GRANDMA’SMARATHON, 6/18/11, DULUTH,MN

Background: I was planning a trip back to MN with my 11 yr old son and my parents to visit my brother, grandmother, aunt, uncle, a few cousins, etc. I haven’t been back to MN in 5 yrs, so was long overdue. Originally, I wasn’t going to be back in time for this marathon, but due to school budget cut days for my son, we were able to leave a week earlier than originally planned and it worked out to run Grandma’s Marathon.  This was also going to be the only marathon of the three I’ve run now where I’d have family watching.  Knowing my family would be waiting for me around mile 23 or so, was a big motivator for me. Although my dad has never really talked about it much, I knew he ran track in HS, but it was only on this trip that I found out he actually held the school record at the ½ mile distance for a couple years before it was beat.  Maybe I inherited a few running genes after all.

We were visiting family about 2.5 hrs from Duluth, so on marathon weekend, we rented a room at a casino about 25 miles outside of Duluth.  I do not like casino’s, but the price for a large double suite for the 5 of us (mom, dad, brother, son and me), was certainly affordable and nothing in duluth was!.  Several runners were staying there, so I connected (via facebook) with a couple other gals and we shared a ride to a shuttle location on race morning.

Weather: Torrential rains all night long, forecasted for 70% rain/thunderstorms on Saturday.  Woke up at 4:30 a.m.to heavy rain. Received a text from Mike E to watch out for lightening. Yeah, that didn't help one bit.  Not looking forward to this one bit.

However, by the time the race started at 7:30 a.m., rain stopped, still overcast, and only about 50 degrees, with a nice Lake Superior breeze and tailwind.

Goal:  PR’ing is fun, so while that would have been great, I really didn’t think I could it this time, even though this is a great course to do it on as much of the course is a slight downhill. So, I just wanted to have a great time and run as well as I could on my less than optimal training. I did sign up for the 4:15 pace group, but didn't think I could hang with them the whole way.

Attire: Red shorts, White Southern Oregon Runners Shirt, and I sported a white plastic bag until we started running incase the rain returned and to help keep me a bit warmer while waiting at the start.

PR to beat was 4:16:48. I ran a 4:16:53.  Initially, in my hazy post-marathon brain, I thought I beat my PR by about a minute. I was think I ran a 4:17:48 last summer, so after I sent out a text to several folks with my results and a “I PR’d!” message, I realized I didn’t. okay, now I felt silly.

The Race Course:  This is a great course. It’s a point-to-point and the only way to the start is a shuttle bus from several locations in Duluth. They will then shuttle you to the start in Two Harbors, 26 miles north.  How come driving/riding 26 miles seems so long, yet running it doesn’t really seem that bad??

I was amazed at how efficient the organization of this race is. There were well over 8000 (about 6300 ran it though) people registered for the full and 5000 for the half. The half started an hour before the full though, so we never saw them, but to shuttle that many people and never feel like you were standing around waiting forever was just amazing to me.

The course is beautiful – runs all along the old highway that hugs the shores of Lake Superior. There was not one stretch on this whole course that I thought was dull or boring. 

Crowd support was phenomenal. All along the course, there were clusters of people every ½ mile or so to cheer on the runners. The highway we ran along is closed so folks that live along this stretch come out to cheer on runners since they can’t really do anything else. And I’m sure it was cold for them, as they stood bundled in big coats or fleece blankets, but their enthusiasm was infectious.  What I really liked though, is that the cheering and fans were spread out, so you had plenty of stretches where you could just focus on your pace, your breathing, and find your happy place, without the exhaustion of the crowds.  At least for me, I find that too much cheering, noise, yelling, can be mentally draining.

The big cheering crowds don’t really come until you get intoDuluth, around mile 20 or 21. And this is when the loudness of the crowd and the enthusiasm really helps me.  I was able to take my focus off of how tired I was getting, the tightness I felt in my IT band, and let the exuberance of the crowds carry me.  I also knew I’d be seeing Mike E somewhere about here and then my family was just a couple more miles down the road.

Best sign: around mile 3, a guy was holding a big sign that said "This is the Worst Parade I've ever seen!!" and then another 5 miles down the road, he was holding the sign again, but this time it he wrote in "Still" . . .  "This is Still the Worst Parade I've ever seen!" That one still makes me smile.

I heard a big shout-out from Mike around mile 21 I think? And that lifted me! Hey, I’m an out of towner and I actually have someone cheering for me! Yay!

Then about mile 24 or so, the noise of the crowds was almost deafening and this is where I started feeling the emotional choke-hold as I knew I’d see my parents soon and only hoped that I could hear them shout out to me as I ran by. At mile 25, I heard someone yell “Run Like A Mother!” and I looked over and saw my dad. He and my mom and my son were jumping up and down like little kids cheering me on.

The last half mile or so, I was determined to pick off a few runners and ran as fast as I could. And I did. Probably passed 7 runners and didn’t let anyone pass me.  In my mind I was running like an 8 min mile pace. My garmin says I was running a 9.47 pace.   I guess sometimes even garmins aren’t really accurate.  I crossed the line and succeeded at finishing marathon #3 in my home state with my biggest fans, mom, dad, brother and son, there to see it happen.

