In the heart of interior Alaska, running an ultra distance endurance event seemed appealing to me. After all, I've been doing this kind of thing for a while now and the travel seems to love me - as I am loving it so far. And as such, I found this 24 hour / 12 hour / 6 hour fixed timed ultra distance event in Fairbanks, Alaska, I knew that this one was the one to do. Plus, I wanted to return to Alaska for actual sightseeing.
I found out about this race on RunningintheUSA.com, which claims to be the top website that has many of the nation's marathon and ultra distance events culled into one website for travel planning and for us 50 staters (aka double staters) who want to run events in different states on consecutive days. After reading the race information and deciding carefully what time I wanted to do, I figured I would take on the 24 hour time slot, since I probably could reach 50 miles on foot within 24 hours. In hindsight of course, I didn't know how the evening and overnight hours would affect me mentally and physically. This ultra distance timed event is in its 3rd year in 2018 and they would like to grow the race in subsequent years. While it didn't rain leading up to the race, the trails that the course was on, was freaky muddy and wet in multiple spots. I could not realistically walk or tip toe around such yuckiness until I side stepped into the watery mud and just took it. It was a cold mucky mess, but the race itself was enjoyable - even for the muddy wet trails and the volunteers were friendly. The race director was cool and friendly too.
The overall experience here at the Alaska Trail Ultra Endurance event was interesting yet fun at the same time. While the trails were very muddy and large puddles impassable, the trails were quite scenic and you were basically running around the woods, even though you were not far from civilization. The trails did loop around to where you questioned your sanity, but that's how ultra marathon distances are. Running long distances constantly can do that to a person. The course itself was an approximate 6 mile loop of trails marked by yellow flags, around the University of Alaska - Fairbanks campus. At some spots, I thought I was lost, but thankfully, I found my way after meandering 50 feet ahead of me and found a yellow flag and kept going. Race weekend happened actually on a Friday afternoon at the race venue: Ski Hut on the campus of the University of Alaska - Fairbanks. There was no expo, just a simple race bib pick up and a race t-shirt, along with a collapsible cup serving as race swag. Race fee was near $100 or under, so best bet would be to register early enough to get a good amount of savings. Since registration is usually online, they accept major credit cards upon check out. Parking for the race is fairly easy, since its on the UA-Fairbanks campus. It's advised to bring your own water bottle and refill at the air station.
The 24 hour timed event started at 8pm on a nice Friday evening in early June 2018. In hindsight, I probably shouldnt have attempted this. After running 2 loops and close to midnight, my body was showing fatigue and I opted to take a nap in my rental car. I was up 3 hours later and decided to do 2 more laps for a total of 24 miles. I twisted my ankle near the end of the 4th loop and needed to take some time to heal up. During the downtime, I cheered on the other runners. With 2 hours to go till the end of the event, the race director opened up a small 1/2 mile loop to help runners maximize distance, if you can't make a full 6 mile loop by 8pm Saturday night. I managed to pop 11 laps before settling on 28.50 miles over the course of 24 hours. I managed to go over the 26.2 mile threshold, which is basically a small ultra marathon for me or a wee bit long marathon. Big lessons learned this day on what to do and what not to do for a 24 hour race. I totally wasn't used to it and I bonked hard. Either way, the course was scenic and the nice, but the wet conditions on the trails made it an interesting 24 hours. While twisting my ankle sucked, it helped me feel the magnitude of what I was doing and not to underestimate the sheer strength of really long distance events. Race day temps are cool in the 50's and can warm into the upper 60's. The race course features a lake, but you will only see that briefly, early in the loop.
If you are a marathon or ultra endurance junkie, even a 50 stater (half or marathon/ultra), come do this one for your Alaska race. 5.0 stars for the overall experience. 5.0 stars for the ambiance and the course. While the wet trail conditions sucked, it was a well run race and it was fun. 5.0 stars for the race food. There's no finisher medals for individuals.
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