Girdwood Marathon

Girdwood's community trail marathon strings together more than a dozen named trails in a temperate rain forest valley south of Anchorage. The organizers are blunt that it should not be anyone's first marathon, and volunteers who sweep the course or staff an aid station are guaranteed an entry the following year.

The route links Winner Creek, the Upper, Middle, and Lower Iditarod Trails, the Bird-to-Gird path, and Alyeska resort singletrack, with roots, mud, and short steep grades throughout. Finishers compare the effort to an ultra, so pacing by effort beats chasing road splits.

Early October in Girdwood is cool and wet, with temperatures around 40 and rain more likely than not in one of Alaska's wettest valleys. Mud and standing water are part of the race most years, and daylight is already short.