2025 National Senior Games: 5000 Meter Race-Walk

On July 29, I competed in my second race-walk event of the National Senior Games.  Today’s event was 5,000 meters.

The venue for today’s race was Jack Trice Stadium.  That’s the football stadium used by the Iowa State Cyclones.  Our course was a one-kilometer circuit on a road that goes past the parking lots.  We needed to walk this circuit five times.

In yesterday’s 1,500-meter race, I was fourth in my age group.  That’s always a little bit disappointing, since the top three get medals.  Historically, I’ve always been more competitive at 5,000 than I am at 1,500, so I had hope that I might be able to place higher today.

There were only two heats today, one for women and one for men.  That meant most of the walkers in my heat were in different age groups.  I knew which walkers placed second and third in my age group yesterday.  Two years ago, at the National Senior Games in Pittsburgh, I finished ahead of both of them.  My goal was to beat at least one of them today.

I got to the stadium in time to see the women’s heat.  That also gave me a chance to see what the course looked like.

The course was mostly out-and-back, but there was a small loop at either end.  We started and finished in the middle.

The two men who finished second and third in yesterday’s race were Dan and Brett.  While talking to Dan before the race, I learned that Brett wasn’t doing this race.  There were only five men in my age group today.  One was David Swarts, who was much faster than anyone else.  Dan and I were likely to take second and third.  My revised goal was to see if I could outrace Dan for second place.

The fastest walkers lined up in front.  Dan and I were each lined up in the second row.  As we started, I kept an eye on Dan.  We each started at about the same pace, but Dan gradually moved in front of me.  Then, I did my best to stay close to him.

As we came around the loop at the south end of the course, I started to fall farther behind Dan.  Coming out of that turn, I was about 20 meters behind him.  After that, I picked up my effort to keep from falling any farther behind.

I trailed behind Dan but kept pace with him until we went around the loop at the north end of the course.  Then I started to close the gap.  I realized I could catch up to him.

I pulled alongside Dan just as we were completing our first lap.  He turned his head toward me and said, “Go get it.”  I knew at this point that Dan wasn’t too concerned about competing with me.  His primary goal was to get a medal.  He didn’t care as much if it was silver or bronze.

My time for the first kilometer was 6:22.  My average pace per kilometer yesterday was 6:15, so I wasn’t that much slower.  If I could keep up this pace, I could break 32 minutes.  I would be very happy if I could do that.

As we started the second lap, I moved ahead of Dan.  That made me a little bit nervous.  Was I starting too fast?”

When I made it around the loop at the south end of the course, I noticed for the first time how far ahead of me the leaders were.  I had nobody to chase.  The faster walkers were much faster.  I was the best of the rest.

It was easier to push myself when I was chasing Dan.  It was now much tougher to coax myself to go as fast as I could.

As I made it back to the midpoint of the course, I had completed 1,500 meters.  I had already gone as far as yesterday’s race.  I still had 3,500 meters to go.

After another 100 meters, I got my split for the first mile.  It was 10:25.  That was consistent with my one-kilometer split.

I did my best to keep up my pace, but with nobody to chase, I eased up a bit.  When I finished that lap, I saw that my second kilometer was 20 seconds slower than the first one.  It was now clear that I wouldn’t break 32 minutes.  At this pace, I wouldn’t even break 33 minutes.

I wasn’t going to catch anyone in front of me, but I had to remind myself that other walkers might be crying to catch me.  My best chance to see who was behind me was when I went around the loops at either end of the course.  The next time I went around one, I looked to see who was coming.  There were two walkers who were about 15-20 meters behind me.  One was Dan, but there was another walker who was just ahead of him.  I didn’t recognize him, so I was pretty sure he wasn’t in my age group.  I knew everyone in my age group.  Still, I wanted to stay ahead of him.

When I came back to the middle, I was half done with the race.  I forgot to check my time.  It didn’t matter that much.  I cared much more about my position in the race than what my time was.

The next time I came around a turn, I looked again.  The same guy was behind me.  Dan was starting to fall farther behind him.

When I’m doing race-walk training, I think a lot about my mechanics.  I think about things I can do to go faster, like increasing my cadence, or rolling through my toes as I push off my trailing foot.  Today, I didn’t think about any of that.  I just thought about my pace and my effort.

The only aspect of my form that I thought about was keeping my knee straight on my supporting leg.  That’s a rule in a judged competition.  I never think about it when I’m training – only in a race.

There were six race-walk judges.  Because the course was mostly out-and-back, each one of them would see us twice per lap.  On average, we were passing a judge every 50 meters, so we were constantly being watched.

The judges look for two things: are we maintaining contact with the ground at all times, and are we keeping our knee straight.

If you have both feet off the ground at the same time, it’s called “lifting.”  It’s pretty easy to avoid doing that.  If you’re lifting, you can feel it.  The only way you’re going to get flagged for lifting is if you’re blurring the line between walking and running.

It’s more difficult to avoid having a slightly bent knee.  Without being able to see yourself, you can’t know for sure if your knee is always straight.  When people get disqualified, it’s usually for bent knee.

When a judge sees a violation, they can either warn you or give you a “red card.”  If three different judges give you red cards, you’re disqualified.  They had a white board near the end of our circuit that showed the number of red cards of any competitor who had at least one.

Each time I was coming to the end of a lap, I looked at this board.  For the first two laps, there was only one guy with a red card.  By the end of the third lap, he had two red cards, and another guy had one.  By the end of the race, several walkers had red cards, and two were disqualified.

People who get red cards for bent knee are more apt to have it happen later in the race.  Their form begins to break down as they get fatigued.  It’s more of a problem for older walkers, whose knees aren’t what they used to be.

