I was surprised that there weren't as many competitors as I thought might have turned out, but maybe they're still recovering from last week's equinox marathon! Nevertheless, some didn't miss the opportunity to dress to impress. One man, for instance, dressed up like a bunny; each to their own, as they say!
The race started promptly and off they went, through the forests on the North Campus, using some of the trails I walked on yesterday, towards Ballaine Lake, and back through the campus towards the finish line, outside the Student Recreation Centre which is under a considerable amount of construction work at present. By the time I managed to walk from the start to the finish line, some of the fastest cyclists had biked 5.6km, and were approaching the finish tape practically as I was. The fastest, a guy called Ben, managed it in about 27 minutes. Here he is, and like Eric Strabel who won the Equinox Marathon last week, Ben was not out of breath at all! In fact, I think I was huffing and puffing more than he was!So, the fastest came in with Ben at about 27 minutes, and the slower cyclists approached the finish at about 40 minutes. Not a considerable range at all, when you compare it to last week's marathon. Talking of marathons, unbeknown to me, there was another sporting event occuring today, also taking full advantage of the university campus. This was a running event, with a subtle Indian theme. I got the feeling that this event attracted more women than men, and I suppose the contrary can be said about the cycling race. At the finish line, there was a music tent and several people were making Indian rhythms, although it's fair to say, this seemed like the only Indian thing about the whole event!
Aware that I had been up for at least two hours without food, I made my way to Sam's Sourdough Cafe, fully expecting there to be a queue. Indeed, there was, but it wasn't as tedious as last week's, and I found an available table soon enough. The next event schleduled was to see the Dog Pulling. Dogs pulling weights isn't something that would usually interest me, but this was suggested to be quite entertaining by Sarah, a fellow hosteller, and so I made an effort to go and see it. Apparently, it was taking place on the retail park on the edge of the city, near Walmart and Bentley Mall. Air temperature was only rising, so for the first time ever, I left without my outer coat and hat. A big mistake that turned out to be! Not only couldn't I find the dog pulling, and no-one I asked had the faintest idea of what I was talking about, but it started to rain. I should have realised that alto-stratus can form nimbo-stratus relatively quickly and without warning! I wasn't in the best of moods, now having spent at least an hour walking around a retail park, but I was quick to hop onto the next bus, and get back to the hostel.
I arrived back at the hostel just as Kirk, Chris and Miranda (fellow hostellers and university students) were leaving for the Tanana Valley Farming Market, and demotivated from the failure to see the dog pulling, I joined them. The Tanana Valley Market, like a lot of weekly events, is on its last weekend now, before weather conditions prove too adverse for hardy market traders. From weaving in and out different stalls, it soon became apparent that some stalls I had actually seen on Monday's Downtown Market! Food stalls dominated the exterior section of this event, and fruit and vegetables stalls especially were popular! We approached one and on display was a large 11 and a half pound Kohlrabi. I've never seen this before, I don't recall, but apparently it's popular in salads and in sautes, and you can also put it in cheese based sauces too! Chris suggested I put my hand next to it to demonstrate the size!
Inside the wooden farmhouse were more stalls, this time more dominated with craft items. Nothing that I fancied though, although Chris quite liked this large wooden soup bowl, but at $150, I reckon he'll make do with the cermamic one for the time being. We all eventually parted; Miranda and Kirk going to Fred Meyers (a supermarket) and Chris back to the hostel, whilst I hopped on the bus to go downtown. Today would be my last opportunity to see a particular documentary, that I saw scheduled in the local newspaper, about the Wrangell St Elias National Park. It's Northern America's biggest national park; it has glaciers as long as Rhode Island, it's 6x bigger than Yellowstone, and includes some fascinating geology. The documentary was especially good because the narrator made it very personal, referring to childhood memories of walking with his late Father through it, and acknowledging that walking through it now enabled him to rediscover him. Set along with a lovely music score, the whole experience was very well worth seeing.
I am aware of the amount of 'sky' images I'm posting, but my trip through Alaska has really been fascinating, especially when it comes to different cloud types. I slowly walked back to the hostel, being observed by these pockets! I don't think it is mammatus, but if there are cloud experts out there who can confirm it, then please do!
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