Michelle Isaev sharing her Anchorage RunFest history and summer 2024 race season. Another inspiring runner story.

I have a long history at RunFest, Big Wildlife, Humpy’s Marathon going back to 97. It was my first summer after moving to Alaska and I won it as it was only my second marathon at the time. I Typically spent summers in Russia back then and raced and trained there for Humpy’s in August. I ran Humpy’s Marathon in 97, 99, 2000, 01, 02, 03. I missed 98 and 04 because I stayed in Russia until the very end until I had to be back to work in Alaska. This was ALWAYS my goal race of the season. The weather is not hot and I could go for it. Hot weather is my nemesis!

I moved back to Moscow in 2005 where I lived and worked for over ten years before returning to what was now called Big Wildlife in 2015. I opted for the 49K as sometime while I was gone, an ultra got added. By then, I was a a 50/100K runner where I ran at Worlds and Euros 2010-13. I signed up under my middle name that year because I wanted to quietly come back and if I had a bad race nobody would know it was the same person who used to win the marathon. I set the course record that year and Beth Bragg recognized me at the finish-BUSTED yep I’m back several age groups later.

In 2017, I took a job teaching in Tuluksak after budget cuts hit me in Homer. That kept me out of RunFest until a couple years ago when we went to a subsistence calendar and a longer summer. I won the 49K last year 26 years after that first win in 97. I split my summer now between Anchorage and Moscow because I am blessed with 16 weeks off to race and play. This season, I set four goal races for myself, Arctic Valley, Moscow Championships, Russian National Championships, and RunFest. I invested in a treadmill when I got the job in the bush so I could do hills. I start training for Arctic Valley after winter break by incorporating hill workouts into the mix. It is also the time I started planning for Russian Nationals. Michelle won the 10k and was 3rd place 5k at Russian Nationals.