For the women’s and men’s races, additional race spots are offered through an online auction on May 1. There is no auction for the juniors race.
On May 1, three race slots will be auctioned for both the men’s and women’s races in a live online auction on Zoom. These are intended to give an opportunity for Alaskans or out-of-staters who require more planning than the July 3 auction to lock in a spot more than two months before race day.
When: 5:30 p.m. Alaska Time on Monday, May 1
Number of available spots: 3 men’s priority spots and 3 women’s priority spots
Minimum bid: $200 for men and $200 for women
Minimum bid increments: $50
Zoom Link: Click HERE
Danielle Sukhlall of Fairbanks is the winner of the 2023 Mount Marathon logo contest.
Her entry depicts five runners atop a whale with a steep mountain behind them. The Mount Marathon Race Committee chose it as their favorite among 23 entries.
The logo will be used on the 2023 racer and volunteer t-shirts, on this year’s patch and for other promotional purposes.
Sukhlall discovered the contest somewhat by chance.
“I was looking on the (Mount Marathon) website to find more information on how to sign up to volunteer,” Sukhlall said. “While I was looking at the website I came across the logo contest. I was so excited! I love graphic design so I saw this as a cool opportunity to challenge myself outside of work.”
Sukhlall has lived in Fairbanks for three years, where she works as a broadcast journalist for the U.S. Air Force. A visit to Seward helped inspire the logo design.
“One of my favorite memories was seeing the whales during a boat excursion around the Kenai Fjords National Park,” she said. “I grew up watching these videos of whales on the Discovery Channel but it was amazing and very different to experience in person. That experience is what made me want to incorporate a whale in my design. I wanted the design to be a mix of the land and sea since a huge part of Seward’s beauty is also the sea animals that come with it.”
Finalists in this year’s contest included Jason Leslie of Seward, Rebecca Nyssen and Taylor Thorn.
Registration for the 95th Mount Marathon Race will open at 7 a.m. Tuesday, March 1 and runs through midnight on March 31.
There are two options for registration at the home page of this website: Priority Registration for those who qualify and Lottery Registration for first-timers and those without priority.
The cost to enter under priority registration remains $85 for adults and $35 for juniors.
The cost to enter the lottery remains $20 for adults and $15 for juniors (lottery winners will be invoiced the balance of the full registration fee in April).
The 2023 roster will apply the Top 50 Percent in Age Group Rule to the 2022 results. This rule aims to improve lottery odds and increase the number of lottery spots available.
Visit the race’s home page to access 2022 age group results that show who finished in the top 50 percent of their age group.
Visit https://mountmarathon.com/racer-selection/ for all entry options and rules.
The defending champions are Allie McLaughlin, who set a women’s record in 2022; Max King (men); Coby Marvin (boys) and Rose Conway (girls).
The race date is Tuesday, July 4.
LIVESTREAM and FINISH CAM
For the first time, the Mount Marathon Race in 2022 will attempt a Livestream of the men’s and women’s races.
To view, visit the home page of our website at www.mountmarathon.com SHORTLY BEFORE THE RACE START and at the top click on the “Stream the Race Live” and “View the Finish Cam” buttons.
The race will also be linked on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
For 2022, this is a modest experiment that, if it goes well, will be expanded in the future.
Consistent coverage of the start and finish areas is expected. There will also be cameras staged at mid-mountain and the top of the mountain; the quality of this coverage is uncertain and dependent on technology working in a busy town with limited Internet bandwidth.
Anchorage radio reporter Lex Treinen will be announcing and interviewing racers from the men’s and women’s finish, Holly Brooks will join for the men’s race and Matias Saari will join for parts of the women’s finish.
We’ll also have a separate “Finish Cam” trained solely on the finish line for the duration of the time racers are crossing the line. The finish cam will also include statistics and standings from the race.
The Anchorage video production company Jensen Hall Creative is directing the Livestream.
Historically, the Anchorage TV stations Channel 2 (KTUU) and Channel 11 (KTVA) televised many Mount Marathon races. These productions involved satellite trucks, helicopters (some years) and considerable expense and resources. The last televised production was in 2019 and broadcasting the race in this manner is not expected to return. Many of those races can still be viewed on YouTube.
By MATIAS SAARI
Olive Jordan could hardly believe her ears when told her that she was needed at the 2021 junior girls podium ceremony.
Her legs, lungs and heart had done extraordinary work, powering the 11-year-old from Seward to a 12-minute improvement from her rookie effort in 2018.
What’s more, with the 2021 race featuring seven waves of 50 runners as a COVID-19 mitigation measure, Jordan had to pass many runners with a head start on her. She had no idea how well she’d actually performed.
“I knew I did my personal best, but I didn’t know it would be that good,” Jordan said May 26 while on vacation with family on Cape Cod.
Making the podium wasn’t even an afterthought.
“My goal was to beat two boys that beat me last time,” Olive said, adding that she successfully did so.
Olive’s mother, Christy, was also surprised.
“I thought she won her age group but at least 20 teenagers had crossed before her (due to the wave start),” she said.
Olive trained on Mount Marathon about once weekly last year. Christy knew she was in shape but just how fit was a mystery.
“We hadn’t practiced with timing her so had no idea about time. I knew she was faster than me,” said Christy, who ran the women’s race.
Olive spent less time on the mountain this year due to running track at school and being stranded on Lowell Point, where his family lives, after a massive landslide closed Lowell Point Road for several weeks. However, she planned to train on Mount Marathon for almost a month after returning from the East Coast.
With 2021 junior champ Lucy Young aging up to the women’s race, the top returner is 2021 runner-up Jayna Boonstra of Kenai, the 16-year-old daughter of four-time men’s champion Todd Boonstra. Rose Conway of Anchorage (third last year) also figures to be in the mix.
For the boys, the race is shaping up to be a duel between Ali Papillon, 17, of Boulder, Colo., and Coby Marvin, 15, of Palmer. Papillon, a former Alaskan, ran 28:16 last year to win by 23 seconds.
Papillon impressively raced to 18th place at the Broken Arrow 26K Skyrace last month, by far the best result for a teenager.
Marvin placed 6th at the Government Peak up-down race on June 4, more than 18 minutes ahead of the next teen.
Third-place Bayden Menton of Oregon and fourth-place Brady Burrough of Anchorage have aged in to the men’s race.
This year’s junior race will return to a mass start of about 275 runners at 9 a.m. on July 4.
All 57 girls and 54 of the 69 boys who entered the lottery gained spots in this year’s event.
Past Boys and Girls Champions: https://mountmarathon.com/winners/
Age Group Records: https://mountmarathon.com/age-records/