Welcome

We invite all runners and walkers to experience the third largest island in the United States by taking part in the 14th Annual Prince of Wales Island Marathon and Half Marathon on Saturday, May 25, 2013, in Southeast Alaska.  We also have relay options for those who enjoy being on a team.

One of Alaska’s premiere running events for marathons and half marathons – come join us and find out why!

Ongoing road construction has altered our usual certified course, therefore we are staging this event on a new course that will start in Craig, take the runners along the Klawock Channel through Klawock and along the Thorne Bay Highway.  The marathon and half marathon courses will be back-and-out configurations, starting and ending in Craig.  The new course provides hills that may be more challenging for those running the full marathon distance this year and the scenery is equally, if not more scenic than the previous thirteen years’.  Come join us and find yourself winding through forests, spectacular mountain passes, over streams and along the shores of the inside passage.

Click on Register Now to visit the ACTIVE.COM event page and get signed up!

2012 Participant Results can be reviewed here.

Event Details

More about Prince of Wales Island

Our island is located in southern Southeast Alaska and is the third largest island in the United States, having over 1,000 miles of coastline.  The island is home to ten communities whose residents share the mountains, rivers and Tongass Forest with a wide variety of wildlife including eagles, deer, elk, bear and many other species.

Runners and walkers are likely to catch a glimpse of our wildlife as they traverse our course.  Prince of Wales Island is especially active during summertime when salmon return to their streams to spawn.

Prince of Wales Island is also the traditional home to Native tribes, the Tlingit and Haida.   Practicing and maintaining the Native culture is important to local tribes; examples of their culture can be seen in totem pole parks, potlatch ceremonies, beading, cedar bark weaving, mask carvings and colorful Native dance regalia.

Please visit the Prince of Wales Chamber of Commerce for more information about lodging, transportation, sightseeing, and other services.

Packet Pickup and Late Registration

Race packets may be picked up at the CTA Hall in Craig on Friday, May 24, from 2:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.  The building is located in Craig at 1330 Craig-Klawock Highway and serves as race headquarters during the event.  Late registrations will also be available during this time.

Pre-Race Events

For a quite reasonable price, a pasta feed will be available at the CTA Hall in Craig on Friday evening.  Participants will also enjoy a special welcome from a local island Native dancer.  Participant orientation is another important part of this evening’s festivities, with our guest speaker Debbie Cropper concluding the evening by providing a special presentation for all.

Early Saturday evening before the race ceremonies, a potato bar will offer post-race nutrition for a small charge.  Both of these dining options are used as fund raising opportunities by local groups and are a grand chance to relax and visit with fellow participants and island residents.

Arriving on Race Day

Transportation will be provided from local lodges and bed and breakfasts to the starting line at Craig High School.  The official start time for full marathon walkers will be 7:00 a.m.  The official start time for full marathon runners, half marathoners and relay teams will be at 8:00 a.m.  An unofficial start time of 7:00 a.m. will also be available for marathon runners, half marathoners and relay teams needing more time on the course.  (Be aware a 7:00 a.m. start time for full marathon runners, half marathoners and relay teams constitutes an unofficial time and will be so noted in the race results.)  All participant bibs are to be marked at the starting line as to start time.

Refreshments

Aid stations will be staged along the course to provide water, Gatorade, fruit, lemon drops, along with moral support and an abundance of good cheer.  The aid station at the finish line will provide participants with more substantial fare.  Our aid stations are manned by volunteers from local island organizations.  They can be quite competitive as all try to meet each participant’s needs: note that the reward for the best aid station is a special traveling trophy along with a year’s worth of priceless bragging rights.  This is determined by the vote of full marathoners.

Relay Teams

To allow for more participation and enjoyment of our event, we provide several options for relay teams.  We have plaques for winning 8-person and 4-person relay teams.  We also offer what we call an open category in which teams may be made up of an alternative number of members, say five or seven relay members.  There is no plaque for the winning team in this open category.

Tech-Shirts – T-Shirts

Participants who register by midnight, Alaska Standard Time on April 15, 2013, receive a long sleeved race tech-shirt on Friday, May 24.  Participants who register after the Early Bird deadline will have a shirt on order which may not be received by race day. The race committee insures future delivery to participants. Please provide an accurate mailing address when registering.  When registering, note that race shirt sizing is unisex.

Youth runners on the Youth Alternative Aid Station Teams, ages Kindergarten through 8th grade during the 2012/13 school year, will receive cotton, short sleeved tie-dye race shirts.

Prizes

Full marathoners are automatically entered into a May 25 drawing for the Get-Off-the-Rock Travel Package Raffle which includes both ProMech Air and Alaska Airlines round trip tickets in addition to other fabulous prizes. Participants, volunteers and spectators are afforded a chance to win this drawing by purchasing raffle tickets, priced at $5.00 each.  Full marathoners (runners and walkers) will also receive a full value coupon for Saturday evening’s dinner which will be held at the CTA Hall (race headquarters) prior to the award ceremony.  Many other drawings are held during the race evening’s festivities; everyone present is eligible to win these free drawings.

