From November 1986 issue of Ultrarunning:
"In our last issue we carried a report on the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic...200-250 miles through the Alaska backcountry, carry all your food and gear....[a race that] has always struck us as about the toughest race around. Adrian Crane and Tom Possert ran together and finished in a bit over 6 days, barely losing to some equally tough and talented Alaskans.
"After this competitive event was over, Adrian Crane's conclusion was rather surprising:
Is this the longest, toughest, roughest or hardest? The beauty of it is that at the finish no one knew or cared. Every competitor was left with indelible experiences, challenges accepted and honestly won or lost. Each had started with a clean slate and had accomplished every step in the wilderness through their own efforts."
Little has changed in the intervening 20 years but the pace of the racers.
Posts
is that dog an actual entrant in the race??? :)
ReplyDeleteThis dog followed us from the start in Mentasta.
ReplyDelete"Slana", aka "Little Dipshit", was a stray dog that we tried to chase away but one that we fed from our dwindling food supplies (we ran out of food), sewed booties for his bloody feet on the Black Rapids Glacier (we came in second in that race) and who disappeared near the end (but showed up in a letter to the editor of Alaska Magazine following a story about the race).
He was an amazing canine and his story is a good one.