#24- The American Discovery Trail Marathon!

On Labor Day weekend, my P.I.S. (Partner in Shenanigans), Teresa Baker and I boarded a plane to Denver to run the American Discovery Trail Marathon in Colorado Springs, CO. I was very excited to run this race for a couple of reasons:

1) I saw the list of Marathon Maniacs that would be there and was very excited to see the Maniacs from our sister city, Sarasota, among them; and

2) After a job change this year, my 50 State goal was put on hold, but I still needed one more state to qualify for entry into the 50 States Marathon Club (you need to run a marathon in at least 10 states to qualify) and I needed Colorado! Teresa also needed Colorado in her 50 State quest so this race was ideal.

We flew out Sunday morning and met our friend and fellow Maniac (from Kentucky), Karen Ross. Her sister Deb, lives in Littleton and was gracious enough to give us all a place to stay for the night (many thanks!).

After getting settled at Deb's house, Teresa, Karen and I drove to Colorado Springs to hit the expo. The expo was a 5 minute affair. There were a few vendors selling t-shirts (my favorite being one that read "Sea Level is for Sissies!") and other running related stuff, but over all we were in and out in just a few minutes.

The expo was located in the host hotel, which also had a bar. That's where we found our Sarasota friend, the infamous flat lander himself, Greg Goebel and his lovely wife Ali having a pre-dinner beer. We sat with them and talked  a bit before heading over to "Old Chicago" with rest of the lovely Sarasota Maniacs. Maricar Acab Korff organized a wonderful Marathon Maniacs pre-race dinner (thanks Maricar). It was really great to meet and see so many Maniacs!

Maniac Jazz Hands! Fosse-rific!!

Teresa, Karen and I couldn't stay for dinner, but we did get to visit with everybody before we headed back to Deb's house, where she had prepared a lovely dinner for us. It was the perfect pre-race dinner!After dinner we headed up to our rooms and got ready for the early morning wake up call, and hit the hay.

That 4:00am alarm came too soon. I was so cozy and still had the remnants of the headache I had for two days, but I dragged myself out of bed and got started. We had a little breakfast, got dressed and by 5:15am, we were out the door. Deb was a saint to get up so early to drive us to the start. No buses for us this time! We felt like rock stars being dropped off at the starting line in Deb's new Lexus.

It was freezing at the start and we would have loved nothing more than to sit in that warm car until the race started, but Teresa, Karen and I thought we should hit the porta-potties before the race. We are glad we made that decision. We waited in line over 30 minutes! Apparently, the guy who was supposed to unlock the porta-potties got there late. Fail! That was the only fail of the race. 

We did our business and headed up to the start. This was the only Marathon I have ever run where there was no timing chip/bib, etc.. We were standing around chatting then all of a sudden, we were off! Check out this cool video of the start:

We can be seen around 3:56. I am wearing a pink jacket.

 Greg, Teresa and Karen shortly after the start.

This was such a beautiful course! The packed dirt trails were so much easier on your legs than the pavement we are so used to running on.

Greg, Me, Rita, and Karen

The course was so pretty, but a little more hilly than the elevation chart let on!

At about mile 3 Teresa and I parted ways with Karen and Greg and hooked up with Pascal Radley (another cool Maniac who was going for his 10th Maniac Star by running 30 marathons in 30 states in 365 days) and Stephanie Atwell Zehr (another Sarasota Maniac, who was a complete hoot)!

Stephanie, Me, Teresa and Pascal

Me doing "The Fonz" AYYYYYYYYYY!!

We also met some really nice runners from North Carolina. Angie and Rod had both run many marathons (Angie 16 and Rod 27), but were not Marathon Maniacs! We told them all about this awesome club and how many friends we have made because if it. We sure hope to see them on the Maniac roster soon!

More of the beautiful course!

Looking good Teresa!

