Solstice tradition sends characters dashing through downtown

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About 140 runners were foolish enough to race on Friday, the night of the summer solstice.

Only Fools Run at Night, originally titled Only Fools Run at Midnight, has been a coveted solstice tradition for 37 years. After a six-year hiatus, it was revived in 2024 as a fundraiser for the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé cross-country team. Since becoming associated with the school, the race is directed toward a younger audience and started at 9 p.m. This year, the race raised $3,500 for the JDHS cross-country team.

“It fits in with our vision as a cross-country team of country email listjust having a good time and running and building community,” said Abby Jahn, one of the JDHS cross-country coaches.

Carl Brodersen, dressed as a caveman, said that when he heard the cross-country team was resurrecting the race, he cold emailed asking to help organize it.

“It’s just such a wonderful community event,” said Brodersen, who helped the cross-country team organize the event. “At some point, we’ll hopefully get back to where it was before. This was like 300 people would come out and do this thing. Just full of energy. Some of my best memories from my teens and 20s were going all out to make a costume for this event, and I just wanted to make sure that I and future generations had an opportunity to dress like a fool and run around.”

The solstice was sunny and warm. Brodersen claims the good weather may have negatively impacted turnout.

“With any event in Juneau, the weather has to be good enough, but not too good,” he said.

Group costumes dominated the costume-contest podium.

Dressed in all black with their visible skin covered in blue paint, Kaylee Brown, Trevor Daniels, and Maeve Wolf became the performance art company Blue Man Group. They won first place and joined the applause, banging on their 5-gallon buckets.