Alaska 2019-30

The group posed for this photo at the bib pickup for the Scranton (PA) Steamtown Marathon. This would be Dana, Melinda and Orville’s first marathon run.

L to R:   Me, Dana Philbin (niece), Cathy, Melinda and Orville Hrabe (niece and nephew).

We decided to follow the course in our car so here we are at the start at Forest City High School, about 26 miles north of Scranton.  It took us about two hours to drive the route.

Of course we had a “girls only” photo to add.

We stopped to watch some critters along the route.  They were happily snacking in someone’s front yard.  Hopefully this mother and her three yearling cubs will be watching from a distance.  Yes, that is one of the cubs up a tree in the upper left of this photo.

A couple of the cubs on the ground came out for a look at us.  The mother kept her eye on us the whole time!

After finishing the drive through, we headed back to camp to rest, viewing this sunset as we neared our destination.

We were careful to avoid these deer which were out in numbers in the evening and again on race day.

Since I boarded a bus downtown at 6:00 am, Cathy had time to attend mass at St. Peter’s Cathedral, just a block from the finish line. (Photo taken in daylight the next day)

This is the small reflection area next to the Cathedral. (Photo taken in daylight the next day)

RACE MORNING

Orville in the gym at Forest City High School, early in the morning.

Now the run; I was getting tired as I made the cardinal sin of not training for this run. Note to self – NEVER AGAIN.  I felt good that I made it to the halfway point and forwarded this shot to Cathy.

I cramped up at mile 21 and almost quit.  I hobbled on one usable leg, then the other leg cramped.  Damn, I was doing fairly well (for me) and fully anticipated in finishing the run under the regulation time. When I crossed the 24 mile mark I sent this to Cathy so she would know I was still alive.  Right after mile 24,  I took a right turn when I should have gone straight and discovered, about six blocks later that I was by myself.  I had to do a hobbled backtrack,  and any chance of a decent time went to heck in a hand basket.

Here I am crossing the finish line (which started to be disassembled about 15 minutes earlier) to little fanfare.  My feet were blistered and bruised and I had difficulty driving back to the campsite.  BUT, I finished.

MEANWHILE

Back at the race, the young’ns had a spectacular finish.  This is Dana and Melinda approaching the finish line . . . at the mid four-hour mark a remarkable finish for a first attempt.

Dana and Melinda checked out Orville’s hardware.  He finished in under four hours. Under four hours!  Damn, just damn!  These three have legs!

They really do have something to be proud of.

Orville and Dana would be heading back to Sacramento in the morning but took some time eating the finish-line chow.  They were halfway back to Hartford by the time I crossed.

The Scranton Steamtown Marathon is organized and operated entirely by the running group in Scranton. There are no paid managers or staff and they manage to donate all of the proceedings to the The Steamtown Marathon, which benefits the children and residents of St. Joseph’s Center in Scranton.  The Marathon has donated $1.86 million to St. Joseph’s since 1996; with another $50,000 this year!  All people working the event were pure volunteers, and there were about 3,000 of them on the course to assist.  There were more volunteers working than runners running (1,030).  Overall it was one of the best marked courses, had some of the best aid stations, had incredible police, fire and medical support and was one of the best organized marathon events I have participated in.

In the morning, we drove back to downtown Scranton to take in the sights, without all of the marathon fanfare.  This is the Lackawanna County Courthouse, which takes up an entire square block, including its gardens and monuments.

A few of the monuments displayed on the grounds include that of Christopher Columbus, which had fresh flowers at its base; this being Columbus Day!

There was a statue General Thaddeus Kosciuszko, American Revolutionary War hero from Poland. Kosciuszko was recruited by the Continental Congress to assist the American war effort. He planned and directed the artillery fire at the Battle of Saratoga, designed and helped build the fortifications at West Point and led the attack at the Battle of Charlestown, the last great battle of the war.  He is referred to as the “Father of American Artillery”.

Another monument was to General Casimir Pulaski, and American Revolutionary War hero from Poland.  Pulaski was on General Washington’s staff and distinguished himself at the Battle of Brandywine and was elevated to brigadier General at the Battle of Germantown.  He was mortally wounded in Savannah in October of 1779.  He is referred to as the “Father of American Cavalry”.

General Philip H. Sheridan was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major-general and his close association with General-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant, who transferred Sheridan from command of an infantry division in the Western Theater to lead the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac in the East. In 1864, he defeated Confederate forces under General Jubal Early in the Shenandoah Valley and his destruction of the economic infrastructure of the valley, called “The Burning” by residents, was one of the first uses of scorched-earth tactics in the war.

Both as a soldier and private citizen, he was instrumental in the development and protection of Yellowstone National Park.

There was also a memorial to John Mitchell, who led the Anthracite Coal strike of 1902, which included over 150,000 coal workers and lasted for over six months. The president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt had to get personally involved to bring the strike to an end.  This introduced Federal intervention into labor disputes.  He is remembered as the “Champion of Labor, the Defender of Civil Rights”.

Limping around Scranton made us hungry so we found this little deli downtown and enjoyed some kosher sandwiches.

After lunch, and after discovering that today (Columbus Day) the parking is free in Scranton; we took some additional time to limp around some more of the downtown area.  This is the front of the very impressive Municipal Building aka “City Hall”, constructed in the late 1800s.  The large windows in this building are made with leaded glass

You can see  some of the detail of the glass in the view of the entrance.  All of the exterior windows are constructed similarly.  The details in the construction of this building were impressive to say the least.

This a view of the Electric City sign as seen from the grounds of the County Courthouse.

This is the front of the Masonic Temple and Scottish Rite Cathedral down the block from City Hall.  This building is now known as the Scranton Cultural Center.

The is just one of the buildings housing Lackawanna College.

This is what the view is looking down Washington street towards the County Courthouse where the finish line was yesterday.  I called Cathy from here yesterday to let her know I was back on course and headed home.