Today was the last day of
the Mainly Marathons Summer Camp Series.
It was my sixth marathon in six days.
Up to this point, I had kept all my times under six hours, but yesterday
I really had to work at it. I didn’t know
how today would go.
For the second straight
day, we were running through Quarry Park and Nature Preserve. Today, we ran a different route.
Before every race, there
are pre-race announcements. At the end
of the announcements, they recognize people who have reached significant
milestones.
Today was my 50th
Minnesota marathon with Mainly Marathons since the two Minnesota brothers took
over the business. I think I was the
eighth person to do that.
The man of the hour was
Robert Manon, who achieved Loony Legend status today. To be a Loony Legend, you need to run at
least 100 marathons or half marathons with Mainly Marathons. You also need to complete all 13 of their
series. When someone becomes a Loony
Legend, a friend or family member tells everyone their story. That honor went to Karen “Evil Twin” Vollan.
After that, there were
three group pictures. Throughout the
year, there were three instances of two series being held back-to-back. If you run them both, it’s called a Running
Ragged series, and you get a special belt buckle. This is a picture of everyone who completed
the Triple Crown by doing all three Running Ragged series this year.
This is a picture of the
AAA group. These runners did all 75 Mainly
Marathons races in the same year. Yes,
these runners are completely loony.
The last group was every
Loony Legend who was here today. I wasn’t
quick enough to get a picture of that group.
The last day of a series
is hot dog day. They had hot dogs and
brats at the aid station. They also had
emotional support hot dogs that you could carry with you on one of your laps. A few runners wore special outfits for the
occasion.
With all the pre-race
hoopla, I didn’t have time to make a bathroom stop before the race. I also forgot to put my watch in run
mode. While everyone else started
running, I was still getting my watch ready.
Today’s weather was much
cooler. It was only 52 degrees at the
start, and it didn’t get up to 70 until noon.
I actually started the race wearing gloves and a light jacket. I was stopping to take pictures during my first lap, so
it took me a while to get warmed up.
Today’s route took us
past the main park pavilion and through the woods. We crossed over a small berm that I call the
“speed bump.” Then we continued through
the woods until we reached a clearing.
We crossed a floating
bridge over a marsh. Then we continued
on the gravel trails until we reached quarry #2. This is one of the quarries that has been
converted into a swimming area.
On the opposite side of
the trail, we ran past another quarry that’s been made into a fishing hole.
Then we continued to the
eastern edge of the park, turned and kept going until we reached the turnaround
cone. Then we ran back the way we
came. We ran this route 14 times for a
marathon or 7 times for a half marathon.
On the way back, the
approach to the “speed bump” is steeper.
I always walked up the speed bump in this direction.
After my first lap, I had
to make a bathroom stop. Then I headed
out again. I felt better today than I
did yesterday. Partly that’s because it
was a cooler day, but I also wasn’t noticing my Achilles tendon as much.
I made three more stops
in the next three laps. After my second
lap, I took off my jacket and put it in my drop bag. After my third lap, I made another bathroom
stop. After my fourth lap, I took the
time to eat part of a brat. They were
cut into pieces, so you didn’t need to eat a whole one at once. Despite all those stops, I was on roughly the
same pace as yesterday.
For the first half of the
race, I was walking up one side of the speed bump, but I was running everywhere
else. With the cool conditions, I needed
to run to stay warm.
When I finished my
seventh lap, I was half done. So far, I
was one minute faster than yesterday.
Before heading out for my eighth lap, I ate part of a hot dog. That was the last time that I ate any solid
food.
By now, it was finally
warm enough that I could do extra walking without my hands getting cold. I picked out another small hill that I always
found to be tiring. For the rest of the
race, I walked this hill in addition to the “speed bump.”
The extra energy I had
earlier faded as the race progressed.
With about five laps to go, I was feeling the cumulative fatigue of
running six marathons in six days.
With three laps to go, I
needed to make another bathroom stop.
Even after stopping, I was still a minute ahead of yesterday’s pace. I knew I could afford to do more walking, but
I wanted to wait until my last lap.
Yesterday, I had someone
to run with in the late laps. Today, I
was on my own. At this point, most
people were walking. Those who were still
running were too fast for me. That made
it tougher to stay on pace. In
retrospect, I probably should have run a lap with an emotional support hot dog.
With two laps to go, I
could no longer focus on a whole lap. I
needed to break it up into shorter segments.
First, I focused on running to the bridge. Then I ran to the swimming hole. Then I ran to the corner near the eastern
edge of the park. Finally, I ran the
rest of the way to the turnaround. These
segments were different lengths, but none of them was much more than a quarter
mile.
Coming back, I had to do
the same four segments in reverse. When
I was running from the bridge back to the aid station, I passed two groups of
college-age kids who were on their way to go swimming. I didn’t think it was warm enough to go
swimming, but I don’t have the metabolism of a 20-year-old.
My goal was to keep my
time under six hours. With one lap to go,
I could afford to take 35 minutes. I had
time to walk most of the lap. I walked a
few more of the uphill segments, but I was mostly running.
With about half a mile
left, I caught up to Sally. She was
doing a run/walk mix at a pace I found comfortable. I ran the rest of that lap with her,
finishing in 5:51:01.
I got two more pieces to
add to my chain of medals. The medal for
today’s race was a loon with a hot dog, because it’s hot dog day. I also got an extra piece that goes to anyone
who did every race of the series.
This is what the whole
chain looks like. It’s too long for me
to actually wear this.
As I was leaving, I
almost forgot to retrieve my drop bag.
After getting back to the hotel, I realized I had left my bottle at the
aid station. Apparently, today was my day
to forget things. After washing up and
changing into clean clothes, I drove back to Quarry Park to retrieve my bottle. While I was there, I got to see a couple
runners finish their marathons.
The Rueckert brothers both live in the St. Cloud area, and after the Summer Camp Series they host an annual banquet called The Loonies. A few people had to begin their journeys home, but most of us will be partying tonight.
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