Max Romey X Susitna 100
If you have been following the “sketchy” story of Max Romey, then you may already know he has an innate curiosity and a healthy sense for adventure. He never leaves home without a sketchbook and small kit of watercolor supplies. Furthermore, if it’s winter, he is almost always on his kicksled!
Now, depending on where you reside in the world, you may or may not know what a kicksled is. It’s origins date back to the mid-late 1800s and the concept brought to life by the people of the Nordic regions of Europe (Sweden, Finland and Norway). It was, and continues to be, an effective way to get around in the winter months.
For Max, once Alaska is blanketed in snow, he puts more miles on his kicksled than his car! It’s how he takes Kip for long “walks,” fetches supplies in town and a “mobile studio” for all those wintery paintings we have all come to love.
Therefore, with his deep roots tied to endurance trail running, and documenting the journeys of some of the world’s most accomplished ultra-athletes — it should not be too much of a surprise that Max felt inspired to tackle one of the most challenging ultra-events in his home state of Alaska — Susitna 100.
UPDATE : Max completed the challenge Sunday, February 18, 2024 @5:30 PM Alaska Time. You can skip down to his post-race musings.
At the time of this writing, Max was on his way to the start of this event and would be without the means to share real-time updates. We would be receiving periodical news via his Garmin InReach, letting family know he’s safe and sound. Otherwise, Max was on his own in the backcountry of Alaskan wilderness… in the winter!
While we all anxiously awaited news, I pulled together a few links to learn more about the history of this race and how to get started with a kicksled (which is officially on my personal bucket list!).
Ski, bike or run in Alaska’s 100-mile call of the wild (source CNN)
What is Kicksledding? (source Kicksled Alaska)
About the type of Kicksled Max will be using in the Susitna 100 (source Esla Kicksleds)
2024 Course Map Source: Susitna 100 Facebook Page
RACE UPDATES (as they were received from Max’s Garmin InReach):
Max’s race started at 9:00 AM Alaska Time on February 17, 2024.
09:00 AM Alaska Time = Max is off and… sledding! Max has granted me the privilege of staying up all night tracking his every move 🤪, but… here’s how this is going to work. I will check-in on him every 4-6 hours and post a little update of how he’s progressing, and confirm that he’s made it to the required check-points.
We will have to use our imaginations on what the experience looks like for Max until he returns home. From what I know, the weather for today is seasonable (partly cloudy and in the low teens (10°F / -12°C) for the start that should hopefully warm up into the low 30s with light winds).
Photos by Max Romey
12:30 PM Alaska Time = I received a surprise call from Max, who unexpectedly had a bit of service. He’s moving along well under a sunny sky and in the mid 20s. He has already made a few rough pencil sketches! What’s a sketchy adventure without some sketching!
At the moment the landscape is relatively flat and pleasant. The concerns on the horizon include running into moose, blisters and frost nip. The other challenge is what they call “overflow”, which is when the heavy snow that has accumulated on a frozen waterway sinks the ice, and water comes up through the cracks. The water that “overflows” creates slush beneath the snow cover. Max had already experience a little of this, though one of the benefits of his kicksled is how it evenly disperses his weight as he glides over these areas.
His best guess is that it will take him between 30-36 hours in total. His hope is only one overnight! Though, this evening’s weather conditions may be perfect for a showing of the Northern Lights, which he informed would slow him down because he will want to take as many pictures as he can! It was a treat to get an unplanned call from Max! That’s all for now!
“If you do good by you, that’s all that matters!”
Photos by Max Romey, 01:00 PM AK Time on February 17, 2024 during the Susitna 100 mile winter race.
Photos by Max Romey, 01:00 PM AK Time on February 17, 2024 during the Susitna 100 mile winter race looking toward Mount Susitna, also known as Sleeping Lady which Max has painted many times!
3:00 PM Alaska Time = Max has reach the first check-point and on to the next. He completed 22.1 miles in just under 6-hours and depending on how Max maintains his pace, still on target for about ~ 30-36 hours to complete this 100-mile adventure race. There will be a longer gap between this update and the next, but those following along can track when Max passes through each check-point HERE (he is listed under the “100 mile ski” category bib #117).
3:00 AM Alaska Time = Max is moving right along and from what I can tell, keeping a steady pace! He’s surpassed the halfway mark, too! While this is technically a “race,” Max really loves kicksledding, has an incredible wife, family and friends who encourage him to challenge himself when called too, and just loves being in the outdoors. The event does have a few time requirements and I believe at this point he has surpassed them.
