#884

It's not divisible by three but it's still a good number and one that Scott wore on Saturday morning when he came in first place for his first Juneau race – “Racing the Tide” Springtime Scramble. Organized by the Southeast Roadrunners, this is an annual race that is meant for (in my non-runner mind) crazy people, people who want to immerse themselves into waist-high freezing cold water as they run across the tidal flats from North Douglas to the Juneau Airport and back. And that’s the easy part. The more challenging part is scrambling up Fish Creek Trail when it’s covered in snow so the trail isn’t actually visible but it’s still booby-trapped with devils club and tree roots that stick out in such angles perfect for tripping and all manners of natural obstacles that make the trail hard to just walk on. In typical Alaska fashion, for a ‘springtime’ race, mother nature decided to descend snow mixed with rain (or as Scott calls it “snain”) instead of sunshine.

I went out on the flats with Anthony, whose wife Lori was also running the race, and their two kids Eli and Serena to see who would be leading the race on the home stretch to the airport before running back across the flats to the finish line. Anthony had an inkling it would be Scott. I was hoping it’d be Scott, but not knowing the running scene in Juneau at all, I really didn’t know. Around fifteen minutes passed before we saw the first runner sliding down the hill from the road to the flats and running towards us. It took us a minute or so to be certain but, indeed, the person running towards us was Scott. Two other runners followed but Scott seemed to have a pretty good lead. Anthony, Eli, Serena, and I jumped in the car and rode to the finish line to meet Scott there.

These aren't pretty photos as Anthony took them during the actual race, and most people aren't at their most attractive while running a race, especially one like this one. Above: Crossing the finish line. Below: Running the flats.

Here is a Juneau Empire blurb on the race. The Empire mistakens Scott for being a decade older than he really is. http://juneauempire.com/sports/2013-04-28/racing-tide-spring-tide-scramble