I always think about this in a race, but it’s rarely been a problem for me.  Here’s a picture my friend Anita took during the race.  It shows how straight my leg is as I’m making contact.

Early in my fourth lap, I got my split for the second mile.  It was 10:44.  That was 19 second slower than my first mile.  I tried to keep from slowing down any more, but I was getting hot.  The temperature at the start was only 70 degrees, but it was warming up quickly, and we were in the sun.  I was sweating pretty hard.

As I was nearing the midpoint of that lap, I heard a bell.  The leader was already starting his final lap.  It was David Swarts.  He was already about 600 meters ahead of me.

With a little less than a lap and a half to go, I glanced to my left and saw two shadows.  One was mine.  The other was the guy behind me.  Somebody was getting close.

That was the incentive I needed to pick up my effort.  Without knowing who was behind me, I wanted to get some separation.  The next time I looked to my left, I could see that our shadows were farther apart.

The last time I came around a turn, I looked to see who was chasing me.  It was the same guy who had passed Dan earlier.  I was starting to build a safe lead again.

With less than 500 meters to go, I pushed hard to pick up my pace and finish strong.  Before finishing, I got my split for mile three.  It was two seconds slower than mile two, but that’s not too bad.  Now I was almost finished.

I had been lapping several of the slower walkers.  There were three more between me and the finish line.  I managed to pass all three of them before finishing.  I finished in 33:21.

We had to wait a long time for the awards.  A few walkers were disqualified in each heat.  They had to give those walkers at least 30 minutes to appeal before they could finalize the results.  They also held off on the awards ceremonies for any age group that included people who were still competing in another event.  More than an hour after I finished, they finally did the awards presentation for my age group.  As I expected, I won the silver medal.

Before my race, I notice a little bit of tension in my left Achilles tendon.  I never noticed it during the race.  It wasn't until about an hour after the race that I even thought about it.

I’ve been feeling a little discouraged, because I knew my training wasn’t as good this year.  I was also a little discouraged when I didn’t win a medal yesterday.  My pace was a little slow today, but I’m very pleased to have finished second.  That was the best I could possibly have done.

This is the last year than the senior games will include race-walking events.  There’s another walking discipline called power walking.  It’s similar to race-walking but it has different rules.  If I want to continue competing as a walker in the senior games, I’ll have to switch to power walking.  I’m not sure at this point what my future plans are.  I need to make sure I understand the rules.

Race statistics:

Distance:  5000 meters

Time:  33:21

Average pace:  6:40 per kilometer (10:44 per mile)

Place in age group:  second

National Senior Games: 1500 Meter Race-Walk

On July 28, I competed in my first of two race-walk events at the National Senior Games in Iowa.  Today’s event was 1500 meters.  That’s three and 3/4 laps around a track.

The National Senior Games have events in two dozen different sports, including running and race-walking.  I qualified for these events by competing in the Minnesota Senior Games last summer.

I was originally signed up for four events.  I was going to do the 5K road race on July 24, the 10K road race on July 26, the 1500 meter race-walk today, and the 5000 meter race-walk tomorrow.  I decided to skip the 5K run, so I could stay in St. Cloud long enough to do the entire Summer Camp Series.  Then I skipped the 10K run, so I could to the Xenia Avenue Marathon.

I can’t run a 5K or 10K fast enough to place in my age group.  These events are too large and competitive.  By skipping those two events, I was able to run three extra marathons instead.

The host city for this year's National Senior Games is Des Moines, but the race-walk events are being held 50 miles away in Ames.  If I was also doing the running events, I would’ve stayed in Des Moines.  Since I’m only doing the race-walking events, I decided to stay in Ames.  Unfortunately, I still had to do athlete check-in and packet pickup in West Des Moines.

I drove to Ames yesterday, arriving in the early afternoon.  After checking in at my hotel and doing some unpacking, I drove over to the Cyclone Sports Complex, to check out the race venue for today’s race.

Next, I went to the MidAmerican RecPlex in West Des Moines to do athlete check-in and packet pickup.  All athletes received a gift bag that included a program and a few product samples, all oriented toward seniors.

I'm wearing the same race bibs for both of my race-walking events.  There’s one to wear in front and another to wear on my back.  Both race bibs have my number, but the front bib has my name, and the back bib has my age.

I was pleased to see that everyone would have their age on their back.  There’s more than one age group in each heat, so it’s helpful to know who I’m completing with and who I can ignore.

Ames is a college town.  I found a good pizza place near the Iowa State University campus.  After dinner, I went to bed as early as I could.

After the last day of the Summer Camp Series, my left Achille tendon was tight.  I rested the next two days, but I could feel it during the Xenia Avenue Marathon on Saturday.  After that race, it was worse.  I’ve done everything I know to recover, but I went into this morning’s race knowing it might be an issue.  For most of my daily activities, I’ve been putting some padding under my heel, to ease the tension on my Achilles tendon.  I wasn’t comfortable doing that for a race-walking event.  I wasn’t sure how that would alter my stride.  I just had to hope for the best.

My heat was the fifth of the morning.  It didn’t start until 9:20 AM, which gave me time to eat breakfast at the hotel.

As I was eating breakfast, I noticed that it had rained overnight.  I expected the track to be wet.  I went to the track a little early, so I could watch some of the other heats and observe the condition of the track.

As I expected, there were a few puddles on the track, including one in the inside lane right at the start of a turn.

There were four age groups in my heat.  It included all men between the ages of 50 and 69.  In all, there were 19 of us.  We were assigned hip numbers based on our qualifying times, and we lined up across the track in order of our numbers.  I was seeded 15th out of 19.

