On July 24th, Scott Patterson toed the line outside of Girdwood, Alaska, for his eighth run of the Crow Pass Crossing, a roughly 22 mile race with nearly 3,000 feet of vertical gain through the rugged Alaskan backcountry. Two hours fifty minutes and five seconds later, he crossed the finish line at the Eagle River Nature Center, shattering the 11-year-old course record set by ultrarunning legend Geoff Roes at the peak of his career by...
The following Regional Elite Group (REG) camp recap was submitted by NSCF-FXC Interim Head Coach Alasdair Tutt. FasterSkier encourages coaches and athletes from any regional offseason camps (dryland or on-snow, in the U.S., Canada or abroad) to submit their own recaps and photos to Western and previous REG camps. The course saw the athletes wind up beside an alpine run before appearing out onto the road overlooking the sea. The fastest times were set by Ti Donaldson and...
As with other epic modern-day adventure race series, the fabled origin of Seward, Alaska’s annual Mount Marathon — held every July 4 — began with beer and a bet: who among us can run from the streets of downtown to the top of the 3,022-foot mountain crowding Seward’s skyline, then back to the bottom the fastest? What about within the hour? While the footrace race has evolved massively since the port town’s pioneer miners took...
When is a race-time temperature of 2 above not so bad? When it's 16 below at the airport. Team Alaska was named as the Besh Cup series wrapped up in Fairbanks over the weekend, in conditions that one local skier described as "not too cold."
Leading up to the prestigious Mt. Marathon footrace in Seward, Alaska, APU teammates David Norris and Scott Patterson, both race rookies, were marked as strong climbers but unproven downhill runners. Would they hold back to avoid injury? They went on to place first and fourth overall on Monday in the 89th edition of the race.
FasterSkier contributor Seth Adams was on-scene with his camera at the 2015 Mount Marathon in Seward, Alaska to capture the racing and the antics.
"We came into it with the idea of making a really cool video about a race that had never been filmed well before," Anchorage native Max Romey said. He produced a 43-minute film about the famed Mount Marathon in 2013, but this year, he wanted to outdo himself. The 21-year-old college runner is pioneering race-and-training videos in epic landscapes like Alaska.
Holly Brooks understands the hazards of the acclaimed Mount Marathon. Having previously run the race six times the Olympian knew winning her second title wouldn’t be easy. Despite a brutal course, high temperatures, and challenging field of women Brooks was able to claim the 2014 Mount Marathon victory with a time of 52:49.
This week, recent Mount Marathon winner Eric Strabel shares the secret to his success: sustained, hour-long Level 3 efforts.
On July 4, Eric Strabel did the unthinkable, besting the field and beating a Mount Marathon course record that stood for 32 years. The APU university and elite-team coach has been working at conquering the 3,022-foot hill climb for the better part of the last year, and nipped a former U.S. Mountain Running Team member by seconds in doing so. Comments from other top-four finishers Brent Knight, Ann Spencer and Lauren Fritz.