2023 Anchorage Daily News. No sign of LeMaitre has been found. Jenna Leigh Challenor (born 6 July 1981) is a South African long-distance runner.She competed in the marathon event at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London, UK, finishing 59th.. Fred Zalokar, Marathoner Who Took On Mountains, Is Found Dead in She ranked within the global top 100 for 5000 metres athletes in 2020. Theres no substitute for actually walking the course, for checking out the chute area and seeing whats best for you, he says. But 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. [2], Hutchins lived in Johnson City, but the family also lived just across the border in North Carolina. Mount Marathon 2019 - Max King Runs Downhill FAST - YouTube What happened this yearit was quite devastating for the community. . Thats the reality of it. In July 2013, LeMaitres widow sued the Seward Chamber of Commerce, who organizes the race, for $5 million and eventually settled in October 2014 for $20,000. It's been a tough past year navigating the pandemic, and. The junior race, for runners ages 7 to 17, had already taken placethe kids went only halfway up the broad, triangular mountain that . What happened to LeMaitre? For this, I knew that I needed to do everything I could. Let us know in the form at the bottom of the story. At press time, LeMaitre had still not been found and was presumed dead. THE MOTIVATIONThe record time, set in 1981 by Bill Spencer, is 43:21. Whenever I asked for help, someone always said yes. Welcome to Seward for the 93rd running of the Mount Marathon Race, the oldest mountain race in North America and possibly its craziest! There is hope that it might eventually be matched to the dental records of one of the missing people, but so far troopers haven't even been able to conclude who it isn't. Grove: What do you think this story tells people about Alaska or about what happened to this guy? Fink: After youve summited and rounded the rock, you drop into the snow, and you either sit on your feet or slide down on your butt. They did not perceive that he was in any danger, says Clock. Website by Zee Creative. 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. 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. Vanished: Heidi Broussard (33) and Margot Carey (2wks). The men's and women's courses are a grueling 1.5-mile climb up, and back down, Alaska's majestic and treacherous Mount Marathon. No trail, an Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman said at the time. A Reno trail runner who went missing over the weekend in Yosemite has been found dead. Download the app. [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. The body of Fred Zalokar, 61, was recovered Tuesday near the 11,527-foot summit of Mount Clark, a press . When MaryAnne did not hear from her father after the race started on July 4, she knew something was wrong. Echard says this years race highlighted the need to shrink the field. Box 2530 :: Billings, MT 59103 406-255-8488 2023 Montana Women's Run. Park officials did not indicate how he died, but a friend told the. 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. Fort Valley State University student Missing Where is Anitra Gunn? 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. Become a member of StrangeOutdoors for exclusive content, See the latest Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com, The strange disappearance of Thomas Seibold from Gates of the Arctic National Park, The strange disappearance of Sharon Buis from the Mount Roberts Trail in Alaska, Robert Hansen Butcher Baker - the Alaska Serial killer who hunted his victims in the wilderness, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2186377/Michael-LeMaitres-wife-gives-hope-finding-alive-5-weeks-vanished-extreme-mountain-race.html, https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a20793251/michael-lemaitre-and-the-mount-marathon-race/, https://www.adn.com/crime-justice/article/seward-lemaitre-settle-case-missing-mount-marathon-runner-20000/2014/10/15/, Tagged: Paul Michael LeMaitre - Strange disappearances from U.S. Mountains, Paul LeMaitre disappearance mount marathon, Paul LeMaitre vanished, Paul lemaitre mystery, The perplexing disappearance of Paul Michael LeMaitre from the Mount Marathon race, StrangeOutdoors.com Terms of use/Cookie notice/Privacy Policy, Sign Up now for a one-off fee to get exclusive access to many member-only articles, The disturbing deaths of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon on their La Pianista Hike in Panama, The mysterious disappearance of Joe Wood from Mount Rainier, The perplexing disappearance of Paul Michael LeMaitre from the Mount Marathon race, Exclusive members-only articles on StrangeOutdoors.com, Paul Michael LeMaitre - Strange disappearances from U.S. Mountains, Paul LeMaitre disappearance mount marathon, The mysterious disappearance and death of Nicola Bulley in Lancashire, The strange disappearance of the YouTube Survivalist Finn Creaney in the Scottish Highlands, The shocking disappearance of Theresa Ann Bier, The strange disappearance of Daniel Robinson from Buckeye in Arizona, The bizarre deaths of the Gerrish family in Devils Gulch, The strange death of Lucas Renoud at the Hrisson waterfalls in the Jura Mountains, The disturbing disappearance of Daylenn Pua from Hawaiis