On October 29, I ran the Mill Town Marathon in Dundas, MN. This is a small marathon that’s only been held once before. The race was first held in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, larger races were all being cancelled, so a group of runners created their own route, got the course certified, and organized their own race. They had to keep it small, so it was limited to 25 runners in the marathon and 25 runners in the half marathon.
I first heard about the
race while I was doing the Running Ragged 20 in 20 Series. On one of the last days of the series,
another runner form Minnesota asked me if I was doing Dundas. I didn’t know at first what he was talking
about. I try to do every Minnesota
marathon at least once, so I normally would’ve been interested. Unfortunately, I had accumulated enough aches
and pain while running 20 marathons in 20 days, that I needed to take a break.
I couldn’t remember the
name of the race, and I never heard of it again until this year. After the Twin Cities Marathon was cancelled,
the same runners who organized this race in 2020 decided to hold it again. It’s still a relatively small race, but this
year they were able to accommodate 100 total runners between the marathon and the
half marathon.
As luck would have it,
the race fell on one of the few weekends that I didn’t already have a race
scheduled. I had three reasons for
wanting to do this race. First, I do
every Minnesota marathon, and this was one I had never done. Second, I was hoping to run my 500th marathon
or ultra at the Route 66 Marathon in November.
To make that possible, I squeezed three additional races into a schedule
that was already busy. When the Twin
Cities Marathon was cancelled, I was no longer on schedule to reach that milestone
in November. This race allowed me to get
back on schedule. Finally, I’m hoping to
do my 100th Minnesota marathon or ultra sometime next year. When the Twin Cities Marathon was cancelled,
I lost a Minnesota race. This race made
up for it.
Lately, I’ve been pushing
myself pretty hard in my races. To recover
from races quickly enough to race on consecutive weekends, I typically have to
hold back a little. In all of my recent
races, I’ve pushed right to my limit.
For this race, I decided to stay closer to my comfort zone.
When I signed up for this
race, I had no idea how cold it would be.
Overnight, the temperature dropped into the mid-20s. We were expecting a small amount of snow
overnight, but thankfully the snow stayed farther south. We had dry roads for the drive to Dundas and
a dry course for the race.
I’ve done training runs
in colder conditions, but this was one of the coldest marathons I’ve done. Figuring out what to wear is tricky when you’re
going to be running in cold temperatures for four hours. If you’re even slightly underdressed, you’ll
get progressively colder during the race.
If you’re even slightly overdressed, you’ll start to get hot and sweaty.
I typically wear tights
in cold conditions, but today I wore a pair of tight-fitting sweatpants that
are easily twice as warm. On top, I wore
three layers. My outer layer was a Tyvek
jacket that I kept unzipped, so it wouldn’t cover the race bib pinned to the
shirt underneath. I also wore two layers
on my hands, a winter hat, and ski goggles.
Deb and I drove to Dundas
together, arriving about an hour before the race started. Deb volunteered to fill in wherever they
needed help. She started out by helping
with runner check-in. Later, she helped with
post-race food and door prizes. In
between, she tended the bonfire in the start/finish area.
After picking up my race
bib, I waited in the car until it was time to make a port-o-potty stop. I got there just before it got busy. Then I did my best to keep warm near the
bonfire during pre-race announcements.
The course was a 6.55
mile loop that we ran four times. We started
at Memorial Park in Dundas, ran along the east bank of the Cannon River,
crossed the river in Northfield, and then come back on the west side of the
river before crossing the river again in Dundas.
When the race started, I
was surprised how cold my legs were. I
had to go slow at first, because my legs just wouldn’t respond. After the first turn, I forced myself into a
rapid stride to try to warm up my legs.
We were on city streets
for about four blocks. Then we turned
onto a paved trail for the next three miles.
My goggles kept the top
half of my face warm, but they limited my peripheral vision. I was running alongside the river for almost
a mile before I noticed how close it was.
We didn’t have any snow,
but there were lots of fallen leaves.
Most of the trail was visible, but there were a few spots where the
leaves had settled, and we had to crunch through about two inches of dry
leaves.
For the first two miles,
I was averaging about 8:50 per mile.
That’s faster than I intended to start, but that was just to get my legs
warmed up. Starting with the third mile,
I was warming up enough that I could ease up a bit. I was still running faster than I do in most
of my training runs, but it was significantly slower than the pace of my last
few marathons. I wanted to run fast
enough to stay warm, but not so fast that the effort would leave me drained.
I started to drift back
from the pack of runners I had been following earlier. Now, other runners were gradually passing me.
There were four aid
stations per lap, including the one in the start/finish area. The first time I reached an aid station, I
decided to skip it. My goggles covered
the top of my face, but my mouth and cheeks were cold. I couldn’t imagine trying to drink. I wasn’t sweating yet, so I could afford to
wait.
