Alaska’s Mount Marathon adds safety measures after disappearance

After a runner vanished off the course in 2012, organizers of an Alaskan trail race have added new safety guidelines.

The Mount Marathon, which is actually a 5.6K trail race, is one of the oldest running events in North America. The extremely difficult ascent and descent of Mount Marathon has made the race legendary since it began in 1908.

But last year’s edition was international headlines when novice runner Michael LeMaitre disappeared on the course. His body was not recovered and his family has since presumed him dead.

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LeMaitre was not the only victim that day. Matthew Kenney, a veteran of the race, took a bad fall on the extreme descent and shattered his leg and skull.

Race officials instituted an entirely new safety plan for this weekend’s event. There is now a one-hour cut-off for runners to make it to the turnaround point at the top of the ascent, which tops off at 921m above sea level. All runners on course are forced to turn around at that point and head back to the finishing area in the town of Seward City. Race marshals also sweep the course after the one-hour cut-off.

All entrants are also required to sign a pledge that they have already experienced the course. This means that those that travelled to the event for the first time this year had to walk or run the course at least once before Friday’s race. Organizers hoped that this measure weeded out those that realize they are not fit enough to successfully complete the event.

The new safety plan seemed to have worked, with no major injuries reported.

Anchorage’s Eric Strabel won the race for the second time. Strabel also smashed the long-standing course record by winning in 42:55. The previous record (43:21) was held by eight-time champ Bill Spencer.

Spencer, now 57, ran the race as well, and embraced Strabel when he crossed the finish line some 26 minutes later.

To get an idea of the difficulty and lopsidedness of the course, consider that in 85 editions of the race the 45-minute mark has only been broken 19 times. Strabel’s record-breaking win was comprised of a 32:19 2.8K climb to the turnaround and just 10:36 back down the mountain and into the finish line in town.