Two years ago, at the National Senior Games in Pittsburgh, I walked the 1500 in 9:01, and I placed third in my age group.  This year, I had lower expectations.  I’ve done very little race-walk training in the last month.  Based on the training I had done before that, I expected to be about 20 seconds slower this year.  It didn’t seem likely that I would be fast enough to win a medal.

For the first 100 meters, I tried to outrace people to the turn.  Eight other walkers got to the turn ahead of me.  I started at a pace that already had me out of breath, so I knew I wouldn’t catch up to any of these eight guys.  They quickly pulled away.

After completing one full lap, I started to hear other walkers behind me.  I could see their shadows on the track.  Three guys were right on my tail.  I tried to stay ahead of them, but one of them surged ahead of me before we reached the turn.  As he went by, I saw that he was 57 years old.  He wasn’t in my age group.

I held my position going around the next turn.  Halfway down the straightaway, I saw one of the other guys pulling ahead of me.  He also wasn’t in my age group.

The third guy went around me in the next turn.  He wasn’t in my age group either.  That was a relief.  Had I not known the ages of these three walkers, I would’ve wrecked myself trying to keep up with them.  Instead, I was able to maintain a sustainable pace and focus on keeping my knees straight.

Judging at the National Senior Games is usually pretty strict.  Two guys got disqualified in this race.  Nobody was right behind me, so I was able to focus on keeping my form legal, rather than fighting to be a few seconds faster.

With 300 meters to go, I noticed that the guy ahead of me was starting to slow down.  I made a point of passing him before the next turn, so I wouldn't be bottled up behind him.

I kept up the same pace for the last 200 meters .  I finished in 9:22.  That put me in fourth place in my age group.  The top three get medals.  Places four through eight get ribbons.  As it turns out, there were only six men in my age group.

Both my time and my place were about what I expected, so I can’t be too disappointed.  I can try again for a medal in tomorrow’s 5000-meter race.  In the past, I’ve been stronger in that event.

The best news of the day is that my Achilles tendon didn’t bother me at all during the race, and it also didn’t tighten up afterwards.

Race statistics:

Distance:  1500 meters

Time:  9:22

Average pace:  6:15 per kilometer (10:03 per mile)

Place in age group:  fourth

Race Report: 2025 Xenia Avenue Marathon

On July 26, I ran the Xenia Avenue Marathon in Brooklyn Park, MN.  I’ve run this race every year since its inception in 2020.  It’s the only race that I’ve never missed.

I drove to Brooklyn Park on Friday to pick up my race packet.  I could’ve waited until Saturday morning, but picking it up on Friday gave me the opportunity to stop at Rocky Rococo for my pre-race pizza.  Rocky Rococo is a Wisconsin-based chain with pan-style pizza by the slice.  The Brooklyn Park restaurant is the only location in Minnesota, and I don’t get there very often.

The race started Saturday morning at 6:30 at Orchard Trail Park.  Parking was available across the street at Champlin Park High School.  This race is a fundraiser for the Champlin Park track team, and most of the race volunteers are students.

The race consisted of a 2.2 mile loop, followed by five laps of a 4.8 mile loop.  The first loop started out on paved bike trails, but included about one mile on city streets.  It was this section that included two blocks along Xenia Avenue.

The longer loop was entirely on paved bike trails.  About half of it was out-and-back along the Rush Creek Regional Trail.  We had two-way traffic on this trail, and we were sharing it with bikes.  I’ve learned to keep right, rather than trying to run the tangents.

We went through a tunnel under Douglas Drive.  Then we continued through Oak Grove Park.

There was an aid station set up at a junction inside the park.  We went by this aid station three times per lap.  There was also an aid station near the finish line.

After passing this aid station the first time, we did a short out-and-back.  When we got back to the aid station, we ran a loop that took us through the park and around a meadow.

It was a typical summer day, with temperatures in the 70s and 80s.  It was too hot to race for a fast time, so my plan was to treat this race just like the Summer Camp races.  My only goal was to finish within five hours.

I saw a lot of other runners I knew.  About a dozen of them had done one or more of the Summer Camp races.  I started the race with my friend Karen.  Her plan was to run for the first half of the race and then switch to a run/walk strategy.

After my last race, my left Achilles tendon felt really tight.  I’ve had two rest days since then, and I’ve been icing and stretching, but I didn’t know how it would feel today.

In the early laps, I sometimes noticed it when I stopped to drink at an aid station or when I resumed running.  Other times, I noticed that the top of my left calf felt tight or sore.  I barely noticed it, but it was a concern.

I let Karen set the pace.  We were going at a pace that was a little faster than I probably would have started on my own.  I noticed the high humidity, but it wasn’t forcing me to slow down.

Occasionally, Karen would notice that her heart rate was getting too high.  Then we would ease up a little on the pace.  Whenever she mentioned it, I would look at my watch to see what my heart rate was.  It was always 120 or 121.  The conditions were bothering her much more than they bothered me.

We ran the short lap together, plus the first two long laps.  Early in our third long lap, we reached the halfway mark.  I was surprised to see that we were on pace for 4:30.  Our average pace was about 10:15 per mile.  All through the summer camp series, I was averaging 11 minutes per mile or slower.  Apparently two rest days made a huge difference.

For the second half of the race, Karen switched to one minute of walking for every three minutes of running.  I kept running and went ahead on my own.

The miles always pass easier when you’re running with someone else and having a conversation.  I expected it to feel more tiring when I was running on my own.  I fully expected to slow down to something closer to 11 minutes per mile.

As I continued through that lap, I noticed that all my mile splits were under 10 minutes.  On my own, I was speeding up.  I started to wonder if I could keep that up.  I tentatively set a goal of running negative splits.

