DULUTH, MN: JUNE 20TH - JUNE 23 GRANDMA'S MARATHON

Duluth, MN – Grandma’s Race Weekend

A friend of mine from being an intern at Prince had been working her way around all the states running marathons and half-marathons.  I got to talking to her and she was ok with me meeting up with her to run Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota.  

Thursday, June 20th, 2019

The Duluth airport seemed about the same size as the Grand Rapids airport, which I like.  We gathered our luggage and Ubered to the Park Point Marina hotel.  Since we were a bit early, we couldn’t get to our room right away, so we decided to walk around Duluth and check things out.   

The first thing we did was walk to Grandma's Saloon to eat! 

These things are called Cribs.  Apparently, back in the day they were supposed to be storage bins for freighters to dump their cargo in.  However, Lake Superior destroyed them of course and they were abandoned.  Now people swim out to them and hang out.

The front of the old Train Station.  Really beautiful building that is now a museum.

The marathon runners end up taking this train to the start of the race in Two Harbors.

The race expo at Amsoil Arena and Jeanette photobombing my picture! haha

Jeanette and I at the expo...Happy because we haven't ran 26.2 miles yet

The finish of the race!

On the lift bridge, looking out into Lake Superior

Later in the afternoon, we finally were able to get into our room at Park Point Marina.  Very nice!

View from our balcony looking towards the lift bridge

Friday, June 21, 2019 - A small practice run and resting up for the big day.

After we got up and around, Jeanette wanted to do a quick 3 mile run just to test out her running set up.  She wanted to make sure that she felt comfortable how she had her water bottles positioned and to make sure that they didn't fall of when we ran.  She's a lot more precise in her method then I am!

Jeanette is ready for the big day!

After our little run, we thought about venturing out to walk around more.  However, even though it was nearly the end of June, it was super windy and we were freezing!  We got about 1/4 mile from the hotel before we decided that we were wimpy and wanted to just chill inside the warm and cozy hotel room for the day!
After a few hours of vegging out, we decided to grab a late lunch and then continue our vegging out.  We timed it so that we could see one of the large barges come into the harbor.  That was actually pretty cool!
After that excitement, we just continued to watch TV and rest the remainder of the day.  I normally run around like an idiot, but relaxing and resting probably was the best thing to do before running 26.2 miles!!

The bridge lifting for a boat

A huge ship coming into the harbor

Saturday, June 22, - RACE DAY!

I can never sleep very well before a big race because of nerves, so after a fitful nights sleep, Jeanette and I got up around 3:30am so we could eat, digest our food, get ready and walk to the train that was going to take us to the starting line.  The train was only for the marathon runners.  It was this amazing old-timey train.  I don't know what year it was from, but all the cars were super old and they were set up differently.  At first, we thought that the train must be full because we didn't see any line waiting to get on.  So, we got in line with people waiting to take buses to the start.  Luckily, we realized after a few minutes that no one in line had a marathon bib.  We were in the 1/2 marathon bus line!  Thank God we figured that out in time.  We quickly ran over to the train.  There was a conductor in a suit standing there yelling "all aboard!".  We made it on the train, found a couple of seats and enjoyed the hour-ish long ride to Two Harbors where the start of the race was.
During the train ride, I of course slept while Jeanette got all her gels and water bottles organized.  It was actually really nice to be on the train because they had bathrooms and it was warmer then standing outside.

The Train!

The Duluth - Two Harbors Train 

Jeanette trying to stay warm before the race

Start of the race!

Literally the only picture I took during the run.

The run itself went really well.  After all the terrible pain and agony I was in during the Colorado marathon, I definitely needed to do something.  First, I got new New Balance shoes.  That fixed the blister problem.  Then, I ended up seeing a chiropractor for an adjustment and some sports massages.  I only had one adjustment before this race, but I could not believe the world of difference it made!  I was not in pain at all during the entire race (besides the normal pain and agony one endures during a 26.2 mile run! haha).  I know I'm not setting any land speed records, but I was happy to make it under 5 hours. 

I had heard nothing but amazing things about this race and now I know why.  First of all, the entire race is ran along the coast of Lake Superior.  Luckily, the weather cooperated that day and it was sunny but cool (around mid 40-50 degrees).  The wind was at our backs the entire time.  The community support was incredible.  I have ran other marathons where I'm alone for long stretches.  During this race, I was either running with people or there were groups of people cheering the entire run.  It honestly felt like the entire city of Duluth came out for this race. 

A lot of people had set up their own 'aid station' in the driveway of their homes.  There were people with water, coffee, Jolly Ranchers, Alcohol and bacon...and those are just the ones that I remembered.  And to think, I was probably in the last 1/3 of all the runners and they were still offering food and water and cheering after all that time!  Someone even had their puppy out there and was shouting something about 'come and pet the puppy for energy!'. It really was quite something.

The closer I got back to Duluth, the bigger the crowds got.  At one point I remember a group of drunk Frat boys cheering and high-fiveing people.  And the biggest party of all was at the finish line!  There was chocolate milk, chicken broth, water, and tons of food I can't even remember.  

I texted Jeanette to let her know that I was done.  About 15 minutes later we found each other and hugged!

The finish line was not far from our hotel, so we waddled back to rest, shower and decide where to eat!  We ended up going to this place called Canal Park Brew Company.  It was packed with all the runners from the day!  We sat outside by a fire and had a beer and chatted with other runners about the run and what we saw along the way. 

After dinner and drinks, there looked to be a fun after party with a beer tent and bands.  However, we were both pooped and we knew we would have to get to the airport very early the next day for our flights back home.  So we just hobbled home, watched TV and hung out the rest of the evening.

The next day we Ubered to the airport, got to Chicago without incident and then just sat and talked for a while until we had to part ways because we were on separate flights from there to home. I had a great time and I am hoping to meet up with Jeanette again in 2020 for another race adventure!

Thank God we made it!!

Much needed dinner and drinks at Canal Park Brew Co.  Great place and it was packed with runners.

Jeanette is a professional traveler!

Not my all time record, but pretty good for one day!