Great Alaskan Maritime Marathon cruise report

[hoosmi]

What a great report/pictures!! Such a cool idea for a race and what fabulous bling!

Jen in GA

 

[crzy4pooh]

Congratulations!!! That race sounds like so much fun! And the pictures are beautiful - thank you for sharing! We did an Alaskan cruise 6 years ago, and I'm definitely ready to go back!!!

--Lynnda

 

[Calcio]

Pat

Thanks for the report. I'm so glad you and Jim enjoyed yourselves every day in every way. Great pictures. And to top it off with a victory! Well deserved "Congratulations" to you.

How did you enjoy the Westerdam? Martha, Lesley, and I were on it for 2 weeks in the Baltic in 2005, and we thought it was wonderful. We were like you 2 regarding the nightlife. Nightlife? On the ship? Who knew? Every night we collapsed from exhaustion.

Craig

 

[WDWFAN9]

Pat
How did you enjoy the Westerdam? Martha, Lesley, and I were on it for 2 weeks in the Baltic in 2005, and we thought it was wonderful. We were like you 2 regarding the nightlife. Nightlife? On the ship? Who knew? Every night we collapsed from exhaustion.
Craig

Craig, we really liked the Westerdam. This was only our third cruise so we don't have a lot for comparison, but it is a beautiful ship - big enough to feel stable, but not so big that I felt lost. The service was great and it was very just an all-around awesome time.

 

[jims2cool]

Hello everyone.... Yes, it is me!!!!! I just thought I would put in a couple of notes about our trip. Seattle was great !! I have to say my first day of training for Alaska came on Saturday in Seattle. Pat and I walked all over town. And my legs were screaming at every hill. I was thinking what in the heck was I getting myself in to. But being the fool I am, whenever Pat would give me that - see, I told you so... you must train for these... look, I just grunted I was fine, no pain here. A fool I am. So, when the time came on the ship to run our two miles, I let Pat go first. Now what Pat failed to mention was the reason our times were so slow...... neither one of us ever got into the correct rythme with the ship.... I swear we both did the two miles uphill.... the whole two miles was uphill. You ask me how could that be possible on a ship? Well, picture this. As I would walk towards the rear of the boat, the waves would cause the front to lower, and the rear (aft) to raise. When I got to the rear and turned left, the ship would lean left, causing me to go uphill. At the next turn, heading for the bow, the ship would tilt to the rear, thus I had to walk uphill to get to the front. And with every turn, and new wave would tilt the boat the wrong way. Oh, and while walking, not only was I only walking uphill, I was also walking from side to side to side to side.. ..You get the point... So as you can see, I really enjoyed my first day, and could only look forward to the next day. Well the next three races went by way to fast, as I was having the time of my life. Thank godness the only pain I had came from two blisters on my left foot. For those of you who remember WDW in Jan, let me assure you, I now duct tape two sticks of Body Glide to my crotch area..... ... And no more pain. I was just as shocked as Pat when they said she had won. But you know what.... she may not be the fastest runner, but she truly did / does use John and Jenny's book to help her begin her new life as a walker in the Marathon/Half Marathon world... and who better deserves to win? I am proud of her for all she does, and all she puts up with (hey... maybe I wasn't talking about me here... LOL). I will say that this is a MUST DO RACE !!!! Take care, and I hope I will see you all again..... Jim

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Jim! Good to hear from you and you trained when! Glad the body glide worked.

 

[padisneyfan]

Pat and Jim---Great trip report and pictures. Congratulations Pat. Glad that you had a wonderful time.

Nancy

 

[Kristi1357]

That is the BEST race report ever!
I am so happy you won, Pat!

How fabulous that you were hanging around all the time with the famous John and Coach Jenny too.

 

[Honeibee]

OMG this is so incredibly exciting! Pat, congratulations! OMG when I scrolled down and it was YOU I got goosebumps! How exciting! OMG I am so happy for you! Congratulations! What a great trip report!

And you even got Jim to post! Whooooo hoooo! TMI on the Body Glide in the crotch thing, there, Jim. Ha ha ha!

OK sign us up for the 2010 cruise. It sounds like SUCH a blast!

 

[WDWFAN9]

Thanks for your kind words everybody! I'm still walking around with a huge smile on my face! And truly, even if I hadn't been lucky enough to win it was just so amazing! I've run out of adequate adjectives to describe how cool it was. Definitely keep this one in mind for 2010!!

 

[Honeibee]

Don't worry Pat! I told Charlie all about your trip last night and you know what he said?

"Why didn't we go?"



BTW, I DID mention it to him when you were first talking about it.

Anyway, count us in for sure for 2010!!

 

[wtpclc]

COngratulations Pat! That is awesoem! I'm so glad you had such a good time! Wow, to get that award basically, because you helped teh man up and stayed with him speaks volumes as A WISHer. I know you never thought about anything but his well ebing, it just goes to show that reall winners always shine through. WTG! SO glad you had so much fun!

 

[twoWDWfools]

Congrats Pat!! And what a great report. Beautiful pictures...

So now have Hawaii in 2009 and Alaska 2010...

 

[ironz]

Pat!! Best. Race. Report. Ever!!

That is so awesome!

And I just missed you by a day, as I arrived in Ketchikan on Saturday, when you were here on Friday. (I work there from time to time.)

Congrats on the win..and even if you hadn't, it sounds like the whole adventure was a WIN for both you and Jim!! Alaska is so cool, eh?

 

[WDWFAN9]

Pat!! Best. Race. Report. Ever!!

You all are so kind! Lots of you write way better than me (I'm an accountant and more comfortable with numbers!), but Alaska has to be one of the best trip report locations for sure.

Speaking of Jim, his deck time was quicker than mine, and he suggested using my time (since we walk events together) when we turned them into Coach Jenny, but silly me thought we'd increase our odds if we had two different pace times - that was the only strategic plan I had the entire week and it backfired since Jim would have won the men's competition if he had used the same time as me!! I felt bad when I realized it though....but there is always 2010!

 

[jims2cool]

The food on the ship was GREAT !!!!! And ya know what... I ate alot... but heck, when your doing a race everyday... you can eat alot !!!! No weight gain here !!!! Alaska truly was the best place I have been to for doing a race (though Indy is a very close 2nd)

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Wow, wow, and double wow! Pat- your report was great! I was blown away by the report and pictures. Congratulations on your win. That is amazing. It looked like you and Jim had such a great time. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Theta]

Pat and Jim,

Wonderful race report! Alaska looks great and it looks like you had a lot of fun with the other racers.

 

[jeanneg]

Congrats, Pat.....Great report and gorgeous photos!!! It's kinda funny because I have been so busy lately, I never have time to check the list of threads. I just got my monthly newsletter from JB and that was when I realized the Alaska cruise was completed. So I rush over to the WISH board hoping you had a report and .....voila, there it was! Sounds like you and Jim had an awesome trip and I'm so glad you won! I hope we're able to get a WISH group together to do this in 2010. I have already been to Alaska, but would do this in a heartbeat.