Jenna Leigh Challenor (born 6 July 1981) is a South African long-distance runner.She competed in the marathon event at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London, UK, finishing 59th.. Theriault Boots: I think its the same intrigue that makes people going missing in Alaska so fascinating for some people, because its just the vastness of the wilderness. In 2014, Michaels family settled a lawsuit with the Seward Chamber of Commerce. You know, a lot of people kept saying, you need some sort of closure. 4.2 (8) Rate. The junior trail is probably the safest of the threebut its dangerous as well, just cut into the side of the mountain, very steep and narrowtrees, roots to negotiate, and it gets very slick. But there was no sign of Michael. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences. What happened? Missing person reports in the area, reported cries from the trees, and sightings of what look like oversized monkeys call to mind the legends of vicious baboon . Next was the womens race, and it was a pleasant temperature, in the low 60s, with a little bit of fog blowing in and out in strips. At that point, you have an entire mountain, and you have no limiting factor. All rights reserved. "We haven't been able to rule out anybody,'' she said. The red lantern in the race from downtown Seward to Race Point high up on Mount Marathon and then back, LeMaitre was last seen just a few hundred feet below the point in 2012. The Mount Marathon Race in Seward took place Wednesday, after a year off due to the pandemic, without reports of any major trouble. Trailing behind the other runners, LeMaitre was last seen near the summit by a race official. The race, which is notorious for its extreme nature, covers approximately 3 miles of difficult terrain up and back down the Mount. While injuries are common and expected, LeMaitre's case was unprecedented. No sign of LeMaitre has been found. Once competitors have reached the summit, the faster ones can make it back down to the ground in under ten minutes. Earlier last week . Iraq war veteran and Blackhawk pilot Penny Assman slid over a cliff, lacerating her liver and breaking several ribs; an Alaskan runner named Matthew Kenney fell at the same spot and suffered broken legs and brain damage. At 11 a.m., nearly 350 women gathered behind the start line. Lingit Aani Kaa Kei Nas.ax Haa Yoo Xatangi, the Anchorage Daily News Curious Alaska column, https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/8-Michelle-Theriault-int.mp3. MaryAnne LeMaitre: My dadhe has always had an adventurous spirit: He did the Iditaski several times; he had a lot of exciting adventures on the water. One thought I had was, what if a glove had gotten washed down a stream? If my dad had fallen in one of those chutes and a snow bridge had collapsed over him, the infrared helicopters wouldnt have been able to find him., Michael was declared dead in August 2012 after a presumptive death hearing. The race, which is notorious for its extreme nature, covers approximately 3 miles of difficult terrain up and back down the Mount. Ravens. On July 4, 2012, an Anchorage man named Michael LeMaitre went missing as he competed in Mount Marathon, the grueling Seward footrace typically held on the Fourth of July each year. Thats where [Assman and Kenney] fell. But he hadnt been on the mountain before. Download the app. 2023 Anchorage Daily News. While injuries are common and expected, LeMaitre's case was unprecedented. I chose to come down the cliffs in a crabwalk its so steephand, hand, foot, foot.. To get from where he was last seen in 2012 to where the jawbone was found would require that he first make a left turn off the Mount Marathon ridge when he knew a right turn was required to pick up the trail down. Later in that year of 2012, he was declared legally dead through a court proceeding called a presumed death trial, which is a way for families whove lost someone in a fishing boat accident or a plane crash, where remains are not going to be recoverable to have their loved one legally declared deceased so they can move on with settling estates and insurance and things like that. MaryAnne walked the mountain for weeks, looking for her dad. While he was still heading up the mountain, the officials at checkpoints along the way were packing up. People were out searching, helicopter going constantly. Replies analysing and speculating over the mystery and possible explanations are encouraged. The mystery of what happened to LeMaitre is the subject of the Anchorages Daily News Curious Alaska column this week. This article originally appeared in our October, 2012 issue. And the race is so risky and dangerous the whole time. