This post is late to the punch, but I promised to write up a summary of the race. Merle and I decided to run Grandma’s in order to hang out with our friends Jess and Chris from school. Nothing like four Cornellians deciding to take on a race in northern Minnesota. (Wood chippers, stand ready.) The race was both my 6th marathon and an good cross training event to build up cardiovascular endurance for the Triple Bypass in July.

We flew into Minneapolis on Friday morning, joining up with Jess and Chris within the bowels of the airport jungle. From there, we drove the three hours up to Duluth. There really isn’t much to see en route from Minneapolis to Duluth except exits on the highway. As we approached Duluth I got my first look ever at Lake Superior, which didn’t have the endless majesty of Michigan. At the point where Superior touches the shore of Duluth, it is only a thin channel that spans Duluth and Superior, Wisconsin. In spite of this, the presence of the impassive waters still imparted a sense of permanence on the place.

Duluth is an industrial port city with a small, growing downtown area. Some storefronts are vacant, while others appear profitable. There is a nice lakefront park with a walking trail aquarium, convention center, and shops that promise a bright future of tourism dollars, but the industrial roots of the city are still clear in the background.

Upon arrival, we fought the crowd to negotiate packet pickup and had a nice dinner consuming buckets of carbohydrates at a local cafe place on the waterfront. From there, we crashed out for the night in preparation for the Saturday morning race.

The alarm clock went off early the next morning and the four of us took the big yellow bus twenty-some miles north on the highway along Superior to Two Rivers, MN where the race started. The weather was a muggy 80 degrees with humidity up around 90%. The morning was thick with race excitement and fog. A foghorn could be heard off in the distance as we did the pre-race ritual of stretching, hydration, and port-o-potty patronage. Jess and Chris looked pretty keyed up to get rolling on their marathon and Merle looked ready for a powernap.

The race traced the shoreline of Lake Superior for about 22 miles, heading south back to Duluth. I took the four miles easy, hanging out with my lovely and talented wife. From there I amped it up a little bit to a medium pace, clock miles in the 9-10 minute/mile range. The heat kept amping up and there was little shade to hide in. As the race progressed, the “drop out here” signs were in evidence, there were cases of heat stroke, and people puking on the side of the road. I tried to keep cool by running through peoples’ sprinklers and consumed plenty of electrolytes along the way. The crowds of cheering folks helped the miles roll by, as did the thought of finishing and eating literally everything in sight.

I pretty much cruised along until about mile 21 when my legs were getting heavy and the heat began to wear on me. The last few miles weren’t my fastest ever, but I finished the marathon in better physical condition than any of my previous attempts. The final chip time was something like 4:14:56, which was my second fastest flat-land marathon time. Also, I’ve now completed 6 marathons. That’s one performance in Washington D.C., two Chicago Marathons, two Pikes Peak Marathons, and now Grandma’s. I’m not sure if there are more marathons in my future or if I’ll move to more oddball endurance events…

My finishing time wasn’t too bad considering the heat and how little I really trained for it I didn’t really run more than three days a week, and sometimes not even that, but I made sure to get the long runs in. Next time I do anything in that kind of heat, though, I will effect a more aggressive body refueling strategy. Electrolyte replacement capsules seem to be insufficient fuel for those kind of conditions. I’m definitely going to have to mix it up with a bit of Perpetuem or Sustained Energy.

Anyway, all four of us finished, and went out to a tasty, fat laden dinner at the local brewery followed by malted milkshakes. I probably consumed as many calories as a sled dog at the Iditarod and fell asleep no later than 8:30 pm that night. (Such a party animal.) It was a nice weekend; It’s a treat to hang out with Cornell buddies and squeeze in a wee bit of exercise at the same time. Plus, it was a nice warmup event for the Triple Bypass!