Yesterday I ran the half marathon associated with Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN. Spoiler alert...here's my very large, very heavy finisher medal: Weather on race day was absolutely perfect. It was just under 50 degrees and partly sunny when we began at 6:15am. I was happy to see the green flags and also these signs indicating more port-potties ahead. I've run this race before which involves a bus ride to the starting area plus about a half mile walk to the start. I knew the potty situation can be difficult with approximately 9,000 runners dropped off in the middle of nowhere so I walked ahead past a few banks of toilets before joining a line. It seemed to take a long time to get through the line, but it was still around 5:45, a full half hour before race time. I walked further ahead and got rid of my checked bag and headed into the chute area where I knew there were supposed to be lots more potties. I joined a line there feeling like I needed an "insurance dump" to know I wouldn't have to go along the way. This line also took soooo long. My fellow linemates and I listened to the Star Spangled Banner still in line, heard final instructions and even the starting horn. Since my time wouldn't start until I actually made it to the starting line, I just waited a couple more minutes and took care of business. As I moved toward the starting line, I noticed that there were still hundreds of runners waiting in porta potty lines all the way up through the starting corral. I figured I was in good company being patient enough to take care of it before starting. I finally made it to the actual starting line just past 10 and a half minutes after the leaders took off which meant they were already approaching the first water stop at mile 2! I did a lot of weaving through the first mile or two until settling into a steady pace. A few years ago, I ended up in nearly the same position running from behind and passing folks the whole time and it worked out ok, so I was not upset at all that it took me a couple of miles to catch the 2:45 and 2:30 pacers. I found one of my running friends at about 3 miles which was a nice surprise for both of us because we didn't anticipate seeing one another during the race. Remembering what I had pledged going into the race, I went ahead and took a Gu at mile 4 instead of 5 because I was feeling ready for it and had vowed not to be stingy with them. Getting toward the halfway point, I remembered that I was going to try to run very strong in the last 5K, so I tried very hard to just cruise through miles 7,8 and 9 looking ahead to the 10 mile mark. It was helpful that the biggest hill of the race occurs heading into mile 9 where there is a large digital overhead sign proclaiming, "Only 4.1 mils to go. Great job, Runners!" and then there was a timing clock at mile 10 with a guy on the megaphone yelling 5K to go! I took my second Gu at 9 miles and decided I was ready to keep my pace steady into the finishing area. It was kind of fun that this is about where the scenery changes from rural and residential to urban with lots of people out in front of stores and restaurants cheering...and drinking quite a lot of beer and coffee along the road. I was able to use this positive thinking to run the final 5K strong to actually run the last part very well. Notice that my spits got faster as I went along. During mile 13, I was noticing that my legs were getting pretty tired, but decided that was probably good because I must be running hard and my splits reflected that increased effort. With this race, I was very thankful for chip timing. Crossing the finish line, the overhead clock read 2:06:45, but clearly I finished faster than that with my official time being 1:55:59. It was interesting to read my in pacing stats that I had passed 3041 runners in the first 10K and continued to pass people in every segment. Grandma's Marathon always has a top-notch finishing area and swag. The shirts are bright green and the medals were quality. Snacks included chocolate milk, fruit, juice, bagels, chips and a choice of a pop or beer. There are plenty of volunteers around assisting runners who need medical attention, getting their bags back or help finding snacks. While collecting my Coke, I noticed on the large screen that runners were still finishing in droves...and also a bank of porta potties with no lines! Once I had collected my snacks, it was time to head over to the busses going back up the hill...free to all runners and spectators on race day to keep congestion down in the Canal Park area. That is some real MN hospitality. On my way, I walked over a footbridge that I threw up over the edge after the race a few years back. No vomiting this year and no mysterious aches or pains. Today I have general soreness that seems pretty equal left to right, so I'm confident it's the result of exertion, not injury. Blake's fiance enjoyed her time in the medical tent where she reported seeing a good number of nasty blisters and quite a few IT Band suspected injuries. The first question for those folks was if they had trained adequately for the race which often was "no" and the reason for sore knees and hips. The undertrained were fairly quickly sent on and told to see their doctor if it was still hurting in a few days. The weather helped keep their number of customers down this year.
I will definitely do this race again and have until October 1st to contemplate the desire to do the full marathon vs. the half. Half marathons are kind of a sweet spot where it is a very long race that requires a solid training block, but not so much that it puts demands on your life with 3-4 hour training runs that may even require a quick nap and hearty snacks afterwards. After a half, people generally go about having a fun day whereas the marathon can be quite unpredictable from ready to party to put me to bed. I may do a full again someday, but I'll probably lean toward the half at this event with the sweet 6:15 start time, or maybe 6:25 start time if you get in the wrong potty line. If there was one thing that could be improved at this event, it's that potty issue, but I honestly don't know how they'd get more of them out there, so perhaps it just always going to be runners learning to be patient and starting a little late if they decide to wait it out. I've done a late start twice and the only rough part of that was that it was difficult for my family to find me along the course when they watch pacers go by and gauge where I should be from that. Maybe it's time for them to try runner tracking so they can see my actual start time! Hope all your races finish on a high note! Happy running--Missee
1 Comment
Patrick
7/4/2019 07:45:48 am
Negative splits! That’s great and always a goal to be proud of. Nice race. 👍
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AuthorMissee and Stephanie are two Minnesota sisters and moms who love to run. We are not experts in running, parenting or anything else, but we do have years of experiences that may be helpful or entertaining to others. Archives
May 2020
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