newsminer.com

The goal of the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra fundraiser is to beat Beethoven -- aka Steve Bainbridge -- as he runs a 5-kilometer course through the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus in step with Beethoven's 5th Symphony. If you finish ahead of Beethoven, you win a ticket to a Fairbanks Symphony concert.

The symphony takes somewhere between 29 and 31 minutes, depending on which version is used. I'm about three minutes too slow every year, in fact I never even saw Beethoven/Bainbridge this time, but it's a fun time and the first race of the Fairbanks running season. Hundreds of people turn out in conditions that can be a bit on the chilly side. It was about 40 this morning, which is a good temperature to run in. There were frequent patches of ice along the route, but to the south, the Alaska Range glowed in the morning sun. I saw a couple of young boys engage in a quick snowball fight as they ran along. It was a beautiful morning.

Race results should be posted on the Fairbanks Symphony web site later today, as well as on newsminer.com.

Now that the ice is broken, so to speak, on the running season, there are races nearly every week until the big finale in September, the Equinox Marathon. The highlight, of course, is the Midnight Sun Run, which attracts thousands of people and dozens of house parties on one of the longest days of the year.

For more information on Fairbanks running events, check out the Running Club North's web site. Summer's short, but intense. Time to make the most of it.