Grandma’s Marathon
Grandma’s Marathon Race Recap:
What an awesome weekend I got to experience! Not just for me but also for my runners. So much hard work went into making things go so well! On Saturday I got to compete in the elite field at the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. This race offers a fast course and the weather is typical ideal. It’s also one of the most competitive marathons in the country. It was safe to say I had my hands full when lining up on that starting line.
When the gun went off at 7:45am, I wasn’t sure how the other runners were going to approach things, so I decided I would feel it out the first mile to see how fast the pace would be. The race split up into 3 groups. I was creeping behind the 2nd group. I hit the first mile in 5:17 and I definitely wasn’t feeling the greatest. I decided I would back off a touch. I ran a bunch of 5:20 miles and that 2nd group was gapping me around 10K into the race. There were about 25 runners ahead of me at this point. I honestly thought it wasn’t going to be my day. I did drop the pace a touch into the 5:16-5:18 range but my legs just weren’t ready to run any faster. I told myself, “just get to the halfway point and figure things out from there”. I’m really glad I was being patient because the second I crossed that halfway timing mat in 1:09:45 I felt like the race was just beginning. I had forgotten everything behind me and was focused on what’s ahead. My confidence increased dramatically and all of a sudden I was running 5:10-5:12 pace and it was feeling effortless. This is when I started catching some the guys in front of me. It started off with me picking off the guys who fell off the main pack but then I eventually caught the main pack. Confidence was peaking! When I eventually caught up to them I threw in a noticeable surge so none of them would try to pace with me. I had no idea what place I was in at this point. I was even asking spectators if they knew. It wasn’t until I hit Lemon Drop Hill (biggest hill of the race) when a volunteer shouted I was in 6th place. I still had over 3 miles left of running. I was definitely hurting at this point but my pace wasn’t slowing. I approached a bridge around the 25 mile mark and the excitement of the crowd carried me to the finish! I crossed the finish line in a new personal best! 2:17:30 for 6th Overall! I somehow closed the last half of this race in 1:07:45! I could be wrong with this but I’m pretty sure I closed out this race faster than anyone else in the race.
Overall, I could not be more happy with how things turned out. I didn’t give up when things got tough. I prevailed! It paid off big time! And to top things off, the runners I had competing in this event all did amazing! It was a PR factory in Duluth for the RunnersFix crew! Grandma’s Marathon and Half Marathon is a must do race! I highly recommend it. I hope you enjoy reading my race recap. Sorry if I was too detailed. I was just wanting to share my experience!