Triumph and Tragedy

Triumph and Tragedy
Summer solstice, June 21 and the 4^th of July have come and gone this year in Alaska. The sun has made cameo appearances showing its full strength and length of its power and the rain has made itself readily available; of course Seward was at one time considered a rain forest.  (The locals still know it is – although the powers that be have downgraded Seward, ‘semi-arid’. What - ever. They obviously don’t live here.

On July 4^th, Mount Marathon race went off in normal fashion. The townies and visitors lined the streets for the junior racers, then two staged groups for the women racers – won by Holly Brooks with a time of 51:53. Holly is a member of the Nordic Winter Olympic team.

And the final two groups of staged men’s race took off, won by Matthew Novakovich with a time of 44:07. Side streets were packed with vendors selling food, clothing, carvings, and games.

People along Seward streets look up to the top of Mount Marathon, a 3,022 foot peak buried in clouds.  The race is only 3.5  miles long but starts at sea level and goes straight up through tree line and roots to a shale face of razor sharp rocks to the top of Marathon, around a bolder and back down pretty much the same way except for a snow shoot which many people slide down and run off the end and back into the shale. There were numerous accidents; broken arms, major cuts, and the emergency evacuation to Anchorage hospital helicopter came and went more than once.


As the men’s race came to a close, one runner had not crossed the finish line and a full on search began. The troopers got involved with a helicopter as runners and locals went in search and rescue mode for Michael LeMaitre. The Mount Marathon race has been around for eighty-five years and this is the first time anyone has gone missing. The search didn't start until late and went on for over a week.

The local fire department organized search parties and was somewhat the headquarters for volunteers and supporters.
It has been a month and no signs of Mr. LeMaitre have surfaced. The Alaska State Troopers brought their helicopter and an infrared spot light looking for a heat signature to no avail. The troopers did manage to find the local bears that roam the slopes and river banks and glaciers in the surrounding area. Mr. LeMaitre was last seen a couple hundred yards from the top and some race workers spoke with him and explained how to get back down. He was never seen again.

On the morbid side of things, if LeMaitre had met with a bear, there would be unmistakable signs and the infrared would have picked up a group of bears working a certain area, waiting their turn as  time and peckinmg order allow. That wasn’t the case. Mr. Michael LeMaitre is still missing and no traces have been found. Some locals are suspicious; more on that next from Talkeetna around a fire.

http://davidcdagley.com/