Photo courtesy of Allan Warren
Runners begin the annual 26-mile Crow Pass Crossing that begins on the Girdwood Valley side at the Crow Creek trailhead and ends at the Eagle River Nature Center.
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Photo courtesy of Allan Warren |
By Allan Warren
Special to the Turnagain Times
What would make a person run 26-miles over a rugged mountain pass, down fields of sharp scree, across patches of snow and through a swift, glacial river? All before noon. Though they were running through grizzly country, it wasn’t for being chased by a bear that these people punished themselves. They just like to run.
The annual Crow Pass Crossing, which took place this year on Saturday, July 19, is one of the toughest marathons in the state. It starts near Girdwood, Alaska, at the Crow Creek Trailhead, rises 3,500-feet in the first 3.5-miles, then winds across sketchy terrain for another 22-miles, crossing Eagle River and finishing at the nature center about 12-miles from the town of Eagle River.
“It was insane,” Jed Smith, a grad-student from Fairbanks and first-time participant in the race, said. “It’s not really running in a lot of it, you’re just trying not to eat sh--. You go from traversing across exposed rockslides, to sliding down an 800-foot, narrow, snow shoot to hopping across river rocks. It was intense.”
Insane, is the right way to describe getting up at 5 a.m., on a damp, chilly morning, to run through the Chugach Mountains on what is normally a two or even three-day backpacking trip. Runners trudged to the finish line sometimes bloodied, limping, haggard and smiling?
The energy and excitement that the finishers had after making it in one piece somehow shined through the exhaustion that was evident on each of their faces and in the slouched posture of their battered bodies.
“I feel good, my feet hurt but otherwise I’m doing good,” Becky Warren, another Fairbanks grad-student (and my sister) said after finishing her third Crow Pass Crossing, but first in 9-years. “It was harder than I remembered.
I can’t imagine remembering it as easy, or enjoyable enough to do it again. I guess that’s the beauty of outdoor recreation though, each of us finds our own way of connecting, of feeling invigorated by the outdoors. I don’t always understand why I throw myself down Class V rivers or expose myself on mountains so I can ski down. Is it just for the sense of accomplishment once you’ve overcome the challenge? Or is it because simply being out there is satisfying?
I don’t understand running or runners. It seems crazy to beat up your body, just to run. I mean it hurts. It hurts your ankles, calves, knees, quads, lungs, everything. Why would anyone do it save for escaping from the cops or a rabid wolverine?
“I think I was born to run,” Becky said before the race. “I just love it, it feels so good. It also lets you cover a lot of ground in a hurry. I’m not so sure about this Goo in my pants though,” she said after safety pinning the small packets of energy slime that runners love to the inside of her shorts.
That right there is a perfect example of insanity. Who purposefully fills their shorts with Goo to go enjoy their sport? Runners are the only ones.
But the land crossing is something I can understand. Getting out to see some amazing country, a lot of it, in a short amount of time. Crow Pass Trail is one of the most gorgeous areas in the state as well.
“The Crow Pass Crossing is one of the most prestigious races in the state,” Jed said when asked why he wanted to do it. “I’ve wanted to do it for a while and I’m pretty excited to finally be making it happen.”
I guess it comes down to the challenge, and there may not be another marathon out there that can equal the challenge of Crow Pass. It’s a test of ones ruggedness unlike any other. I couldn’t do it, I know that much. Hanging out at the finish line as the last few runners trickled in; I realized I was hanging out with a lot of badass people. They may be insane, but they’re pretty hard-core too.