Everyone was pumped and waiting for the start of the race to begin. When the gun was shot signaling the start, the mass of runners took off. As the Youth Cup took off one way, the marathon, half-marathon, and the five milers took off the other way. Ashley Keel and Megan Williams followed the five milers just like they were supposed to. When they came to a fork in the road (one way for the marathon and half-marathon runners, the other for the five milers) they went down the wrong path.
      “ The people standing at the fork never told us which way to go! We just followed all the other runners,” Megan and Ashley claimed. They realized that they had gone down the wrong path when they didn’t see any more five-miler runners and were completely surrounded by marathon and half-marathon runners.
      “ We stopped then and walked down a path that we thought would take us back onto the right trail,” explained Megan. “Somehow we got onto the five miler path. We are not even sure how we did it!”
      Ashley Keel and Megan Williams ended up finishing the race even though it did take them over one hour.
      “ We know that we could have finished the race faster, but we are happy that we were able to at least find the right path and complete the race!” said Ashley.
      Sierra Tinglin started running the race feeling great. The trouble started between the fourth and fifth mile; she felt like she was going to throw up. She eventually came across the finish line, telling Ann Fitzpatrick that she wasn’t feeling good and that she felt like she was going to faint.
      Sierra was just barely able to lean against Ann when she fainted. Ann tried to wake her up and get her moving when a guy from the running medical center came over to help carry Sierra to the large tent. Between him and Ann they were able to pick Sierra up and slowly half drag/half carry her (trying to get her to walk) towards the medical tent where they laid her down on a cot. Sierra came to and was quickly taken care of. She came out of the tent a little while later walking by herself and feeling better.
      Sierra claims that she was “blanking out and not really knowing what was going on” around her. Sierra is happy that she was able to cross the finish line before she fainted. Sierra has now completely recovered and is ready to keep going on the trip!

     Wow, between the race, the cool free time, and the POOL PARTY, we had a very interesting day! It was a very fun-filled day. We started our fun filled day by waking up around 5:30 a.m. Some people were waking up after that. While people were rolling out of their sleeping bags, some people were eating their breakfast. For breakfast some people ate oatmeal while some people choose to eat cereal. As soon as everyone was done eating and everything from breakfast was all cleaned up we headed out to the race in Anchorage.
      We got to the race in Anchorage about an hour before the race began. Most of the people from AGLP ran the five-miler. The people who didn’t run the five-miler ran the Youth Cup (two miles long). There was also Suzy Grant who was the only one from AGLP who ran the half marathon. While we were waiting for the race to start, we gathered around the vans and talked to friends. Some sat in vans and listened to music, while some people did a little stretching and warming up. Before the races started everyone from AGLP gathered around and we did a big cheer to get everyone pumped up. I noticed when I was running that I got to see some great scenery. Great job to everyone; you all did great!
      On to the FREE TIME! We had some free time today. Most of us went to a flea market in Anchorage, while some people went to gift shops and the mall. A lot of people went to get souvenirs for their family, friends, and themselves from gift shops. Some people got Alaska Grown sweatshirts, shirts, and hats. Some people bought moose hats.
      Finally, the POOL PARTY! We had a pool party today at Palmer Pool. Some people dove off the high dive. When people were diving off the diving boards there were some cool flips and big splashes. There were also some dives off the diving board that looked like they hurt. Many people swam in the shallow end, playing with the beach balls and throwing them at other people. Some others played volleyball with the beach balls. There was a water basketball game on one side of the pool. There was also a water ballet going on too, on the far side of the pool. After a couple of hours of swimming, most of the people got out of the pool and went into the locker rooms to take showers. Many people were happy to take the shower. We have done many things so far and have had lots of fun doing those things.