47 - Dances with Dirt, Devil's Lake, Baraboo, Wisconsin

The Dances With Dirt Marathon in Wisconsin coincided perfectly with my mother-in-law's (Lois) 81st Birthday in Hector, Minnesota.

Mark and I flew into Minneapolis and drove to Hector.  What would you want to do for your 81st birthday?  Lois wanted to sky dive. Jill, my sister-in-law/organizer extraordinaire, rallied the family together to accompany Lois. The day before we were scheduled to jump, Lois' doctor did not give her approval, so the rest of us had to go for her.  Sky diving was never something that I had ever thought about doing, but thanks to my mother-in-law, I can now say that I've sky dived! To get an idea of what it was like to jump from 13,000 feet, see this video of my sister-in-law Mary's (joke teller extraordinaire) jump:  http://youtu.be/SautAl3xj9Y

The Sky Divers and Support Crew

Mark and his friends in Wabasha, MN

Thursday afternoon, we left Hector and started on our way to Wisconsin.  We spent the night in Wabasha, MN, which was about half way to our final destination, located along the Mississippi River. Mark was able to catch up with some old friends there.  Dinner was at T-Bones Grill and Bar.

Friday morning, we continued to Devil's Head Resort, in Merrimac, WI where we stayed for the night before the marathon.  Check in for the marathon was in a big open field, only a 5-minute walk from the resort.  Mark chatted with the race director about what we should do for the afternoon.  He recommended that we go for a short hike to see the view from the bluffs near Devil's Lake and suggested The Barn for dinner.

Devil's Lake in the background

We drove to Devil's Lake and found the trail. According to the trail map, it was only 0.3 miles to the top, no big deal (or so we thought).  Well, it was 0.3 miles straight up, with some natural rocks as the only stairs. While we were walking along the bluffs, I noticed there were some flags making the trail.  It turned out that these were markers for the race, and that I would be back at the same spot the next day during the marathon.  It was another 0.3 miles straight down.  By the time we got back to the car, my legs were shaking; this was not the best idea the day before the marathon.

We decided to have an early dinner, but when we arrived at The Barn, it was packed.  We waited at the hostess stand for a long time, no one came to help us, nor could we catch any one's attention.  Finally another couple came in —Ned and Susan. They live in Wisconsin a few hours away and were in town to run the half-marathon the next day. Ned, who I think has a little New Yorker in him, was finally able to get us a table; we had dinner with them. We came to understand that a Friday Fish Fry is a tradition in Wisconsin, and restaurants are always busy on Friday nights.  We also came learn that Ned and Susan knew Henry.  I met Henry during a marathon in Oklahoma in February 2011.  At that point in time, he had run about 800 marathons.  As of July 12, 2014 Henry's marathon count was 982, on his way to 1000!

Saturday, the marathon started at 6:30 AM and, thanks to the time change I had an "extra" hour  to sleep. There was  also 50-mile and 50-kilometer races that started at 5:30 AM, and a 10K and half marathon that started at 7:30 AM. All the races started at the same spot just outside the resort.  The trail included technical and rocky single-track, back country paths, and yes, we got to run up the bluffs near Devil's Lake, where we had hiked the day before.  I took it slow and only fell once with no major cuts or bruises. Guess who I "ran" into on the marathon course...Henry of course!  He was running the 50K.

Elevation Map for Marathon

After the marathon, we relaxed at the post-race party with burgers and Bell's beer, talked with other runners, and met Ned and Susan again.  Back at the resort, I took a shower and then we started on our way toward Minneapolis.  Along the way, we stopped at Culver's for lunch....got to "experience" Wisconsin Cheese Curds.  We spent the night in Eau Praire, WI.  Mark found a nice place for dinner, Fanny Hill, over looking the Chippewa River. It was a beautiful view and a nice night.

Sunday we flew out of Minneapolis back to NYC.