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Theres a rule that if youre much slower than most of the runners, you have to make it halfway up in one hour, or youll be disqualified. More about series. Every year on July 4th, hundreds of burly mountain runners climb a punishing 3,022 ft in under a mile to Race Point on Mount Marathon and back down into Seward. An extensive search turned up nothing. The average speed uphill is 2 mph. CBS News Bay Area: Free 24/7 News CBS Bay Area App I guess I always thought this was a process that only happened after several years, or when concrete evidence supporting the missing person is deceased surfaced. Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. July 9, 2021 by Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media. Prior to the race this year, former race director Chuck Echard had written a letter to the Seward Phoenix Log expressing his opinion that the race field should be decreasedthe event, he contended, wasnt for everyone. The partial jawbone in question, she said, was found by hunters in the mountains above Tonsina Creek about 4 miles from the city. After troopers stopped their search, family continued. Fink: You start in downtown Seward, 4th avenue, and the street is all lined with spectators. Usually by the time of race day, the water hasnt dried up, so you have to know what youre doing because its very steep and you can fall off. There is hope that it might eventually be matched to the dental records of one of the missing people, but so far troopers haven't even been able to conclude who it isn't. The discovery of human remains near Seward has sparked speculation that the body of Michael LeMaitre, possibly the state's most famous missing person, has been found, but that appears unlikely. She maintained a 4.0 Grade Point Average at the school. The 66-year-old businessman and grandfather was last seen about three hours into the race, climbing just shy of the races turnaround point at an elevation of about 3,000 feet. Crom said the pair had climbed mountains together worldwide. Tonsina Creek is along a trail that begins near the end of Lowell Point Road south of downtown. His wife Peggy claimed negligence by race officials. Fink: After youve summited and rounded the rock, you drop into the snow, and you either sit on your feet or slide down on your butt. Records fell at the annual Mount Marathon Race in Seward on Monday. Clock says LeMaitre was last spotted race day by on-course volunteers around 6 p.m. The body of the 61-year-old, who had been missing since Saturday, was recovered on Tuesday near the summit of Mount Clark, the National Park Service said. Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! I chose to come down the cliffs in a crabwalk its so steephand, hand, foot, foot. But what happened in the 2012 Mount Marathon Race really stands out in Alaska lore. Scan this QR code to download the app now. They did have pit stops, but by the time he got to the top, it was all packed up. Delta variant wasnt detected in Alaska until a few weeks ago. The race is short, only three miles long. But according to OutsideOnline, it's tough: 'The race, which has been run as an organized event since 1915, is a beast, with a 3,022-foot vertical gain and loss over icy and treacherous mountain terrain, where runners pick their own way upand downthe average 38-degree slope.'. According to Squires, Some operations continued until July 15. He could have been buried under the snow. By 2 am, an Alaska State Troopers helicopter equipped with infrared radar was scanning the mountain. I wanted to go up and see what decisions my dad would have made. [2], Hutchins lived in Johnson City, but the family also lived just across the border in North Carolina. Still, Echard echoes the advice that newcomers can cut their risk dramatically if they simply check out the coursein personahead of time. Race volunteers headed down the mountain told him to make the turn and follow them to the finish. I hope with the foliage being goneit had been super thick when I was therethat we can start looking again. The 65-year-old was competing as a rookie in the. He is the races first fatality since it began in 1915. P.O. The chutes had snow bridges on them that have been collapsing all summer. She says, If youre not very capable and/or very familiar with the route, the cliff area and the scree can be dangerous.. Family losing hope of finding missing runner on Mount Marathon SI Staff Aug 9, 2012 ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Peggy LeMaitre no longer holds out hope that her husband is alive five weeks -. So that I think is discouraging of people who are going to be taking four or five, six hours much longer to complete the race. Details. disappeared during the Mount Marathon Race. For the first few minutes, its a very steep grade up a rock facequite technical. His disappearance was especially striking because he had been participating in an event that each year draws tens of thousands of spectators to Seward, and hundreds of runners onto the mountain itself. A pickup truck belonging to 35-year-old Kristin Snyder, an Anchorage environmental consultant, was found in the parking lot not far from the start of that trail in February 2003. Get notifications