We all stayed together until about mile 17. Teresa decided to hang with the 5:00 hour pacer for a while and I decided to stay just ahead of him so I could keep them in my sights without deviating from my plan. That worked fine until mile 20 when I looked behind me and they were gone! I was feeling tired but still pretty strong, so I just plugged away, passing walkers who had gone out too fast. 

At mile 24 I ran into a first time marathoner that we had run a little with early in the race. He was looking pretty good too, but I left him in the last mile and headed towards America the Beautiful Park where the finish was.

When I saw the finish, I was so relieved, until they told us that we had to run around the park first. That was the longest .2 I had ever run, but I saw the finish and clocked in at 4:55:22. I was pretty happy with that. I then met more and Maniacs watched for my friends to come in.

Pascal gets 10 Stars! Way to go!!



Angie and Rod, our new friends and future Maniacs!!

Mario "the Kenyan" Abramson looks like he's having fun!

Karen looking strong!

Greg and Stephanie so fast I almost didn't get the photo!

Mary Lenari is just cute as a button!

Go Paul!

Where did the Maniac "Thor" come from? Hee Hee!

After the race, all the Maniacs chilled out on the grass and cheered as every Maniac came in. It was such a fun race and a great time!

Maniacs Post Race!

When everyone came in, we said our goodbyes and headed to Subway for a Diet Coke and some food, went back to Debs for quick shower and Teresa and I headed to the airport. It's trips like that make me happy to be a Marathon Maniac (and now 50 Marathon Club Member)!



The Park City Marathon- #23

Last year, due to our overbooked running schedules, Teresa Baker and I decided that we would run the Park City Marathon as slow as we could. In fact, we decided to go for a PW (Personal Worst) rather than drop the race all together. This plan worked. We ran a 5:50, a definite PW, but we still had fresh legs for Hood to Coast a few days later!

This year we decided to do almost the same thing. While we didn't want to intentionally go for a PW, we decided that we would use this race as a long training run. We would take it easy and just get in the miles.

Our journey began Friday when Liz Gotter, Eric Beck and I drove up to Park City and spent the night at the Bakers lovely Park City condo (thanks Teresa and Bob!). We got there a little late and by the time we all got done chatting, it was 11:00pm!

At 3:30am my alarm went off and I got up to have some breakfast and get ready. By 4:00am everyone else was up and we were out the door and at the start by 4:45am. The best kept secret about the Park City Marathon is the 5:00am early start. The regular start is at 6:30am, but they open the course early for walkers and/or runners who run over 6 hours. Now, I realize we don't fall into either of those categories, but unless you need an aid station before mile six or are in the running for an age group award, the early start is the way to go! Not only do you beat the heat, there are no lines at the porta-potties and there is plenty of food! Yay!!

  Maniacs at the Start! Me, Galen Garrison, Larry Macon,Teresa Baker and Liz Gotter

It was so great to see so many Maniacs out there early too! After doing so many races, we know all the tricks! At 5:00am we were all lined up and off we went!

It was really dark and the Race Director asked us who had done the race before. A few of us raised our hands and the RD told everyone to follow us. We all started laughing as we all almost got lost the year before and in fact Larry Macon did get lost! Luckily, we had Teresa there who knew where to go and we all found our way. Once the sun came up we were greeted with some of the most beautiful scenery you could ever want to see.

Teresa, Eric and I with our new friends, Katie, Codi and NJ Tom!

One thing I love about running marathons, is that I have met some of the nicest people on the course. This year we met Katie (who was running her first marathon), Cody and New Jersey Tom. We all ran together for most of the race and a great time cheering at each mile marker we passed.

Running the trail!

Mooooo!!

Teresa, Eric, Me, Galen and Tom.

One reason we like to go easy in Park City, is the Park City Marathon Course is HARD. Not only are you running at altitude (starting at 6385 feet), the course is tough. You gently climb for the half, then pretty much shoot straight up until mile 17 (gaining 942 feet with the highest part of the course hitting 7306 feet). 

The Shoe Tree

Larry and Vincent attacking the climb!

