2014-06-23

Race day registration started at 6:00 near the starting line, so Jerry and I got up at 5:15 to get ready, then drove a couple of miles down the road to the race tent. We were the first ones there, and we each registered for the 10K. I decided that I wanted to do the race with Jerry, instead of running the half by myself—there really wasn’t any reason for me to run the half-marathon! We got all kinds of goodies for our registration fee: t-shirt (cotton! I love when races have cotton shirts, because I actually wear them); drawstring bag; shoe bag; and a plastic cup.



We also got bibs and shoe tags. I haven’t gotten an actual shoe tag in a long time! Most races have the timing chips on the bibs now. Luckily I knew what it was ;) The race didn’t start until 7:30, so we headed to McDonald’s to get some coffee while we waited. It was kind of entertaining there, because there were four teenagers who were either hungover or still drunk from last night—each of them took turns going to the bathroom to throw up, which could be heard through the whole restaurant. So classy.

When it was time to go to the race start, we parked by the finish line, and then there was a bus shuttle that could take runners and/or spectators to the individual starting lines. The starting line for the 10K was only 0.7 miles away, so we decided just to walk. The scenery was gorgeous!



There were markings on the side of the road to show the course, and we kept looking for the 10K starting line mark. We saw the 20-mile mark for the marathon, and it only made sense to me that the 10K start should have been in the same spot as that—right? (20 miles + 10K = finish line). Well, we didn’t see anything about the starting line there, so we just kept walking. Finally, we saw two people standing on the side of the road, and a mark that said “10K start”.



We chatted with them while we waited for more people to show up. They were locals, and couldn’t believe how few people were doing the race. I had looked at last year’s results, so I knew it was a small race, and it was just what I expected. I really liked the informality of it! Finally, the bus pulled up, and some more people got off for the 10K start. There weren’t many of us—13 in total for the 10K!

The race director stayed with us, and then got ready to announce on the radio when we would start, so that all runners would start at the same time, regardless of what distance they were running. It cracked me up how intimate this race was—someone on the radio asked if the "woman in the yellow shirt found her way to the 10K start", and the race director radioed back, “The yellow shirt woman is here. Are we waiting on anyone else? Have my parents drive them over.” This is totally unlike anything I’ve experienced at a race before, but I loved that they knew pretty much everyone in the race.

Jerry said something about bag check tags on our bib, and it made me think that if there actually was a bag check, it would probably be everyone putting their bags in the truck of the race directors car, and he’d personally make sure that everything was safe ;)

Anyway, the race director counted down, and sent us off. I planned on being in the very back of the pack, but even at a pretty slow pace, Jerry and I were toward the front of the 10K’ers. The race went by super fast! It felt like I blinked, and we were already at mile two. We took some mid-race selfies, and we chatted with a couple of people along the way.

We passed a few people who were doing the marathon or the relay (who started about a mile down the road from us). We were passed by a couple of people doing the half-marathon (who started about a quarter mile behind us). We enjoyed the scenery, and had some good conversation.

I have to take a second to rave about this course—it is FANTASTIC. It’s a 6.9-mile loop around an inland lake. Where your start on the course depends on the race distance you’re doing. For the 10K, you do a little less than a full loop. The whole course is very flat, because it’s right next to the lake, so if you’re looking for a PR, it’s great. It’s also such a small race that you’re pretty much guaranteed to place in your age group. Anyway, I loved the course, and can’t really say enough good things about it!

When we reached the finisher’s “chute” (not really a chute, but the finish line/relay exchange points), it was such a warm and intimate finish—I can’t really explain it other than that. There weren’t crowds of people, but there were probably about 30 spectators, and everyone was in great spirits. Jerry and I crossed the finish line, and promptly removed the timing chips from our shoes to deposit in a bucket.

We spent some time hanging out at the finish line, looking out at the lake, watching our fellow 10K’ers cross the finish line, and chatting with some of the other runners. Because it was such a small race, you feel like you already know everyone that you ran with, and you want to see them do well! Then we went to the tent to see if they had our results.

They had a paper with the results printed on it, and I could clearly see “Female 30-39” with only ONE name under it—mine. I won first place (and last place) in my age group ;)  Under “Male 30-39” was only ONE name—Jerry’s. Turns out we were 6th and 7th place overall, out of the 13 that ran the 10K. (We finished in 57:21)

We got medals for our age group finishes, which was kind of fun. The ribbon on mine was SO short, that I had to work pretty hard to get it over my head. Haha!

I loved everything about this race! I was nervous about it being such a small race, and I was expecting a really competitive atmosphere, but it was nothing like that. It was very intimate, and fun. The race director was walking around talking to people, which really says a lot. I’ve never actually seen that at a race before! The course was fantastic, like I mentioned before. I would say that out of all the races I’ve done (which is a lot!), this one would make my top five. I would love to do it again next year—maybe the four-person relay with my siblings?

In looking at the results later, I realized that if I had wanted to, I probably could have won the half-marathon, hahaha. The first place woman finished in 1:58:19; and for the marathon, the first place woman finished in 5:15:17! There were only 16 people to do the half-marathon, and 5 to do the full. There were a lot more people on the course than that, though, because there were several relay teams for the full marathon. Still--when I say it was a small race, I mean it was a SMALL race. I don't mean that in a negative way, though--the size of the race was part of what I loved so much about it!

After the race, Jerry and I went back to the hotel to shower. We decided to drive up to Traverse City after all, and we got there just in time for lunch. We stopped at this little sandwich shop called Bad Dog Cafe, and I had the best sandwich I’ve ever had in my life! Then we went to Chateau Chantal winery for a wine tasting.

Basically, you pay $3, and get to taste 6 different wines (of your choice). I selected a nice variety of what was listed, and we enjoyed all of them. We bought a glass of Chardonnay and sat outside for a little while, enjoying the weather and the scenery. I felt like I could have sat there all day long, and had several glasses, but we had to drive home, so we just stuck to one.

I loved the wine glasses! We got to buy them for $1 and use them for the tasting

Jerry wanted to try out a brewery called North Peak before we left Traverse City, so we stopped there on the way out. I’m not a beer person, so I didn’t get any, but he had a flight of beer and was thrilled ;)

Then, we started the long drive home (now 5+ hours, because we had driven further north to Traverse City). I’m actually typing this in the car. It was SUCH a great 24-hour trip! 

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