Alaska. The last frontier!
The largest state in the USA stretching an impressive 665,400 square miles, making it twice the size of Texas and more than 7 times the size of the UK but with only 1.2 people per square mile means it is also largely uninhabited. Alaska has a plethora of wild animals; black bears, brown bears, moose, wolves, polar bears, humpback whales, Dall sheep and caribou to name a few. With more than 32,000 grizzly bears, that’s roughly one bear for every 21 people!
Grizzly – credit Lucja Leonard
Alaska is home to the tallest mountain peak in the USA, Denali. With the 20,310’ (6,190m) tall Denali and surrounding Alaska Range mountains and glaciers as its backdrop, the 135 mile Denali Highway is the perfect setting for the spectacular Denali 135, Denali 100km & 50km endurance races held annually by Spirit Trips. The Denali highway was the original and only road into Denali National Park from 1957 until 1971 and it is still as breathtaking and jaw dropping today as it was more than 50 years ago.
Because of the tilt of the earth, a summers day in Alaska can last 20hrs with no real darkness as dusk becomes dawn. This year’s race was held on June 21, summer solstice, so there was going to be no need for head torches.
Dion running under the midnight sun – credit Sean Tracy
I’d travelled up to crew my husband, Dion, who was running the Denali 100km race which started at 6pm and into the midnight sun. The 135 mile race had started earlier at 5am that same day along with the 50k which started at 8am. The 135 route started at the Paxson end of the Denali highway (mile 0), following the road through to the 50k start at Maclaren summit (mile 37) and Alpine lodge (mile 68) where the 50k finished and the 100k started through to the Cantwell end of the Denali highway for the finish of both the 135 and the 100k (mile 135).
The race is the brainchild of race director, Sean Tracy who heads up Spirit Trips, or rather his daughter, Amelia. Sean had gone to college in Fairbanks, Alaska in the early 90’s and was the first person to complete the lowest to highest human powered trek in North America from Death Valley to Denali in ‘97. Growing up, his daughter Amelia had always heard stories of Alaska and seen his pictures and so when she was 7 yrs old, the family embarked on a whirlwind 2 week vacation to Alaska which included a couple days camping on the Denali Highway.
Amelia 7 years old on the Denali highway – credit Sean Tracy
As they began driving out on the Denali Highway, Amelia saw a sign that said 135 miles to Paxson and commented that she had heard her Dad talk about 135 mile ultras before. Arrowhead, Brazil and of course Badwater and that since he had climbed Denali and loved Alaska so much, he should put on an ultra right there on the Denali Highway. At first it didn’t click but a few days later they were driving down on the Kenia Peninsula and came across ultra runner Pete Kostelnick pushing his baby carriage along the road on his way to Key West (breaking the FKT record of running self supported from Kenai to Key West, 3,067 miles in 2018).
The two things combined; Amelia’s comment about the length of the Denali Highway when she first went on it and the sheer chance seeing of Pete on his journey; and the idea was sparked. Sean told Amelia it was an amazing idea and that he would do just that, put on an Denali Ultra, but only after he did a test run of the course and hosted a race at his home area in Pennsylvania to cut his teeth in race directing.
A quick call to an ultra running friend of his, Bill McCue, to ask if he would do the first running with Sean and the wheels were truly set in motion. The next summer, Sean became the first person to run the length of the Denali Highway, followed closely by his friend Bill as the second.
Denali highway sign – credit Sean Tracy
6 years later and Sean couldn’t be more appreciative of that idea from his then 7 yr old daughter, and neither can we!
The races are uniquely crewed in that there are no aid stations for the 135/100 (the 50k has 1 aid station so can be run un-crewed) which means at least one crew with car is compulsory to complete the race. Pacers are optional for both the 135/100. The 50k has a cutoff of 9hrs, 100k cutoff of 18hrs and 48hrs for the 135. I’d had practice of this style of crewing at Dion’s last race, Badwater 135 (in 2021) so we had planned accordingly.
I had the back of the car set up with a couple of cooler boxes with cold drinks, selection of food, 4 x big bottles of water, thermos, coffee along with a fold up chair and plenty of utensils, cups and similar. In our crew bag we have a big selection of first aid, medical, wipes, towels, safety pins, tape etc….you name it we’ve probably got it, along with a bag of Dion’s spare clothes, layers, jackets and extra socks ready for any weather. Extra items for a special Alaska race was bug spray, bug nets, bear spray and an air horn, 2/4 of these items were used ;-).
Dion starting the Denali 100km – credit Sean Tracy
As we were staying in Wasilla for a few weeks we drove up the morning of the race to get there in time for Dion to have a short nap, register and attend the mandatory briefing before the start. It was a pretty relaxed atmosphere and everyone was in high spirits, particularly with a very favourable weather forecast of dry and warm weather, which for Alaska was certainly a blessing. The runners congregated at the start and in true Alaskan style, Sean the Race Director raised his rifle and fired skyward to signal the start of the Denali 100km.
Dion running towards Denali – credit Lucja Leonard
The runners took off along the dusty dirt road that is the Denali Highway. They ran alongside an endless variation of lush greenery & dense wilderness sprawling endlessly, punctuated sporadically by small lakes and winding streams. Rolling hills near and far, still with drizzles of snow that looked like white icing on a dark cake trickled downwards, frozen in time, giving off an alpine vibe.
The sun sat high in the sky, making the 6pm sky feel more like the midday sun. The temperature was deceptively warm in the high 70’s (low 20’s centigrade) and the dry weather meant for dusty roads, as the crew cars made their way past the runners, along with a number of passing motorists (the road wasn’t closed for the race) kicking up plenty of dust in their wake. I stopped just a few short miles up the road to check on Dion and work out what our rhythm was going to be.
Realising quickly that a race pack was not needed Dion promptly switched out his pack for a handheld, popping his mandatory spot tracker and race nutrition in his short pockets and grabbed a buff to cover his mouth & nose for the dust. Initial plans with the race pack had me stopping every 4-5miles but with the handheld we decided to change this to every 2-ish miles and this continued for the duration of the race.
A few miles into the race and Mount Denali came into full view, dramatic and proud in the bright never ending daylight. Dion ran towards the mountain, ticking off the miles but never getting any closer. Dion ran a controlled race and it wasn’t until about 40 miles in, while he was running consistently in 4th place, that I told him 2nd & 3rd were just ahead and within catching distance and he hit the accelerator. He’d already seen a grizzly bear cub but that didn’t get him moving as much as the idea of catching some other runners and the race was on. A beautiful, majestic moose nearly interrupted the moment Dion moved into 2nd and I had to put the car between the moose and the 3 of the runners to keep them safe.
Moose – credit credit Lucja Leonard
Dion continued to push hard and took a solid 2nd place overall with a time of 11hr 38, with Gobi running in alongside him to the finish line; their first finish line finish together since they met in the Gobi desert in 2016, which made the moment even more magical. Sean handed Dion his finisher buckle which is made from shed moose antlers and hand sanded which makes for a pretty unique memento. We aren’t ones for keeping many medals and keepsakes because of our travel lifestyle but this one is definitely coming along.
Dion Lucja & Gobi at the finish – credit Sean Tracy)
This race stands as a singular event within a breathtaking expanse of natural splendour. It is not merely organised, but orchestrated with a deep-seated passion and commitment from its community. Participants arrive as strangers and depart as cherished friends. For those contemplating a single race experience in Alaska, this is unequivocally the one to choose!
