Duluth, MN Race recap

Duluth Minnesota -- Grandma's Marathon -- Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon

Here is the race recap for Minnesota.  Officially,  Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon, a part of Grandmas Marathon.   It is actually the second half of the full marathon.


Registration:

Registration for this race (for me) was quite a bit different than the other races.  I decided to run for charity.  On the Grandma's Marathon web site, on the registration page was information about how to register for this race with a charity.  This race was a lottery registration which means that you would register and they would choose somehow who was in.  Charities were given several registrations that would allow people to register with their team and the individuals would commit to raising a designated amount of money which would give them the race entry.  If the racer was not able to raise the designated amount of money, then the money would be drafted from their credit card and the racer would give a donation to that charity for at least the amount deficient and then they could receive the race entry.
Because of very kind and generous people like you, I was able to raise nearly $2000 and received entry into this race after the lottery had already happened...  AND we were able to help a wonderful charity and some incredible kids at St. Jude's Children's research hospital.  THANK YOU!!

Fee:

I did not have to pay the fee for this race -- again, THANK YOU!

The Expo:

This expo was at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.  I went and picked up my packet and left.  I did not spend any time there.  I did not look at any of the "stuff".  I simply walked in and walked out.  The truth of the matter is that all of the people were getting on my nerves.  Ya know how there are times when people seem to constantly and forever be in your way.  It is not like they are doing it on purpose, but it sure seems like there is some conspiracy to keep you from having clean air.  Someone is always crowding you and stopping in your path and cutting you off, etc... That is what it was like at the Convention Center.  So, I breezed in and breezed out.  I was not in any hurry.  I just couldn't handle the crowd.  Also, I had a 2.5 mile walk ahead of me to the hotel.

Shirt:
The shirt was a short-sleeved wicking, tech shirt.   

Interestingly, this race did not give out the T-shirt at the Expo.  They only gave out T-shirts to finishers.  I think that is fine, just interesting... unlike the other races.

Race Day:
Saturday -- which was good since Sunday was Father's Day.

Race Start Time:

Race start time was 6:15am for the half.  My hotel was located on the race route, but 9.5 miles from the start of the half and 22.5 miles from the start of the full.  So, we had to take a bus to the start.  My hotel was one of the bus stops, so all I had to do was walk across the street and get on the right bus between 4:45 and 5:15 am.  The Half started at 6:15 and the full started at 7:45.  This would give the slower walkers of the half enough time to clear the way for the faster runners of the full.    The buses were the old style yellow school buses and they were packed to capacity as there were some 9000 runners in the half, but they did the trick.  I sat next to an older gentleman.  He was about 80 years old.  He has run this race 9 times.  I am happy to report that I finished before him... phew!

Course Map:



This race was along Lake Superior and it really was a pretty course.  The roads were in decent condition and the traffic and crowds were well controlled.  This is a major event for the town of Duluth and the entire town appears to happy and supportive of the race.

This was at the start at 5:30am, and this is pretty much what we saw the entire race.

Accommodations:

I stayed at the Days Inn in Duluth.  It was a Days Inn.  There was nothing wrong with it.  It was just like every other Days Inn you have ever stayed in.  Two things I liked about it.  1.  It was right on the course.  After I got back to my hotel after my race, I sat out on the street and waited for the elite runners of the full marathon to come by.  They were cruising.  They were running 5 minute miles... for 26.2 miles.  It was impressive.  2.  They had breakfast for us.  Breakfast was usually at 6:00am, but they started breakfast at 3:30am for the racers.  I thought that was very nice. 

Transportation:

I already told you about the buses to the start.  There were also buses from the finish back to the hotels.  This was a bit crazy.  The finish line was where the checkered circle is on this map.  The buses were on railroad st. right near the 35 sign on this map.... so, the finishers had to cross the race path to get to the buses and then walk down an alley.  It was strange.

So, picture this.  There were thousands of runners finishing the race.  They were tired and not thinking clearly.  There were hundreds of racers that had just finished who were tired and not thinking clearly and who were trying to cross the street full of racers so they could get to the buses.  People were bumping into runners and basic mayhem.  It was crazy.  I finally made it to the return bus and waited 30 min and they took my back to the hotel.

Weather:

The weather was really pretty nice.  The forecast called for rain and even thunderstorms, but it was clear and sunny.  The temp was high sixties and warmed to low seventies during the race.  It was humid, but it felt much like home to me, so I was comfortable.

