Alaska Day 1 and Race RUNdown

I arrived in Anchorage, Alaska late last night. I couldn't sleep on the plane, which ended up instantly adapting me to their time zone. Woke up early, did a quick 4 miles down in the hotel fitness center then got ready to meet up with the rest of the fam. This is a girls weekend for (in picture order) CJ (Groupie #1), Grandma, Steph, MB, and Aunt Terri.

The girls on Alaska Day 1

After breakfast we took a scenic 2.5 hour drive to get to our boat tour. The whole drive was very pretty, full of amazing mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, mountain goats, and more.

Alaska so Pretty!

The boat tour was really fun and we were able to see whales, otters, puffins, mountain goats, and more. After the tour, more crazy animals came out and it turned into "what can we make stephanie do?"

Pictures Below... 1) The girls with our animal hats. 2) Our fierce bear faces with our new friend. 3) Being a Moose... why not?. 4) Moosie prayers!... praying all goes well at the marathon tomorrow.

The girls with Animal hats

Tomorrow is the Big Wild Life Humpy's Classic Marathon...

AK Race RUNdown...
Humpy's Classic Marathon ~ Sunday August 16, 2010. (#38) 9:00am Start
Anchorage, AK ~ Downtown Anchorage
Registration Fees: $65 early ($75 to $90 late)
Year Running: 5th
Races Available: Marathon, Half-Marathon, 5K, Marathon relay, kids run
2010 Expected Field: NA
2009 Field:  228
... Females: 113  ... Age Group: 12 (25-29)
2009 Avg. Finish Time: 4:32:56
Certified Course/BQ Certified?: Yes/Yes
Cutoff Time and Early Start Option: "Walker" start option. 7 Hour cut-off
Weather Update: They're expecting showers in the am but only 30% chance of precipt. The temp should be in the high 50's to the mid 60's-- which will be amazing compared to the ultra hot temps we've had in Cinci.

Course:

MarathonGuide Rating:

This is a new course for the 5th year. The course goes out a little over 9 miles, then returns on the out and back but halfway back there is an additional out and back to make up the remaining mileage. The course starts and finishes downtown, but most of the major out and back is run along the coast, which should give us some pretty good scenery. It's run on what they call a "trail system" but I don't know how technical these types of trails are.

Happy Racing!
-Stephanie