not a marathon, definitely intense! I guess I'm headed down the rabbit hole now. Lost without a trace, not even clothing - black shorts, a black T-shirt and a black headband. Other remains associated with the man were found in the same area in 1997, according to troopers. 2023 Anchorage Daily News. Additional age group awards will be given by RRCA! 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Miracle in ice: Indian mountain climber found alive days after falling into crevasse, Famed Irish mountain climber dies descending from peak in Nepal, Triple-amputee soldier climbs Kilimanjaro to deliver a burger, Lost a dear friend: Adventurer crushed to death saving climber after huge ice column splits. There is not an active search for him currently, McDaniel said. Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. Unfortunately, it was not to be! While injuries are common and expected, LeMaitre's case was unprecedented. Michael LeMaitre (66) disappeared on his way up the mountain and remains missing to this day. Race organisers take no responsibility for Michaels disappearance: Race volunteers spoke with Mr. LeMaitre as he was approaching the turnaround point and let him know the race was over, the statement said. [10] At 16, she took the women's 5000 at the Five & Dime Athletics Meeting in South Carolina with a time of 15:34.47. Though declared legally dead for about nine years, LeMaitre is still considered a missing person by Alaska State Troopers. The volunteers, who had been on the mountain for 10 hours, had completed their duty and were descending when they encountered LeMaitre, who was in last place, just approaching the mountains summit. Its just on the minds of everybody. No additional information is available. It's been a tough past year navigating the pandemic, and. Searches in the difficult terrain have failed to locate any signs of him. He was last seen at about 6pm by an official who was heading down the mountain. Is is body hidden somewhere on the Mount? The Mount Marathon Race in Seward took place Wednesday, after a year off due to the pandemic, without reports of any major trouble. 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 -. 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. The race had no official cutoff time, and since the mountain is open to the public for hiking, LeMaitre was allowed to continue. Every Mount Marathon rookie is required to watch a graphic safety video the night before the race. At 11 a.m., nearly 350 women gathered behind the start line. 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. Seward's Mount Marathon is one of the most watched, single-day sporting events in the 49th state. Primate sightings in the Alaskan woods have the team puzzled, since experts say that monkeys have never lived in Alaska. The mountain is so close to townyou can hear the announcer all the way up. It was rainy, it was foggy, and he just never came down the mountain. Thats where [Assman and Kenney] fell. But his disappearance prompted lasting safety changes to the way the race is run. At about 200 feet from the summit, one of the race officials heading down says he saw my dad, and he was still headed up. 65-year-old Michael LeMaitre was competing in the Mount Marathon race in Seward, Alaska, which is south of the city of Anchorage. The Marathon course is a certified Boston qualifier. Im still very curious to have someone go out there and checkhis body could be there. I want to inspire people to dream big and go out there and make it happen!. He was definitely physically fit. [9], In January, she won both the mile and two-mile runs at the Virginia Showcase in Lynchburg. The Mount Marathon Race doesnt look like much on paper: its short (just three miles long) and starts at sea level. A subreddit dedicated to the unresolved mysteries of the world. Now its 40% of samples. 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. The One Subscription to Fuel All Your Adventures. Tim Lebling, warned the racers at the pre-race safety talk, If you have not been up that mountain before, you should consider going home right now, and you should not be in the race. But, LeMaitre was undeterred. [5][6] In 2019 she earned All-American status for a second straight year at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.,[5][10]. 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. The general belief now is that LeMaitre, who'd never been to the point, followed an obvious trail past the turnaround rocks there and disappeared into the Kenai Mountains to the west. Zalokars website says he was also the first runner to win his age group in all six Abbott World Marathon Majors races in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, New York, London and Tokyo. So hes been legally dead for almost nine years now. Park officials did not indicate how he died, but a friend told the. 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It was the talk of the town: Two people falling off the waterfall. There was still quite a bit of daylight left, and my dad asked if he could still continue up to finish the race. But theres also a trail that continues, and it would have been very easy for him to keep going on that trail. No sign of LeMaitre has been found. I never went up the mountain on my own, except for the last trip. And now, if you do Mount Marathon, you have to attest publicly, you have to sign something like in a public room full of other racers that says that you have been up and down the whole course. Its a bad idea to come down that way, but people do it. When MaryAnne did not hear from her father after the race started on July 4, she knew something was wrong. Fort Valley State University student Missing Where is Anitra Gunn? Missing on Mount Marathon Michael LeMaitre. The body of Fred Zalokar, 61, was recovered Tuesday near the peak of Californias 11,527-foot Mount Clark, where he went on a hike Saturday using an off-trail route and did not return, National Park Service officials said in a statement. Queen Bee Montana Marathon - new name - Same Fast Courses! Grove: What do you think this story tells people about Alaska or about what happened to this guy? The chutes had snow bridges on them that have been collapsing all summer. Michelle Theriault Boots:During that race, it was terrible weather. They did have pit stops, but by the time he got to the top, it was all packed up. Law enforcement has to place eyes on him, alive and well, McDaniel said. He says a smaller field could prevent the already precarious course from becoming overcrowded and compromising runners ability to choose the safest path down the mountain. Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Clock says LeMaitre was last spotted race day by on-course volunteers around 6 p.m. The mens race was also foggy, but the trail had dried some. And potential participants should practice [the course]., Womens winner Holly Brooks, also of Anchorage, contends that the risk involved is simply a part of the race. Clouds were moving in and out, but you could still see Seward at times. There are no sweepers that follow the Red Lantern, the last runner down the mountain, to ensure every person has gotten off the mountain. Disappearance on Mount Marathon 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. They found no proof or sign of life. 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. 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. What happened this yearit was quite devastating for the community. Is there a serial killer in Austin, Texas? [8] The 65-year-old was competing as a rookie in the. A member of the LeMaitre family said Alaska State Troopers told him it did not appear the partial human jawbone found in the mountains above Tonsina Point south of the city belongs to the 65-year-old who disappeared during the Mount Marathon Race on July 4, 2012. Despite extensive searches, his body has never been recovered, and the details of his death remain a mystery. Alaska Public Media is our partner station in Anchorage. See also. LeMaitre. I think thats fascinating people. We dont claim that its safe, she says. 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. Several years since Michael disappeared, not one piece of physical evidence has surfaced. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. We've received your submission. Searchers worried that if he wasnt already injured, he probably had hypothermia because of his light clothing, exhaustion and the freezing weather. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences. We walked the streams. July 9, 2021 by Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media. Michaels eyesight was failing but he thought he was capable enough to finish the race. Its a bad idea to come down that way, but people do it. 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. A team of up to 60 searchers scoured the mountain, looking everywhere, even the other side, away from the race course. THE MOTIVATIONThe record time, set in 1981 by Bill Spencer, is 43:21. Where to watch . 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. The race is short, only three miles long. Vanished: Heidi Broussard (33) and Margot Carey (2wks). It was rainy, but it didnt sound like it was raining all the time. Once competitors have reached the summit, the faster ones can make it back down to the ground in under ten minutes. 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. Since 1982, our main focus has been to promote health and fitness among women, especially women who would not otherwise exercise. An accomplished runner and mountain climber was found dead in Yosemite National Park days after he went missing, officials said. The Alaska State Troopers announced that they were able to positively identify a body that had been classified as 'missing' for 32 years with the use of DNA evidence. The race starts in Molt, MT at the Community Center. Signs posted on the lower mountain, site of the most dangerous cliffs, point out alternate descent routes and rate their difficulty. People have to promise theyve been up the mountain before. He was never seen again and his body was never located despite extensive searching. While injuries arent uncommon at Mount Marathon, three unusually serious accidents marred this years event. 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. For the first few minutes, its a very steep grade up a rock facequite technical. It's not uncommon for racers to be injured, running to the. 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. Curious Alaska is a weekly feature powered by your questions. 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. After the official searches were called off, she spent over a month walking the mountain and looking for signs. No trail, an Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman said at the time. In the 1980s, when Echard was director, the senior mens and womens field was capped at 200; this year, it was 375. From the picture that I saw of him at halfway, he didnt have water in his hand. She was never found and remains among the missing in the area. It consumed the energy of the town. After troopers stopped their search, family continued. Following Michaels disappearance, officials made changes to the race. I hope with the foliage being goneit had been super thick when I was therethat we can start looking again. And that question has not been answered. 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 . And theres just never been a trace of him found. Ipsen said troopers don't yet know if the jawbone found in the mountains belongs to a man or a woman. [14] Hutchins was selected as Athlete of the Week by USA Track & Field as a result. Throughout my running, I have maintained a passion for travel & climbing, and combine them all whenever I have a chance, Zalokar, who had visited 137 countries, wrote on his website. "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. It is possible, she added, that the identity of the owner of the jawbone may never be known. The trail is slippery, almost straight up in places, and treacherous at best. Michael LeMaitre could have taken just a few wrong turns, and then very quickly was in the thousands and thousands of impenetrable, mountainous wilderness in the Kenai mountains. But according to OutsideOnline, its 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.. Numerous witnesses, including one medical doctor, would have testified at trial that Mr. LeMaitre requested no assistance, appeared to be in no distress, and wished to continue to the top of the mountain.. Matthew Kenney and Penny Assman both fell over the same section of trail, known as the waterfall.. Its not uncommon for racers to be injured, running to the top of 3,022-foot Mount Marathon and back down again. Thats one of my fears, that if Im not looking, no ones looking. LeMaitre never came down. Then you drop into a creek bed. What happened? Michael was competing for the first time in the 85th running of the Mount Marathon race, with participants running up the mountain surrounded, by thick forests and creeks over 3.1 to 3.5 miles. "She has a great work ethic," said Frankie Nunn, head coach of Tennessee High. It rained the night before the 2012 race and the trail was slick and muddy. 