Who says you can't look sassy running uphill? Liz can!



Once we hit Deer Valley Ski Resort, we thought it was all down hill from there (pun intended) and we started cruising!

Downhill! Yay!

Teresa and I rockin' the "Mari"

Photos? You know we had to pose!



We were really having fun. That was until we hit what I like to call "The Hill from Hell"!

 Can someone give us Maniacs a push, please!

Once we made it over that hill, we were all good! We headed out on the rail trail and we ran into the farm. This is Park City!

Galen, Teresa, Eric and I

There we ran into a few more speedy Maniacs! 

Go Sue Go!

Whoo!!

Another great thing about this race was the aid stations. I have never seen more stocked aid stations in my life. Gu's, chews, oranges, bananas, gummy bears, pretzels, chips, etc. were plentiful and the volunteers were AWESOME!

Yay Volunteers!

The last few miles were clicking by pretty quickly and while tired, we were all feeling pretty great. We were all really glad we did the early start as it started getting toasty.

Galen by the bike sculptures!

Coming around the last mile it was really great to see the ever so awesome Bob Baker out there cheering for us!

Chloe (the Baker's sweet little dog) was cheering too behind us! 

We hit the finish line feeling GREAT!

Teresa and Eric finishing!! Whoo Hoo!

The saying is true: "If you run fast you get a good time, if you run slow you have a good time!" Thanks Park City! We had a great time!

Extra special thanks to Galen Garrison for taking all these great photos!! Without them this post would be boring as I was way to lazy to take photos of my own. Hee Hee!

We all finished!

The Moonlight Half Marathon!

Last night a six of us girls set off to Mapleton, UT to run one of the funnest half marathons around. The Moonlight half is a unique race as ANYONE at ANY SPEED can WIN the race! Yes, you heard me right folks!

The way it works is this: The course opens at 8:00pm. Runners can start the race whenever they want after that. As in other races, the winner of the race is not the fastest runner, the winner is who can finish closest to midnight. Sound easy enough right? Here's the catch- NO TIMING DEVICES ALLOWED! You have to feel your pace rather than be dependant on a watch/Garmin. This is what made the race super fun!

I hit the dollar store for all the glow stuff I could find!

My friend Teresa and I ran together starting at 9:45pm. We thought a 2:15 half would be easy to get allowing a little extra time for water stops and running in the dark. Kim and her daughter Maddie started five minutes after we did and Teresa's daughter and her friend started about 30 minutes after us.

Teresa and I rockin' the HF Blue!

Teresa, Lindsay and I ran this race 2 years ago and it was small, but still lots of fun. This year the race was on a whole new level! Besides having a lot more people, the starting line, the mile markers, the aid stations and finish line festivities were way better.

Kim, Teresa, Me and Maddie at the Start.

Teresa and I felt really good the whole race. The temperature was perfect (about 60 degrees). The first 2 miles went up hill, then we ran down Hobble Creek Canyon. The course was a little more hilly than I expected, but still really nice.

As we got to about mile 10, the course started getting pretty crowded with everyone trying to get in at midnight. With less than 2 miles to go we heard these someone tell her running partner the time. Teresa and I called them out. I just don't understand why people would want to cheat. You are not the winner if you cheat, you are a LOSER! We did not let it ruin the rest of our race as we all just headed for the finish.

Lindsay and her friend caught up to us within the last mile and blew past us. I could see the finish line as we approached the park when all of a sudden we saw fireworks in the sky signaling that it was midnight! It was so cool! We were very close, but thought Lindsay and her friend must have been close to winning. We were right! Teresa and I crossed the line and looked back at the clock (which was projected on the back side of the finish line) 12:02am, two minutes after midnight! Lindsay and her friend came in forty seconds after midnight! Sooooo close! Kim and her daughter came in at 12:08am.

None of our group placed, but we had a great time eating pizza and watermelon after the race. We got into some dry clothes and headed home. It was a late night but an AWESOME time! I highly recommend this race!