Therefore, depending on the weather and visual sites, Max did mention he might slow down a touch to sneak in some watercolor sketching and capture the Northern Lights (if present). He has already done a few quick pencil sketches since the start of the race! With that said, he also shared in our last update that he only wishes to spend one “overnight” in the wild… Which makes me imagine that if he has to stash the sketchbook to pick up the pace, we may see that in his checkpoint times later in the event.
4:30 AM Alaska Time = Max is at the 63-mile checkpoint and going to be taking a couple hours to rest (SLEEP!) before tackling the last stretch. If you are following along, and see no movement for a few hours - he’s ok! This specific checkpoint was where he was able to get a hot meal and a place to rest without one-eye-open (cause… wolves and moose…). The above painting, by Max but not during this adventure, is of Mount Susitna, which is also known by the name Sleeping Lady because of its resemblance to a woman lying on her side.
Max surprised me with a call and had this to share:
Been making good slow progress forward! Though, 2AM forward was hard! I was falling asleep WHILE moving forward and it was pretty brutal. I then saw what I thought were two eyes, freaked out, until I realized they were a trail marker.
I will say being on a kicksled for the hills are a lot of fun. But the long flat sections drag on a bit. I saw a little bit of the aurora borealis, not enough to warrant stopping. There’s been a light layer of cloud cover which makes it appear like I’m watching the sky through a very thin curtain. But it does remind me that I’m a small piece of a very big landscape!
I will stop for a bit at this next checkpoint, a little bit of time not moving saves you a whole lotta time moving! Could that be a life lesson? ~ Max as he was pulling into the 63-mile checkpoint.
11:30 AM Alaska Time = Max has been connecting the “dots!” No communication updates since his 63-mile checkpoint, but every 10-minutes we are reassured he’s making his way in the right direction!
11:30 AM Alaska Time =This is the weather situation he is pushing through. Snow for the moment with the possibility of switching over to rain later in the day. (Source Weather Underground)
12:00 PM Alaska Time = Max should be sliding into the 80-mile checkpoint at Cow Lake Cabin any moment, if he hasn’t already. From there it’s 10-miles between the final checkpoint and the subsequent finish where he will be met by his family! I’ve been crunching some numbers 🤓 and for those following along, best guess for an ETA might be sometime between 7:30-9:00 6:30-7:30 PM Alaska Time 🧐 (He’s cruising since he left the 90-mile checkpoint!). I’m going to leave this here for when Max finishes and we’ll see how close I was!
Event photos of Max by Andy Romang!
If you share any of these photos on Instagram pretty please be sure to also tag/credit the photographer (at)andy_romang__photography
2:00 PM Alaska Time = Max was ~ 5 miles from the 90-mile checkpoint, see next screen grab for snippet of race course.
2:00 PM Alaska Time = If you follow the dashed course line between [CL] to the black arrowhead pointing to Intertie, at the time of this update, Max was where there is a little dip in the course.
2:00 PM Alaska Time = If you are following along via the Susitna 100 Live Tracker, it appears that Max’s In/Out times were either not recorded at Cow Lake Checkpoint [CL], or have not been updated. But his Garmin tracker shows that he did in fact pass through the 80-mile checkpoint, and is well on his way to the 90-mile checkpoint at the time of this writing.
Each blue dot is recorded every 10-minutes, and it’s been fascinating to see the stretches where he must be on a downward slope and cruising along (longer blue bar), verses a shorter bar that suggest it was either a technical bit of terrain or an upward push.
Lastly, a check of the weather shows he’s kicksledding through a snow globe, which mixed perception and likely some rain for the last 10-miles of his adventure.
3:50 PM Alaska Time = Max has arrived at the 90-mile checkpoint 🥳 . Downside, it looks like the snow has turned to rain and may be a wet slushy slog to the finish. I’ve been crunching the numbers and Max has averaged roughly, give or take ~ 2.75 miles/hour, and I still think my earlier window of 7:30-9:00 PM for reaching the finish remains valid (at least I did, he’s been cruising since he left the 90-mile checkpoint). I am going to take a risk and tighten the window to being between 6:30-7:30 PM Alaska Time 🤓. Little side-note, Max has no idea I am playing this little game to help pass the time! I like to call this “armchair kicksledding!”
4:00 PM Alaska Time = Max has left the 90-mile checkpoint and is on his way to the finish!!! 🤩 Here’s hoping the line between each blue dot update is long, and it’s a downhill sled back to Happy Trails Kennel. Here’s also hoping I am wrong and he finishes early, because the weather looks like 🦨!