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. The Half Marathon has been selected by RRCA as the Montana State Championship Race. They show crashes, people on backboards and lots of blood.. 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. Learn how your comment data is processed. Alaska Public Media 2023. Jenna Mulhern Drops 12th Fastest 5K In High School History. Participants who dont make it a halfway-point within one hour are disqualified, and race sweepers now follow the last runner to the top of the mountain and back down, said race director Matias Saari. 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. 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. But he hadnt been on the mountain before. Race organisers take no responsibility for Michaels disappearance: Missing mom & baby- Gabriella Harkness Located, Bizarre Stories from the Alaska Triangle Successscan, Bizarre Stories from the Alaska Triangle Mid American News. The race, which is notorious for its extreme nature, covers approximately 3 miles of difficult terrain up and back down the Mount. Sarah Thomson, 28, went missing on Saturday after running 7 marathons in 7 days. 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. 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. It could predate modern record-keeping on the missing or belong to someone with no dental records on file to match. He won the lottery for getting into the race, and that was it. You see people coming down off the mountain. 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. We have a safety meeting ahead of time that you have to attend. The partial jawbone in. This incident remains under investigation, park officials said. Finally, I came to my realization that I needed to figure out what had happened to my dad. LeMaitre: I was told it was overcast. Alaska's Mutant Monkeys. LeMaitre: The biggest factor was the record snowthe trail conditions were unlike anything they had seen beforeice underneath. The search effort was called off that day by the family and the Fire Department due to deteriorating weather and mountain conditions.. He was just taking it slow and intent on finishing the race.. 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. They did not perceive that he was in any danger, says Clock. Records fell at the annual Mount Marathon Race in Seward on Monday. Contact Craig Medred at craig(at)alaskadispatch.com. There are no signs along the route. A big mistake with the benefit of hindsight. Michael was said to be adventurous and believed he had won the lottery by getting entry into the Mount Marathon race. He confirmed he was doing fine. She flew to Seward on July 5. The race, which is notorious for its extreme nature, covers approximately 3 miles of difficult terrain up and back down the Mount. Relatives of Zalokar declined to comment Thursday, the Times reported. The biggest factor was the record snowthe trail conditions were unlike anything they had seen beforeice underneath. More about series. A quest to create a multi-stage tour designed specifically for runners. And then also, Michael LeMaitre had not been up and down the course ever before he raced. The race is short, only three miles long. Downhill is 12 mph. "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. His wife sued the race and the Seward Chamber of Commerce for $5 million, alleging negligence and emotional distress. Mount Marathon runner Penny Assman takes a brutal on-course fall, breaking her ribs. 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. In 2014, Michaels family settled a lawsuit with the Seward Chamber of Commerce. Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. My dad was in last place. Two other runners sustained serious injuries in this years race. The. 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. The average speed uphill is 2 mph. There were checkpoints with water along the way, but Michael was seemingly unaware that due to his slower pace, they had all been packed up. The race changed as a result of the disappearance. Photo by Carol Grisswold. Apr 30, 2022. Back to Top . If new clues or evidence is discovered Troopers would evaluate new search efforts, he said. Even after the official search was called off in mid-July, volunteers continued to search the mountain, including LeMaire's daughter Mary Anne, saying "Seward has so much meaning to my dad,so here he is, looking out. There hasnt been any wish to change things unless its a safety concern. [Sign up for Alaska Public Medias daily newsletter to get our top stories delivered to your inbox.]. Download the app. Zalokar, of Reno, Nevada, was reported missing late Sunday after not returning to Yosemite Valley from his solo trip as planned. LeMaitres story attracted widespread media attention, becoming one of the most well-known in a grimly extensive list of Alaskans whove disappeared into wilderness landscapes without a trace. Correction: The photo caption on this story has been updated to correct the year Michael LeMaitre went missing to 2012. 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. Tonsina Creek is along a trail that begins near the end of Lowell Point Road south of downtown. And theres just never been a trace of him found.

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