07-08-2020
05:50 PM
- last edited on
04-13-2022
03:42 AM
by
grazittiApiTest
Everywhere in the USA celebrates the 4th of July differently. Before we went to Alaska in 2019, I researched where I wanted to be for the best 4th of July experience while there. I was not disappointed with the experience at Seward, Alaska.
What makes Seward special on the 4th? The Mount Marathon Race!!!!! We learned it was a race straight up a 2,974 feet (906 m) above sea level to the top of Mount Marathon mountain and then back down in less than an hour. What surprised me was that this is
Just wow!!! ...and there were quite a number of runners who were over the age of 60 and 70 as well!
I had never really watched a race before and this one we could only see when they took off and when they came back. One could go into one of the local bars and watch the runners on the mountain on the TVs. It was while watching the TVs that we saw the runners sliding down the mountains!
One of the major challenges for July 4, 2019, was that there was a forest fire about 50 miles away and the air quality was really poor. Since the race is so demanding, they were very concerned about the health of the runners. On the morning of the race, they decided to run the race due to a slight clearing of the smoke and gave anyone who didn't come for the race or couldn't come to the race an invitation to run in 2020. I was very sad for the runners who had trained all year but decided to not run the race in 2019. But when I looked at the 2020 schedule, the 2020 race was canceled. Sigh...
The next two videos were made on Facebook Live. There is some pixelation due to the internet not being the best at the time.
Parade through town in between races.
Mount Marathon race
Since Alaska is so far north, fireworks really looked a lot different there. The night is not dark and more like dusk.
Alaska is not like any other state and here are some interesting facts about some of their 4th of July celebrations
If you are planning a trip to the United States during this timeframe... Research! There are unique 4th of July traditions everywhere!
This post is part of the #StateChallenge organized by @Kwiksatik and myself. If you want to find out more, check out our post here and here, and you can also find other submissions by searching the #StateChallenge hashtag. There is also a virtual meet-up on the 4th of July coming up which you can sign up to here!
07-08-2020 08:01 PM
Hi @Denise_Barlock,
Thanks for sharing this post with us!
This is very informative. I consider health and fitness important, therefore i eat healthy and do some running to keep fit which caught my interest in this post. This is one of my hobbies and i love how you are doing it as a 4th of July tradition, this definitely would make me want to visit Alaska. I am part of a Fitbit runners community online with about 2.8 million members worldwide and i saw some people talk about the marathon. I bet you had fun there. Cheers!
P.s Happy Fourth of July
07-09-2020 08:12 AM
@Nuhuu I'm so glad you enjoyed it and learned about the Mount Marathon Race. It really was AMAZING to watch and see how the participants put so much into it! If you are a runner, you should definitely try 🙂 ...and ALASKA is an amazing place to visit.
Happy 4th of July to you too!!!
07-11-2020 08:49 PM
Hi @Denise_Barlock, definitely would try, thank you so much!