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

2025 Summer Camp, Day 2

On July 20, I ran the second race of the Mainly Marathons Summer Camp Series.  Today’s race venue was Sauk Rapids Municipal Park.  Our course was 16 out-and-back laps on a paved path, starting near the boat launch.

The boat launch wasn’t actually part of the course, but it’s a place where you can get good views of the Mississippi river.

I’m not someone who can roll out of bed and run.  I need to take a hot bath to get the muscles in my legs to relax enough that I can do some stretching.  I need a minimum of an hour after getting up before I’m ready to leave.  Then I need to allow time for the drive, and I want to arrive at the race venue at least 30 minutes before we start.  These races all start at 6:00, but I’ve been setting my alarm for 4:00.  That makes it hard to get enough sleep.

Last night, I went to bed shortly after 7:00 PM.  I got to sleep quickly, but I woke up a few hours later.  Then it took a long time before I could get to sleep.  I’m getting enough sleep to get by, but I’m tired.

Northern Minnesota had an air quality alert, but it wasn’t too bad where we were.  The St. Cloud area is within the yellow section on this map.  For us, the air quality was fair.  When I left the hotel, the AQI was 30.

For the second straight day, it was foggy as I drove to the race.  I had to run the wipers. because moisture kept condensing on my windshield.

The temperature at the start was about 60 degrees.  I expected it to get into the low 70s by the time I finished.  For the second straight day, we had a nice cool breeze, so it never felt hot.

In my previous two races, I did a lot of walking, so I could talk to friends.  Today, I wanted to run most of the race.  There were a few runners I know who run at a pace that I find comfortable.  For the first lap, I ran with Kristina.

photo credit: Steven Cournoyer

After that lap, Kristina needed to stop at the aid station, so I continued on my own.  I quickly caught up with Tim, who also runs at the right pace for me.  I ran a couple laps with Tim, but then he needed to make a stop.

photo credit: Steven Cournoyer

We were always running near the river, but we couldn’t always see the river.  There was one spot, however, with a nice view.

I ran for a while on my own, but then I caught up with John.  I had never run with John before, so this was a nice chance to talk.  We ran together for the majority of the race.

photo credit: Kevin Brosi

After eight laps, we were easily on pace to finish in less than five hours.  I continued to run with John for four more laps.

John needed to start taking walking breaks, so I continued running on my own.  When I was running with John, we often ran miles in 10:30, but it felt easy.  On my own, I slowed to about 11 minutes per mile, yet it felt slightly tiring.  That’s psychological.  The miles always seem easier when you’re talking to someone.

I was planning to run the rest of the way, but I walked for about half a lap, so I could talk to Angela.  Later, I walked for about half a lap so I could talk to Tom.

In the last lap, I ran the whole way.  I assumed at this point that I wasn’t going to break five hours.  I ended up finishing in 5:00:41.  I’m sure I could have run that lap a minute faster if I had known I would be that close to five hours.

After the race, I received another medal to add to my chain of medals for the series.

Although I didn’t break five hours, I was still almost an hour faster than yesterday.  That allowed me to get back to the hotel earlier.  That makes my schedule for the afternoon less hectic.  Some days, I feel like I’m racing to complete my race report before going to dinner.  I've been trying to eat an early dinner, so I can get to bed early.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  5:00:41

Average Pace:  11:28 per mile

First Half:  2:25:00

Second Half:  2:35:41

Marathons/Ultras in 2025:  20

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  555

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  109

2025 Summer Camp Series, Day 1

On July 19, I ran the first race of the Mainly Marathons Summer Camp Series.  Summer Camp is a five-day series of marathons.  All of the race venues are within 15 miles of St. Cloud, MN, so I’m able to stay in the same hotel for the whole series.

Yesterday, I ran the last race of the Heartland Series.  That race was also in St. Cloud.  Including yesterday’s race, today was my second of six consecutive marathons.

Today’s race venue was Bend in the River Regional Park, which is near Rice.  Our course was 14 out-and-back laps on a gravel trail.

At one end of the trail, we ran by a historic farmstead.

At the other end of the trail, we ran by three overlooks with views of the Mississippi River.

When I’ve run on this course before, the aid station was set up in a parking lot.  This year, it was in a pavilion that was built a year ago.

This playground was also a new feature of the park.

