Grandma's Marathon

Grandma’s Marathon finally caught a break on the weather! It wasn’t wonderful, but it was OK and certainly better than any of the previous three years. The temperature was 65 at the 7:30 am start and 68 at my 12:20 finish, mostly cloudy (thank you!), low humidity, with a gusty wind in our faces. The wind made the running a little more difficult, but it did help keep us cool.

My Marathon:

I had a good run, gaining about seven minutes on my goal 5:00 hour pace in the first half, and able to maintain those seven minutes in the second half, for a finish of 4:53:19. Nothing hurt enough to slow me down. I started leaning to the left at about mile 17, but that problem went away. Huh. The right ankle had been a little sore going in, and it squawked a little but didn’t get worse. Then toward the end the left foot got sore too, one of the bones connecting to the fourth toe I think, back inside the foot. It’s even more sore today, two days after the race - I’m a little concerned about it, hope it doesn’t amount to anything. Nothing seems broken - probably just a ligament that got overused a little with the 21,000 operations demanded by a marathon. And I might have stepped on it crooked - I did step off the edge of the pavement once.

I took gels with caffeine at miles 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, & 23; salt at 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, & 25. No cramps! Not even afterward. I took at least 5 ounces of water at every water stop, often dumping another cupful on my head. I used good Mayo Clinic sunscreen and had no sunburn, though my face was hot hours later at bedtime, which we think was probably windburn. Or the beer?

Between miles 21 and 22, I caught up to a woman who was running with a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training (TNT) shirt. After thanking her for raising money for myeloma research, I left her behind. A few minutes later though, she caught up and we chatted some more. This happened several times, until we finally crossed the finish together, strangers sharing a common interest in a cure for blood cancers. And I’m still impressed by the guts it took for her to keep catching up.

Grandma’s Marathon:

This was the 34th running of Grandma’s, my eighth. They have it pretty well figured out now. I was especially impressed this time by the aid stations. They went on and on, giving even the least-attentive runner (me) every chance at the fluid of his/her choice, with tall signs clearly indicating which fluid was which. Ice and sponges too. I wish every race did it that well.

Porta-potties were in short supply right after the race start, though. I saw a line of eight runners (standers) waiting for two porta potties even at mile 8, and that was typical. I think two is pretty stingy for a race the size and caliber of Grandma’s, and if the problem is a shortage of porta-potties in the Twin Ports area, I have a suggestion: There must be a hundred of them at the start of the half marathon. So, the minute that the last half-marathoner crosses the start line, load a couple dozen porta potties from that area onto a couple of trucks and move them further up the road. There is more than an hour to get that done, and your runners will be happier, with far fewer diving for the woods.

Splits: 10:06, 9:51, 10:04, 10:21. 21:16 (2 mi), 33:38 (3 mi), 10:12, 11:15, 11:33, 12:47 (potty stop, 13-mile split 2:21:05, half mar 2:23:05), 11:53 (Hi David), 11:21, 11:10, 11:57, 11:36, 11:21, 12:03, 11:39, 10:59, 11:43, 11:27, 23:14 (2 mi), 1:53 (0.22 mi), total 4:53:24. Their clock shows me finishing in five seconds less - I’ll take it. Pace for first half 10:55, second half 11:27, overall 11:11.


Deer have taken over the yards and gardens in suburban Duluth: