eat – as long as you don’t mind waiting your turn to be fed.

The six of us boarded the plane together for the return flight to Seattle, a little road weary and wet, but glad we were able to experience another great running trip together.

Next up, Outer Banks, North Carolina!