I’m one of about 25 people who set out from Kotzebue’s Front Street for the start of the half-marathon on a windy and overcast Saturday. I am the only biker in the race on a course of mostly dirt roads and a rocky shoreline. I take a quick breath and start pedaling along the over 13 mile course.
This year, with 49 total racers, the Cape Blossom Marathon hosted nearly three times more participants than its inaugural race last year. As one of just a few races above the Arctic Circle, it's as unique as Kotzebue – with tundra, beach running and a subsistence food potluck.
Out-of-town participants outnumbered locals, 30 to 19. Two runners travelled from as far as Georgia and Florida just to participate, trading humidity and pavement for tundra and Arctic winds.
“The day of the marathon, we're at the start line, there's 20 minutes to go, and someone walks up and says, ‘I just heard that there were bears out of town. Is everything going to be okay?’” said Hannah Atkinson, the race organizer.
Atkinson said the Northwest Arctic Borough, a partner in the race, provided a village public safety officer that patrolled the beaches. No one noted any bears, she said, but race organizers gave racers bear spray as a precaution.
The route also changed this year, sending marathon runners across more than a mile of bare tundra for the first time.
“That was a really challenging portion of the race, the marathon, and some people really loved that challenge and thought that it was so unique,” Atkinson said. “And I think some people probably were like ‘never again.’”
Connecting to the land
Atkinson said organizing the racer has given her a deeper appreciation for the land and traditional names.
“The name for Cape Blossom is Igluġruat, and that means old beaver houses,” Atkinson said she learned this from elder Willie Goodwin.
“It was a place that they would use as a lookout for hunting, and he remembers seeing old beaver houses eroding out of the bluff,” Atkinson said.
She said events like the marathon allow visitors to connect at a deeper level, too. The night before the race, race volunteers hosted a community dinner with salmon and sheefish harvested locally for subsistence with pasta, desserts and muktuk gifted from the Nalukataq celebration in Utqiaġvik earlier this year.
“We want to have an event and welcome people into our community on our terms, to welcome them with the history and the culture of the place and to welcome them with the special foods that we enjoy from the land,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson said the race is also a way to engage with how the region is changing. Along the race route, one of the participants found a mammoth tusk, uncovered from an eroding shoreline.
“That was definitely my first time seeing the treasures that are out there — just coming out in that lucky moment, I guess, for someone to spot it,” she said
Atkinson says she’s already planning for next year, including how road construction toward a proposed portsite at Cape Blossom could reshape the course itself. She said however the route might change, the goal is the same: growing the race without losing what makes it distinct.
Full Marathon results
First place men’s – bib #2612, Ayden Nichol, elapsed time 3:35:57
Second place men’s – bib #2611, Tom Moran, elapsed time 4:02:11
Third place men’s – bib #2617, Wyatt Moss, elapsed time 4:05:11
First place women’s – bib #2619, Maggie Lenhart, elapsed time 4:20:17
Second place women’s – bib #2621, Eena Meng, elapsed time 4:29:28
Third place women’s – bib #2616, Heather Parker, elapsed time 5:00:17
4th place – bib #2619, Maggie Lenhart, elapsed time 4:20:17
5th place – bib #2602, Lane Christensen, elapsed time 4:29:07
6th place – bib #2621, Eena Meng, elapsed time 4:29:28
7th place – bib #2608, Kelson Phillips, elapsed time 4:30:38
8th place – bib #2615, Quinn Tracy, elapsed time 4:38:41
9th place – bib #2620, Frank Parker, elapsed time 4:46:11
10th place – bib #2605, Kris Rose, elapsed time 4:57:49
11th place – bib #2616, Heather Parker, elapsed time 5:00:17
12th place – bib #2607, Erin Sivitz, elapsed time 5:13:33
13th place – bib #2609, Tim Treuer, elapsed time 5:24:43
14th place – bib #2618, Hannah Bailey, elapsed time 5:36:31
15th place – bib #2606, Tyler Wyka, elapsed time 5:46:28
16th place – bib #2628, Pieter Jung, elapsed time 5:56:55
17th place – bib #2625, Leon Toomer, elapsed time 6:09:31
18th place – bib #2601, Craig Christensen, elapsed time 6:10:19
19th place – bib #2604, Liz Kempton, elapsed time 6:17:08
Tied 20th place – bib #2613, Jen Johnson, elapsed time 6:20:29
Tied 20th place – bib #2614, Ron Johnson, elapsed time 6:20:29
22nd place – bib #2610, Amanda Moran, elapsed time 6:39:19
23rd place – bib #2603, Chelsea Wettroth, elapsed time 7:10:34
Bike – bib #2622, Devon Phillips, elapsed time 3:26:00
DNF – bib #2623, Arielle Tango, bib #2624, Rebecca Reyes, bib #2625, Ezekial Makisi
Half Marathon Results
First place men’s – bib #1322, Ryan Syvertson, elapsed time 1:44:44
Second place men’s – bib #1308, Joshua Barron, elapsed time 1:45:01
Third place men’s – bib #1316, David Jiang, elapsed time 2:14:40
First place women’s – bib #1320, Sarah Baldwin, elapsed time 1:51:51
Second place women’s – bib #1319, Holly Fisk, elapsed time 2:06:20
Third place women’s – bib #1321, Allison Dean, elapsed time 2:07:12
6th place – bib #1314, Ella Lubin, elapsed time 2:09:05
8th place – bib #1313, Joseph Elhart, elapsed time 2:27:12
9th place – bib #1311, Hans Arnett, elapsed time 2:50:27
10th place – bib #1310, Nicole Knox, elapsed time 2:52:14
11th place – bib #1315, Raechyl Huisingh, elapsed time 2:52:25
Tied 12th place – bib #1305, Mandy Cantine, elapsed time 3:00:00
Tied 12th place – bib #1306, Kelly Bigelow, elapsed time 3:00:00
Tied 14th place – bib #1301, Darcee Perkins, elapsed time 3:01:32
Tied 14th place – bib #1302, Diane Kenski, elapsed time 3:01:32
16th place – bib #1303, Jason Cubbin, elapsed time 3:06:25
17th place – bib #1304, Liz Diviney, elapsed time 3:15:53
18th place – bib #1312, Nicole Allen, elapsed time 3:43:07
Tied 19th place – bib #1309, Janice Habuda, elapsed time 3:56:44
Tied 19th place – bib #1324, Tracey Schaeffer, elapsed time 3:56:44
Early-start walker – bib #1317, Jolene Huffman, elapsed time 6:45:00
Early-start walker – bib #1318, Kaniqua Barros, elapsed time 6:45:00
Bike – bib #2101, Desiree Hagen, elapsed time 3:03:21
DNF – bib #1323, Roy Eldred, bib #1307, Steve Gehring
