The Equinox Marathon is one of the most challenging anywhere, as it climbs up over Ester Dome in Fairbanks, and is also Alaska’s oldest. At one time it was the largest marathon in America, and one of the first to field women. For the next show we’ll hear from this year’s equinox champion, Matias Saari, who has won an amazing six times and also has just published a book about the race. In the second half of the show, we’ll hear an interview recorded in Fairbanks with a trails volunteer, who’ll tell us about the many routes and races that make that community a great place to visit. It’s great not only because of the land and events available, but also the relaxed Fairbanks spirit that makes it a good place to visit and is certainly embodied in the Equinox Marathon.
HOST: Charles Wohlforth
GUESTS:
- Matias Saari, 16-time finisher of the Equinox Marathon and author of The Equinox: Alaska’s Trailblazing Marathon
- Eric Troyer, trail advocate and volunteer editor of Alaska Trails newsletter and Interior Trails Quarterly.
LINKS:
- Matias’s book The Equinox: Alaska’s Trailblazing Marathon
- The Equinox Marathon homepage
- Alaska Trails Newsletters
- Alaska Trails website
- Interior Trails Quarterly, August newsletter
PARTICIPATE: Facebook: Outdoor Explorer (comments may be read on-air)
BROADCAST: Thursday, October 6, 2016. 2:00 pm – 3:00 p.m. AKT
REPEAT BROADCAST: Thursday, October 13, 2016. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT
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Eric Bork, or you can just call him “Bork” because everybody else does, is the FM Operations Manager for KSKA-FM. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the FM broadcast. He produces and edits episodes of Outdoor Explorer, the Alaska-focused outdoors program. He also maintains the web posts for that show. You may have heard him filling in for Morning Edition or hosting All Things Considered and can still find him operating the soundboard for any of the live broadcast programs.
After escaping the Detroit area when he was 18, Bork made it up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where he earned a degree in Communications/Radio Broadcasting from Northern Michigan University. He spent time managing the college radio station, working for the local NPR affiliate, and then in top 40 radio in Michigan before coming to Alaska to work his first few summers. After then moving to Chicago, it only took five years to convince him to move back to Alaska in 2010. When not involved in great radio programming he’s probably riding a bicycle, thinking about riding bicycles, dreaming about bikes, reading a book, or planning the next place he’ll travel to. Only two continents left to conquer!