Splits for the data hungry:

9.44

9.34

9.33

9.28

9.23

9.29

9.35

9.45

9.47

9.27

9.35

9.50

9.35

9.42

9.42

9.42

9.55

9.44

9.40

9.51

9.48

9.59

10.12

10.03

10.00

9.47

Post-race: This is the first time I have not taken advantage of the free beer post race! Once I stopped running, I was freezing!! It was windy and chilly and I just wanted to meet up with my family and leave. I grabbed a few strawberries and a chocolate milk while waiting for them.  Once I found my family, we headed over to Old Chicago to eat. I texted Mike E and was so happy that he wanted to meet up with us at the restaurant. It was great visiting with him and my family really enjoyed meeting him as well. Thanks so much Mike for taking the time out of your day to spend with us!

This was longer than I thought it’d be, so thanks for hanging in there and reading or skimming through it.

 

At mile 25, I heard someone yell “Run Like A Mother!” and I looked over and saw my dad. He and my mom and my son were jumping up and down like little kids cheering me on.

 

Nice report, Tammy--that was my favorite part!

I feel very honered to be included in your report--I hope it's okay that I add a little...

Having done Grandma’s Marathon four times, the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon twice, and even the William A. Irvin 5K once, I know that the organizers and the residents of Duluth really make Grandma’s weekend a pretty special event.  Knowing so many people that go up and run these races, I have always wanted to go up just to watch but, for various reasons, I never have.  And then I found out that one of my new RA friends was going to be running it and I knew I had to get up there.  I figured with the marathon starting at 7:30, I could leave my house around that same time and be up there in time to watch Tammy and everybody else as they finish.  And then I found out the hermosaboys were running the half and they were starting an hour earlier—and they were going to be running pretty dang fast—well, I left at 5:00 instead.

I got up to Duluth and, instead of going to the finish line, I took Rob’s advice and made my way through back streets and up to around the 22.5 mile area.  This was at the back side of “Lemon Drop Hill”—really the only hill on the course.  I parked my truck a few blocks away and ran to the course—just in time to watch Rob and Cam fly by.  Dang!  I wanted a picture of those guys.

Well, I parked myself at that spot for the duration.  I was kind of wondering if I would really be able to pick out Tammy from the other 10,000 or so runners, but she had told me that she was wearing a white Oregon shirt and red shorts.  I had never noticed, before, how few people wear red shorts.  Anyway—after seeing several runners that I knew from my racing team, neighborhood, and just from the general running community, I spotted her.

Tammy was focused!  She was locked into her pace and she was just into her run.  You can see this focus in the couple of pictures I took…if I could figure out how to put them on here!  Sorry—I’ll continue.  Then I called her name and she instantly smiled and gave me a wave. 

Well, there was no reason to stay there any longer so I walked to the finish line and into the tens of thousands of people to see if I could find her.  I ran into some other friends and talked to them for awhile and then decided to text Tammy.  She said that she and her family were at Old Chicago and invited me to come.  I wasn’t really sure if I should intrude, but—a beer really sounded good and Old Chicago is one of my favorite places—so I walked on over.

I found their table and, any apprehension I had, went away instantly with their kind welcome.  I met Tammy’s parents, her brother, and her son.  What a nice family!  It was very obvious that they were all very proud of Tammy’s accomplishment.  That boy of hers is great.  Very well mannered—but, just to warn you—do not cut down his Seahawks!  (I wish I had remembered to tell him that one of my very good friends is Nick Reed’s uncle.)  Anyway—we had a nice conversation.  I found out that Tammy knows many of the people on this forum and—ooh, boy—did she fill me in on some stuff.  No, not really.  I wasn’t at all surprised to find out that everybody she knows “in real life” really are as nice as they seem to come across on here. 

Well, I finished my beer and headed back home.  It was a pretty fun day! 

Congratulations, Tammy!

Excellent Race and report Tammy.  It's so good to have your Family there to cheer you on. And thanks for your support Mike.  I'm sure she appreciated it late in the race.

Bill

those are great splits, Tamster, very impressive!

Great job, Tammy!   It is neat that you visited your family, and ran a great marathon back there.  I know they were all impressed and happy for you.  

Fantastic report, Tammy, and Mike's addition was the icing on the cake.  I couldn't help but smile when you talked of seeing your family toward the end.  How special!

Thanks for sharing ~

Greta job Tammy!!   I think it is so cool that your dad was a runner too, even though he doesn't say much about it - I'm sure he must be very proud of you!    Almost a PR indeed!!   You ran a great race.

Those are awesome splits, move over, Mr. Wall.  You had an excellent race.  A PR will be like taking candy from a baby.

Glad the day turned out so well, and that there weren't any boring parts on the course.

And I know what you mean about driving 26 miles.  The difference with running is, you have a lot of euphoric and amnesia (altered sense of time......I was thinking about something, and whoops, there goes an hour!) molecules floating through your brain.

But, we all really want the skinny on Mike E.   Come on, fess.