My 60th marathon and will definitley rank as on of my favorites because of beauty! I only wish I had carried a camera. I knew it was a lot of trail running but had no idea so much. I would say 80-85%! Some of it was rather muddy but we all managed. Just watch your footing as some older gentleman fell and had a gash in his head. The views are fantastic, the weather was perfect and it wasn't too hilly. (Of course, compared to Chicago, anything seems hilly!)

TNT seems to have taken over this race with over 2000 and just 600+ that weren't. The spectators were mostly TNT supporters. Those of us not TNT runners felt like outcasts...but that would never stop me from recommending this beauiful race. I am so grateful to have participated!

What a wonderful opportunity. Weather slight drizzly rain; which felt good by the end of the run. Run on city streets, 9 mile tank trail, running trail. Small, intimate race for runners & walkers. 1 couple even got married just before the beginning of the race. What few spectators there were, were wonderful. Handing out homemade cookies, fruit, popsicles. Even had the wonderful luck to see a mother moose & her calf on the running trail; she bluff charged twice, until she could hide her calf in the woods. She then went back to eating & let us go on our way. Volunteers wonderful. Scenery spectacular. Only 2 bad hills; or were those small mountains? I was fortunate to be able to raise money for TNT & go to the place of my dreams. Wonderful pre & post meals. Anchorage a beautiful, clean city.

Participated in Mayor's Midnight Run in 2000 as part of Team in Training. The course was beautiful, although very hilly (keep in mind I live in Chicago where our hill training consists of running up the curbs! : ) ) There were a couple of sections in the first 6 miiles where runners had to stop for traffic, but otherwise the course was very secure. I heard of one participant who saw a moose around mile 21 even! It is definitely a course to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and take some photos even.

The shuttles, gear check, etc were very well organized. And although there were not a lot of spectators, the ones who were there were very encouraging. It seemed that most were related to TNT, but that could have just been my perspective.

Overall a great time! And if you make it up there for the race, definitely stay and do some exploring...Alaska is an incredible place and a great way to recover!

The race started at 8:00 am and the temp has about 50 degrees, the sun started to come out at about 11:00 and it warmed up to around 65 by noon.

The course starts out on a bike path next to a highway for the first 4 miles. The path is narrow, so it was pretty tight. You then run about 3 miles on some back roads that are closed to traffic. About mile 7 you move to a dirt road which turns into a trail at about mile 15. Its downhill from the point where you hit the pavement again at mile 16, watch those hamstrings and calves, they want to tighten up. The largest crowd of the race was greet you as you near the bottom of the hill, mile 17.5 and for the next couple of miles which are along side a busy road. You cross over the road on a bridge just before mile 20 and are on a bike path in the woods until and the last mile. There is one big up hill to the finish.

Support was good and the organization seemed great. Water and Gratorade every 2 to 3 miles. There were busses from all the hotels to the start and from the finish, so you wouldn't have to drive.

It was my first, but won't be my last.

This is a small race with the field dominated by Team In Training. 90% of the field wore LSA purple. The Expo is very small again dominated by LSA. The Course is the star here. It begins and ends in Anchorage but the majority of the course is in the foothills of the mountains. Due to the logistics of the course, race support suffers at times. These short comings are made up for by enthusiastic supporters.