29 - Tecumseh Trail Marathon - Bloomington, Indiana

The Tecumseh Trail Marathon was a scenic and challenging run in Morgan-Monroe and Yellowwood State Forests with about 700 runners. It was unfortunate that I was battling a cold from the moment I left NYC until the moment I returned.  All I thought about was being in a warm, cozy bed. I tried to make the best of the situation— mind over matter —but it was a battle.

I flew into Indianapolis, rented a car, and drove down to Bloomington on Friday afternoon. I pickup up my registration material on Friday night at the host hotel, A Summerhouse Inn, which was quite intimate, aka very small.  Then I went to dinner at a local place, Bucceto's Smiling Teeth for some delicious lasagna.  While I was waiting for a table, the next two people in line started chatting with me.  They were also running the marathon the next day and asked me to join them for dinner, which I gladly did.  Jeff and Jeff were childhood friends from Chicago and I enjoyed listening to their banter back and forth about running, their families, and life in general.

Fortunately for me, the marathon didn't start until 10 AM on Saturday.  Sleeping in the morning of a marathon was a welcomed change, especially with my cold. About 8:45 AM, I drove to A Summerhouse Inn where there were buses taking the runners to the start line at the Morgan-Monroe State Forest office.  This was a point-to-point course, starting from the Morgan-Monroe State Forest office and finishing at Yellowwood Lake, mostly on the Tecumsah Trail. I found a YouTube video that a couple made when they ran the marathon in 2009, which gives you an accurate idea of what the marathon was like.  Click here to watch the video.

The best part of this marathon was the post-race amenities at the finish line. They had an open, old stone structure with two huge fireplaces, which they had enclosed for post marathon warmth and comfort. So after I finished with the marathon, I got some of the homemade vegetable soup and got cozy in front of a fire.  This was truly ecstasy!!!






Now it's time to catch up on my past marathon blogs and plan my marathon schedule for 2012!

28 - Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon, Georgia

Finisher medals waiting for finishers

In August of 2010, I received an email about the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Savannah, Georgia Marathon. The email encouraged you to sign up early to receive a huge discount on the entry fee. Because Georgia was still on my list of states to complete a marathon,  I seized the opportunity for early registration and only paid $65. That was the cheap and easy part. I then learned it was super-expensive to fly to Savannah directly from NYC (about $1200 round trip). In addition,  the hotels in the area of the start and finish line were astronomically priced (over $250 per night; 2 night stay required).

All this just to run a marathon in Georgia?  I was considering taking a loss of $65 and finding another Georgia marathon to complete.

The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series is "run" by an organization, Competitor, that puts on half and full marathons throughout the United States and is expanding internationally.  I had never run a Rock 'n' Roll marathon and thought it would be fun.  Little did I know that the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series is only concerned about the money!  They charged for things that at most marathons are included in the entry fee. The big thing that got me was that they charged you to ride the shuttle to the start of the marathon from many of the hotel locations. 

But let me go back to bit first before I continue...back in February while running a marathon in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I had met a fellow runner named Henry.  In my eyes,  Henry should be called "The Marathon Man" because he is a true Running Guru.  He runs a marathon or two almost every weekend. He was soon to finish running a marathon in all 50 states for the 10th time —yes the 10th time!!!!  During the Tulsa marathon, I ran with him for a bit and picked his brain about the best way to complete the 50 states.

So, now when I was trying to decide if I should run the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in Savannah, I decided to contact Henry for his input. Well, it turns out that Henry was planning to run the Savannah marathon too!  He was flying into Raleigh, NC, which was much cheaper, driving to Savannah, and staying at a hotel on the outskirts of Savannah that was reasonably priced.   Henry offered to let me tag along.  Mark happened to be lecturing in Raleigh, NC the same weekend as the marathon, so I decided to fly to Raleigh with Mark (no need to tell you about missing our flight out of LaGuardia on Thursday)  and meet up with Henry.