Stairway To Heaven walkway, The puzzling disappearance of ex-paratrooper Gilbert Gilman from Olympic National Park, The Dead man who saved Brandon Day and Gina Allen on Mount San Jacinto, The strange disappearance and death of Geoff Hague in the Great Smoky Mountains, The weird disappearance of Garrett Bardsley from Cuberant Lake in Utah, The bizarre death of Cullen Finnerty in the Michigan wilderness, The puzzling disappearance of Barbara Bolick from the Bitterroot Mountains, The strange disappearance of Mike Hearon from the Great Smoky Mountains, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) report June 2021, The bizarre disappearance and death of Adrienne Quintal in Michigan, The strange disappearance of Fern Baird from the Prairie Peak Trail in Idaho, The strange deaths of David Horesay and Frederick Hardisty in the Northwest Territories, The disappearance of Steven Kubacki in the Lake Michigan Triangle, The lucky survival story of Chris Staff in the White Mountains - hallucinations, bugs and hunger, Mysterious UFO phenomena begins to be acknowledged officially by the US Military, The mysterious disappearance of Michael Bryson from the Hobo Campground in Oregon. LISTEN: How did an Anchorage runner go missing during a popular - KTOO The mountain swallowed this man, a relative told Runners World journalist Christopher Solomon for an extensive article about the case in 2016. Despite speculation about whether the remains might belong to LeMaitre, DNA testing found they instead belonged to a 39-year-old man whose last address was in Arkansas, troopers said. See also. "We haven't been able to rule out anybody,'' she said. 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. I have a friend from Seward. The mountain is always there. He was plodding along and was in last place. Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media - Anchorage, the Anchorages Daily News Curious Alaska column, Bronson wont consider former Alaska Club building for Anchorage homeless shelter. Competitors must now meet specified time milestones or they will be forced to drop out, a rule designed to avoid risks to stragglers. And that question has not been answered. But theres also a trail that continues, and it would have been very easy for him to keep going on that trail. "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. I hope with the foliage being goneit had been super thick when I was therethat we can start looking again. Queen Bee Montana Marathon - new name - Same Fast Courses! Once competitors have reached the summit, the faster ones can make it back down to the ground in under ten minutes. A jogger vanishes from the top of Mt Marathon in Alaska and a witness describes seeing a monstrous, airplane-sized raptor around the time of the disappearance . Youre using hands and feet. Its a bad idea to come down that way, but people do it. He confirmed he was doing fine. Ravens. Park officials said in a statement that the body of Fred Zalokar, 61, from Reno . He left the ADN in 2015. They found no proof or sign of life. All we need is just one little thing to go on. The chutes had snow bridges on them that have been collapsing all summer. Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. People choose their own route on the mountain, and you cant babysit everyone. There is not an active search for him currently, McDaniel said. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences. Hed kind of pick a goal and go after it hard.. Fink: We expect changes after this year, but you need to strike a balance. For the first few minutes, its a very steep grade up a rock facequite technical. 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. 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. Unfortunately, it was not to be! She ran there and doubled as a forward and midfielder in soccer. The following transcript was lightly edited for clarity. 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. Over the next several days, the search parties grew to almost 70 people, according to Seward Fire Chief David Squires, and included helicopters, technically trained volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group, dogs and support from the Alaska Air National Guard. He literally vanished off the mountain. Contact Craig Medred at craig(at)alaskadispatch.com. It was especially rainy, foggy and slick that day. 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. But according to OutsideOnline, it's 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.'. During the court case, Chamber officials obtained access to the LaMaitres financial records in an effort to prove that Michael had staged his own disappearance and that he was alive. Wife of missing Mount Marathon runner sues chamber LeMaitre: The biggest factor was the record snowthe trail conditions were unlike anything they had seen beforeice underneath. If you would be willing to assist in the search for Michael LeMaitre, please contact the Seward Volunteer Fire Department via their webpage. The top finishers are under 45 minutes. 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. S1, Ep7. 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. But crews found no sign of LeMaitre. 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., Michael was declared dead in August 2012 after a presumptive death hearing.