Showing posts with label Readers on the Run. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Readers on the Run. Show all posts

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Horror at the JTEL and Readers on the Run

It's fall—and you know what that means! Well, yes, harvest and yard cleanup and preparation for the white stuff, of course, but also—Readers on the Run! (Or see our Facebook event page.) This year we are celebrating horror and the zombie phenomenon for Alaska Book Week. Runners will face a pack of hungry zombies somewhere along the route. Prizes will be given for best runner costume, best zombie costume, best poem, and, of course, best times. Download and post the poster!

Horror fiction is a well-represented genre in the John Trigg Ester Library's collections, both in the film and literature collections. Horror has its roots in folklore, myth, and religion, and often reflects, through metaphor, the larger fears of society.

So what can we make of the ever-increasing popularity of zombie-themed fiction? What metaphors does it play on? What does it mean that zombies have been gradually increasing their lurch speed? Hmmm. Come find out—at the library!

Authors of horror fiction represented at the JTEL include:
  • Ian Banks
  • Clive Barker (Weaveworld, Imajica, etc.)
  • Ambrose Bierce
  • Algernon Blackwood
  • Ray Bradbury
  • Ramsey Campbell
  • Roald Dahl
  • Ted Dekker
  • August Derleth
  • Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol, Tale of Two Cities, The Pickwick Papers, etc.)
  • Dennis Etchison
  • William Faulkner
  • Neil Gaiman
  • Nikolai Gogol
  • Laurell K. Hamilton
  • David G. Hartwell
  • Shirley Jackson
  • Henry James
  • Stephen King (Desolation, the Gunslinger series, Christine, etc.)
  • Dean Koonz (Midnight, Fear Nothing, etc.)
  • Tanith Lee
  • Fritz Leiber
  • H.P. Lovecraft
  • Brian Lumley
  • George R.R. Martin
  • Chuck Palahniuk
  • James Patterson
  • Edgar Allen Poe (collected works)
  • Anne Rice (Interview with a Vampire, Queen of the Damned, etc.)
  • Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (Frankenstein)
  • Dan Simmons
  • S.P. Somtow
  • R.L. Stine
  • Bram Stoker
  • Peter Straum
  • Whitley Strieber
  • F. Paul Wilson
  • Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
And more! Aside from gothic horror, modern horror is often cross-genre, and includes science fiction, fantasy, and other genres.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Readers on the Run results

At long last, the results from Readers on the Run 2011 are posted online!

The highlights:

Mary Via: first place in the poetry contest
Deirdre Helfferich: first place in the costume contest
57 entrants total, with earnings of roughly $4,100, an all-time record!

Girls' top finisher: Katy Masterman, with a time of 39 minutes and 28 seconds!
Boys' top finisher: Nolan Earnest, 24:21 (24:16 with math quiz)!
Women's top finisher: Molly Rettig, 20:40!
Men's top finisher: Ian MacDougall, 19:21 (19:16 with the math quiz)!


Sarah Bauer and Aimee Fogler were our red lantern finishers, coming in at a leisurely pace after the race clock was packed up...


Thank you to everyone who participated and volunteered for this event. It was a fabulous success, and the many sponsors helped make it a record-breaking fundraiser with the most runners we've ever had. 

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Readers on the Run Sunday Oct. 9!

Once again, Ester's having a run through the village. Unlike the Equinox Marathon or the Ester Dome Ass Kicker, Readers on the Run is a short little fun run hospitable to both serious runners looking for a little variety and fun and those who are new to running, getting into shape, or who just like dressing up and making up silly poems with refrigerator magnets in the brisk outdoor air. Walkers, kids, well-mannered dogs, poets, families, and thespians are encouraged to participate!

Readers on the Run is a five-kilometer footrace with two stops for creation of magnetic poetry. Entrants are awarded prizes based on Best Poem, Best Costume (and sometimes also Best Group Costume), and best times in Men's, Women's, and Kids' categories.

The race is a fundraiser for the John Trigg Ester Library. Funds are raised from sales of t-shirts (this year a limited number of gray hoodies are also available) with a design created by a local artist, entry fees, race sponsors, and this year, donation pledges gathered by the race entrants themselves. Come watch this hoot of a race and cheer on your favorite runner, run as a family or group, buy a t-shirt or sweatshirt from this year or races past, and help build a library for Ester and the west end of the borough!

Race particulars:

  • Date: Sunday morning, 11 am, October 9, 2011
  • Race Start: 500 Village Road, Ester (across from the Ester Post Office at the Ida Lane Clausen Gazebo)
  • Same-day registration: begins at 9 am at the Ida Lane Clausen Gazebo
  • Check-in time: 10 am, Ida Lane Clausen Gazebo
  • Registration fee: $10 before October 7, $15 October 8-9 (check to JTEL or cash)
  • Awards presented after the race at the Golden Eagle Saloon. Minors, please bring your parents. Minors must have the signature of a parent or guardian to participate in the race.
  • Entry forms: available on line or at the Annex, Beaver Sports, Ester Post Office, Gold Hill Liquor & Gas, Goldstream Sports, Gulliver's Books, and Toy Quest.
  • Runner pledge forms: available on line or with the registration form.

If you are interested in helping out as a race volunteer, please contact Nancy Burnham at 457-6668. We can use your help!

We've had many great sponsors this year, with the major ones being Everything Auto & Detail, Gold Hill Liquor & Gas, Taylored Restoration Services, and WV Builders. Other sponsors include Drs. Andrea Earnest & Eric Buetow, Graphic North Printers, Innovation Consulting, Hans Mölders carpenter, McRoy & Blackburn Publishers, Ronn Murray Photography, Stellar Communications, Tandem Enterprises, Water Wagon, and Winterhouse Inc, and many individuals besides. In-kind donors are Ester Designworks, Gulliver's Books, Interior Graphics, and Taylor's Gold-N-Stones, plus the many businesses that have helped us by putting up posters and providing registration forms and envelopes. Please help us thank these generous businesspeople by stopping in to their shops and giving them your custom.

Below are the t-shirt designs from each year of the race:

2011: design by Deirdre Helfferich

2010: design by Amy Cameron



2009: design by Inari Kylänen



2008: design by Dan Darrow


Friday, October 15, 2010

Photos from Readers on the Run

So far we only have a few. Here's some taken by volunteer Hans Mölders, who was a spotter on the intersection of Old Nenana Highway and Ester Creek Road.
Harry Simpson, #249. 
Lisa Baraff, poodle, out walking her husky.

Maia Luick, left, and Rachel Geiss.

Deirdre Helfferich, the Queen in Green.

Sally Anderson and son.