Mount Marathon Race record smashed by local trail runner who held the previous mark

Winning the Mount Marathon Race in 2016 guaranteed David Norris an automatic bid to compete in Seward, Alaska’s Fourth of July race for life. 

Since then, he has competed four more times and won them all, collecting his fifth win on the holiday this year and breaking his own course record, which he had previously set in 2016. 

Completing the approximate 5-kilometer run in 40 minutes, 37 seconds, he is the lone runner in the 96-year race history to break the 41-minute barrier. The part-time Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club cross country ski coach said the race is traditionally good for skiers. 

He explained that in previous years, he had begun the race too hard and didn’t save enough energy or power in his legs for the second half of the steep mountainous ascent in the race. This year, he was focused on dictating the pace of the race and put in the appropriate amount of effort to sustain a quick pace for its full length. 

“I was really focused on trying to make up seconds where the terrain allowed for it and settle in on some of the steeper terrain where I could rely on my leg muscles and catch my breath,” Norris said. “Where the terrain flattened out, I would force myself to get back to a running stride.”

The course conditions were favorable for a fast uphill split time, according to him, who said dropping time on the downhill is a much greater challenge than shaving off time on the ascent. 

The course remained dry, and the air temperature was pretty cool, which has not been the case over previous years. 

The race takes runners from downtown Seward to the top of Mount Marathon, which sits approximately 1.5 miles away and 3,000 feet above sea level. Runners can take any path they desire to reach the high point of the mountain — and may do the same upon return to downtown, where the finish sits just a block away from the start line. 

At the top of the mountain, Norris was told he had the pace to break the record, and it fueled him to the finish. 

“I did look at my watch, and I knew my time from 2016 when I got to the top, and I was a minute ahead of that,” he said. “I was pretty optimistic that, unless something went wrong on the descent, I could break my current record.”

Everything went right for him, who made his descent from Mount Marathon to the finish in just 10:50, crossing the finish over two minutes ahead of the second-place runner. 

Norris said one of the race highlights was high fiving fans lined up and down the street as he ran to the finish. He hopes to have inspired some of the young spectators to put on a pair of running shoes and be part of the great running community in Alaska, where he grew up. 

“While running down the road, your legs are so pounded and beat up from the steep downhill that you hit the pavement and what would be your normal running stride is really hard to do,” he said. “Your legs are Jell-O, so I was trying to lean forward with the best form I could and get to the finish as fast as I could while still enjoying the crowd.”

Mount Marathon, as well as a handful of upcoming Cirque Series races, are part of his preparation for the OCC 50k in Chamonix, France, in August. The OCC 50k acts as the world championship final in the UTM World Series Circuit 50k category.