SheWhoMustNotBeNamed
Former Member
Bumping for Michael, now missing a year.
It's a similar story for 65-year-old Michael LeMaitre who disappeared without a trace during the 2012 Mount Marathon race in Seward.
Family Suing in Case of Missing Mt. Marathoner
The family of a 65-year-old Mount Marathon rookie who went missing during the 2012 event is suing the organization that puts on the race.
http://www.anchoragepress.com/blott...cle_fb2bd446-a335-11e3-8740-0019bb2963f4.html
For a long time, there was hope they might find at least a hint to explain the disappearance. They found nothing. There is speculation now that he went past Race Point, climbing toward the true summit of Mount Marathon far back in the Kenai Mountains and fell off a cliff somewhere.
Noting that Race Point, commonly called the "top" of Mount Marathon, is 2 miles east and 1,800 feet lower than the actual summit, Alaska adventurer Tim Kelley has theorized that misinformation might have contributed to Michael's death.
"It would be easy for LeMaitre to think: 'I turn around when I reach the ‘top,'" Kelley has written on his blog. " But when he gets to Race Point rock in thick clouds and … no one is there, and he sees a defined trail going UP and continuing west, he says to himself: 'I’m not at the top yet, I’ve got to keep going up.'"
The Seward Chamber of Commerce says a lawsuit filed against it by the widow of Michael LeMaitre, the runner who disappeared during the 2012 Mount Marathon Race, has been settled...
In a Wednesday statement announcing the $20,000 settlement with Peggy LeMaitre, the chamber -- which organizes the annual race -- outlined its case countering her initial claims in a $5 million suit that the group’s conduct was outrageous and that it was negligent in its duty of care for her husband.
Participants in the annual July 4 race are strongly advised to go up and down the mountain at least once before toeing the starting line, but having been on Mount Marathon doesn’t necessarily make one an expert. The trail can be extremely dangerous, and racers have been severely injured. In the 2012 race, two racers were seriously hurt after falling off wet cliffs and another was declared dead after he disappeared on the mountain without a trace.
2015 Mount Marathon Race...that race also claimed racer Michael LeMaitre, who was last spotted shortly before reaching the summit and was never seen again. In the wake of those incidents, there was a new emphasis on safety, including the pre-race seminar.