Midnight Sun Run

6.19.2010

To celebrate summer solstice in Fairbanks, Alaska I signed up for "the farthest north 10K run" that starts at 10pm. It's called the Midnight Sun Run and this was their 28th year.

http://fairbanks-alaska.com/midnight-sun-run.htm

Mom & Dad were nice enough to drop me off at The University of Alaska Patty Center, where the run begins. There were approx 3500+ participants all pumped up and ready to roll. The music was blaring, we were jazzercising and stretching out, preparing ourselves for the 6.2 mile run which finished at Pioneer Park. From there it was only a short walk back to where I'm camped.

Many of the participants dress up in costume for which they're awarded prizes. There is a race rule that if you start in costume you must finish in costume. I felt for the Alaska Grizzly mascot - I bet he was sweating after the first mile!

Here are a few more costumes:

Jazzercising to warm up those muscles:

There was contagious excitement in the air. Of course, the sun was still shining on a balmy 70 degree evening. After singing "The Star Spangled Banner" , we lined up in the street- fastest runners to slowest walkers- the gun went off, the loud boom & smoke of the cannon signaling it was starting time! As I wound my way through the local neighborhoods, I gazed in marvel at all the supporters who stayed up late to cheer us on. They had their grills going, music on the radio, sprinklers directed toward the street to cool us off. There were even kids shooting big bazooka water guns and throwing water balloons at the participants. Everyone was clapping and cheering, celebrating the long days of summer. It was like a huge continuing party winding through the streets of Fairbanks! In a land where winter brings minus 40 degree temperatures and the sun isn't up long before it sets again, it's no wonder this time of year brings out  the joy in so many.  

Even though it was cloudy, with smoke from a nearby fire in the air, you could still see the sun-

Getting ready to start -

The fire and smoke of the cannons. I'm glad I decided not to bring Cooper!

And we're off!

The run ended at Pioneer Park where volunteers handed out water, Power aid, watermelon and orange slices. I'm sure the celebration lasted well into the morning! Since I could barely move at the end of 6 miles, it was a good thing I had a short walk home to work out the kinks! It's a run I'll long remember, in a city full of warm & friendly people. What a lovely place to spend summer solstice!

Ice Park

6.16.10
Today I became a little more educated on the Ice Park that I'm currently staying in for the week. According to the Anchorage Daily News:

The World Ice Art Championships are billed as "the largest ice sculpting competition in the world." Teams of artists who often make their livings by creating fantastic ice carvings for cruises, fancy weddings, major banquets, etc., vie for the ribbons in abstract and realistic styles that include single- and multi-block categories.

With the cold of Interior Alaska on their side, they're able to shape astonishing figures with exquisite detail, sometimes cantilevering hundreds of pounds of ice high above the ground with minimal support. Some carvings are three stories tall; the Guinness Book of World Records is currently checking to see if one sculpture hasn't broken the record for height.

Oddly, when the event started 21 years ago, the sponsors had carving-quality ice shipped from Seattle to Fairbanks in the middle of winter. Then they discovered that they were sitting on the Holy Grail of frozen water -- "Arctic Blue Diamond Ice," forming clear, blue and rock-hard in a pond at the Ice Park.
Now ice from the park grounds is shipped around the world. It was used for this winter's ice carvings in Anchorage's Town Square. A few years ago, some was ordered by famed glass artist Dale Chihuly for a show in Jerusalem.

In terms of attendance, the Ice Park may be Alaska's single biggest arts happening. Organizers say 40,000 people visit during the short lifespan of the sculptures.

Sadly, this may be the last year that this event is held in Fairbanks. The understanding by which the Ice Park has operated on land owned by the Alaska Railroad since 1995 is about to expire. When the federal government initially ran the railroad lease agreements for railroad land it was rather haphazard; it's said there were some getting land for about $10 a year. In 1985, when the state took over, the Legislature insisted such disparities cease and mandated that the Alaska Railroad get "fair market value" for all land leases. That's a significant chunk of change for the land that the Ice Park currently sits on. The Railroad has been working with the Ice Park for about 13 years, trying to do a long term lease and haven't been able to make it happen.


a heroic depiction of New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees by Louisiana carver Dawson List missed out on the judging when the top half couldn't be completed in time to add to the bottom half.

I would love the opportunity to view this someday. It has to be spectacular in person. To think that only a few short months ago, this RV park where I'm staying was transformed into a snowy winter wonderland full of dramatic ice sculptures created by artists from around the world.

The closest I got on this day was a visit to the Ice Museum downtown in the Old Lacey Street Theater. Inside, The Ice Showcase is an 8,000 cubic foot walk-in display case that maintains a constant temperature of 20 degrees. Inside are the results of hours of work on over 40,000 lbs. of world-famous Fairbanks ice. Understandably, I didn't venture into the Showcase since I only had a t-shirt on, but was satisfied with viewing the sculptures from outside the case, within the confines on the warm auditorium.

 I watched a  theater presentation called Freeze Frame, which is a dynamic large screen multi-image presentation that tracks, from start to finish, the process of Ice Art.

It's always fun to learn something new. I have a new appreciation for the piece of land my motor home is parked at for the week.

The End of the Highway

If I were to have a bucket list then traveling the Alaska Highway would be on it and today I could say

 I DID IT!

We reached mile 1422 in Delta Junction today around lunch time so we celebrated with a little of the Buffalo sausage I bought. I also bought Cooper a huge smoked Buffalo (?) bone, which he enjoyed later!

We traveled on and reached Fairbanks around 3:30pm, which is late for us. We're usually parked in our site by noon but before we left Tok this morning dad had to put his car back together after he had the base plate reattached.

"almost" good as new!

I had a RV park all picked out in Fairbanks for it's great location. It was close to Pioneer Park, downtown, the University, shopping, etc. When we pulled into the park it looked deserted so we weren't sure if it was even open. The sign on the door said they were however, so we ventured in. We were thinking of staying put for a week since the weather is good and there seems to be a lot to do. This park advertises a discounted weekly rate, which is nice - a lot of campgrounds don't - only monthly discounts. We were also concerned about being able to receive Internet inside the motor home instead of having to walk to the office to connect. The electric and water hook ups were a little different as well. Multiple sites seem to share the same power pole.

We walked around, trying to find a site close together that might work for both of us but we just weren't getting a good feeling about the place so we unhooked the tow car and parked the motor homes outside the front gate and drove to another RV park - only this one was 9 miles from town via the expressway. It was nice but just more remote than I wanted to be for the week. We had one other park to check out which was a little closer to town but still not as close as the first park. They were packed. They had a few sites left but there was a problem with the water so no water hook up. The sites were also very close together.

Okay, by this time we were tired and hungry so we drove back to the original place (it was looking better by the minute) and decided to just stay for the night. Since being able to receive Internet service inside the motor home was a high priority for us, we drove around the campground until we could connect.

I haven't figured out what these black panels are for!

 Once we got everything hooked up, had a celebratory beer and dinner, then everything looked a lot rosier. Maybe I can stay here for a week after all, because.... really....am I going to spend my time in this motor home or out exploring another great new town?