Sunday, October 4, 2015
Time: 4:15:49
Overall Place: 4124/8579
The question
I have always asked myself is what makes a marathon grow in popularity over
another marathon. I know that how you
treat runners and what kind of swag you give away can determine whether there
are 500 runners or 8500. Surely the
course doesn’t make that big of a difference.
Anyway, it is a question that I will continue to wonder about. There is one thing for sure, the big
marathons are very enjoyable and I was looking forward to the Twin Cities
Marathon as my 11th stop on the tour. The TCM had about 11,000 registered runners
in the marathon and the 10 miler had about 10,000, so this was quite a large
event. I just want to also point out here that even though there were 11,000 registered there were only 8579 finishers. Not everyone who starts is going to finish. This was the second time running
the event. The first time was two years
ago when Heidi, Jennifer, Wendy and I ran the full and Stephanie ran the 10
miler. We enjoyed it the first time and
it was special because Heidi had completed her first full marathon. It made it all the more special to run this
race again.
Just to make
things a little more interesting, we were watching the news out of the Twin
Cities and it was broadcasted that a group known as the Black Lives Matter
(BLM) was going to protest and stop runners from reaching the finish line at
about the 26 mile mark. The race
organizers sent out an email later in the week that they had worked things out
and that the runner’s safety would come first and the race would go ahead as
planned.
This year we
asked my sister in law Carla to join us since we had made arrangements to stay
at her brother and sister- in- laws place in Anoka which is just north of the
city.
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| I love not always having to drive |
It has been
years since I had one of their delectable sliders and I knew where there was a
White Castle just before our stop. I had
myself a couple of burgers and picked up a T-shirt which I will proudly
wear. What a way to start the trip. We arrived at our destination and were
welcomed heartily by Ernie and Joyce. It
was nice to see familiar faces again.
I just want
to add a side note here, another question which I have pondered for a long
time. There are two lanes on a divided highway,
right? Why do people feel they need to
drive in the left, which is a passing lane, below speed limit? This lane is for passing and letting cars
merge in to traffic. Yet, I keep running across people who feel this lane is a leisurely
traveling lane or they try and pass people at the same speed as the people in
the right lane are going. You know what
I’m talking about. Anyway, there’s my rant
for the day.
On Saturday
morning Heidi and I had planned to go to the Expo down at the Saint Paul River
Centre which by the way is attached to the Excel Energy Center where the
Minnesota Wild play their hockey games.
This expo is one of the largest in the country and there is lots to see. We enjoy a really good expo because everyone
is giving out lots of freebies, and who doesn’t like a freebie.
They also had a speaker series where they
partner with the Mayo Clinic and present topics that are related to
running. I enjoy these and can usually
learn a lot. The one interesting thing
about this even is that they do not give out a shirt before the race when you
collect your bib. In order to receive
your shirt you must finish the race which they then call your finishers shirt.
This is not done too often but I really like the concept. Who wants to wear a shirt for a race that you
never finished. Not me! After the Expo we headed back to our host
family, but not before stopping at, you guessed it, a mall. Heidi actually found herself a really nice
coat for the winter very reasonably priced,
and I made ten new friends. A group of
students from India were trying to purchase coats for the first time in their
lives and they thought I would make a great sounding board and they came to me
for help.
I try and stay away from making purchases in the US because our dollar
is not worth nearly as much, so the exchange really kills you. In the evening we had a very deliciously
prepared spaghetti dinner which was very much appreciated. We had a wonderful visit and then it was off
to bed.
As I
mentioned this event has a marathon and a 10 miler. Both races start in downtown Minneapolis and
end at the state capitol in Saint Paul. I
had tried to register Heidi for the 10 miler but it was done by lottery and
Heidi did not get in which meant that Heidi would drop me off and drive to
Saint Paul. I know the Twin Cites very
well because I spent almost a year working there. Heidi didn’t know it quite as well so was
very nervous about the drive. With the
GPS, and knowing that she had almost 4 ½ hours to get to Saint Paul , her
chances were more favorable to get to the finish line.
My plan for this race was quite simple, run! Nothing complicated about that. After all this was my 11th marathon for the year and I just needed to run from one city to the next. I didn’t really have a plan except to enjoy the race.
The day
was beautiful with temperatures around plus 7 at 8:00 in the morning when the
race began. It’s amazing when around
10,000 runners take off down the road all in hopes of coming across that finish
line 26.2 miles away. It’s what’s in
between that is the hard part. There is
a reason they call this race the most beautiful urban marathon in America. The first eight miles you go around four
lakes and then down streets with big shaded trees.
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| Stately mansions on Summit Avenue |
The next section was along the Mississippi
and then across a bridge and back down. It is really up in elevation along the
Mississippi and down Summit Avenue which have the stately house of Saint Paul
and to the finish on the grounds of the state capitol. I ran the race very conservatively taking
walking breaks at the water stations and along some of the uphill
sections. My time
was a bit faster than normal but I continued to run within my comfort level. I knew this course and also know that from
about mile 19 to about 23 there was a lot of uphill. I actually felt quite comfortable during the
uphill sections and recovered quickly to finish strong. I usually come in at around 4:25. This race I caught Heidi by surprise coming
in at around 4:15 .I was very happy to see Heidi at the sideline because then I
knew she made it there safely.
I had
mentioned the BLM at the beginning that they were going to try and block the
race. Well, they were pretty much a non-factor. They were present and made themselves heard
but they did it the right way by not disrupting the race.
Another
highlight that makes this race so beautiful to run is that the streets are
lined with supporters the entire way.
Other races you might get pockets of support on the sidelines. Not this race, it is lined the entire
way.
You can’t help but be inspired by
all of the people cheering you on and high fiving. It was truly enough to lift you to a faster
pace. As soon as I finished the race I
realized that we had not made arrangement to meet. This is a big site with thousands of people
and now we had to try and find each other.
We did it quite by fluke and were very happy to have found each other.
We made our
way back to Saint Paul downtown where Heidi had parked and went back to our
host family home. Oh yeah, I also got
my medal for finishing and my finishers shirt which I could proudly wear.
We spent one
more night in the area so that Carla could spend more time with family and we
were able to meet some friends for dinner.
What better way to finish off a good day of running and a great weekend,
with Famous Daves. This is one of my favorite
restaurants and we had a great time visiting with our friends.
The next day
we packed up and headed for home. Only
one more week till the next race so I need to recovery quickly.
I received an email from Siloam Mission later
that day letting me know that the total amount of money raised so far came to
$10,144.21. It humbles me to know that
we have raised that much support already for Siloam Mission. I look forward to continuing this journey to
see how much more we can accomplish. What
an honor it is be a part of this journey.
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