After that lap, I had to make a bathroom stop.  The next time I got a split from my watch, it was under 10 minutes, even with the bathroom stop.  I had just under two laps to go, and I was now fully invested in keeping my pace under 10 minutes.  For the rest of that lap, my pace was in the 9:20s and 9:30s.

I paid attention to how my Achilles tendon felt each time I stopped at an aid station or turned a sharp corner.  I still noticed it a little, but not as much as I did in the first half of the race.  I no longer noticed any tightness in my calf muscle.

I also sometimes checked my heart rate.   Each time I looked, it was 131.  That’s higher than it was during the first half of the race, but I was nowhere close to my limit.

There were volunteers at all the important turns.  At some of them, they were writing down the bib numbers of each runner who passed.  As I reached the end of the out-and-back section, the volunteer there said, “I’ll only see you one more time.”

As I was going around the meadow, a volunteer at one of the turns said, “You’re almost there.”  I definitely wasn’t almost there.  I wasn’t even in my last lap yet.  I still had at least seven miles to go.

When I started my last lap, I was determined to keep up the same pace.  I’ve run this loop enough times that I know every inch of it.  I broke it into segments, and I focused on keeping up a good pace on the next segment.  The first segment was getting around Orchard Trail Park and out to the Rush Creek Trail.  When I saw my split for mile 22, it was 9:18.  That was my fastest mile so far.

The next segment was getting to the tunnel.  As I ran through the tunnel, I saw Daniel going the other way.  Daniel is one of the race directors of the Mainly Marathons races.  I’ve seen him at a lot of marathons, but I rarely see him running one.  Of all the people doing this race who were also at the Summer Camp Series, he was the fastest.  He was only about a mile from finishing his last lap.

Shortly after exiting the tunnel, I saw Karen.  She was about two miles behind me now.  She was a full lap behind Daniel.

When I got my split for mile 23, it was a few seconds faster than the previous mile.  I was accelerating.

I reached the turnaround of the out-and-back section for the last time.  The volunteer said, “This is the last time you have to see me.”  I was thinking more about seeing each part of the course for the last time.  Now I was on my way back, but I still had to go through Oak Grove Park and around the meadow.

I drank at the secondary aid station every time I went by.  That included before and after that short out-and-back section.  I wondered if stopping to drink twice in the same mile would slow me down.  I was almost to the meadow when I got my split for mile 24.  It was 9:27, despite stopping twice at the aid station.

My watch had been reading high.  It said I was at 24 miles, but I knew I had at least two and a half miles to go.

I was coming back through the park when I got my split for mile 25.  I sped up to 9:08 in that mile.

As I got back to the Rush Creek Trail, I drank at the aid station for the last time.  The Gatorade was ice cold.  They must have just poured it form a bottle that was on ice.  As I resumed running, I increased my cadence.  Now, I was on the home stretch.  At most, I had a mile and a half to go.

I made it back to the tunnel.  Just after the tunnel, I saw Karen, who was now on her last lap.  I told her I was going to run negative splits by a wide margin.  At this point, I was pretty sure I was also bringing my average pace down under 10 minutes.

The Rush Creek Trail is serpentine.  I wanted to run the tangents, but I was careful never to cross the center line.  I still had to make a bend to the left and a bend to the right before I could see the spot where I would leave this trail.  I was just getting to the first bend when my watch gave me a split for mile 26.  It was 8:48.

I still had more than half a mile to go.  After two more bends, I could see the last important turn.  Now I was on my way back to Orchard Trail Park.

There wasn’t much wind.  Earlier in the race, I sometimes felt a breeze, and it briefly cooled me off.  As I was running toward Orchard Trail Park, I felt a breeze, but it wasn’t cool.  It was hot.  The pavement here had been in the sun all morning, and it was heating up.  The breeze was lifting heat from the pavement.

I felt hotter than at any time during the race, but I could see the finish line now.  I ran hard to the line, finishing in 4:18:49.  I ran negative splits by 11 minutes.

I immediately wanted something to drink.  I started to double back, so I could get something to drink from the aid station.  Then it occurred to me that there was probably a volunteer trying to hand me my finisher medal.  I turned around, and he crossed the path to give me my medal.  He also gave me a bottle of water.

Now that I had my water, I headed for the port-o-potty.  Suddenly, I desperately needed to pee.  That’s probably a good sign that I was drinking enough to stay hydrated.

The port-o-potty had been in the sun all morning, so it felt like I was in an oven.  I finished as quickly as I could and walked back to my car.

In the past, I’ve always made a lunch stop after the race.  Today, I just wanted to get home as quickly as I could.

It was only 70 degrees when I started the race, but now it was 85.  With the sun and humidity, it felt like 100.  How I was able to run faster in the second half is a mystery to me.

When I got home, I noticed how tight my Achilles tendon was.  It’s at least as tight as it was after the last Summer Camp race.  I’m going to need to work on that.

My next marathon isn’t for three weeks, but I have two race-walking events next week.  I’m not sure how those are going to go.  The Achilles tendon might be an issue.  Also, I’ve run so many marathons recently, that I’ve been completely neglecting my race-walk training.  Wish me luck. 

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:18:49

Average Pace:  9:52 per mile

First Half:  2:14:53

Second Half:  2:03:56

Marathons/Ultras in 2025:  24

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  559

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  113

Summer Camp Series, Day 5

Today was the fifth and final day of the of the Mainly Marathons Summer Camp Series.  Since I also ran the last day of the Heartland Series, it was my sixth consecutive day running a marathon.  This race was at Quarry Park in Waite Park, MN.  This park has a network of gravel trails, plus several old granite quarries that have filled in with rain water.  Two of these quarries been converted to swimming holes.