As we reached the
northern end of the loop, we crossed the river on a pedestrian bridge that had
a smooth concrete surface. Then we got
back onto city streets and ran past a Kwik Trip convenience store. Outside the store, there was another aid
station.
I knew I had to drink at
some of the aid stations, so this time I stopped to grab a cup of
Gatorade. I was expecting it to be ice
cold, but it was room temperature. That
was a pleasant surprise. Other runners
enjoyed that too. Nobody wanted to drink
anything too cold at this point in the race.
I settled into a pattern
of drinking at every other aid station.
I needed to take in some fluids, but I didn’t need as much as I would in
warmer conditions. Drinking twice per
lap seemed about right.
Coming back on the west
side of the river, we were initially on a sidewalk, as we ran through the southern
edge of Northfield. Ahead of me, I could
see a factory for Post cereal. I look at
the smokestacks at the top of the building to see which way the wind was
blowing. It was blowing toward me. It wasn’t a strong wind, but I knew I wasn’t
likely to warm up on this side of the river.
When the sidewalk ended,
we moved to the shoulder of a highway.
This highway was busy, but we had a nice wide shoulder.
Next, we turned onto a
road that wasn’t as busy, but it also didn’t have much of a shoulder. Here, there were traffic cones near the edge
of the road. Some of the cones were only
a foot from the edge of the pavement, so we had to run right on the white
line. It was awkward at times.
We eventually turned off
the road and onto a paved trail that ran parallel to the road. We were still going into the wind, but we had
more room to run without having to worry about traffic.
I didn’t notice what my
pace was in miles four and five, but by the fifth mile I had settled into a
pace between 9:30 and 9:45. I would stay
in that range for most of the race.
My favorite part of the
course was where we turned to cross some railroad tracks and then ran through
some woods. On this section, we were
sheltered from the wind.
Before getting back to Memorial
Park, we had to run a few blocks on city streets in Dundas. We had to cross one somewhat busy street, but
there were course marshals to help us get across safely.
Across the river from
Memorial Park, there’s another small park called Mill Park. We ran through Mill Park and then crossed
another pedestrian bridge over the Cannon River to get back into Memorial Park.
The surface of this
bridge was wood, but some of the wood planks had a glittery appearance. There was frost on the bridge, and the morning
sun was at a low enough angle that it reflected off the ice crystals.
As I finished my first
lap, Deb was right there. I drank a cup
of Gatorade, told Deb I was doing OK, and started my second lap.
I knew by now that I
would have the wind at my back in the first half of each lap, but I would have
to run into it in the second half. For
the next three miles, I felt fairly comfortable, with one exception. I felt like I was going to need a bathroom
stop.
There’s a building with
bathrooms in Memorial Park, but the water was shut off for the season, so pipes
wouldn’t freeze. There were
port-o-potties in the park, but they were a distance away from the course. The Kwik Trip next to the second aid station
has bathrooms, but going into the building would also be out of the way.
I was almost to the north
end of the loop when I noticed a port-o-potty in a small park next to the
course. I was considering stopping there
when the runner in front of me left the trail to head to the port-o-potty. There was only one, and I wasn’t inclined to
wait, so I held on for another lap.
After passing the aid
station by Kwik Trip, I started to notice an aroma like someone was baking
cookies. I didn’t think much of it at
the time. I just kept running.
By now, we were getting
spread out enough on the course that I couldn’t always see the next runner in
front of me. Instead of just following
the crowd, I had to pay attention to where the turns were. That turned out to be pretty easy. There weren’t many turns, and they were
well-marked with red chalk arrows. I was
looking for the arrows during my first lap, even though I didn’t need to. This time around, I already knew the turns,
but I still looked for the arrows.
At halfway, I was on pace
to finish in 4:10. I didn’t have a time
goal in mind, but that seemed reasonable.
Some of the runners were
doing a half marathon, so they were done after the second lap. I wondered if the field would thin out as I
started my third lap. It thinned out a
little, but not that much. More often
than not, I could still see at least one runner ahead of me.
I was planning to stop
when I got back to the port-o-potty that was right next to the course. In anticipation, I started to speed up when I
was still almost two miles away. During
those two miles, I passed two runners.
When I emerged from the
port-o-potty, I saw a runner coming. I
initially assumed this was simply one of the runners behind me, and he caught
up while I was in the port-o-potty. Then
I saw there was a volunteer leading him on a bicycle. This was the lead runner. I was still in my third lap, but he was in
his final lap.
I had expected to slow
down after my bathroom stop, because it took me out of my rhythm. Ordinarily, after stopping for a minute or
two, I settle into a slower pace.
Instead, following a faster runner caused to me go a little faster than
before.
After crossing the pedestrian
bridge in Northfield, I gradually settled back into my previous pace. I stopped to drink at the aid station near
the Kwik Trip. Then I noticed the cookie
aroma again. It was stronger now, and it
seemed more like brownies.
