The Frank Maier Marathon in Juneau, Alaska is a moderately hilly marathon held across the Gastineau Channel on Douglas Island. An out and back course on mostly rolling hills with a picturesque view of the Mendenhall Glacier from miles 11-15. Unfortunately the half marathoners turn around too soon for the spectacular view. Cool with a slight drizzle made for perfect race weather in my opinion. A nice small race with a surprisingly flexible early start policy (1, 2, and 3 hours early for some who were hoping to hop a flight to Wrangell to make it an Alaskan double weekend). Post race cookout with grilled salmon (and veggie burgers). Personally I preferred this race to Mayor’s Midnight Sun in Anchorage. Juneau seems to be more of an authentic Alaskan experience than Anchorage in my opinion (to be taken with a huge grain of salt since I’ve spent no more than 60 hours in Alaska total in my two trips) Fun fact: Juneau sees 62 inches of rainfall annually (2 less than Miami); however, it sees 85 inches of snow (85 [edit: more] than Miami) for an average of 230 days of precipitation in an average year. I note this because I forgot my waterproof layer for this trip. DOH!