I arrived at the park right at dawn.  I had bug spray on, but evidently not enough.  The mosquitoes were all over me until I added more and made sure I didn’t miss any spots.

It was another warm day.  The temperature at the start was in the mid-70s, with high humidity.  I was expecting a passing thunderstorm, but I was hoping to get done before it arrived.  We started at 6:00, and I was hoping the storm wouldn’t arrive before 11:00.

The last day of a series is always hot dog day.  Daniel wore his hot dog shorts while he did the pre-race announcements.

The aid station was set up in the parking lot.  From there, we entered the park on a gravel trail.

The first section through the woods has a small hill I call the “speed bump.”

From the “speed bump,” we continued until we reached this floating bridge.

The bridge has sections that can tilt up or down slightly when people are running on them.  When several of us were crossing the bridge at once, it felt a little bouncy.  The bridge took us across a clearing, which is kind of a marshy area.

Then we got back onto another gravel trail, which took us farther into the park.

The trail took us between two of the quarries.  As we ran near the quarries, we could feel a cold draft.  Everywhere else, it was warm and humid.  Near the quarries, it felt like air conditioning.

After the quarries, the rest of the trail had gently rolling hills.  There were a few turns, and you have to get around the last bend before you could see the turnaround.

On the way back, the climb over the “speed bump” is higher.  I ran it on my first lap, but after that, I started walking this hill.

For the first lap, I was mostly running by myself.  In the next few laps, I ran briefly with a few of the other runners.  One of them was Chris, who was running his first marathon.  Chris said that he does something epic every year.  This year, he was challenging himself to run a marathon.  When I learned that he had never run more than 14 miles before, I told him if it started getting tough, he should find a buddy to run with.  One nice thing about Mainly Marathons races is that there are always people who will encourage you and help you to keep going.

Besides the usual aid station food, they had regular hot dogs, jalapeño & cheese hot dogs, and smoked bratwurst, all cut into manageable portions to eat while running.  After my third lap, I ate half a bratwurst.  I walked just long enough to finish chewing, and then I resumed running.

When I reached the midpoint of my fourth lap, I was one fourth done with the race.  I checked my watch and saw that I was roughly on pace for a five-hour finish.  I thought if I could finish in five hours, I might get done before the thunderstorm arrived.

Over the next few laps, it seemed like I was slowing down a little.  I was really feeling the humidity.  I was able to break five hours on Monday, but that was a cooler day.

During my sixth lap, I saw several  high school or college students walking to quarry #2, which is the swimming hole along the route.  During the summer months, this park is a popular swimming spot.

I was in the last half of my seventh lap when I started to hear thunder.  It wasn’t raining yet, but it seemed imminent.  I wasn’t even half done yet.  There’s no way I would finish before the rain started.

At the halfway point, I was no longer on pace to break five hours.  That didn’t matter anymore, as I clearly wasn’t going to beat the rain.  I ate half a hot dog and then started my next lap.

I barely got started on that lap when it started raining.  It was coming down hard.  On the plus side, I no longer had to worry about getting hot.  The rain cooled me down and rinsed off all the sweat.

The approach to the turnaround is uphill.  I could see a small stream of water running down one side of the trail.  It had only been raining for 10 minutes, but already parts of the course were flooding.  The gravel trail drains well, but the rain was coming down much faster than it could soak into the ground.

It rained hard for the rest of that lap.  When I got back to the parking lot, I ran to my car.   I put my phone in the car, so it would get too wet.  On Monday, I had my phone in a plastic bag.  Today, the rain came so early it caught me by surprise.

I had a rain poncho in the car, but there was no point in putting it on now.  My clothes were already soaked.  It was a warm enough day that I wasn’t going to get cold.  With a plastic rain poncho, I might get too hot.

For the next lap, it wasn’t raining as hard.  As I finished that lap, I wondered if those students were still swimming.  They were.  When I got to the "air conditioned" part of the course, I saw fog.  The cold draft from the quarries was causing the moisture in the air to condense.  By the end of that lap, the rain had stopped.  Then I saw more groups heading to the swimming hole.

As I started my 10th lap, I caught up to Josie.  She was also doing her first marathon, and she was half done now.  I asked her how she was doing.  She was in good spirits.  She was mostly walking, and she found that the rain was cooling her off.  I was confident that she wouldn’t have any trouble finishing.

The rain gradually died down.  After the rain stopped, the trail started to dry up.  There were still some wide puddles in the low spots, but other parts of the trail improved quickly. 

After my 10th lap, I had another half of a hot dog.  This time it was one filled with jalapeños & cheese.  I tried to start running before I was done chewing, and I accidentally inhaled part of it.  That made me cough for the next few minutes.

It started raining again.  If anything, it was raining harder than before.  The hilly sections of the trail were like rivers.  The low-lying areas quickly flooded.  It was hard to get around the puddles.  Sometimes I had to guess where it wasn’t too deep and run through them.  I misjudged one of them and ran through a puddle that was ankle deep.

I had been wearing gaiters to keep grit out of my shoes.  I regretted that decision.  My gaiters now felt like wet rags around my ankles.

It rained hard for about two laps.  Then the rain stopped again.  With two laps to go, I picked up my pace.  I wasn’t going to break five hours, but there was a good chance I would finish first today.  I had noticed early in the race that there was only one runner who started faster, and that was Kristina, who was doing the half marathon.

After my 13th lap, I looked at my watch.  My time wasn’t as slow as I thought.  If I could run the last lap fast enough, maybe I could still break five hours.  I would need to run that lap in 13:43.  On Monday, I ran my last lap in 15 minutes.  The laps today were the same distance.  Running more than a minute faster was a real stretch, but I had no reason to hold back.  It was the last day of the series, so I didn’t need to keep any gas in the tank for tomorrow.