The temperature at the start was in the mid-60s.  The humidity was so high that I drove to the race in fog.  I expected it to warm up during the race, but it didn’t seem like the temperature changed that much.

I ran most of the race with two friends who are both named Karen.  One lives in Minnesota.  The other is from Nevada.

I ran the first lap with Karen from Minnesota.  We ran at a nice easy pace.  After the first lap, Karen needed to make a bathroom stop, so I went ahead on my own.

Running on my own, I continued to run at a leisurely pace.  My mile times were between 11 and 12 minutes.  At this pace, I could have comfortably run the whole race without any walking breaks.

During my third lap, I caught up to Karen from Nevada, who was walking the 10K race.  I walked with Karen for about two laps.

We were in our fifth lap when Karen from Minnesota caught up to us.  She was running with her friend Cathi now.  Karen and Cathi had also done a bunch of walking, so they were also on their fifth lap.  They were now doing a run-walk mix.  They did one minute of walking for every three minutes of running.

I needed to resume running at some point, so I started running with Karen and Cathi.  When they were running, their pace felt a little bit fast to me, but the walking breaks made it feel easier.  I ran/walked with them for the rest of the race.

My only time goal was to keep my time under six hours.  At the halfway point, we were slower than that.  Before starting lap eight, I needed to make a bathroom stop.  Karen and Cathi started the next lap without me.  I had to wait in line to use the bathroom.  Now I was even farther behind schedule.  I ran until I caught up to Karen and Cathi.

At least half of the course was through the woods, but there were also a few clearings.  In the second half of the race, we started to notice a strong breeze whenever we came out into one of the clearings.  That breeze ensured that we would never get hot.

For the rest of the race, I was continually computing how fast our lap times needed to be to finish in six hours.  It seemed like we were consistently running lap times that were a little bit too slow, and I wondered if I would need to go ahead on my own at some point.

We typically spent about a minute at the aid station after each lap.  If not for that, our pace would’ve been fast enough.  In the last few laps, we made an adjustment to our pacing strategy.  If we were close to the end of a lap when it was time to walk, we would keep running until we got to the aid station.  Our time at the aid station was a sufficient rest break that we could resume running as soon as we left the aid station.

With that adjustment, our lap times were now fast enough.  With two laps to go, we needed to average 24:30 per lap.  We ran lap 13 in 24 minutes, so we now had 25 minutes for the last lap.

We started running an extra minute before taking our walking break.  When we reached the turnaround, we had plenty of time to finish the lap.

Karen and Cathi wanted to stop and take pictures at two of the overlooks.  I suggested they consider those stops to take the place of walking breaks.  While they took pictures, I walked until they caught up to me.

With half a mile to go, I looked at my watch and saw that our total elapsed time was 5:53.  That gave us seven minutes to finish.  That was more than enough time.  We could have continued to take walking breaks, but we ran the rest of the way.  We finished together in 5:58:27.\

This was a new PR for Cathi, who was originally expecting to take eight hours to finish.  What made her PR even more impressive is that the course was actually long.

Mainly Marathons doesn’t have certified courses.  To ensure they courses are long enough, they measure them to be at least one percent longer than the advertised distance.  When you run one of their marathons, you can expect it to be 26.5 miles.

My watch measured 26.94 miles, and Karen had a similar measurement.  GPS measurements always need to be taken with a grain of salt, but there’s no question Cathi set her PR on a long course.

The finisher medal had pieces that form a chain.  The top piece went to anyone who ran at least one race of the Summer Camp Series.  The next piece was the medal for today’s race.  Each of the medals for individual races is an icon associated with Minnesota.  Today’s medal was a timber wolf.  Over the next four days, I’ll get additional medals to add to this chain.

As I was starting to drive back to St. Cloud, I realized I had forgotten my drop bag.  I had only driven half a mile, so I turned around and went back to get it.  I’ve forgotten my drop bag before.  I’ve also forgotten my water bottle on at least two occasions.

I had my usual post-race “meal” of chocolate milk and mini donuts.  I’ll have a real meal later.

Two down, four to go.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  5:58:27

Average Pace:  13:40 per mile

First Half:  3:04:35

Second Half:  2:53:52

Marathons/Ultras in 2025:  19

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  554

Minnesota Marathons/Ultras:  108