about news related to the topics you care about. He didnt make it up Mount Everest, but he tried it, Crom said. At the time of her disappearance, troopers said that there was a note in her truck saying she didn't want a search. And even though the race was short and the trail packed with people, there was a disappearance. Its a course that poses a danger for race rookies like LeMaitre, according to Cindy Clock, Executive Director of the Seward Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the race. One of the organisers of the race, Karol Fink, said that in the months before the big day, there had been unusual amounts of snow We had a little more snow than usual. Fink: Had you asked me whether someone could go missing during Mount Marathon, I would have said, impossible. If he did turn 180 degrees in the wrong direction, he would then need to descend extremely steep and rough terrain on the south side of Mount Marathon, cross Lowell Creek, make a difficult climb up the Bear Mountain ridge, drop off it into the Spruce Creek drainage, climb yet another high ridge, and then drop into the Tonsina drainage. I think there was a healthy debate about how is this race unsafe, and they added some pretty sound safety measures, it sounds like. I know its fascinating to me, the overwhelming scale and power of the wilderness and how close we live to it and how close we all tried that line. But until this year, no one had ever died or gone missing on the race. By the end of the. Heres What To Know About the 2023 Canyons Endurance Runs by UTMB, Outside is Partnering with UTMB To Bring You Onto The Trails and Into the Action with Live and On-Demand Race Streaming. But crews found no sign of LeMaitre. Since 1982, our main focus has been to promote health and fitness among women, especially women who would not otherwise exercise. My dad was in last place. Then participants go downhill over snowfields and rock fields,waterfalls and crags until they reach the finish line, back on the streets of Seward. Thats when Anchorage resident Michael LeMaitre went missing while running the race, never to be seen again. Salt Lake City resident Penny Assman, 34, broke multiple ribs after a similar on-course fall (pictured here). When the competitive men come down from the top of the mountain to the bottom, theyre descending over 3,000 feet in about five minutes. From the picture that I saw of him at halfway, he didnt have water in his hand. A cadaver dog was sent into the area and friends paid for and analyzed high-resolution photographs of the mountain. Race organizers instituted a number of new safety measures in 2013, including mandatory signed statements from runners that theyve completed training runs on the course, a one-hour time limit for racers to reach the summit, and sweeps of the mountain by volunteers after each wave of the race. He was apparently fit and healthy, having been a regular visitor to the gym and had finished a 12K event a month earlier, but despite the warning, he had never visited the course and he chose to continue. An accomplished runner and mountain climber was found dead in Yosemite National Park days after he went missing, officials said. Zalokar also reportedly climbed every mountain over 14,000 feet in California and ran the New York City Marathon at age 55 in 2:43:10, winning his age group, official records show. LeMaitre. On July 7, with no progress made and resources dwindling, search efforts were scaled back. Theres a rule that if youre much slower than then most of the runners you have to make it halfway up in one hour, or youll be disqualified. Alaska Public Media 2023. I think thats fascinating people. [14] Hutchins was selected as Athlete of the Week by USA Track & Field as a result. I guess I'm headed down the rabbit hole now. While running the Mount Marathon race in Alaska, Michael LeMaitre disappeared. A big mistake with the benefit of hindsight. Michael LeMaitre, a 66-year-old rookie Mount Marathon racer, was last seen about 200 feet from the top of the mountain and has been missing ever since. Rookies must attest to having scouted the mountain ahead of time. Officials took a photo of Michael at the halfway point and he was smiling and seemed happy to continue. This incident remains under investigation, park officials said. The community is pretty heartbroken about it, and so many have reminded me that people are going to keep looking. Contact Craig Medred at craig(at)alaskadispatch.com. "There are eight people missing'' in the Seward area since 1993, she added, and trooper files hold an unknown number of cases of people who disappeared before that date. MOVING FORWARDThe community of Seward was hit hard. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers up and down the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon. Casey Grove is the host of Alaska News Nightly and a general assignment reporter at Alaska Public Media with an emphasis on crime and courts. Since all the snow hadnt melted out from the creek bed, there were some snow bridges that you had to cross that were really creepy. Im surprised that for such a technical race they didnt already have anyone sweeping at the end, but maybe this isnt as common for trail races as I believed them to be. The chutes had snow bridges on them that have been collapsing all summer. We have a safety meeting ahead of time that you have to attend. At press time, LeMaitre had still not been found and was presumed dead. Fink: Distance in this race isnt as critical as vertical. She flew to Seward on July 5. Emmanuel Macron changes phone and number after reports of Dad of crying infant that triggered Texas massacre 'never thought' gunman would shoot, It's not just soda: Nutritionists weigh in on the absolute worst drinks for your health, ABC airs NYC footage with Twin Towers during Knicks-Heat game, Gayle King says she doesnt have a desire to retire: I want more work, WNBA star Brittney Griner is heading to the Met Gala, Mariah Carey celebrates Moroccan and Monroes 12th birthday: My babies, NY Post Sports Reporter Zach Braziller breaks down the Knicks game 1 loss to the Heat, Elon Musk Tells Bill Maher Woke Mind Virus Is Dangerous On Real Time, Kendall Jenner rocks sheer top, fur mini skirt for date night with Bad Bunny. Jenna Hutchins (born March 25, 2004), is a high school and "Under 20" record-breaking American long distance runner from Johnson City, Tennessee. I had to go down, but before I did I looked over the slide area and saw a black bear. Thats one of my fears, that if Im not looking, no ones looking. There are no sweepers that follow the Red Lantern, the last runner down the mountain, to ensure every person has gotten off the mountain. Its a bad idea to come down that way, but people do it. Michaels daughter, MaryAnne said My dadhe has always had an adventurous spirit: He did the Iditaski several times; he had a lot of exciting adventures on the water. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. He was just taking it slow and intent on finishing the race.. If new clues or evidence is discovered Troopers would evaluate new search efforts, he said. Let us know in the form at the bottom of the story. But theres also a trail that continues, and it would have been very easy for him to keep going on that trail. She focuses on in-depth stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. montanawomensrun . Since all the snow hadnt melted out from the creek bed, there were some snow bridges that you had to cross that were really creepy. I think there was a healthy debate about how is this race unsafe, and they added some pretty sound safety measures, it sounds like. In July 2013, LeMaitres widow sued the Seward Chamber of Commerce, who organizes the race, for $5 million and eventually settled in October 2014 for $20,000. In the 1980s, when Echard was director, the senior mens and womens field was capped at 200; this year, it was 375. Join Outside+ to get access to exclusive content, 1,000s of training plans, and more. I think thats fascinating people. AFTER THE RACEOn July 5th, MaryAnne LeMaitre boarded a plane in Salt Lake City and went to Seward to look for her dad. No additional information is available. The second wave of the race which included LeMaitre started at 3.15 pm. In 2014, the Seward Chamber of Commerce settled with the family for a payment of $25,000. It was rainy, but it didnt sound like it was raining all the time. They found no proof or sign of life. Weve never had anything this severe. While injuries arent uncommon at Mount Marathon, three unusually serious accidents marred this years event. It was about 8 p.m. local time on July 4 when Seward, Alaskas Fire Department received word that 66-year-old Michael LeMaitre of Anchorage, was missing. An old kayak missing from the yard at Miller's Landing, a resort at the end of the road, led to speculation she might have paddled off into Resurrection Bay, but she could just as easily headed down the trail to Tonsina Creek. Its not the opposite side of the mountain, but its a different face. The mystery of what happened to LeMaitre is the subject ofthe Anchorage Daily News Curious Alaska columnthis week. Theriault Boots:They searched, they didnt find anything. Welcome to Seward for the 93rd running of the Mount Marathon Race, the oldest mountain race in North America and possibly its craziest! So hes been legally dead for almost nine years now. Zalokar is survived by his wife, Deb, and their son, Ian, according to the Reno Gazette Journal. Though declared legally dead for about nine years, LeMaitre is still considered a missing person by Alaska State Troopers. A jogger vanishes from the top of Mt Marathon in Alaska and a witness describes seeing a monstrous, airplane-sized raptor around the time of the disappearance . He was seen near the ascent and with only 1.5 miles to go, downhill. Everyone involved in the Marathon Mountain event asks the question, how does someone disappear