Alaskan skier couple win Mount Marathon 5K races on July 4

Just as Canada has its Canada Day 5Ks, our neighbour to the south likes to celebrate the 4th of July with similar races. Alaska’s Mount Marathon 5K, however, is not exactly your typical Independence Day race. For one thing, it takes place in a part of the world that’s home to more bears than people.

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Outside magazine has called it “the world’s toughest 5K.” Though uncharacteristically short for a trail race, this 5K goes almost 1,000m straight up Alaska’s Mount Marathon from the town of Seward, overlooking Resurrection Bay on Alaska’s southern coast. Then racers turn around and go straight back down again–on rocks, mud, loose shale, snow and ice. 

Some 800 people take part, with thousands of people arriving to watch and cheer. This year’s race was won by a pair of Alaskan nordic ski racers, first-timer Jessica Yeaton (51:30) and David Norris (42:13). (Norris won in 2016 also, breaking Kilian Jornet’s 2015 course record.) Norris and Yeaton are a couple. They travelled to the race together from Anchorage, about 150K north of Seward. 

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RELATED: Kilian Jornet 2015 Mount Marathon champion, course records fall

The Mount Marathon 5K was first run in 1915. There is no prize money; racers compete for bragging rights alone.

It’s difficult to imagine a steeper ascent or descent, and injuries are common. In 2012, tragically, a 66-year-old runner who was the last to reach the summit disappeared, his body never found. The same year, an experienced 41-year-old mountain runner fell 30 feet on the descent, sustaining serious head trauma and a broken leg. The following year safety protocols were implemented, such as a cutoff time of one hour to reach the summit, a mandatory safety briefing, and a new rule that first-timers must walk or run the course at least once before the race. 

Watch an insane video of the 2015 race here.