100 miles of insanity

Resslin' Around, by Casey Ressler

Usually around the 100-mile mark on a trip -- around Girdwood on the way down to the Peninsula -- you just have to get out of the car and stretch your legs.

You know the feeling well -- it's been two hours, and you haven't moved, and you could really go for a Mountain Dew.

Now imagine walking that far. In the wind, cold and snow. On snowshoes, too. With nowhere to stop for a Mountain Dew. Where the closest help is miles away. For fun.

While it sounds like insanity to most people, that was the backdrop for the Susitna 100 race, which began Saturday at Big Lake Lodge.

The race began in Big Lake and continued on to Yentna, across Flat Horn Lake and the Little Susitna River and then to the finish line in Big Lake.

More than 100 people decided to run the Susitna 100 or the Susitna 50 (kilometers, which is a 33.1-mile race).

Racing in one of three categories -- snowshoes, bikes or skis -- they brought with them a mandatory of 15 pounds of gear -- sleeping bags, stoves, food, water and other necessities. Remember, they do this for fun.

People came from around Alaska, and from as far away as Germany to run the race. Ultramarathoners, as the athletes are called, know no limits. They push themselves to the brink of exhaustion and dehydration, and keep going.

A good friend of mine decided to run the Susitna 50 this year as a warmup to next year's Susitna 100. Then, he wants to go to McGrath the next year, and then complete his own personal mission of walking to Nome. I've covered Iditarod, and I know that Nome is nearly two hours by airplane, and I'm betting its a little longer than that when you are walking.

When he first mentioned he was going to run the race, and then talked about his four-year plan to Nome, my immediate reaction was, "Why? Nome isn't even that great of a place."

I understand that these races are for personal triumphs and for testing one's resolve against nature, and everything else the ultramarathoners talk about.

I respect their athletic abilities and I admit I'm impressed that their abilities allow them to complete such a tough and grueling race in which weather conditions can ultimately determine the outcome.

It's just that it doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to me.

My friend said I should think about trying the Susitna 50 with him. After all, he said, its only a 30-miler, and we would take it easy.

I casually explained to him that slow-pitch softball is more my speed, mainly because the prospect of having a heart attack in the middle of nowhere and freezing to death really isn't that appealing to me.

I told him that I'd reconsider, however, the day they make Powerbars taste more like Snickers.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor. While the competitors were freezing on the trail, he was bundled up in a recliner Saturday night.