Best of January

Adventure racers Gayle Hoffmeister, left, and husband Maj. Marc Hoffmeister will compete in the Little Su 50K and the Susitna 100 endurance bicycle races, respectively, on Valentine's Day. Marc, a dedicated athlete who is the Alaskan Command's chief of engineering, is returning to competition after a roadside bomb in Iraq seriously injured his left arm, part of which is now titanium. "My wounds have redefined many things in my life," he said, "but they haven't changed who I am or what I dream to achieve."