Henry and I met at the airport on Friday about noon and drove 5 hours to Savannah.  We were planning on being at the expo by 5 PM to pick up our race numbers. The expo was at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center, which is on Hutchinson Island.  Once we reached the Talmadge Bridge to get to Hutchinson Island, however, we hit bumper-to-bumper traffic.

It took us over an hour to go about one mile. Once we were near the convention center, there was limited parking — overall, getting to the expo was not a pleasant experience.  We finally got out of there about 7 PM.

Henry and I decided that we needed to be at the start early since this was an inaugural marathon and we anticipated lots of kinks, like we had experienced the night before getting to the expo.  We were NOT taking one of the shuttles that you had to pay for.  We left our hotel at 5 AM and drove to the Ogelthorpe Mall to take the FREE shuttle to the start line.  As the crow flies, the Ogelthorpe Mall is only about 3 miles from the start but it took us over an hour to get there.  Good planning on Henry's part!

We had lots of time before the 7:30 AM start.  To be honest, I was a bit exhausted from the complicated logistics and lack of sleep.  Fortunately I found a restaurant, B. Matthew's Eatery that was open and serving coffee; I waited there and kept warm.  AND it was directly across from my starting "corral."  No, I was not racing on a horse.  Let me explain....because there were 23,000 people registered, all the runners couldn't start the race at the same time (it they did, it would result in utter chaos).  Instead, this marathon had what's referred to as a wave start.  For this, we were separated into 23 groups (corrals) with about 1000 people in each corral.  The first group of runners started at 7:30 AM with each successive corral starting about 1 minute later.  I was in corral 16, so I finally got started at about 7:46.

Running the marathon was a blast; it made up for the logistical nightmare.  Along the course, there were bands and cheering sections about every mile —no need for an iPod.  The course took us through historic sections, residential areas, business and factory sectors; what stood out the most to me was the Spanish moss hanging off the Oak Trees throughout the city.  It was mystifying...

Spanish Moss

Another "stand out" point along the course was Optimist Field at Daffin Park.  Running past that definitely put a smile on my face...

There was no time to enjoy the post-race festivities; we had to get out of Savannah as soon as we could.  Henry was running the Raleigh City of Oaks Marathon the next day back in Raleigh to complete his 760th Marathon —YES, I really did mean number 760!!!

For me, I needed to get back to Raleigh because Mark and I had dinner plans with a friend, Katsumasa and his family in Raleigh.  Katsumasa was one of my students when I was teaching in Japan after college.  He is now working in Statesville, NC, for a Japanese company called ASMO, North America.  We met at a local Japanese restaurant in Raleigh called Waraji that is popular with the Japanese community in NC. It definitely was a true taste of Japan in North Carolina.

Savannah is a place that I want to revisit and spend more time.  It seemed to have a down south romantic charm that I didn't get to experience during the marathon.  I will be back!

Next state marathon is in Indiana, the Tecumseh Trail Marathon on December 3, 2011.

27 - Freedom's Run - Harpers Ferry to Shepherdstown, West Virginia

For my West Virginia marathon, I decided on the Freedom's Run Marathon in Shepherdstown, WV. This race was suggested to me by Carol, one of my running buddies from NYC who has friends that live in Shepherdstown.  Both Carol and Dave, another running friend from NYC, decided to join me for the race, which was a great idea because Dave volunteered to do all of the driving (thanks Dave!).

Late Thursday afternoon, Dave, Carol and I left NYC. After driving for almost 4 hours, we stopped in southern Pennsylvania to spend the night with Karin, my childhood friend.  On Friday, we drove on for another 3 hours to Shepherdstown where the marathon was being held.  After picking up our race numbers, we stopped in at the Shepherdstown Sweet Shop Bakery for a snack.  They were selling "marathon" bread so we pick some up for dinner.  On Friday night Stephen and Jeffery, our hosts, made the most delicious pre-marathon dinner — quinoa with lots of fresh veggies. And of course, we also indulged in some of the "marathon" bread, which was yummy;)

On Saturday, it was marathon day.  Unfortunately, we woke up to a chilly and wet, rainy day.  The course was scenic, with rolling hills through the lower Shenandoah valley as well as four historic national parks.  We passed through Harpers Ferry, the site of a 19th century arsenal and transportation hub where railroads and canal boats carried cargo and passengers East and West.  Then, we proceeded over the Potomac River on the Appalachian Trail footbridge and headed west on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.  At Miller’s Sawmill Road, we headed uphill toward Antietam National Battlefield, the site of the 1862 Civil War fight that was also the bloodiest one-day battle in U.S. history.  It was a tough course but worth it!