Race Morning:

4:30 am was early for a Saturday, but I went to sleep about 10:00pm so it wasn't too bad.   I went down and got some breakfast and walked across the street to the buses.  Easy peezy.  The buses dropped us off on the road to the start.  We walked nearly a mile to the start.... and it was a strange start.  There were no corrals or waves.  They had signs that had numbers that corresponded to your average pace.  Elites, 5:30, 6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 8:30... etc...  Using the honor system we were supposed to line up behind the sign that represented our average mile pace.  I lined up at 8:30 because I intended to run fairly slowly at first.  I did not want to push it too hard too fast as my cardio is not back completely were I was.  My goal for this race was 1:50:00 which is 8:39 per mile.  The issue was that there was some 20 yards between each sign, so I was so far back I could not even see the start line and this area between 7:00 and 8:30 was PACKED with people.  I was a little claustrophobic.  We sang the national anthem and were waiting for the start of the race.  Normally they will have a countdown.  All of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, with no warning, people just started running toward the start.  Then a few seconds later a horn sounded.   "Oh!!.... I guess we have started".  It took me almost two minutes to get to the start.  I walked to the start.  I was not about to start running yet.   Not until the starting line.  Why would I run farther for no reason????  But the worst part was because of the confusion of the starting positions, the not so honest people that lined up too far up and the fact that I walked to the start while others ran, there was a huge blockage of people that I had to navigate around.  It was a bit exhausting playing pinball in the race, particularly when you are being used as the ball.  It did not thin out until about mile three.

Race:

The race was well organized.  I did not have any trouble finding where to go.   There was no confusion in the race about where to go.  The roads were in pretty good condition.  The weather was good and the scenery was nice.  For the first six miles I kept a nice 8:15-8:20 pace.  My decreased training prevented me from being able to sustain that, but I was feeling really good for the fist five miles at least... then slowed significantly after mile six.

I don't have any race photos yet, but I will post them here when I get them. -Here is one at the finish :

Water/Food Stations:
Plenty of water and plenty of PowerAid.  I got oranges once and bananas once.  I missed the cliff shot station as someone cut me off.  An unofficial station had pickles, pickle juice, energy drinks, vaseline, and bandaid (or nip guards).  -- I actually could have used those -- but I opted for the pickle juice.  The one thing that slowed me the most on this race was cramps.  I had a recurring cramp in the lower abdomen and one at my collar bone a few times.  I can usually breathe my way out of cramps, but I could not shake these until I stopped and walked.  I walked a total of 7 times.  One was to remove a rock from my shoe.

Scenery:
The scenery was the lake -- actually looks like the ocean.  It is HUGE. -- and the quaint little town of Duluth.  I thought it was pretty.  Much more interesting than my run around my neighborhood.

Race Entertainment:
I had my earbuds in again.  I almost ran without them this time as I have been training without them, but in the end opted to use them.  So, I did not really hear any of the entertainment.  I did see a fire baton twirler.  Interesting... but I did not notice much else, except the usual group of cheerleaders.

Finish:
The finish was in Canal Park.  It was a cool part of town (down at the bottom of this hill) on a little peninsula of the lake.
Very pretty area.  I nice place to run and finish.  Cute little town.  Valerie would have enjoyed walking around and shopping and sightseeing there.


Bling:



The finishers medal was nice and color coded with the shirt etc.


Misc:

This was a nice race.  I enjoyed the course and the scenery.  Had I not had any cramps, I would have met my goal and had a nice run.  I was able to enjoy the scenery and the surroundings because I was not suffering with my calves nor was I breathing too heavily.  It was nice.  Maybe if I get in better shape they will all be like that (without the cramps).

I went back to the hotel and got a shower and sat down on the street and watched the elites from the full.  I clapped for them and sat in amazement. as they FLEW by.  Then I went to a  local restaurant and treated myself to a greasy "breakfast burger".  It was a burger with cheddar cheese, bacon, peanut butter, an egg (over easy) between two pieces of French Toast and a side of syrup and fries. -- sounds disgusting, but it was soooo good!!

When I came home I was able to be back for Father's Day and spent a great day with my family.  Keeley even baked me a cake.
  It was amazing good!

In all, I was able to race for a great cause.  I did not meet my time goal, but I was not too far off.  1:57:44.  Not my best, but not terrible and thanks to YOU, I was able to help some deserving kids.  Thanks again for your help.  Next race Big Sky Montana.  Elevation 8592 ft.  Wonder how that is gonna go.