As I mentioned on Friday, I am up in Duluth, MN and I ran Grandma’s Marathon. Grandma’s is an amazing mid-sized marathon with a “great course for a PR” and a terrific “small town” feel. To add to the fun, I worked at the expo with my friends from Janji. It was so much fun telling so many runners about Janji’s mission to “run for another” and to meet Dave and Isabelle from Janji IRL.
I flew up to Minneapolis on Thursday night after a big delay and stayed over near the airport. I got up bright and early and I did a tiny shake out run on the treadmill. I drove the 2 and a half hour trip up to Duluth. It is so beautiful and the weather was perfect when I arrived.
I got to the expo, picked up my packet and joined Dave and Isabelle from Janji. I learned “the drill” and spent the next bunch of time telling runners about Janji’s mission and selling some awesome gear. Since Janji donates one year of fresh water to a family in need in the community that the collection originates from, and it is great looking highly functional gear, it pretty much sells itself. I also saw many awesome runners from Chicago and chatted everyone up. It was so much fun. Josh and Leslye came up at the end of my shift and we headed over to the Sheraton (where we were upgraded to the club level. Yay!)
We went out for a local dinner with Leslye’s friends who live up here. Liz ran her first half marathon yesterday so we gave tips and Leslye pre-gamed her cheering plan. Then we went back to the hotel and got ready to run. Even after 40 marathons, I sometimes forget a few things. I did not quite “get” how the weather works here in Duluth. The weather forecast was for rain and storms but 60 degrees. I had no “throw away” shirt. No hat. No trash bags. #runnerfail. Leslye came to my rescue with a hat and we were able to secure awesome, huge trash bags from the hotel.
Josh and I walked over to the shuttle spot early as Kristin suggested. It wasn’t raining. That was a nice surprise. We chatted with some folks in line and waited while the rain slowly started. We got a sweet coach bus with a bathroom on it and made our way to the start. By the time we got there, it was pretty much pouring. We donned our trash bags and headed out. We dropped our gear bags, hit the port potties and headed to the start. The rain kept falling and then it started falling harder. People were soaked. But, there was no lightning so the show was a go.
I lined up with the 3:35 pace group but the start was super crowded. After weaving and fighting to be with the group for 2 miles, I ran a bit ahead of them. I started up a conversation with a nice woman from Savannah. At mile 3, I grabbed water and realized I was now running with another woman in a similar shirt. Her name was Ann. She was running her first marathon in 14 years and was an elite runner when she was in her 20s and 30s. She owns a running store in Lincoln, Nebraska and coaches at the university. Ann and I chatted about how we’ve both met so many awesome people through running and we both remarked on how it was fun to see so many people in this race without headphones. The race is old school and really had a community feel. Ann and I realized another woman was with us. That was Jill from Minnesota. She has Nebraska roots and they knew people in common. We chatted for a good number of miles and were joined by Kaia, a woman who was moving to Marshall to be with her fiance this summer.
Our group ran together (at just under 8 minute/mile pace) through mile 15. The rain let up and the weather was just about perfect. It was overcast and cool. I had to go to the bathroom. I hated to leave the group and my pace setters but nature called. I started back up at a similar pace and looked ahead to see if I could catch my new friends.
Strangely, then sun came out and the humidity picked up. I realized that I was feeling pretty dehydrated. I started grabbing extra water and ice at every water station. I tried to channel positive thoughts and energy. I felt my pace slowing and had a few miles riding “the struggle bus.” With 9 miles to go, someone shouted “almost there” and I was like… um… not exactly. I saw Leslye, Liz and our friend Tyronna at mile 19 and waved like crazy. I had a slow 5K and walked a water stop and tried to regroup. I am proud to say that I pulled it together and tried to stay with whoever went by me. I chatted with a woman named Julie who was my age with 2 year old “surprise” twins. The 3:35 pace group came by and I tried to stay with them.
I made it to “Lemon Drop Hill” at mile 22 and convinced myself that four miles was doable. I saw the crew (and our friend Kim) again near mile 23. The last 5K has a lot of turns and hills. Finally we were near the hotel and less than 2 miles from the finish. I just kept at it one step at a time. I tried not to think about my sopping clothes and shoes and what my feet would look like at the end. I remembered to be grateful for the run, running and for my friends, old and new.
Finally, I made it to the finish. I was surprised to see that my finish time was 3:35.32 (I thought I lost more time). I made my way to the gear check and the changing tent and got out of my wet gear. I met a woman from Chicago who I often run near in races. Cool coincidence.
I went out to meet Josh at the “A” family meet up. Josh arrived and he had a great race and finished right on target in 3:39. He gave me the update on our friends and we went back to meet everyone. We had some beverages (beer for everyone and coffee for me) and food and post gamed. A guy came over on crutches and asked where we got the pizza. It was his first marathon and he had a big IT Band issue. We bought him a slice. Runners are like that.
We went back and relaxed and chatted up tons of runners in the Club room and out at Fitgers brewery. If you are looking for a fun, beautiful, fast marathon course with an old school, friendly vibe, I can’t recommend Grandma’s enough. Just be prepared for any and all weather. Bring your your umbrella, poncho, gloves, tank top and sunblock and leave your headphones at home.