July 8, 2010

People are Indeed Crazy

Have you ever said to yourself, "Self, I think I am going to run up a mountain today and risk serious injury and/or death for the sake of just doing it?". If you answered Yes, then you are indeed crazy. If you answered No, you are in the higher percentile of normal people. Here is why I ask:

The Mountain Marathon is held every 4th of July in the small town of Seward, Alaska. It isn't an actual marathon being that the complete up/down distance is only 3 miles (only I say.. haha as if I could do a fraction of that).. Men generally finish in 40 minutes, women in 50 and Juniors about 30 -- those darn kids!! They come down the mountain bloody, sweaty, dirty, and that is a deterrent altogether. Let’s not mention that it is straight uphill-and subsequently downhill- with cliffs, snow, waterfalls and falling rocks to add to the fun!

Anyway, this isn’t in our normal book of annual trips but we decided to go for the fun of it. There are literally thousands of people that flock to this small town for this event (and the 4th of July) and the town is filled with tents, campers, dogs, people, drunks, people dealing with drunks and much, much more. The bars close at 2pm except the Pit Bar (http://www.pitbarak.com/ ) that stays open until 5am so that is where the fun begins for some and ends for most.. ahh what a great time.

(click on the image to enlarge it)
Now imagine RUNNING that?!!  ---I-N-S-A-N-E---