Week #3

26.2..Below Virtual Marathon Race Report

The gang (_noodle_, Blazer86, jlbwalleye, and Jesse Spates) assembled at 8:00 a.m. for the big race. The weather gods sent us a mixed blessing this morning. The temp was 23, so a good 10 degrees above where it was Friday morning. The downside was that there was ½ an inch of snow on the ground. As our times will indicate, the snow played a significant role in preventing us from achieving our goal of cracking 3 hours. Given the conditions, the team was dressed for the worst:

_noodle_ was wearing his kilt along with goggle to keep the swirling snow out of his eyes

Jesse was wearing a full-blown, blaze-orange hunting getup just in case any deer hunters wandered out of the woods and mistook his loping stride for that of a whitetail

Jlbwalleye was sporting his IM finisher t-shirt in case anyone wanted to question his bona fides
Blazer86 was worried about drag from the wind whipping off the lake, so he came in his speed suit and fur hat...he got a fair number of funny looks, but claimed to be plenty warm once whe got going

After the obligatory team pictures, we hit the trail around the lakes. _Noodle_’s wife and kids were there with signs to cheer us on our way (thanks you guys). We initially set out a brisk, but doable 5:45 clip. Unfortunately after a few near misses on the slippery terrain, there was so much snow caked in our shoes that we were forced to dial it back to 8:15 or so, a much safer speed given the conditions. Since all but Blazer were a little unfamiliar with the route, we thought it would be much safer to stay together and run as a group lest anyone stumble into a pile of snow and end up lost for the winter.

As we struggled to fight our way through the drifts, we kept our spirits up by thinking about the French toast that was waiting for us at the end of the run. At mile 4.8 or so, we split into 2 groups, and despite losing our team solidarity, we managed to hold it together for the last 1.75. Group 1 (_noodle_, and Blazer86) finishied in 53:13. Jesse and jlb came in shortly thereafter in 54:40. Total time was 3:35:46, well inside the BQ time for our combined ages.

Breakfast was great, and everyone headed home around 10:15. Here’s to R&P for a great idea and to the rest of you that completed the Challenge. Hope everyone had as much fun as we did. Thanks to Mrs. Spates for not having a baby and forcing the rest of us to run an extra 2 miles!