Saturday afternoon, we lounged around the house. Early that evening, we went for drinks at Mecklenberg Inn or as the locals call it, the "Meck."  BK (Bar Kitty), an orange tailless kitty was our host at the "Meck."  Dinner was at the Press Room, a local restaurant.

Sunday morning, we had breakfast at Betty's, a local landmark.  Then we hit the road to head to NYC for the long ride back home.

26 - Grand Island Trail Marathon, Michigan - Saturday, July 30, 2011

The Grand Island Trail Marathon in Michigan was my 26th State marathon and my 33rd marathon overall.  It was beautiful trail course that followed the perimeter of this wilderness island.  The running surface made for an "enjoyable" recovery.

Nichol, a friend of mine from NYC who is originally from Michigan, and I arrived in Michigan on Wednesday (July 27) night in a torrential rain storm.  Fortunately, better weather was in store for us the remainder of our visit.  We had lunch with her family in East Lansing; Dad —Bruce; Mom —Vicki; Sister —Chelsea; Brother-in-law —Greg; Nephew —Xavier; Niece —Maya; parent's dog —Pugsley; and finally, the sister and brother-in-law's dog —Macy. After lunch we headed north to the Upper Peninsula.  It was about a 4-hour drive to the bridge.

To be honest, I did not realize that Michigan was divided into the Upper and Lower Peninsula with the Mackinac Bridge connecting the two.  The Upper Peninsula is referred to as "the U.P." And sometimes the residents of the Lower Peninsula are jokingly referred to as "trolls," because they live "under the bridge."  We spent the night in Mackinaw City, which is on the south side of the Mackinac Bridge, on Lake Huron.

On Friday morning, we crossed the Mackinac Bridge and drove along the southern part of the Upper Peninsula.  It was a pretty drive, mostly along Lake Michigan.  We arrived in Munising early Friday afternoon, checked in the for race, and picked up our numbers.  Friday night, we went to the organized pasta dinner at a local restaurant called Sydney's.  To bed early!

We were up early on Saturday to catch a ferry over to Grand Island for the marathon and half marathon which Nichol ran.  There were about 300 runners in the full marathon and 200 in the half. We were required to carry our own water bottles;  it's a "green" marathon.

The course was spectacular —mostly shaded by the forest on single or two tracks and narrow dirt roads, with views of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Lake Superior.  We had to run about a mile of the course on the beach. It was beautiful to the eyes, but horrible for the feet.  We had two choices: we could run either higher on the beach on the soft sand or run down close to the water on the hard sand which was also on a slope.  I opted for the hard sand but ended up getting a blister by the time I got off the beach.

After our run, we celebrated with a swim in Lake Superior - no need for an ice bath back at the hotel.

Nichol and me after our swim in Lake Superior.

Sunday we started heading back to the Lower Peninsula.  We stopped along the way and had a pasty, which is famous on the U.P.  We decided to stop in St. Ignace, which is on the north side of the Mackinac Bridge, and take a ferry to Mackinac Island.  It was nice but too crowded and touristy.  We took the recommended carriage tour of the island and got off the island as soon as we could.

We then spent the night in St. Ignace at a hotel on Lake Huron with a view of Machinac Island.  We liked the view of the island better than the island itself.

Monday we drove back to Nichol's family in E. Lansing.  Monday night we went to see a Lansing Lugnuts baseball game. Tuesday was spent relaxing and recovering from the marathon, and Wednesday morning we flew home.