during a three-mile race and be lost forever, without a trace? The Mount Marathon Race in Seward took place Wednesday, after a year off due to the pandemic, without reports of any major trouble. Every Mount Marathon rookie is required to watch a graphic safety video the night before the race. Then you pop out back out and have to decide whether to take the junior trail, the cliffs, or the waterfall, which is 20 feet out, 70 feet down. It's been a tough past year navigating the pandemic, and. We spoke separately to Karol Fink, a Mount Marathon organizer and 19-year race veteran who ran this year, and to MaryAnne LeMaitre, whose father has yet to be found. But what happened in the 2012 Mount Marathon Race really stands out in Alaska lore. Mount Marathon is the superbowl of Alaskan mountain running, the ultimate 4th of July celebration, one of my first experiences with competitive running, and . They show crashes, people on backboards and lots of blood.. [3][4] Hutchins is an accomplished violinist and has volunteered locally as a youth running coach and at the Johnson City Public Library. When you get to the top, most racers go around. No trail, an Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman said at the time. THE STARTBibs have typically been limited to 350 men, 350 women, and 200 juniors, but this year the race was expanded to accommodate 400 in each of the mens and womens races. The Mount Marathon Race in Seward took place Wednesday, after a year off due to the pandemic, without reports of any major trouble. We had a little more snow than usual. Other remains associated with the man were found in the same area in 1997, according to troopers. But I think theres a lot of people who still very much want to know what happened to Michael LeMaitre. For the next 24 minutes or so, its just steep. Unfortunately, it was not to be! The Marathon course is a certified Boston qualifier. By 9 p.m. a search was in full force. They moved to Pflugerville, Texas when she was ten years old, staying a few years, after her father got a work promotion. "We haven't been able to rule out anybody,'' Alaska State Trooper spokesperson Beth Ipsen said Friday, but she admitted that distance and topography alone make it unlikely the jawbone is that of LeMaitre. That evening, when LeMaitre had not returned, his family reported him missing. [8] Peggy LeMaitre is no longer holding out hope that her husband is still alive five weeks and multiple searches after he vanished without a trace while running in the popular extreme race. Im still very curious to have someone go out there and checkhis body could be there. And theres just never been a trace of him found. This year, it had rained the night before, so it made the race really slick and muddy for the juniors. Its not like climbingthere is no rating system for this. I have spent a lot of time on the mountain; I know my route very clearly. Crom, meanwhile, told the newspaper its unclear whether he summited Mount Clark prior to his death, but said park rangers would likely check a log book near the peak. The mountain is always there. There is an entry limit, with around 90 percent of the participants being returnees and with a coveted lottery ticket system in place. | Alaska Insight, Litter of wolverine kits brings adorable triple threat to Alaska Zoo. An Instagram murder - Brandon Clark and Bianca Devins, Gannon Stauch Murder Trial - Daily Updates, Jenna Van Gelderen and the missing Egyptian tapestry, The Missing, Murdered and Reunited of Runaway Train, UPDATE: 11 year old Gannon Stauch missing from Colorado Springs - remains have been found in Florida, The Ultimate Guide to the Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell case. A team of hikers will sweep the mountain after the competition to look for potential laggards. Youve heard of Tough Mudder and the Spartan Race, but every Fourth of July, the town of Seward, Alaska, hosts a competition that rivals both. Then you drop into a creek bed. Karol Fink: Its a bit mysteriousthe feel of it. She ran there and doubled as a forward and midfielder in soccer. Back to Top . I would say you should run this a dozen times before youre ready to compete in it. As ADN reporter Michelle Theriault Boots told Alaska Public Medias Casey Grove, race volunteers were the last people to see LeMaitre near the top of the mountain. [13] That mark was the fastest girls' U18 time in the world in 2020. Going off in the wrong direction, falling off, landslides, bear activitythere are so many things that could have happened and just nothing to go on. But probably the best known missing person case in wild Alaska involves 66-year-old Michael LeMaitre of Anchorage who went up Mount Marathon on July 4, 2012 and never came down. Around 1 p.m., the sun shone through the trees and leaves crinkled under huge crowds of runners' feet. New rules were instituted, including one that says runners now must sign a pledge saying theyve completed the roughly 3-mile race course at least once prior to race day. Her husband of 43 years, Michael LeMaitre, was last seen on July 4, about 200 feet from the top of Mount Marathon in Seward, south of Anchorage. I have a friend from Seward. Seward's Mount Marathon is one of the most watched, single-day sporting events in the 49th state. Photo by Carol Grisswold. Calls to her for this story went unanswered. LeMaitre was declared legally dead in October 2012 after a court proceeding known as a presumed death trial. Thats when Anchorage resident Michael LeMaitre went missing while running the race, never to be seen again. 