Trent-Waldron-Glacier Half Marathon

The Glacier Half-Marathon has its origins in a marathon started at Portage for Marcie Trent by her husband, John, in celebration of Mother's Day. In 1995, Marcie Trent (77) and her son, Larry Waldron (45), were killed by a bear defending a moose carcass while running up McHugh Peak. To recognize the contributions of the Trent and Waldron families to running in Anchorage, the Glacier Half-Marathon is named in their honor.

The Glacier Half-Marathon starts at Westchester Lagoon at 9 AM on Saturday, May 23rd. The course consists of an out-and-back loop on the Chester Creek trail around Tikishla Park, return to Westchester, followed by a loop on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail to Earthquake Park. There will be an 8 AM start for those anticipating taking more than 3 hours to complete the half-marathon. Pre-race day registration and bib pickup will occur on Wednesday, May 20th, from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM at Skinny Raven. Day of race registration and bib pickup starts at 8 AM. The registration fee is your Anchorage Running Club membership.

The Glacier Half-Marathon fills an important early mid-distance niche in the summer's running season. It is perfectly situated for those contemplating the Mayor's Marathon (http://www.mayorsmarathon.com) events in June or an early season tune-up for the Anchorage Running Club's Big Wildlife Runs (http://www.bigwildliferuns.org) in August.

The hallmark of the Glacier Half-Marathon is the individual reward of earning a glass or a cup for maintaining your running effort between years. After completing an inaugural Glacier Half-Marathon, runners are given goal times that are age-graded to indicate a goal time that matches the effort from their most recent finish in the race. There are over 1,800 runners in the database, many with multiple entries in the race going back to 1985. In order to provide the goal time to the runner, it is necessary to prepare and attach labels to the bibs of all returning runners. Early race registration facilitates preparing the bibs and producing the final results. If you have not already become a member, please do so on Active.com (http://www.anchoragerunningclub.org/joinarc.html). There is no additional charge for this service and it is easier on volunteers.

If you are considering entering the Glacier, please e-mail your name, gender, and date of birth to Thule@alaska.net with Glacier Half-Marathon Entry in the subject line. You have until Wednesday May 13th for this expedited service. There will also be a signup sheet at the Do-Run-Run. You will be able to pick up your bib at Skinny Raven on the 20th and avoid the last minute rush on race day.