I am totally not ready. I've been training for long distance marathon miles, not short steep climbing miles. And believe me, there is a difference. My poor legs will be a shakin' and a twitchin' the whole way up. I'm sure they'll protest and I'm sure we'll have a couple of heated exchanges but hey, these things happen.
And now, a tribute to the mountain:
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| The roots at the beginning, where you pull yourself up and hold on for dear life, praying the roots don't snap--they will someday, you know. |
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| Men's race a couple of years ago. Photo credit: Frank Baker (thanks, Frank!) |
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| Women racers going up, 2009 |
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| Wheeeee! Women racers going down, 2009. The leaders run down in about 12-13 minutes. |
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| Rocked cliff at the bottom of the mountain. |
Pics of men racers heading down to chute to the last 1/2 mile on the road in last year's race.
And last but not least, yours truly almost to the finish of my first Mt. Marathon Race in 2009. Notice how dirty I am--my hair is brown instead of blondish! (I collapsed after I crossed the finish, the the woman ahead of me puked on my shoes, hee, hee.)
And finally, a link to my essay in this week's newspaper: Loving and fearing the mountain.
Cheers and enjoy the Fourth and whatever runs/races/family time you have planned.
That is one tough race. A friend of mine visited Alaska a few summers ago. She came home with a newspaper about this race for me. I have been in awe ever since.
ReplyDeleteHubby and I went to climb Mt. Marathon last June. We got partway up and found the trail went through knee-deep mud. So we went the other way to the waterfalls and beyond there. The views aren't as good, but it was way too much steep muddy parts for a girl that wouldn't get a shower for three more days! Good luck tomorrow!
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