Adventure Relay to come through Talkeetna

The world’s longest non-motorized endurance relay will pass through Talkeetna on Thursday. It is the Alaska State Troopers Adventure Relay, an event to benefit the Wish Upon The North Star charity. The non-profit fulfills wishes of Alaska children with life-threatening illnesses. This is the first time the event is being held.

The relay started at Fort Wainright today and will end in Seward on Saturday. Participants are troopers and other law enforcement and corrections officers and their families. According to spokeswoman Beth Ipsen, 140 relay participants are divided to run, bike, mountain bike, kayak and water raft on the relay’s 27 legs. At each leg, they are passing a flag with the Wish-upon-the-North-Star logo to the next relay group.

Runners at the start had to battle the uphill route while enduring smokey conditions. The relay is expected to arrive in Talkeetna via raft as the rafters are floating down the Susitna River from Gold Creek to the Talkeetna River boat landing. The estimated arrival time there is Thursday, 4:45 pm. From there, runners are tagged and will run from Talkeetna along the bike path to the Tesoro gas station at the Y.