The Marathon Before Mayor's
Though the Mayor's Marathon officially debuted in 1974, the late 1960s furnished a funky precursor of sorts -- for three years, 1967-69, a night-time marathon called the Midnight Sun Marathon was held in Anchorage on the Saturday closest to the summer solstice.
According to information provided by Jim Mahaffey of Anchorage, the early marathon was the work of Jim Brown, who along with Mahaffey was a faculty member in the athletic/physical education department at Alaska Methodist University, which is now Alaska Pacific University.
In a letter to Mahaffey two years ago, Brown reported that about 30 runners showed up each year for a 9 p.m. start. The course started and finished at AMU, and included forays on Northern Lights Boulevard, what is now the Old Seward Highway, O'Malley Road and Lake Otis Parkway. Back then, Mahaffey reported, traffic was light on both the highway and Lake Otis, and Northern Lights was a narrow, two-way road.
The inaugural race was won by Bill Spencer, a biathlete with the U.S. team stationed at Fort Richardson (and not to be confused with the legendary Mount Marathon record holder and former Olympic nordic skier of the same name).
Brown wasn't around in 1970, he reported in his 2008 letter to Mahaffey, and the event died from lack of interest. The Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon debuted in 1974 -- it is now called the Mayor's Marathon and Half-Marathon -- and with the 37th edition unfolding Saturday, it's time to check out some memories from all the miles logged over the years.
Burnin' Vernon
After Michael Just won the inaugural Mayor's in 1974, the next year furnished a remarkable performance from 18-year-old Vernon Campbell, fresh out of Dimond High.
Campbell, running in a pair of mail-order Nike Bostons because Anchorage didn't have a running store then, blew through the race in 2 hours, 28 minutes, 26 seconds -- a record that stood for 12 years.
In 2005, on the 30th anniversary of his Mayor's victory, the 48-year-old Campbell, wearing Bib No. 1975, finished third overall in 2:42:25, which shattered the age-group record in the 45 and older division by nearly three minutes. In the interim, Campbell reported, his consumer habits changed.
"I get my shoes off the Internet now,'' Campbell said.
Dynamic duel
Back in 1987, current Mayor's race director and UAA running coach Michael Friess was a 25-year-old making his marathon debut. He engaged in a classic showdown with Kris Mueller, his friend and former teammate at Linfield College.
Friess, a Dimond grad, and Mueller, a Bartlett grad, dueled for 23 miles before Friess pulled away at a tunnel on the Chester Creek bike trail to clock 2:24:44 and shatter Campbell's record.
"I was scared,'' Friess said of his first stab at 26.2 miles. "Everything past 20 miles was new territory for me. I've never even gone on a training run farther than that.''
Alas, faulty timing in the event, then run by the city, prompted race officials to botch Friess' time. Months later, though, officials finally admitted the error of their ways and Friess was credited with the correct time.
Blitzin' Litzen
In a span of nine years, Gerri Litzenberger, a restaurateur from Soldotna, carved her name into the history books -- again and again and again. She won the women's division seven times in that stretch, which remains the benchmark for most Mayor's victories.
And Litzenberger got faster with age. Her 2:50:29 in 1989 earned her a fifth Mayor's win, slayed Toni Cook's 1980 record (3:00:42) and made Litzenberger the first woman in Mayor's history to dip below the three-hour barrier. Not that she was done blazing -- she dipped well under three hours to win in 1991 and 1992 too.
Team in Training triumph
In 1995, the Mayor's received a phenomenal boost when the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society made the race one of its select events in its Team in Training fundraising program.
The previous year, the combined races at the Mayor's -- marathon, half-marathon and 5.6-miler -- attracted 554 entrants. In 1995, thanks to about 700 Outside entrants from the Team in Training program, about 1,300 folks entered the races. That number skyrocketed to 2,400 in 1996 and a record 4,545 in 1999. About 4,000 are expected to race Saturday.
Mighty marriage
The Pospisils prospered in 1993 -- Blythe Pospisil of Anchorage won the women's race in 3:17:43 and her husband, Gordon, racked the overall victory in 2:34:53. That marked Gordon's second Mayor's win. He took the 1989 race in 2:34:11.
Crusher Clark
After her remarkable Olympic Trials victory in 2000 and subsequent 19th place finish in the Sydney Olympics, Anchorage pathologist Chris Clark made one thing clear at the 2002 Mayor's -- the doctor was still in.
Clark, 39, who already owned three Mayor's victories and twice set course records for women, hammered a 2:38:19 that not only demolished her record by six and a half minutes and earned her a fourth crown, but landed her second overall. Men's winner Ben Sauvage, the former Bartlett High runner, topped Clark by four minutes. Clark's record still stands.
Said Clark, deadpan: "I'm trying to get my records as low as possible before old age sets in.''
Masterful marathoners
Litzenberger owns by far the race record for most victories with her seven, and she's one of 11 runners - seven men, four women -- who own multiple Mayor's victories.
Clark is second-best, with four victories (1995, 98, 99, 2002). Larry Seethaler owns the men's record for most victories with three (1978, 80, 86).
Other women's multiple champs are Karen Jeske (1982-83) and Esther Jurasek (2005, 2007).
Other men's multiple champs are Bob Murphy (1979, 81), Shawn Delaney (1984, 1992), Gordon Pospisil (1989, 1993), Rich Hanna (2001, 2006), Will Kimball (2004-05) and Jerry Ross (2007-08).
Masterful Michaels
Friess for years said his Mayor's record had stood for far too long and he would be happy to see someone top it.
Michael Wisniewski answered the call last year, laying down a 2:22:29 mark to slash more than two minutes off Friess' previous standard.
She perspires and inspires
Not only will this year's race mark the 12th time Carol Dellinger of Spokane, Wash., has run Mayor's, but Saturday brings her 48th birthday and she'll be running her 239th marathon.
Even more cause for Dellinger to celebrate -- Saturday will be her six-month anniversary of being cancer-free after enduring treatment for breast cancer.
Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.
By DOYLE WOODY • dwoody@adn.com