Groundhog Marathon- February 4^th, 2017

Looking down at the seat of a port-potty with a little apprehension is often understandable. When it is pre-race in Grand Rapids, Michigan before the Groundhog Marathon and the temperature is all of seven degrees outside the feeling is doubly so. There was a tent a short distance away where runners were gathered before the beginning of the festivities and kept relatively warm but out by the toilets it was another story.

I got the idea to run the Groundhog marathon once I knew that the week prior I would be in Baltimore for business. I always look for races in places that I travel too and figured the pickings would be slim to none in the northern states the first weekend in February but this one had turned up. The race director bragged about how snowy the conditions were usually but the timing was good and I am usually up for an adventure that gives me a good story to tell. I had thought Michigan would be crossed off the list last Labor Day in Marquette but travel had changed and I ran in Wisconsin instead. This time after the week in Baltimore I flew to Grand Rapids on Friday instead of Houston and checked into a hotel near the airport. I had never actually spent any time in the lower Penninsula of Michigan other than in the Detroit. I saw the snow dusted ground from the plane as we descended into Grand Rapids and felt a world away from Houston.

I had run in snow many times growing up in the Adirondacks but don’t think I had raced in it before that I can remember. It was 19 degrees in the mid afternoon when I arrived at Gerald Ford International airport and the “Welcome to Michigan’s West Coast” sign in the baggage claim. I took an Uber to the Hampton Inn by the airport thinking about whether to get some extra traction for my shoes. As I was waiting to check in I spied a copy of USA Today in the lobby with a picture of Downtown Houston on the front page and a story about it preparing for the Super Bowl on Sunday. I also took note of the Dixon Ticonderoga pencils on the desk. The reminders of places I either lived or were from were certainly evident. The event itself was Groundhog Day themed and of course I had met Beth on Groundhog Day at a race in Norfolk VA back in the day.

As luck would have it the hotel was within walking distance to a Target and a Dicks Sporting goods and I went there for suppliers after settling in. I did end up getting some YakTrax traction for my shoes as I was a little more concerned with the possibility of ice than snow and snacks for the morning. Dinner was delivery from a Michigan pizza chain called Jet’s which was quite tasty and then off to bed.

I layered on everything I had in the morning including two pair of tights on top of one another, two sets of gloves, multiple top layers a hopped in an Uber headed to the park where the race would take place. Another cool personal history connection was driving on Oswego Street very close to the race destination. I was dropped off by the driver in the dark and relieved to see there was a tent set up and that is where I spent most of the time before the run was ready to proceed. Packet pick up went smoothly (bless races that allow race morning packet pick up) and I made a last minute decision to wear the race hoodie as an extra layer on top of all the other layers I was wearing. There were several runners in Groundhog costumes and the Bill Murray movie playing on loop in the tent. I had Norf, my stuffed travel Groundhog with me in a fanny pack and figured in the spirit of the race he could ride along for this one. After the apprehensive trip to the porta potty I headed to the starting line, which was coated in a couple inches of ice- not a good sign. There I stretched a little and tried to stay warm until the race began.

The Groundhog Marathon is held in a park in Grand Rapids and consists of 6 4.4 mile loops around the park- in keeping with the Groundhog Day (movie and holiday) theme. After the ice patch at the Start/Finish line the course was covered by about 4 inches of snow other than about a mile patch that has been mysteriously cleared. There were some hills but nothing too bad. If you like beautiful winter scenery in the woods it is a good run. I tucked in on the first loop and concentrated on keeping my footing and getting a good deep breathe in the cold air.

The thing About running in snow is that pacing your self is really tough, at least for me. I was running slow to start with but probably too fast when you consider all of the energy I was spending getting through the snow and keeping my balance. I was amazed seeing some of the natives who seemed to glide over the snow. My shuffle is good for keeping balanced in the snow but not much good for being light and quick. Still, it was a beautiful trail that was especially stunning on the first couple of loops as branches were still frozen and the rising sun reflected off of everything. It didn’t really matter how slow I went.

Straight about a half mile, turn to the right up a series of hills and then the first rest stop. Leaving the rest another hill and then a downhill and turn (sharp) and onto the cleared part of the course. Over a snow-covered bridge after a left turn back onto the trail along a river with ice flows right out of the Frozen movie. Maybe I should have brought stuffed Sven instead of Norf I thought with a chuckle. A remember a final bear to the right after the mile 3 aid station and then down a long snow covered straightaway to the start finish line and back again…and again….and again 6 times.

Not all of the loops were particularly memorable. The scenery was pretty each time. The hills felt tougher even though they were the same hills. The Yack Trax were a blessing on the snow covered part of the trail but they made things tougher on the paved portion. I was enjoying myself but after the first two loops were somewhat reasonably paced the next four were progressively slower. That was fine with me and I started inserting walk breaks and hanging out at the aid stations talking to the volunteers I kept seeing again and again. Everyone was nice and although I knew that this was going to challenge First Light for my slowest marathon it was still a good experience. The aid stations even had Pepsi and Mountain Dew which was nice as I start craving anything but sports drinks after drinking them for hours during a marathon. It is also a tradition at the Groundhog to use Maple Bacon-flavored Gu brand gel which I sampled as well- it was tastier than expected. I met some interesting people, survived the cold, didn’t fall on any ice, finished in decent enough shape to be able to make my connection in Chicago at Midway airport with a jog across the terminal.

After the run I took an Uber back to the hotel and another to the airport after changing and sampled as much Michigan fare as I could get prior to leaving. I knew about Michigan blueberries but I didn’t know Cherries were a big thing there are well but all of the specialties at the Michigan Taphouse restaurant were flavored with Cherry sauce of one kind or another and there were bags of dried local cherries (good for inflamation) and cherry chocolates in the Hudson News type store.

So Michigan is the books which makes for State number 23. Despite knocking out few states and having some good experiences my last three marathons have all been pretty slow. My hope for the spring is to get some solid training in and remain healthy enough to get back comfortably under the 4 hour mark and even challenge my PR. This run at 5:20 and change was very fun but I can run much faster and would like to run in conditions where I can do so. Until next time....Thanks for reading.