I picked up the pace as much as I could.  I did a time check at the turnaround.  I needed to get there with a time of 4:53:06 or better.  I was more than a minute slower than that.

Going out, it’s net uphill.  Coming back would be faster, but not that much faster.  I did my best, but I knew it wouldn’t be fast enough.  I even forced myself to run the “speed bump.”

The last two laps had been mostly dry, but it started raining again as I was nearing the end of that lap.  By the time I reached the parking lot, it was raining hard again.

I finished in 5:02:10.  I wasn’t even close to breaking five hours.  On the plus side, I took first place today.

Today, I received two new pieces for my chain of medals.  The first was the medal for today’s race, which featured a loon.  I also received an additional piece for completing the entire Summer Camp Series.  I could choose between two styles.  One matched the top piece.  The other was an older style.  I chose the older style, because I didn’t have one of those yet.

This is what the whole chain looks like.  It's cool, but you can't really wear it.

I had noticed earlier that there was a sheet cake at the aid station.  It was a birthday cake for Chris, who was running his first marathon on his birthday.  Chris was still on the course, but Kelly was beginning to cut the cake.  I had a slice of cake and some chocolate milk before gathering up my things.

The mosquitoes never bothered me while I was running, but a fly bit me on my upper back the last time I crossed the floating bridge.  That was a reminder that my bug spray had all washed off.  Now that I was no longer moving, the mosquitoes were all over me again.

It was still raining hard.  My clothes were soaking wet, and I didn’t want to sit in the car with wet clothes.  I had a plastic poncho in the back seat, but I needed to put it on before getting into the car.  I didn’t want to put it on while it was raining, so I had to wait for a break in the rain before I could put it on.

When the rain briefly let up, I dashed to the car, put on my poncho, and got in.  As I was driving back to my hotel, it started raining hard again.  At times, it was hard to see the road.

As I got out of my wet clothes and shoes, I noticed that my left Achilles tendon was tight.  Maybe running with wet socks and gaiters made the muscles tighten up.  It’s a good thing I don’t have a race tomorrow.  I’ll need a couple of easy days to recover.

Some people headed home after the race, but many of us are staying in St. Cloud for another night.  In the evening, we’ll have a post-race celebration at the Olde Brick House in downtown St. Cloud.  This is an annual event, which is only done after the Summer Camp Series.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  5:02:10

Average Pace:  11:31 per mile

First Half:  2:31:25

Second Half:  2:30:45

Marathons/Ultras in 2025:  23

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  558

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  112

Summer Camp Series, Day 4

Today was the fourth day of the of the Mainly Marathons Summer Camp Series.  Our race venue for today was River Bluffs Regional Park, which is a trailhead for the Beaver Islands Trail.  That’s the same trail we ran on last Friday, but today we were on a section of the trail that’s farther south.  It was 100 percent paved.

As usual, we were running multiple laps of an out-and-back route.  The marathon was 14 laps.

For three days, I got lucky on the weather.  It wasn’t hot, it wasn’t raining, and we had a cool breeze.  Yesterday, the luck ran out.  We had a thunderstorm that lasted for about half the time I was running.  Today, it was hot for the first time.  The temperature at the start was 73, and it got up to 81 by the time I finished.  On top of that, the humidity was high.

There’s a small parking lot at the trailhead, but it’s just large enough for the aid station.  We had to park in the streets.  One of the nearby streets had a fire station, so the city didn’t want us to park there.  I arrived as early as I could, so I wouldn’t have to park too far away.

Our course today had one big hill per lap.  We started on high ground, but as we ran through a meadow, we went down a hill.  Later, in the second half of each lap, we had to run up that same hill.  Some parts of our route had shade, but most of the route was out in the open, where we were exposed to the sun.

There was one runner today who was running her first marathon.  Her name was Andie.  As we were lining up to start, Kristina noticed that Andie was lining up behind a lot of the other runners.  She encouraged Andie to move to the front, since so many of the other runners were going to walk most of the way.  That was a good call.  Andie was the fastest runner there today.  She led the race from wire to wire.

Even though I went a little faster yesterday, I don’t think I overdid it.  I was still able to start today’s race with no sore muscles.  I did, however, feel a little tired as I started my first lap.

For the first lap, it was drizzly.  I ran that lap with Tim.  It was the only lap where I ran the whole way.  After that, I was usually walking the long hill through the meadow, as well as a shorter hill right after the turnaround.

By the second lap, the drizzle had stopped, but the humidity was still 95 percent.  Between the heat and humidity, it was a tough day for running a marathon.

I ran a few laps with John, but after that, I was mostly running on my own.  I was only in my fifth lap, when Andie lapped me for the first time.  She was already on her sixth lap.

They always have some type of hot food at the aid station.  Today it was tater tot scramble.  I wasn’t going to eat any solid food until I was half done, but I changed my find when I learned that they had just put out a new batch.  I paused briefly after my sixth lap to eat some.

Despite walking the hills and stopping briefly to eat, I was still on pace to break five hours when I finished my seventh lap.  I was just leaving the aid station, when I saw Andie finishing her ninth lap.  I ran with her briefly as we each started our next lap, and I told her she just had five laps to go.  We all did our best to encourage her, but she was starting to feel the miles.

I kept up the same pace for the next few miles.  It occurred to me that if Andie kept up the same pace, she would pass me again when I was about halfway through my 11th lap.  By then, she would be halfway through her last lap.  I figured I could speed up to her pace for half a lap, so I was planning to run in with her when she eventually lapped me again.

