I completed the 25 km Tour of Anchorage ski marathon today. It took me about 3 hours and 45 minutes. I think that was a pretty good time since I thought it would take me over four hours based on my speed during training.

Steve Approaching the Finish of the Tour of Anchorage

And the actual distance according to my GPS device was almost 27 km.

I kept a pretty good pace but did not feel overly tired. About 15 km into the race a muscle in my right thigh started to get tired. But no excuses - this is a race!

The most exciting thing that happened was seeing a moose on the trail. I got a pretty good shot of it before my fellow skiers shooed it away.

The 25K course for the Tour of Anchorage trail first went through the middle of the city. In the photo, the moose  is on the other side of a tunnel under a two lane road in town.

As I approached the tunnel, I saw the other skiers banging their ski poles together. What the heck? I thought. Then I saw the moose on the other side.

That was my only brush with massive wildlife. Although one of my teammates that skied the 40K course said she saw a wolf on the trail.

I’ll provide more details later about the race later. Thanks to all who donated! And for those that have not - it’s not too late!

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