The sun made a rare but welcome appearance for the sixty-one participants who ventured out to Front Beach on Sunday, February 24th for the 2019 Polar Bear 5K Run. The race was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday, but as the wet and windy weather persisted, the Unalaska Parks, Culture and Recreation team changed the race to occur exactly 24 hours later.
Both human and canine racers began gathering at 1pm on Front Beach Road, and those who were expecting a Clarence the Polar Bear sighting were in for a rocking surprise when Elvis appeared as the race mascot. "Elvis" did not disclose his real identity, but racers couldn’t help but notice that PCR Operations Manager Nick Cron was nowhere to be seen at the event.
Seasoned athletes, joggers with dogs, walkers with babies and every combination in between took off down Front Beach Road before taking a quick sip of water turning around past the landfill to complete the race.
Blaine Henning was the first past the finish line with a time of 20:40, and won first place for the teen boys category. Cameron Dean won first place for the adult male category and Melissa Good won first place for the adult female category. Racers can find personal results below.
After the race, friends, families and finishers basked in the sun and enjoyed Elvis's favorite snack: peanut butter and banana sandwiches.
Thanks to the Unalaska Parks, Culture and Recreation for hosting another fantastic Polar Bear Run!
