"J! Did you check out the piece in SI about that baseball player who proposed to his girlfriend?"
"Nope, haven't read that yet."
"Oh... well, it was really cool because there he was, about to bat, and then-"
"Hon, I said I haven't read that yet. Please don't tell me about it."
"Right. (pause) Sorry. (pause) Did you happen to read the amazing last page story about the truffle pig and the sprinter?"
"No. Not yet."In the end we decided to make a rule that I wasn't allowed to read any of the articles until Sundays at which point J would be sufficiently satiated and I wouldn't be the spoiler of the century. My dad has continued to renew our subscription each year (Thanks Dad!) and the rule has maintained peace in the household. And so...
GO FIGURE. To completely steal an idea from our beloved Sports Illustrated, here are some dandy digits to describe our recent holiday:
4
Day of the month in July when everyone in Seward, Alaska parties like it's 1999. The infamous Mt. Marathon race, in addition to the national holiday, brings just about every vendor from around the state as well as many of its residents to this small, mountainous, coastal town.
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| RVers packing it in before the fireworks at midnight on the 3rd. |
Population of Seward, Alaska for most of the year.
30,000
Population of Seward, Alaska on the 4th of July.
3,022
Feet above sea level of the Mt. Marathon race half way point, which is a mile and a half from the start and finish line back down in town.
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| Runners starting up. |
42:55
Record-breaking time by Eric Strabel in the famed race this year. Eric spent 32:55 running up and only 10 minutes running down. (You can get a taste of what the race feels like by watching this video shot by a runner with a helmet cam!)
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| Eric flying down. |
25
Field of competitors running in the 4 year-old girls heat of the Mini Mt. Marathon. Miss Indigo was thrilled to be a part of the sporty festivities and afterwards she couldn't stop watching the other older female runners come down the road toward the finish. Such awesome, healthy, role models in all speeds, shapes and sizes!
 |
| On your marks... |
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| Boots are her secret weapon. |
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| A proud finisher! |
1000
Vertical feet skied by Kim and J (July ski - check!) in the Mt. Marathon Bowl on the crowd-free backside of the mountain.
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| Ironically, amidst the race chaos, people thought we were the crazy ones! |
24
Pieces of fried halibut and honey butter corn fritters consumed by Team Leslie and Grammie Suzan along the street after running and skiing.
5
Tosses of a slimy salmon back and forth to win the annual Miller's Landing (our campground) holiday competition on the beach. Unfortunately, Team Leslie was not timely enough to the event to compete - next year, it's ours!!
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| We did participate in (and lose) the tug o' war. |
Goat lost by the fine owners of Miller's Landing, likely abducted by holiday hooligans of the human variety. The goat's name? Goat. I kid you not. Alaska sure seems to have its fair share of random, sort of quaint, but definitely bizarre, happenings like this.
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| Goat, photographed around 7:30PM. |
and last but not least,
2
Times Kim was knocked off of her stand-up-paddleboard by her loving husband during a late night jousting tournament on Resurrection Bay. In typical Alaska form, no experience was necessary to join in this event nor was there any money, liability waivers or names exchanged before we were asked to set down our beers and suit up. Let freedom ring!
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| Moments before the final blow. |
