The Mountain Runners : America's First Adventure Race, 1911-1913

An endurance competition unlike any in their day or likely any since--the Mount Baker Marathons were one of the greatest athletic achievements of the time, yet today few know of its existence. Held in 1911, 1912, and 1913, they began in Bellingham, Washington, and drew thousands of cheering spectators. Only five of the fourteen men who started the inaugural race summited. With astonishing trail times of less than eleven hours, the final two in contention were a logger, and a mule packer at a local coal mine.

The race to the 10,781-foot summit and back was a grueling challenge of strength, stamina, resourcefulness, and skill. The mostly amateur athletes navigated the rugged trail to timberline in darkness, with only the wobbly light of handheld lanterns. At first light, they braved savage summit storms, crossing snowfields with hidden deep crevasses and jagged glaciers. Contestants continued despite cuts and bruises, broken bones, torn ligaments, twisted ankles, snow-blindness, hypothermia, and intense exhaustion.

The organizers sought to showcase the region and open it for expansion, tourism, and development. The race also pitted an Iron Horse locomotive against new-fangled automobiles and prompted a friendly rivalry between Deming and Glacier. In the end--despite days of festivities and lucrative crowds--incompetent decision-making and the extreme risks to participants made the competition too dangerous to continue. The Mountain Runners rescues the Mount Baker Marathons from obscurity, utilizing descendants' oral histories, correspondence, government and news reports, and more, to tell the tale.