I always noticed this
aroma when I was downwind from the Post cereal factory. They must have been making a chocolate
flavored cereal. I made a mental note
that I would need to have a brownie after the race. In the meantime, I still had to run about 10
miles.
The two runners I passed
earlier in this lap were now ahead of me again.
They passed me while I was in the port-o-potty. By the end of this lap, I passed them both
again. Then, as I was running through
Mill Park, a runner passed me.
As she went by, she said
something to encourage me. She was going
fast, and I wondered if she was finishing the half marathon. Then I realized that anyone doing the half
marathon would’ve been done by now. By
the time I got to the bridge, I heard them announcing her finish. It was the lead woman in the marathon, and
she was already finishing her last lap.
She set a new course record.
When I crossed the
bridge, I could still see frost, but it no longer had a glittery
appearance. The sun was higher in the
sky now.
As I finished my third
lap, I noticed my time. My time for the
third lap was about the same as my time for the second lap, even though I had a
bathroom stop.
Deb saw me finish that
lap and asked me if I was OK. I told her
I was, but I realized I was starting to get warm. I knew I would feel much warmer in the first
half of my last lap. Instead of having a
headwind, I would have a tailwind. If I
kept my jacket on, I would have to slow way down to keep from getting too hot.
I decided to take off my jacket
and tie it around my wait as I started my last lap. Normally, I can do that without slowing
down. With gloves and shell mittens on
my hands, it wasn’t as easy. It was
tough to get one sleeve off. The other
sleeve came off easier, but I accidentally turned it inside out. To fix my sleeve and tie my jacket around my
waist, I had to briefly slow to a walk.
Then I noticed that my watch band was coming loose. That was also tough to fix with mittens. I had to slow down again to fix my watch.
There was one intersection
on this side of the river where they had course marshals. When I got there, I already had my jacket tied
around my waist, but I was still trying to tuck one of the sleeves to make sure
it wouldn’t be flopping around loose.
One of the volunteers
asked me if I wanted to drop my jacket there.
Before the race, we were told we could drop off clothes after any lap,
and they would keep them at the finish line for us. I have no doubt this volunteer would’ve
brought my jacket back to the finish line, but I opted to keep it with me.
Once I had my jacket squared
away, I picked up my pace. For now, I
was warm enough, but I had the wind at my back.
Later, I would have a headwind again.
I had to commit to running a fast enough pace to stay warm without the
jacket.
I started to see more runners
ahead of me. I was catching up to
people. The first person I passed in
that lap wasn’t going very fast. Then it
occurred to me that this was still her third lap. I was starting to catch up to people who were
at the back of the race.
I passed several people
on that lap, including a couple of local runners I know. Some were still on their third lap, but
others were harder to catch, so I knew they were runners who were on the same
lap as me.
A couple miles into the
lap, I reached an aid station that I had previously gone by without stopping. On this lap, I slowed down long enough to
take a drink. It was several degrees
warmer than it was at the start of the race, so I started drinking at all the
aid stations.
When I reached the second
half of the loop, I noticed the brownie smell again. I also noticed the wind. I wondered if I could run negative splits if I
pushed hard for the last few miles. My second
and third laps were each a few minutes slower than my first lap. To run negative splits, this lap would have
to be faster than my first lap.
I wasn’t paying attention
to my recent mile times, so I didn’t know how fast I started this lap. I only knew that the first mile was slow
because I was struggling to get my jacket and watch squared away.
I picked up my effort as
much as I could, but the wind was stronger now.
For the next two miles, I was looking forward to the place where I would
enter the woods and get out of the wind.
The last time I looked at
my watch, I was already past 23 miles. I
thought I must be getting close to 24, so I looked at my watch again. It was already reading 24.11. Somehow, I never noticed when my watch
recorded a split for 24.
I kept running. When I thought I was getting close to 25
miles, I looked at my watch again. I was
already at 25.07. I missed another split. Grr.
I had no idea if I was on
pace for negative splits, but I committed to that as a goal. I was trying to take the rest of this lap as
fast as I could.
I finally reached the
section of trail that was sheltered from the wind. My recollection was that it was about a mile
long, but I realized now that it couldn’t be more than a half mile. I enjoyed it while I could.
After that, I just had a
few blocks on city streets, then through Mill Park and across the bridge for
the last time.
I crossed the bridge and
ran to the balloons surrounding the finish line. I got there in 4:08:39. I ran negative splits by roughly a minute.
This was a small race
that was organized quickly, so I expected it to be low frills. I wasn’t expecting a finisher medal, but they
had them.
They also had many of the
other things you would expect from a larger race, including chip timing, and
post-race snacks. The results were
available online before we drove home. They
had enough volunteers for aid stations and traffic control. Also, the bonfire in the start/finish area
was nice.
I hope this race becomes
an annual event. It’s a nice little
race. Talking to Deb after the race, I
learned that many of the other runners felt the same way.
I was almost going to come and do the half today, after reading your review of the race I wish I had. Congrats on the negative splits.
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