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| You know me, GO SPORTS! |
After a dozen or so sub-3-hour marathons, I changed my original 50-state-marathon goal to running them all in under 3 hours; to my knowledge, there are less than 10 people that have done so. My previous Ohio marathon was the first time I ran a back-to-back marathon (2011 Kentucky Derby Marathon on Saturday and 2011 Flying Pig Marathon on Sunday) and my post about that race starts with, "And here we are, a couple of post-race beers, a shot of bourbon, and 100 miles (drive) later..." Needless to say, I had to redo Ohio.
That brings me to Canton, OH for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon. I had never heard of this race until a friend, Carrie, mentioned she was running it. I changed my plans from another OH race and in doing so, was able to add the Eisenhower Marathon 3 weeks ago. Little did I know at the time that Canton was home to the McKinleys and is now the resting place of William and his wife, Ida and home of the McKinley Presidential Library - by now you know my love of presidential history. Everything's coming up Milhouse!
Ohio trips involve a visit with family and beers at Fat Head's Brewery - easily one of our favorite breweries. While surfing channels at the hotel, I stumbled upon a public access music showcase with Strand of Oaks - he rips, check it out! After visiting family and the North Olmsted and new Middleburg Heights Fat Head's locations, we left the kids with Grandma to spoil at will and drove to Canton on Saturday afternoon.
It's 5pm, the expo closes at 6pm, and we still don't have a hotel reservation to this SOLD OUT race! But I did get a good laugh from the volunteer that handed me my GO SPORTS custom bib name. The race hotel and probably the best hotel in the area, McKinley Grand Hotel, had a few reservations open up at reduced rates so we lucked out. The hotel houses artifacts pertaining to President McKinley. It's located half a mile from the start and across the street from Ida McKinley's family home - now the National First Ladies' Library.
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| The National First Ladies' Library |
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| Burial site of President McKinley and First Lady |
We met with Carrie et al. for dinner. After a presidential night's sleep, I awoke in time for a short walk to the start line. The temperature was set to rise to the mid-80s; the faster I get this over with, the better. After a 15-minute delayed start, we were off.
Within minutes, I fell in line with Chuck Engle and a small entourage. Remember Chuck? I've mentioned him in previous posts; he's the guy with 350-some sub-3-hour marathons and likely the first person to have run all 50 states in under 3 hours. I figured I would stay with him but he didn't fare so well in the heat as he dropped off pace after 5 miles. I was soon alone.
I enjoyed the course. It's got some slight rolling hills and shows you what it can of Canton. It's out and back so there is a lot of opportunity to cheer for my fellow runners. In fact, I don't recall being cheered for by runners as much as this race - good midwestern people! It did get a bit warm and the course wasn't so generous with shade. I had a woman ride past me, stop to shout, "you're my hero!", then ride ahead to do it again and again until the end of the race. That ruled. I finished 8th of 1,227 with a time of 2:56:29.
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| Near the end: kind of hot, kind of wet. |
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| Book of Shadows is a witchcraft shop on the course. I had to go back. |
After a shower, we ventured into Cultured Coffee & Waffles Co. for beer and waffles. I know, their name is misleading. We met Christine and walked to Mile 26 to cheer for the rest of the runners. It was wild to see how strong the winds were getting: knocking over the course flags and creating litter cyclones. I ran the last stretch in with Carrie and back we went for more beer and waffles then lunch at BJ's Brewhouse - the best option we had since the Canton Brewing Company was closed on Sunday.
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| Carrie and I flashing the (Michael) Stehling. |
I've mentioned in the last two state entries that I've been going to physical therapy and Pilates to fix this hamstring issue. In addition to that help, my therapist/instructor recommended staying at Gervasi Vineyard (Thanks Rachel!) so we headed there Sunday afternoon. This rustic Tuscan-style winery and villa seemingly doesn't belong: it's a beautiful property with a couple of restaurants, upscale villas around a lake, and a jogging/biking path on the outskirts of Canton. After a nice dinner (their ice wine was really good) and childless night's sleep, The Wife and I enjoyed a peaceful morning 5K and breakfast before reclaiming our offspring.
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| Most peaceful coffee I've had in a while. |
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| At least they were exhausted. |
Next up: Fargo Marathon on May 20th.
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