This Anchorage ‘marathon’ was .5K — and featured rest stations with puppies, doughnuts and lawn chairs

In this “marathon,” the person with the slowest time was the winner and adoptable puppies were on-site for a cuddle at one of two stations along the course –– which was a whopping one-half kilometer.

The Super Serious, No Fun .5K Run on Wednesday was an annual fundraising event hosted by Rage City Roller Derby, Alaska’s largest roller derby league.

Proceeds from the event help cover the costs of national and international travel, track time and basic operating costs, said Alex France, who helped organize the event with Nicole Sola and a number of other volunteers and teammates.

As part of their coronavirus mitigation plan, this year’s race featured four heats of around 10 participants, capped at 50, who laughed and strolled their way around one city block.

About 500 feet from the starting line at Midnight Sun Brewing Co., puppies and dogs from Best Friends Animal Rescue greeted racers. Racers stopped for cuddles and licks before walking another 500 feet or so to carbo-load on doughnut holes and take a breather on lawn chairs.

By the end of the event, two puppies had been adopted –– an announcement that was met with cheers and clapping from participants during the award ceremony.