Six Kenai Peninsula Racers are signed up to compete in the Alaskaman Extreme Triathlon, which begins Saturday at 4:30 a.m. in Seward.
The event starts with a 1.9-mile swim in frigid Resurrection Bay.
Next up is a 113-mile bike ride with 4,635 feet of elevation gain. The ride starts in Seward and goes all the way to the Bird Creek Campground, before it takes the Bird to Gird paved trail to Girdwood and the Alyeska Resort Daylodge.
Then comes a 27.5-mile run with 6,400 feet of elevation gain and loss. The run starts at the Daylodge and takes the Winner Creek trail to the Nordic Loop, racking up 17.5 miles and 2,400 feet of gain and loss. The remaining 10 miles and 4,000 feet are all on Mount Alyeska.
The event is in its third year. A pair of Kenai athletes are signed up to attempt to complete all three.
Jeff McDonald, 53, finished 65th overall and 58th among men in 2017 with a time of 15 hours, 55 minutes and 42 seconds. Last year, his time was 15:55:29, but an indication of how much harder the course became comes from the fact he finished 38th overall and 32nd among men.
Eric Thomason, 46, saw a big improvement last year and is looking for more this year. In 2017, he was 275th overall and 108th among men with his time of 17:34:29. Last year, Thomason was 66th overall and 55th among men with his time of 16:55:16.
The other peninsula racers registered are Michael McGuire, 50, of Homer; Dwayne Meganack, 30, of Kenai; Sam Satathite, 42, of Kenai; and Nicole Schmitt, 27, of Soldotna.
There are 104 registered for the race this year, after 307 registered in 2017 and 228 registered last year.