Special Bonus!

Included in your registration is a one year subscription to a magazine of your choice – a $20 value!

Select from: Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Bicycling or Prevention. Details on how to claim your subscription or request a refund will be found in your Virtual Race Bag email invitation.

Course Map

View 2013 Prince of Wales Island International Marathon Map in a larger map

Entry Fees

So that we may continue to stage a high quality event, we are this year capping our total number of entries at 350.

We encourage you to register early in order to assure your participation.  We offer a special rate for Early Bird fees; the Early Rates are good until midnight, Alaska Standard Time on April 15, 2013.  Thereafter standard fees will apply, with the online registration closing on May 22, 2013, at midnight, Alaska Standard Time.

Registrations for our alternative 15-member relay teams for youth and adults close on April 15, 2013, at midnight, Alaska Standard Time and must be a paper registration.  These are done through Ann James at annjames326@gmail.com.

Due to our total limited number of entries for the 2013 event, we are establishing a limit of four 15-member youth relay teams and one 15-member adult alternative relay team and are closing registration opportunities for these alternative teams on April 15, 2013, at midnight, Alaska Standard Time.  Refunds are not allowed for any reason.  Online registrations and paper registrations have the same fees as listed below.

Full Marathon

$50 Early Bird fee until April 15th

$65 Standard Fee thereafter

Half Marathon

$45 Early Bird fee until April 15th

$60 Standard Fee thereafter

Relay Teams

$40 per team member Early Bird fee until April 15th

$55 per team member Standard Fee thereafter

Youth Alternative Relay, 15 member team

$375 Fee until April 15th; no entry permitted after this date

$25 per team member

Adult Alternative Relay, 15 member team

$600 Fee until April 15th; no entry permitted after this date

$40 per team member

Guest Speaker

Our guest speaker for the 14th Annual Prince of Wales Island Marathon and Half Marathon is a fellow Alaskan, Debbie Cropper.  Born in 1961, Debbie is an educator who lives in Anchorage and has completed a marathon in each of the 50 states to earn her membership in the 50-State Marathon Club.  Traveling from state to state, Debbie gathers unique pieces of history and culture to share with her students, using these to develop units and lesson plans for her students.

Debbie was born and raised in Norwich, New York, and left home at age 16 to live in Ventura, California, for twenty-one years. In 1994, she started running and entered a 10k race.  Running became a more serious pursuit when she began preparing for the 1999 Maui Marathon, after learning about Team in Training.  Debbie relates, “I got hooked on the whole aspect of running.  My ability, the events, fundraising to help others, but mostly the people and the support.  The sense of belonging and purpose and achievement was very comforting.”

Debbie traveled to South Carolina for the Charleston Marathon to put that final state on her list.  Cropper, then 50, claimed a medal by winning her age group in 3 hours, 33 minutes.  That put her also in some elite company:  The 50Sub4 Marathon Club, states that Cropper is the 22nd runner and just the third woman to break the four hour barrier in every state.  Note also that Debbie has either an age-group or overall placing in all but 12 states.  She has done this while living and training in Alaska.  We Alaskans are proud of her!

2013 Prince of Wales Island Marathon and Half Marathon Runners may contact Debbie Cropper at debrun26@gmail.com for online mentoring, advice and answers to your training questions.

Sponsors

We’re always on the lookout for sponsors!  Our sponsors and supporters are valued and are essential in assuring that we are able to stage a high quality event for all participants.  Because of donations made by sponsors, we are able to keep participant fees in an affordable range.  We use participant fees to cover the costs of race shirts and insurance fees for each participant.  Sponsor contributions go toward winners’ plaques, medals, sponsor plaques, sponsor shirts, guest speaker expenses, volunteer shirts, postage, freight, hall rental fees, course improvements, safety-oriented supplies, and freight.  Our marathon committee is composed of individuals who volunteer time throughout the year with no financial benefit.

Sponsors which contribute a minimum of $250 are listed on the backs of participant, sponsor, and volunteer shirts and will receive a plaque to display at their place of business.  All sponsors and supporters will be acknowledged in program booklets, in chamber newsletters, on radio promos, and on our website.  The deadline for sponsorships is March 1, 2013.  Early responses from sponsors allow the committee to develop and carry out this event within the budget as defined by sponsorship and registration fee receipts.

Please contact Ann James at annjames326@gmail.com for further information regarding becoming a sponsor or supporter.

Race packet sponsors are invited to supply an item for the swag bags given out to all participants.  Individuals or business are welcome to participate in this stuffing of the swag bags and may contact Ann James at 907.254.1884.

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