History is made, again!
Even though we are a small but mighty community of winter ultramarathoners, it feels like the whole world is watching our athletes traverse the last 30 miles of the 1,000 mile course. Diligently refreshing the screen, hoping we can somehow will them on. It all seems so doable, and yet, it is up to them to gear down and push through the last ultramarathon of the course.
It was not strength alone but patience and presence of mind that got them all to this point. Last night, Hendra, Joshua, and Mark were “stuck in the (Topcock) Cabin” trying to avoid the most brutal part of the weather, with the intention of leaving at midnight. Even though it was frustrating for them, the wait definitely paid off. The infamous Blowhole still had enough to say with high winds but, according to Mark, it was “nowhere near as grim or dangerous as they would've been yesterday.”
Later, Sunny, Petr, and Brandon had a rest as well at Topcock Cabin totalling around eight hours. The rest seemed to have done the trick for all of our athletes as all six have been moving consistently well throughout the day. Petr, Sunny, and Brandon are less than 10 miles to Safety. Mark and Hendra have passed through Safety and are on their way to Nome. Remarkably, even though they all left Topcock together, Joshua Brown has put an incredible 13 miles in between him and his compatriots, and at the time of this writing, is two miles to the finish.
This is not Joshua's first time to Nome. He successfully completed the foot division race in 2022. Once he finishes, he will become the third 1000-mile ski finisher in ITI history and the first person to finish the 1000 on foot and skis, even after having virtually no background in cross-country skiing until two years ago. Completely new to skiing, Josh started researching what it would take to make it to Nome in 2022 and has been training ever since, including skiing for several hours in the morning before work and training with the Alaska Pacific University team in the evenings. When he wasn’t skiing, he was testing equipment and even creating his own out of raw materials.
Known for his relentless determination and hard-working ethics, Josh is an active-duty Lieutenant Colonel who serves at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson as a medical advisor in the Air Force’s Arctic Warrior program. He helps develop new techniques and technology for the military to sustain operations in cold weather. He enlisted in the Army as a medic nearly 20 years ago and later transferred to the Air Force as an officer after attending nursing school. He, his wife and their three kids live in Eagle River and spend a good deal of their leisure time exploring the Alaskan wilderness.
If you remember from an earlier report, Josh had GI issues almost immediately from the start of the race, and went over 30 hours before he was able to fuel properly. A similar issue from 2022 occurred when he developed food poisoning and ate very little for over three days on the Yukon. His body rejected almost everything he put in his gut but Josh did not stop. Being able to work hard under adverse conditions is one of his super powers.
It isn’t all about participating in the race for Josh. Last year he took off from racing in the ITI because he felt that it was important to give back to the community. So, he spent nine days running the Nikolai checkpoint with Jon Richner, another ITI and military veteran he has known for 20 years. Rounding out this incredible athlete, he is “a humble, relentless and dutiful example that we would all do well to emulate.” As it has been implied before, completing the ITI is not just a physical endeavor. And it is more than a race. Because of that, it calls to many of its participants to give back, by way of volunteering or mentorship among other things.
For Josh, he has done the work and the research. He has run through the gauntlet of all Alaska has to offer this year, and he will make history very soon. As RD Kyle states, “He just gets the job done, regardless of the obstacles faced and never makes a sound about doing it.” We will all be watching, and it may not be the whole world, but it is OUR whole world.
Written by Kari Gibbons
Intel of the illusive Johua Brown by Kyle Durand
Photo credit Kyle Durand