Through the next two laps, Andie still looked strong, but I wondered if she was slowing down.  It didn’t seem like she was gaining ground on me as quickly as she was before.

As I started my 11th lap, I started looking for Andie.  When I saw her coming up the long hill, she was walking.  For the first time in the race, she looked like she was struggling.

I started walking, so I wouldn’t get too far before she caught up to me.  When I made the turn, I started watching, but it was a while before I saw her coming.

I continued walking until I reached the hill.  I kept looking back to see if she was coming.  When she came around the corner, everyone cheered for her.  I walked about halfway up the hill and stopped to wait.  I had to wait for a few minutes for Andie to get there.

On her last lap, Andie was able to run all the way up the hill.  She could still break four hours, but she needed to run all the way.  I ran with her until she reached the top of the hill.  Steve was waiting at the top of the hill, and the three of us ran together from there.

After the hill, Andie picked up her pace.  The last part of the lap was downhill, and she ran even faster there.  Steve and I could barely keep up with her.  As we came within sight of the aid station, Andie’s mom was waiting to cheer her in.  Andie sprinted through the parking lot and rang the finisher bell.  She broke four hours.

I was a little tired after running half a mile with Andie, but I still had three laps to go.  If I ran the whole way, I could still break five hours, even after spending so much time walking and then waiting for Andie.

Instead, I decided to take it easy.  I did a mixture of running and walking.  The walking breaks gave me opportunities to chat with a few of the other runners.  I ground out three relatively slow laps, eventually finishing in 5:07:15.

Today’s medal featured a Viking ship.

In the last few laps, I was getting increasingly thirsty.  I was drinking Gatorade that wasn’t staying cold.  What I really wanted was some ice-cold water.  After I finished, I drank the last of my Gatorade and then asked Kelly to refill my bottle with chocolate milk.  That was nice and cold.

When I got back to the hotel, I drank the last of the chocolate milk that I had there.  Then I ate the last of my post-race snacks and drank a bottle of water.

For the second straight day, my shoes were soaking wet.  Yesterday, it was from the rain.  Today, it was from sweat.

I have one more race tomorrow.  Tomorrow’s race venue is a park where old granite quarries have been converted into swimming holes.  If it’s another hot day, I may go swimming afterwards.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  5:07:15

Average Pace:  11:43 per mile

First Half:  2:29:00

Second Half:  2:38:15

Marathons/Ultras in 2025:  22

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  557

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  111

Summer Camp Series, Day 3

The third race of the Mainly Marathons Summer Camp Series was at Warner Lake County Park, which is near Clearwater.  I had run two other races on this course, so I knew what to expect.  The biggest question mark was the weather, as there was a chance of a passing shower.  I dressed for temperatures in the 60s and 70s, but I brought a plastic rain poncho, just in case.

I’ve been going at an easy enough pace that I’ve been waking up without any sore muscles.  Each day, I feel the same.  It was nice to finish a little earlier yesterday, but the most important thing was to avoid overdoing it.

This race venue is the farthest one from St. Cloud.  I had to allow about 20 minutes for the drive to Warner Lake.

The aid station was set up in the park pavilion.  There was a building nearby with bathrooms, but it wasn’t next to the course.  I tried to minimize bathroom stops during the race, so I wouldn’t have to go out of my way.

From the pavilion, we ran an out-and-back route with a variety of terrain.  To complete a marathon, I needed to run 16 laps.

The first part of the course was paved, but then we quickly turned onto a gravel section that took us through the woods.

Next, we briefly ran over pavement, as we went past the boat launch.

Then we had another gravel section that took us past one of the park buildings.

Along this section, there was a place where you could take in a view of the lake.

Next, we crossed this bridge.  From the bridge, we had a view of the creek we were crossing and the lake in the distance.

The bridge marked the transition from the most runnable part of the course to a dirt trail where we had to be more careful of our footing.  There was a brief section where I had to watch for the roots.  I was pleased to see that this section was shorter than I remembered.  I also took note that there were sections of grass before and after the roots.  That made it easy for me to remember when I had to watch out for the roots.

After the section with roots, the dirt trail continued around a couple of bends until we reached the turnaround cone.  Then we turned around and went back the way we came.

For the past three days, I’ve mostly been running and walking with friends, so we could chat.  Today, I needed to pay attention to my footing on the section that has roots.  For that reason, I was expecting to run by myself.

I was expecting rain, but not until we had been running for at least an hour.  Early in my first lap, I felt a few drops.  That motivated me to take all my pictures during the first lap.  After that lap, I kept my phone in a plastic bag so it wouldn’t get wet.  As it turned out, it was well over an hour before I felt any more drops.

In my second lap, I started running with John.  The section with roots was fairly short.  Everywhere else, I was comfortable carrying on a conversation while running.

I was pleasantly surprised when we made it through four laps without any rain.  I had a plastic rain poncho in my drop bag.  I had never used it before, so it was still folded up fairly compact.  Before we headed out for our fifth lap, I put it in my fanny pack.

During our fifth lap, I started to feel drops again.  This time, they were persistent.  Shortly after the turnaround, I stopped to put on my rain poncho.  I didn’t want my clothes to get soaking wet.

It took a surprisingly long time to get the poncho on.  I had trouble finding the openings for my arms.  By the time I had it on, John was a good distance ahead of me.

Ann and Charity always run together, and they always have matching outfits.  They dress in layers, and every layer matches.  When I saw them, I asked them if they had matching rain ponchos.  When I saw them again on the next lap, they were wearing matching rain coats.

The poncho I was wearing was one I got from Marathon Tours & Trail.  When Keven saw that, he said, “I see you’re advertising.”  The next time I saw him, I said, “They sponsor me.  Didn’t you know that?”

