Today was a big day, with festivities and races all morning, and the big race at midday. The big race is the Seward Mountain Marathon, an annual event where runners leave the centre of town, run to the top of the nearest mountain, then half run, half tumble back to the finish line. For the best runners, going up takes about half an hour, coming down takes much much less. The town was filled with street vendors, with every kind of food and drink available.
So it was a big surprise that when we finally hit the streets just after 10am, nowhere was serving breakfast. Whilst Linda and I were looking forward to trying the street food, Tom wanted pancakes, but had to settle for pizza and fries for breakfast, which didn't put him in a good humour. We had some rough times of Ryan and Amy's schedule, which gave us plenty of time to wander around. The town had a real community vibe, and the day felt not unlike the Shadfest in Lambertville (where Ryan and Amy live) so there was no surprise why they like it so much.
During the morning, we went to the Alaska Sealife Center, where Bob Hicks had worked previously. We watched sea lions and seals pirouette gracefully around the tanks before heading back to town to meet up with the gang. After ice cream, our group dispersed, while the Willimers stayed with Ryan to watch the race start. A huge field of runners of mixed ability set off, and we tracked them from the centre of town as small dots disappearing up the hillside. 50 minutes later the leader returned, mud-spattered and bruised to cross the finish line. The end of the race was surprisingly low key, as the crowds of earlier seemed to have thinned out. And apart from a few groups of young herberts letting off stink bombs, the anticipated rowdiness never materialised. We finished the evening with a fine meal at Cristo's Palace, where I was able to extol and demonstrate the virtue of serving salmon with melted cheese, in my excellent Salmon Quesadilla.
More pictures of the day are here.
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