KNEELAND TAYLOR

By Doyle Woody

Kneeland Taylor had a plan in 2021. At 73, he would race Mount Marathon for the last time, give himself a final mountain memory to savor, then call it a career before he hurt himself in the perilous Fourth of July race in Seward. And everything transpired terrifically — until his final stride.

Sprinting to the finish line to avoid a last-second pass by hardcharging Gregory Lincoln of Bethel, Kneeland found himself between two timing mats on his final stride. Leaning, lunging forward, arms churning, he slammed to the pavement in the finish chute. “Last 20 yards,’’ Taylor recalled, “I’m reckless.’’ The good news: Taylor held off Lincoln fractionally — both men were given a time of 2 hours, 3 minutes, 29 seconds. The grim news: Taylor’s crash resulted in a non-displaced fracture of his right femur near the hip, requiring a five-day hospital stay and months of physical therapy and recovery. The takeaway: So much for one last sweet memory of the mountain. The reminder: Intense competition doesn’t only take place at the front of a race. The look-ahead: Taylor is treating 2022 as the new 2021. Taylor, 74, will be back on the mountain this year for the 22nd time since his 1997 race debut, intent on seizing one sweet, final race memory. Taylor, an attorney from Anchorage, approached the finish line last year, on the runners’ right side of the road. He was curious whether he had a firm hold on his finish place. He said his neck was sore, so he could not comfortably look to his left and behind. That’s when he heard spectators encouraging Lincoln: “You can catch him! You can catch him!” Taylor launched into a sprint just before Lincoln pulled even with him. You know the rest. Taylor and Lincoln, who also tumbled to the pavement, did not touch as they crossed the line. Just bad racing luck for Taylor. “He was so nice, and apologetic,’’ Taylor said of Lincoln, emphasizing Lincoln was not at fault. After sitting on an overturned bucket and getting hosed down in the finish chute, Taylor said he wasn’t in pain — until he tried to stand up. That was a non-starter. Medical personnel at the finish loaded him onto a gurney — now that was painful, Taylor said — and took him to Providence Seward Medical Center, which sits along the course, near the base of the mountain. “It’s really convenient to have an ambulance right there,’’ Taylor said, deadpan. He was transported by road later that night to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. Through hard work and the help of a physical therapist and occupational therapist, both friends of his before the injury, Kneeland eventually began riding a stationary bike and was back skate skiing before Thanksgiving. Taylor grew up hiking with his father in the Adirondacks in upstate New York and bagged several 14,000-foot peaks when he lived in Colorado for five years. He’s also a backcountry skier. Mountains are his thing. Come the Fourth, he’ll be chasing one more mountain memory. And Taylor has no doubt the thousands of spectators who line the course from downtown and onto the mountain will help make his final journey sweet. “There’s something about running down the mountain and road and having 10,000 drunks yelling and cheering for you like (you’re) a hero,’’ he said. YEAR PLACE TIME 1997 205 1:33:45 1998 226 1:41:23 1999 164 1:32:45 2000 185 1:26:11 2001 202 1:28:42 2002 213 1:33:11 2003 234 1:36:18 2004 237 1:35:00 2005 211 1:26:07 2006 214 1:27:49 2008 240 1:34:49 2011 260 1:34:30 2012 278 1:33:28 2013 269 1:36:13 2014 279 1:53:40 2015 297 1:47:05 2016 287 1:45:14 2017 285 1:48:58 2018 281 1:59:12 2019 252 2:08:03 2021 247 2:03:29