2023 Anchorage Daily News. Echard says this years race highlighted the need to shrink the field. This was an extreme event and he was last seen on July 4, 2012 about 200 feet from the top of Mount Marathon, a 3022 feet high peak. [8], Before injury shortened her season, Jenna posted nation-leading times in the 1600 (4:44.13) and 3200 meters (9:52.33) and lowered her own Science High 800 meter record to 2:13.65. Mount Marathon towers over the community of Seward at the head of Resurrection Bay about 125 miles south of Anchorage. I wonder how his wife managed to have him declared dead barely 3 months after he went missing. His wife sued the race and the Seward Chamber of Commerce for $5 million, alleging negligence and emotional distress. . What did they tell you nine years later about this? Did he ever reach the summit and turn around? People have to promise theyve been up the mountain before. Im never going to be a professional runner, and Im never going to be a racecar driver or a rodeo person, but this is my chance to push that edge. The junior trail is probably the safest of the threebut its dangerous as well, just cut into the side of the mountain, very steep and narrowtrees, roots to negotiate, and it gets very slick. Hed kind of pick a goal and go after it hard.. [5][6] In 2019 she earned All-American status for a second straight year at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.,[5][10]. For this, I knew that I needed to do everything I could. On July 4, 2012, runners gathered in Seward, Alaska, for a three-mile trail race up the mountain that looms 3,000 feet over Resurrection Bay. Michael LeMaitre (66) disappeared on his way up the mountain and remains missing to this day. The road takes a few minutes before you hit what we call the mountain. Published: Jun. It does get a bit grim. LeMaitre: I just dont know if theres a chance of finding him. Its in your mind every single day. Fred would be the one to climb up on the technical part and throw a rope down to the rest of us, Sean Crom told the newspaper of Zalokar, whom he met while training for a 100-mile ultramarathon decades earlier. Its dangerous, so youre not only competing against other people on the mountain, but youre competing to get across the finish line healthy and safe. Two other runners sustained serious injuries in this years race. Walsh asked LeMaitre for his bib number and he replied Five-four-eight, and as he descended back towards the town he texted race officials: Bib number 548 would be home in about an hour and a half. Box 2530 :: Billings, MT 59103 406-255-8488 2023 Montana Women's Run. Casey Grove: And you took these questions back to the authorities. Photo by Carol Grisswold. At this point, the area was getting foggy and cold but Walsh saw no reason to be concerned about the condition of the runner. The race starts in Molt, MT at the Community Center. Miller is among 3,988 people reported missing in Alaska in 2002 and one of the 217 who remain missing, according to Alaska State Troopers. We dont claim that its safe, she says. The partial jawbone in. Searchers worried that if he wasnt already injured, he probably had hypothermia because of his light clothing, exhaustion and the freezing weather. Its not uncommon for racers to be injured, running to the top of 3,022-foot Mount Marathon and back down again. Theriault Boots: I think its the same intrigue that makes people going missing in Alaska so fascinating for some people, because its just the vastness of the wilderness. Theres no designated trailyou just pick the best line. not a marathon, definitely intense! I think that vastness and the proximity of that vastness to town and to thousands of people and spectators, that you could be gone without a trace while there are hundreds of runners and thousands of spectators, like a mile less than a mile away from you, is just a reminder for Alaskans of that very thin line we live in between our little patches of town and kind of infinite wilderness and the dangers of that. Over the next several days, the search parties grew to almost 70 people, according to Seward Fire Chief David Squires, and included helicopters, technically trained volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group, dogs and support from the Alaska Air National Guard. The view from Mount Clark, which.
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