Tony Knowles 5 miles

Driving from the airport at 1AM, it was immediately obvious that this wasn’t a typical winter.  Fences were buried; it looked more like a U.P. winter (like Marquette) than Anchorage.  So far this year, they have received over 110 inches of snow, very close to their yearly average of 120 inches, and it was only February.  Damn, it was BEAUTIFUL.  Finally a trip that we found the snow we were expecting!!

After three or four airplane naps, we only required five hours of sleep to feel rested.  We stepped out the door at 8:30, just in time to see the sun rise.  After a year of visiting all new places and having to Mapquest our way around, it was nice to run in a familiar place.  We knew exactly where to run: the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.

The cool air was refreshing and my skin enjoyed the reprieve from constant moisture of home.  Snow completely filled the trail corridor.  We estimated that we were running on at least three feet of firmly packed snow.  “What a mess this is going to be in the spring when it melts,” Matt commented.

Cook Inlet and her mudflats were hidden under a blanket of snow.  Mountains were barely visible through a mask of low clouds.  About a mile into our run, we came upon a young male moose.  Oblivious to our presence, we stood there snapping photos and waited for him to move.  Oh, how I miss this sort of encounter.  If only I could convince half of Anchorage to move away and make it a small town, I’d so be here already.

Voices called from down the trail.  A group of ladies walking their dogs shouted to try and scare the moose away.  He kept eating the Birch branches, only his alert ears turned in their direction.  Matt and I approached slowly, keeping close to a tree in case we spooked him and needed to dodge a charge.

Eventually we surrendered the trail to our hungry friend and passed by on the other side of the tree where he was eating.  I sank into hip-deep snow.  Moose was probably laughing at all of us as he ate his breakfast.  “I’m so the boss right now.  Scared away some more people.  Ten in one hour!  An awesome start to the day!” he was probably thinking to himself.

We continued to Westchester Lagoon, it looks so much different in the winter.  A few runners, skiers, and fat bike riders were out.  We also had to jump into the deep snow to let groomers go by.  

June 2010, same place.

It was five miles and a perfect welcome back to Alaska.  The race weather is predicted to be much like this.  Starting outfit: confirmed.

Three more Dairy Queen days until the Little Su.