It may be too late to donate, but it’s never too late to support! Visit us at 3022ft.com to get involved, pre-order DVD's, stickers, posters and share the project with the world!

THANK YOU so very much to all who donated. This campaign was just the beginning of our efforts, and we look forward to keeping you updated about our next steps!

Mt. Marathon. The second oldest trail race in America, Mt. Marathon began in Seward, Alaska as a bar bet in 1907 and remained a secret from the Lower 48 for most of its history. In recent years, top athletes from across the state and country have consistently drawn 40,000 spectators for the annual 4th of July contest and firmly cemented Mt. Marathon as the crown jewel of Alaskan mountain running.

Just like the athletes, our race started long before the starting gun went off. We conducted pre-race interviews with the top female and male competitors, and recorded their stories leading up to the 4th.  They opened up to us about their ambitions and dreams at a level of intimacy you simply can't get in TV interviews, sharing about career comebacks, life-threatening injuries, training while raising a family, controlling unruly chickens and more. 

After we filmed their stories, we climbed. 

Spectators have been lining the course for years searching for the best spot to watch the race, but no matter how great the view, it's only one angle. This film offers countless best spots and more angles than have ever been recorded by a single team. On race day, we had over 20 cameras rolling, gathering footage from the starting line, up the Roots, Cliffs, Gut and scree all the way to 3022 feet at the peak. What's more, our camera men scrambled up the roots and plunged down the scree alongside the racers to get dynamic footage that has never before been attempted. 

Award ceremonies and celebrations followed the race and we followed the athletes through them both, before sitting down once more for personal interviews that went miles beyond the post-race interviews broadcasted by news outlets.

Whether this campaign is the first time you've heard of Mt. Marathon, or whether you're a thirty-five year veteran of the race, this 20-30 minute film will give you a view of the race like nothing before.

Our film shows the stories of Holly Brooks, a two-time Olympic Skier,  Eric Strabel, the Mt. Marathon Men's record holder,Denali Foldager, a Seward native and former Princess of the Mountain, Christy Marvin, a full time mother and the 2013 Mt. Marathon Women's Champion,  Allie Ostrander, a 17 year old sports phenom, Rickey Gates, a Salomon sponsored professional mountain runner, Matt "The Bear" Novakovich, a professional Spartan Racer and the 2012 Mt. Marathon Men's Champion, Najeebey Quinn, a wild-card rookie, Jim Shine, an auction-in rookie , and Ann Spencer, who earned third place in her first year in the women's race after several championships as a junior racer.

These athletes inspire us in countless ways. They teach us not only to our best athletically, but to be our best selves period. They guide us through withdrawal and recovery, and kick footholds in the snow so we can find our way in the dark. Their stories of perseverance, risk, failure and glory have a place in all our lives, whether we're pro-Spartan racers, ski-coaches, students or full-time moms. 

Flip Foldager, a Mt. Marathon veteran of 35 years,  lends his voice to the mountain and it's history, serving as your insider guide for much of the film.

Emerging filmmakers Max Romey and Natalie Fedak partnered after meeting in college at Western Washington University. In school, Max centered on cinematography and documentary production, while Natalie focused on writing, directing, and producing original films. The combination of their energies has brought a fresh and thorough take on the beloved Alaskan Mt. Marathon race. They aim to captivate audiences of all ages, backgrounds and interests by sharing inspiring stories about people who dare to climb the mountains life gives them. 

They look forward to sharing a beer with everyone who can make the premier next spring, when both of them will finally be old enough to legally drink! Woohoo!

After we saw the race for the first time, we wanted more. We searched for Mt. Marathon videos on YouTube and Vimeo, but couldn't find anything other than grainy amateur videos clipped and cut to rock and roll. We decided that a full-scale production was needed to adequately document this crazy race, and we thought, why not us?

It's been said that most of what takes a documentary from a good idea to a great film is luck, and while there's a lot of truth in that statement, we like to think that film makers help create their own luck. We started with a solid idea, organized interviews, assembled a capable crew, collected the best equipment we could get our hands on, and made countless phone calls to administrators, police chiefs, athletes and businesses. We didn't make the athletes say interesting things, nor did we make them run good races, but we were there with cameras rolling, waiting for the goodness to come.

Boy oh boy, did we capture some goodness. 

And we want to share it with people all around the country, and with people all around the world if possible. But in order to inspire so many people, we're going to need some help.

Our post-production will require A) more time. B) more people. C) advanced software so more people can make more goodness with more time. 

We need a sound mixer, graphic designer, web designer, music rights, higher quality editing programs, and financial stability so we can devote more time to the project when we aren't studying and working. 

And since our documentary is not considered "full length", it probably won't be shown at many theaters, meaning 3022 FT. is bound for the film festival circuit, most of which require entry fees. 

Since we are visual people ourselves, we figured we'd give you a picture of what your money will go to if we reach our goal.

                             Projected costs of making the film 3022ft.

If we don't reach our goal, we're still going to use the money to make this film the best it can be, but we won't be able to bring in as many talented people as the story deserves.

We've told you a lot about our film and the production, but something we haven't told you is what we hope it does to change the way female athletes are treated by media. There is no questioning that the women who run this race are bad-ass. Mt. Marathon is as dangerous as it is grueling, and as many women run the same course as men each year. But, despite the fact that they run the same race on the same day and display the same level of athletic prowess, only the men's race is broadcasted on TV. After meeting and interviewing so many of the top female competitors, we simply do not understand why.

(It's not a video about women being awesome, it's an awesome video, and naturally women are in it.)

3022 Ft. does not highlight the female athletes over the male athletes, or point a finger at anyone who has overlooked the female roster in the past. What 3022 Ft. does is show how the harmony of male and female athletes training and supporting each other is what makes Mt. Marathon a shining example of sports equality. We don't want people to walk away from 3022 Ft. thinking we made a film about women being awesome in this crazy mountain race; we want them to think we made an awesome film about this crazy mountain race, and naturally women are in it. It's the same mountain for males and females, and the same amount of respect is due to both. 

Alaskans: If you've ever tried to explain Mt. Marathon to an out of stater, you know it's an impossible task. Our goal is that after they watch 3022, they'll be able to talk about Mt. Marathon as if they've seen the race themselves.

Non-Alaskans: After you watch 3022 Ft. , you'll be able to talk about Mt. Marathon as if you've seen the race yourself.

Everybody: By funding this project, you are supporting independent film, healthy living, athletic gender equality, Alaska's most loved athletic event, and helping to spreading Mt. Marathon's message of strength and endurance throughout the world.

We all have mountains to climb. Ours is this film.

Will you climb with us?

If you aren't able to support us financially right now, don't worry there are still plenty of ways to help spread our story!

You can share our campaign on your social media sites with the Indiegogo sharing tools provided on this page, or help spread the buzz and share your Mt. Marathon memories and questions on our Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/3022ft/336883253159399

See the rest of the Athlete photo prints in the gallery.