Early in my sixth lap, I saw a flash of lightning in the distance.  At first, I didn’t hear any thunder.  By the time I finally heard the thunder, I was all the way to the boat launch.  I concluded the lightning must be several miles away.

Later, during that same lap, I heard more rumbles of thunder.  Now, I was in the woods, so I didn’t see the lightning.

I caught up with John in that lap, and we ran together for a few more miles.

As it continued raining, the section of trail beyond the bridge got muddy.  Now I had to watch out for slippery spots, in addition to watching for the roots.  As the condition of the trail deteriorated, I found myself running on the balls of my feet going through this section.  I did that subconsciously.  I think it’s a habit I developed last month when I was running the Jackal Marathons.  Now, I automatically go up on my toes whenever I’m unsure of my footing.

By my seventh lap, the mud was getting worse.  I started running on the grass at the edges of the trail, so I could avoid the mud.

After seven laps, John told me he was going to slow down and do some walking.  I ran the rest of the race by myself.

During my eighth lap, I thought I was running on the grass, but my left foot must have been on the mud.  I felt that foot start sliding to the left.  I didn’t fall, but it was a wake-up call.  At least one other runner did slip on mud and fall.  He had a soft landing, so he didn’t get hurt.

The section of the course that I previously described as gravel, was actually a mixture of gravel and clay.  The water couldn’t soak in as fast as it was coming down.  Wide puddles formed, and I had to run on the edge of the trail to get around them.  There was two-way traffic, and everyone was going on one edge of the trail or the other.  Sometimes, it was hard to get around a puddle without bumping into another runner.

I had looked at the forecast before the race, and I was only expecting it to rain for about an hour.  As I was nearing the end of my eighth lap, it had already been more than an hour, and it didn’t seem like the rain was letting up.

When I finished my eighth lap, I was half done.  My time was a few minutes slower than yesterday, but I was on pace to break five hours.  Yesterday, I did some walking in the second half.  Today, I was motivated to keep running and get the race done.

During my ninth lap, I saw a flash of lightning as I was running through an open area.  I started counting.  The thunder came about eight seconds later.  It was getting closer.  There was never any danger of the race being cancelled.  If it got dangerous, we could always take shelter under the pavilion until the storm passed.  As far as I know, everyone kept running.

I think I was nearing the end of my tenth lap when I saw lightning and then heard a loud clap of thunder just four seconds later.

As I finished my tenth lap, a runner just ahead of me finished his half marathon.  I heard hime say that his time was 3:05 and change.  I had six laps to go to finish the marathon.  I quickly realized I would break five hours if I could average 19 minutes per lap.  So far, I had been doing that consistently.  I would break five hours as long as I didn’t walk and didn’t make a bathroom stop.  With that in mind, I reduced my fluid intake.

For several miles, I had been averaging about 11 minutes per mile.  I picked up my effort a little.  For the next few miles, I started to average 10:30 per mile.

As I started my next lap, I noticed it was raining harder now.  My rain poncho kept my clothes from getting soaked, but my shoes and socks were pretty soggy.

By my 11th lap, the rain was letting up.  As I started my 12th lap, it seemed like the rain had stopped.  After that lap, I stopped briefly at the aid station to take off my poncho.

When I finished my 13th lap, I just had three laps to go.  A runner who came into the aid station just ahead of me was finishing the half marathon, and I heard the volunteers say that he broke four hours.  That told me I had at least an hour to run the last three laps.  Now, I only needed to average 20 minutes per lap.  I had been averaging 18 minutes or faster.  I didn’t need to speed up, but I did.  Now, I was averaging 10:15 per mile.

I noticed that the puddles were getting smaller, and the trail was firming up.  The soil must have had a higher sand content than I realized.  The water was soaking in quicker than I expected.

Early in the race, there was at least one runner who was going faster.  As far as I knew, I was in second place.  By the time I got to my last two laps, it occurred to me that I had not seen him recently.  I wondered if he had run the half marathon and was already done.  I didn’t know for sure, but I wondered if I was going to win the marathon.  There isn’t any award for first place, but it was still a motivator.  I kept running at the same pace.

During my 15th lap, I saw patches of sunshine.  The clouds were breaking up, and the sun was shining through.  I thought that was cheerful news, so I was pointing it out to everyone.  Kristina pointed out to me that it wasn’t good news for the runners who still had several laps to go.  For them, it meant it would get hot now.

As I start my last lap, I knew I would break five hours by several minutes.  I thought I was winning the race, so I wanted to speed up.  I held back until I was through the section with roots.  As I crossed the bridge for the last time, I knew I would have good footing the rest of the way.  From the bridge to the boat launch, it’s slightly downhill.  That’s when I picked up my pace.  I wanted to finish strong.

When I got back to the pavilion, I raced through, rang the finisher bell, and stopped my watch.  I finished in 4:50:17.  I asked Daniel if I won.  Nope.  I was second.  That guy who I hadn’t seen in a while finished 35 minutes ahead of me.  That’s why I was no longer seeing him on the course.  I didn’t win, but I had my fastest time so far in this series. 

The medal for today’s race was a lynx.

I packed up my things and left as quickly as I could.  Daniel said more rain was coming, and I didn’t know how soon it would start.

When I got back to the hotel, my shoes were soaked.  I’ve been alternating between two pairs of shoes.  I can wear the other pair tomorrow, but I need to wear this pair again on Wednesday.  I doubt if they’ll be dry by then.  There’s also more rain in the forecast for the next two days.  That rain poncho may be getting more use.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:50:17

Average Pace:  11:04 per mile

First Half:  2:28:46

Second Half:  2:21:31

Marathons/Ultras in 2025:  21

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  556

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  110