04:25 PM Alaska Time = Max has clearly found an extra gear! He left the 90-mile checkpoint at 3:42 PM AK Time… he’s wasting no time and I’m tossing my math out the window! GO MAX GO!!!!
04:40 PM Alaska Time = Max has “tied the knot” which means he has reconnected with the earlier part of the race course, and is nearly there! Is it me or does Max’s track look a bit like Bugs Bunny…
05:00 PM Alaska Time
05:12 PM Alaska Time
05:33 PM Alaska Time = He did it!!! 🥳
“It’s been a riot. Big scary things can be accomplished in little steps. Which is pretty wild!”
32.5 Hours of kicksledding and I didn’t see a single moose! (Photo by Max Romey, Susitna 100, February 18, 2024, Big Lake, Alaska)
NOTE from Jennifer: Thank you for following along! Below you will find a post-race musing from Max!
Photo by Max Romey
“I’m left with this feeling of the scale of everything.”
Honestly by the time I'm no longer sore, it will probably have sunk in. Though, at this point I'm just left with this feeling of the scale of everything, and just how cool it is. How big it is… yet how small it is to DO something so big.
This was my first 100-mile event as a participant. When you are there and you're putting it all together it seems like this huge giant big scary thing you can never complete. Then when you start you're just focused on all these little tiny things. These little small things, and then by the time you finish you look back up and realize the small things completed a huge giant thing! But the whole time you never saw the huge thing, just all the small things.
It really does feel kind of like a painting, where you are just lost in the little brush strokes and like all these little tiny decisions and details. Yet the big picture you never really see. You imagine it at the beginning. You see it at the end. Though you never really see it fully in the middle; it's just held in your mind the whole time. That's exactly what this was like, except it’s going to to hurt a lot more in my legs!
“During that time I especially remember seeing these big puffy trees covered with snow. It looked like everything had a pillow on it and it seemed so unfair! Just pillows everywhere and I couldn’t lay down on one!”
Photos by Max Romey
The hardest part was at night, it was just so dark I wasn't able to get a lot of food in. Which was really tough. There's no one around, it was really slow and I was really cold. I was falling asleep while walking! I was so tired there's like miles, like 10 to 15 miles, about 3 hours before I would be able to get to someplace warm. It was just really rough.
Those those little steps were really hard to take because it felt like there would be a million more steps before anything would get better. It didn't get better for like hours! But then you just kind of walk your way through the rough patch. During that time I especially remember seeing these big puffy trees covered with snow. It looked like everything had a pillow on it and it seemed so unfair! Just pillows everywhere and I couldn't lay down on one!
Feeling like that was pretty tough until I did get somewhere warm and able to get a warm thing to eat [at the 63-mile check-oint]. I was then actually able to rest for about an hour, and that kind of changed and reset everything. I was through the hardest part.
Photo by Max Romey
The best parts is it was just really cool! The landscape was really incredible. To be able to be out in that landscape for so long and see everything slowly change. To see the full sunrise.. sunset.. sunrise... sunset… was amazing! To be out in the outdoors like that.
Then I think the people. Being around the other participants and volunteers. When you saw someone. When you were able to connect to somebody, being able to talk to new people. That was what was so cool! It's so hard to do things alone, but when you're around people and when you're with people even though this is a solo event — knowing we are all going in the same direction is amazing!
These feel like broad general details of my experience. I think all the deeply personal moments are still locked up in my sore muscles and will reveal themselves in the days, weeks ahead.
I did make some sketches! I will flush those out as my schedule allows (keep an eye to @trailboundsketches on Instagram). My fingers never got too cold but it was a pretty warm day all things considered. This was a really big physical endeavor made up of bunch of little things and I'm trying to think back in the memory on some key moments, but all I can think of is all these little tiny details like those darn snowy pillows I couldn’t curl-up on in the middle of the night.
Thank you to everyone near and far, across all platforms and time-zones who helped cheer me on for over 32-hours! My family and team helped share some of them when I had a touch of cell service and they made a huge difference! Just imagine, if this Trailbound Sketches Community can see me through my first 100-mile winter adventure, what could it do for each other?
— Max
Art by Pia Langfeld
Art by Maartje Bastings
“Thank you to everyone near and far, across all platforms and time-zones who helped cheer me on for over 32-hours! My family and team helped share some of them when I had a touch of cell service and they made a huge difference! Just imagine, if this Trailbound Sketches Community can see me through my first 100-mile winter adventure, what could it do for each other?”
