24 Hours around the Lake Marathon and Ultra....for Matthew

I had planned to run the Grizzly Marathon in Montana this past weekend. Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted to go to Montana and I was really looking forward to getting to run Grizzly as part of my journey this year. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it work and had to change my race plans. Traveling all over the country for these races has been difficult and very expensive. When I was trying to buy my airline ticket for Montana that ugly truth was right in my face. It was going to cost me $900 just for the airline ticket and quite honestly I just couldn't afford it. I knew I'd have to tack on a rental car, hotel and food, not to mention the insane travel times would mean I'd have to also pay for a baby sitter for part of the time. As much as I didn't want to have to give up going to Montana, I really didn't have much choice, especially since I had the option to go to Massachusetts for a race that would be much much cheaper and easier with the travel arrangements.

The race in MA is quite unique, as the marathon takes part along with several ultra events. It's called 24 Hours Around The Lake and unlike most races, it started Friday night start at 7pm. I knew that I'd be running late into the night with the hope that I'd finish before Saturday morning. However, as it was a 24 hour race I technically had a full 24 hours to finish the distance.

I took a late afternoon flight out, but as luck would have it, my flight was delayed. Here starts the stress! With it being Friday, I knew I was going to have to struggle through Boston's rush hour traffic once I landed which wasn't going to help matters. Thankfully, I arrived, picked up my rental car and made it to the pre-race packet pickup with enough time to get ready.

It was by all means the perfect evening for a run. Being at the end of the July, I knew that previous years it had been quite a hot race to run. This time around we lucked out and boy was I glad! With temps being in the low to mid 70's at the start I couldn't have been happier. Usually the temps are getting warmer as the race progresses, but as we would be running into the night, the reverse would be true and I was super jazzed about that.

 Getting ready to start

Just before the start all the runners gathered together for last minute instructions. We started out and I was simply enjoying the lake views. Knowing that the sun would be going down long before I'd be done, I tried to make a point to take a lot of pictures early on. I wasn't wearing my Garmin watch, so I was just running by feel, and I was feeling great.

Heading out for the first loop

Peaceful and serene

Many runners were doing the ultra events, intending to run either 12 or the full 24 hours. I honestly felt very weird about running the marathon when so many people were doing the ultras. I guess I felt like I wasn't doing enough. Generally speaking, when I run marathons I'm running the farthest distance of the events offered. Today I was running the shortest. That just didn't sit right with me at all. I have a great deal of respect for runners who are willing to push themselves for hours and hours on end. I spoke with several runners that were trying to reach 100 miles or more at the race. A part of me wished I could join them and just keep on going. Knowing that my goal was to do 26.2 I refrained, but it was a nagging thought in my mind the entire night.

Almost done with the 2nd loop, a little over 6 miles in

 

Passing Honey Dew Donuts, where several of the ultra runners told me they planned to stop during the race. Dang, why didn't I bring some cash with me! You could smell the donuts clear across the street!

Church in the distance.....

And up close

We were running a loop course with each loop being a little over 3 miles long. Eight loops was the magic # for me and a marathon finish. While you might think running the same turf over and over again would get boring, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Even though you got used to the nooks and quirks of the path, I found something different in each loop. During the first two loops I tried to savor (and capture) as much of my surroundings as possible, knowing the sunlight was to be short lived.

 With Tammy, who was doing the full 24 hours!

It was obvious during my 2nd loop that the sun was quickly fading. I stopped to take some fantastic shots of the sunset. This picture doesn't even begin to do it justice to how beautiful it was!

 Pure beauty!

By the end of the 3rd loop the sun was totally absent and the almost full moon took its place. We were running on sidewalks and had the benefit of street lamps to light our path, but I also brought along my headlamp.

There was a cemetery on the course, which was a little eerie to run by as the darkness carried on. There was also a park with a baseball game going on during the evening. Like a kid, I'd slow each time I passed the park to watch a moment of the game. The last 2 loops as I passed by the park I was met with silence, the players had gone. It was the same with the rest of the course. Pedestrians that had been out for walks or bike rides had left. The park benches and streets were empty. It was down to just us runners, support crews and the spattering of headlamps along the way. 

The perfect night for baseball too!

I was running for Matthew who is 4 years old and orphaned in South Africa. He is one of over 1,500 children that I'm raising funds for through this journey. The darkness of night, meant the light of day where he lives in the Eastern Cape, one of the poorest providence in South Africa. With over 72% of the population living below the poverty income line, every dollar I can raise to help these orphans makes a world of a difference for them, like night and day!

Those last few loops were solitary for me, and I enjoyed it immensely. The air was cool, and the world around me in slumber. The roads were peaceful and aside from my stomach that had been giving me issues all night long, I felt good.

I finished my last loop in 4:44 and went to the finishers tent for some pizza. I stood there watching other runners come through to finish their loop, rehydrate and continue on. That longing to join them had finally passed and I was glad to be done.

I drove to the nearest Anytime Fitness Gym, took a shower, then parked my car in an empty lot to get a couple hours rest before my flight back home. And no it was not a comfortable, or restful sleep, but I managed.

 Instead of medals, we all got these cool stainless steel water bottles

This week was one heck of a crazy trip and by far the shortest, as I was only in MA about 12 hours, but I made it home in time to make my family breakfast on Saturday morning. I cooked homemade buttermilk pancakes, sausage, eggs and orange juice. I must have been hungry!

All in all, this weekend was like one of those Mastercard commercials:

marathon race entry - $75
flight to MA - $189
car rental/hotel - $55
completing another marathon and having an entire weekend with my family - priceless

Family time - my kids at their first baseball game at Nationals Park on Sunday