Just over 240 runners crossed the finish line at the 2014 running of Anchorage’s Trent/Waldron Glacier Half Marathon, which takes runners on an out-and-back course along the Chester Creek and University Trails and is run as a tribute to a pair of local runners who passed away back in the mid-1990s.

The race was created as the Glacier Half Marathon in the mid-1980s by John Trent, whose wife Marcie and son Larry Waldron were killed while out on a training run in the summer of 1995.

After their passing, the race was renamed in their honor as a way to forever remember their love for the sport and the enthusiasm each brought to the local running community in Anchorage.

Now organized and run by the Anchorage Running Club, the race marks its 32nd annual run in 2018 and will use the same course from the past few years, which starts at Westchester Lagoon. The race added the 10K distance — the Pulsator 10K — in 2013.

From there, runners head onto the Chester Creek Trail, the paved running, biking and walking trail that stretches about four miles between Westchester Lagoon all the way east to Goose Lake Park. These stretches feature tree-lined paths through a series of parks and neighborhoods, along a very gradual uphill ascent over the course of the first half of the race.

Once runners reach the campus of the University of Alaska-Anchorage, they’ll head onto the University Trail and follow it east and south, around the eastern side of the University Lake and then to the turnaround point just south of Tudor Road. Once they make the turnaround, they’ll retrace their steps along both trails back to Westchester Lagoon, this time along a gradual downhill descent in the race’s second half.

The race is open to both runners and walkers, and participants may start either at the main starting time of 9:00 AM or an hour earlier — organizers say that those who feel they’ll be able to finish the race in under 3 hours should start at 9:00; slower runners and walkers are encouraged to take advantage of the 8:00 AM start.

05-27-2023, 08:00 am - 02:00 pm