The marathon was on a rails-to-trails course, which means it was super easy on the old dawgs. The biggest problem we had was with grit from the trail kicking up into our shoes. We had to stop once or twice just to empty them. Other than that, the main things that slowed us down were all of the ooh-ahh photo opportunities and the altitude, which I for one completely underestimated. Turns out 6500 feet is nothing to be sneezed at when you live your life at sea level.

We were a little concerned about the heat, but lucked out. The day before temps were in the upper 80s with clear skies – in other words HOT and that was the weather predicted for race day. Happily for all the marathoners, the temps stayed in the low 80s and clouds kept the sun from baking us all. Only 375 runners braved the full 26.2 miles so there were lots of stretches where there was nobody but us on the trail. I had to go to the bathroom several times (what can I say? I was constipated the day before), so really appreciated the fact that there were porta potties every four or five miles along the course. The aid stations were fabulous, with water, ERG, M&Ms, pretzels, and orange and banana slices galore. Id’ recommend this race in a heartbeat for anyone interested in a lovely course and really super support. The first thirteen miles were uphill, and thanks to Chuck’s wisdom (and mine for listening to him), we ran the second half much faster and passed a lot of people (always a confidence-builder). I listened to a good book (Challenger Park) on my iPod Nano for much of the race, until the last couple of miles when I turned to good old rock n’ roll to carry me to the finish.

Everyone got a handshake from the race director, and a really cool medal for finishing. We headed back to the lovely Bullock Express where Chuck promptly passed out for an hour or so and I had a chance to pop the blood blister under one of my toenails that had been bugging me for several hours. There’s nothing nicer at the end of a long race than that lovely squuuiiishy feeling of the liquid oozing out of a big old honking blood blister.

Photos of the marathon are here.

Next up: the South Dakota adventure continues!