Friday, September 17th: Ironman comes to Juneau. Humpback whales and the pandemic. An Afghan meal with a mission.

Ironman Alaska triathlon is set for August 7, 2022 (Photo courtesy of Ironman).

More than a thousand athletes will descend on Juneau next August for the for the city’s first Ironman competition. The Ironman franchise is billing it as an “epic adventure” — with a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bicycle race, and a 26 mile run through the rainforest.

On  Friday’s Juneau Afternoon, how the city economy stands to benefit.

Also:

  • Humpback whales and reduced cruise ship traffic.
  • From Juneau to Afghanistan with love: A meal with a mission.

Listen to all of the interviews:

Part 1. Liz Perry, executive director of Travel Juneau, gives an overview of the inaugural Ironman Alaska triathlon coming to Juneau next August.

Part 2. Dr. Heidi Pearson, a UAS marine biologist, and Dr. Suzie Teerlink, a marine mammal specialist with NOAA, talk about how the pandemic has afforded a rare opportunity to study the impact of cruise ship traffic on humpback whales.

Part 3. From Juneau to Afghanistan with love. Kaila Buerger and Sima Shoja talk about a fundraiser to help Shoja’s family in Afghanistan.

 

For a period of time, there was a block-long line to buy packaged dinners to support the Monsef family in Afghanistan. Saturday’s September 18th sale raised more than $5,000 with more donations expected (Photo courtesy of Alaska Probiotics).
The food sold out in about 45 minutes (Photo by Rhonda McBride).

 

Sima Shoja prepared a traditional Afghan chicken and rice dish, with raisins and lightly seasoned with cinnamon (Photo by Rhonda McBride).

Catch  Friday’s Juneau Afternoon with Rhonda McBride, live at 3:00 p.m. on KTOO Juneau 104.3, online at ktoo.org, and repeated at 4:00 p.m. on KRNN 102.7.

 

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