| Course Map |
|---|
I know the race has the word "Inauguration" in the title but they do NOT mean "inaugural". That is to say, most thought this is a brand new race. It wasn't. They re-branded another race. Let me explain.
There are 2 organizations out there, as far as I know, that produce a 777 race series. You do 7 marathons in 7 days in 7 continents. Pretty cool right? One organization charges around 16K while the other charges between 30K and 40K. Not sure when GLIRC was contacted but in 2015 GLIRC put out the Lincoln's Birthday International Marathon in Eisenhower park. It was on a Thursday and it consisted of 8 loops for the full and 4 for the half. It was a way for the 777s to get in North America. This year, I guess they were contacted again and they staged it again with a brand new name. Since it was on a Sunday, it drew more runners. Lots more. The other benefit was the fact that it was a low cost and low frills race and it was local. You can't really beat a Marathon with a $ 20.00 sticker charge can you...
The real kicker for me was to see a bunch of local runners which I haven't see in a while. The running communnity is a friendly bunch. Of course, I was also looking forward to see Mike and Maria. Actually, that's where I met them.
So, I signed up for the race knowing that I would hate the 8 loops but still.
I don't remember why anymore but Jamey and Hammad weren't doing the race.
I got there early and went to check in. Barbara (Kona-Mom) was there at check-in. Her plan was to do the half. I walked back to the car and who is parked 2 cars down but Rich. Haven't seen him in a long time. Kept meaning to reach out but kept forgetting. Meanwhile Jamey has tried but got no answer. Turns out Rich injured his hamstring (I think) and then when it got better, totalled his car. While totaling his car, his seatbelt saved his life but also ripped a muscle in the rib cage so again he was out. This was his first run coming back. Damn bad ass to comeback with a Marathon.
I saw David Drebsky who joked that it can't be winter since he could actually see my face. Well, it was in the restroom. My plan was to put my muffler up during the race but it was still funny.
Ran into Mike and walked him back to his car. Of course they had to park in the parking lot on the complete opposite of the race or in plain English, not in the same parking lot as me. Oi.
We get to the car and after hugging Maria, she got in the back and I got in the front. Why I have no idea... In any case, we were chilling and in typical Fred fashion it got weird. Funny weird tho...
The conversation:
Mike: The 100 miler is coming up.
Maria: I'm NOT doing it!
Mike: Honey! you can't not do it. You're already signed up.
Maria: You signed me up. I didn't want to do it. I don't want to do it.
I'm not doing it.
Mike: You have to. You're already signed up.
Maria: I don't care. I don't want to be here today either.
Mike: But you're
Maria: You signed me up...(Then she says to me) I already told
Michael. Either I'm doing the race today or he gets Nucky. His
decision.
Mike: (Then he says to me) Guess I'm not getting Nucky then...
At this point, I'm just looking forward and not saying a word. Well, I have a big grin on my face but there's no way in hell that I am getting into this.
Let me just say this about that whole conversation: I ABSOLUTLY LOVE THE FRED'S. They are awesome and certainly they have their moments...
It's almost time. I go to my car to get my stuff and run back to the start. Who do I see? Bill!
Bill... I went with Bill to the Pistol Ultra and we really connected. He is a really good guy. There's more to say about Bill and you can read the race report if you want but the most important thing for this here race report is that in order to save his brothers life from a very serious cancer, he donated stem cells from his neck. It was a last ditch effort and it "seemed" like it may have done the trick. Unfortunatly it didn't and his brother died the day before the race. I was hoping he would show up for the race. As my buddy Jeff always says, "Running burns the poisons out of you" and I think that's exactly what he needed to do. Bill apparently thought the same. He came from Connecticut and ran. He laminated a picture of his brother, wrote "in memory etc with the date" and taped it to his back. I'm glad he was there. He really is a good guy.
The race started and I was on and off with different people until we all found our groove. I talked to people. I did my thing. It was cold and windy and no less boring than expected as far as the course is concerned. Well, the lake is beautiful...
My first 3 loops, I ran with a guy doing his first half. The most he ever ran was 10 miles. He was thankful. Unfortunatly, he told me to leave him after the 3rd loop as he had to pee really badly. My guess is that he was hurting badly. If I was in his position, I would have held it in for 30 minutes just so that I can stay with someone who was pulling me. Oh well. He did finish tho so that's good.
JC and wife were there and at 1 point, I thought JC was finished and was impressed with his full marathon time. He even said something like "that's what happens when you train". Later, I looked up his time. He did the half and a 3+ hour half for him is NOT very impressive.
His wife at one point threw a fit. I thought she was done. She wasn't.
I got annoyed at the timer. After my 5th loop, I started checking with the timer. I don't want to run bonus loops for nothing so I wanted to make sure we were on the same page. My conversation:
Me: Excuse me... Can you confirm that was my 5th loop. Timer: Yes. Only 1 loop to go. Me: What? That's nuts.At that point, I left muttering something about how disorganized they are this year and how the hell it could be 1 more loop when I have 3. In their praise, the timers girlfriend (I think that's who she is) is taking pictures at the end of every loop which is pretty cool. I think she heard me because at the end of the next loop, the timer approached me and told me the correct amount of loops. Cool!
At one point, I fell in with 2 women. One was Jenn and the other I don't remember her name. Her friend has a name that like mine always gets mispronounced. I commiserated with her in that my name is misspelled, mispronounced or just can't be remembered. I even told them that someone here today keeps calling me Elke (pronounced El-Key) which is probably the worst I have ever heard it. Oi.
And as coincidences go, we ran into Coach Maria who calls me Elke. Coach Maria is from the Quicksilvers who originated from the Renegades who I used to run with. So, we actually know a bunch of the same people. Awesome.
I was complaining to them that according to the ads, they were going to have soda and they clearly don't. Jenn said she would find some for me and have it ready. Turns out she had to leave and it didn't happen but I did run into Mike Polansky and mentioned it to him. He said that they have it in the tent but that wasn't going to help me. Well, being the gentle soul that he is, when I finished my next loop, he was there with a soda all ready for me. Go Polansky!
By the way, talking about quicksilvers, Jason won the race with a 3:02. Nice guy. Ran with him once.
My last loop came and I ran with some people until dude named Eric said that I have to go with him. Who is Eric? Well, I saw him during the race and I told him that I recognize him from somewhere. He kept saying that there's no way. Well, we ran somewhere between 1.5 and 2 miles together during the last loop and we talked. He said that there's no way I know him because he's not local. I asked him where he's from and he said Maryland. I told him that I did 2 races in Maryland. JFK50 and ... And he jumped on that. He did JFK twice. His first time was an awesome time while his second was about 20 minutes slower than my time and that was the year I did it in. I knew I recogonized him from somewhere... ;)
I finished and hung out. Ate a little and talked to Claire Gladstone and David. Eventualy talked to Maria a little too. She was guarding Bill's and Mike's bags as a homeless person sat near them and started going through them. Everytime he tried, she yelled at him. Tiny little Maria is fierce!
That was it. A January race. My first official race for 2017.