46th Sub-3-hour Marathon State: The Wyoming Redo

Cowboy up!

I'm baaaack! To the Black Hills and to running and writing after finishing a marathon in every state this summer at the Anchorage Mayor's Marathon. I plan to revisit 5 states that were not under 3 hours... make that 4 states now after cleaning up my 2017 Casper Marathon. Though after forgetting my favorite pants and belt at a hotel this weekend, I would have returned had my travel buddies not agreed to go out of our way to get them. I love those pants and the Black Hills!

1st stop: Bear's Lodge, a.k.a., Devils Tower, in those pants

That belt buckle tho!

The Sundance to Spearfish Marathon - a USATF-certified WY or SD marathon was set up by a founder of the 50sub4 Marathon Club to circumvent Wyoming's elevation and scarce race options for his own goal and others within that club.

The problem is that it's STILL 26.2 miles, my 71st marathon, and I'm not getting any younger... also, the threat of roaming cattle which I dismissed thinking it couldn't be as terrifying on foot as that time I was chased by a herd while on a motorcycle down a gravel road during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in 2012.

From the 2012 archives: right before the cattle attack

The race begins high atop a fire mountain lookout near Sundance, WY at 6,600ft and spends 12 miles on a gravel road through remote pastures near the film site of Dances with Wolves

 - glad my race didn't take as long as that film - before turning onto the Spearfish Canyon Highway, a National Scenic Byway, for the remaining miles into Spearfish, SD. It's a beautiful course!

Our traditional pic of pics - Bridal Veil Falls along Spearfish Canyon Hwy

Downhill races at elevation are certainly more tolerable than the alternative but your quads will take a beating. This race was eerily similar to the Sandia Crest Marathon (New Mexico) downhill race Michael and I attempted on the same weekend last year: 90F sunny forecast, downhill race, the winner from that was also here. So much for one of us winning, or so we thought. My failure at that race was creeping into my psyche.

I'm here in good company with the New Jersey Marathon travel trio: Me, Michael, and Laurie. It's windy and cold, waiting for the 6:45am start. Port-a-potties can't be delivered up this road. We were huddled in a line for the one fire lookout bathroom structure in place. As the sun rose, giving light to an unobstructed 360-degree view, you realize why Cement Ridge Fire Lookout is located here and the important role it plays in forest fire remediation.

Cement Ridge Fire Lookout at sunrise, race morning

Could have used some of that fire; we were cold at the start

After a bit of rough terrain downhill, there's a half-mile climb at mile 2.5. Michael and I are together with about 6 people ahead of us. I started pulling ahead and found myself in 1st place at mile 12. From there on, it was a lonely trek down the Spearfish Canyon Highway, mostly shaded but getting warm in the sun. Then my watch died approaching mile 19. The thought of winning - 3 years to the weekend since my last marathon win - was exciting. However, the fear of not knowing my time while straddling a sub-3-hour finish was nerve-racking.

The start, with the fire lookout in the background

View along the 1st half of the course

I usually walk every aid station but this time, I was stopping so that I can put my trash in the garbage cans which were not set up beyond the tables. As I'm standing at mile 24, I look back to see Michael reappearing! We are going to win this race, something I had hoped for back when we registered.

He meets me at mile 24.5 and we run together until mile 25. "Michael, go get the win, there's no one ahead of us!" I exclaim. He says, "no, we're finishing together"... and then took off for the win. It was glorious!

After stealing the covers from me in bed, Michael "steals" the winning quilt

There were 56 finishers and 5 went sub-3, all within a minute of each other! At nearly 10%, that's the highest percent sub-3-finishers I've ever seen (I look for 2%). I came in 2nd place with 2:57:26 and Laurie bested her Vermont race back in May with a 3:45. With 48/71 marathons under 3 hours, my percentage sits at 68%.

Nailed it! With new race director, Mike Albin

A hike to Cathedral Spires in Custer State Park the next morning

The Black Hills are one of my favorite and most visited locations in the U.S. The discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874 and the story of Deadwood, the last lawless town in America, is fascinating. America has a troubled past and this location is the center of one of its tragedies. We stole this land and, to this day, have not done right by its native people (see the Treaty of Fort Laramie and this resulting 1980 Supreme Court decision).

Prominent figures from each side of this struggle are displayed at Mt. Rushmore and 16 miles down the road at the Crazy Horse Monument. One is funded by our government, the other is not.

In before Trump commissions his mug be added to Mt. Rushmore

Laurie taking a pic of Michael taking a pic of Crazy Horse Monument

39/50 - Casper Marathon

Giddy up, legs!

This race was a last minute addition after the Fargo Marathon 2 weeks ago: I felt great, it fit the schedule, and I could book it on the cheap. I knew that I would have to acclimate to the 1-mile high elevation so I arrived in Fort Collins, CO on Thursday night, giving me 2.5 days to get my body to adjust. In contrast to my modus operandi, I actually reviewed the course elevation chart and compared it to recent failures to run sub-3-hours at elevation out west (Oregon and South Dakota). I could do this course in under 3 hours.

I flew into Denver and drove to a hippie hostel commune that we discovered last year when we stayed in Fort Collins on the Mickelson Trail Marathon / Revel Rockies Marathon trip. My wife did yoga at Solarium International Hostel and raved about the hostel so I booked a bunk bed in a room with 3 other strangers. This place is amazing! It's like staying in a greenhouse, on a river, on a bike path. The following pictures are of the interior courtyard:

I walked down the street to Colorado State University campus in search of a brewery... which took half a mile - this IS Colorado. Great eats were had at Music City Chicken for their Nashville Fried Chicken before I ventured next door to Black Bottle Brewery.

When I returned to Solarium, I saw a suggestion for great hiking at Horsetooth Mountain, about 20 minutes away. What better place to do a 5-mile easy run 2 days before the marathon, I thought? I made plans to drive there Friday morning.

An early view about 3 miles into this run

Now, I'm not completely naive. I love mountain running. I do this every time I head west. I've run the Pikes Peak Marathon. There is nothing more exhilarating to me than a run along a mountain trail where I tune out the Garmin and run by feel, jumping in creeks or waterfalls at will. However, after this run, my quads were starting to feel the wrath of some elevation drops that I hadn't anticipated. 5 miles turned into 7. While I felt the effort was not hard, my legs would tell me otherwise the next morning.

As you can see, this is probably not the best run to do when you have a marathon in 2 days

After the run, I drove straight to the breakfast suggestion I also picked up at Solarium: Lucile's Creole Cafe. This breakfast cafe knows New Orleans about as good as New Orleans knows itself. It was packed but I found a seat at the bar next to a gentleman (a retiring Union Pacific train engineer) that was quick to chat. This is my favorite part of traveling. If it weren't for my discussions with him, I would have never driven the route to Casper, WY that I'll talk about shortly.

After a quick nap, I walked to Rally King Brewing, my favorite brewery of the trip. Many of their beers, from IPAs to sours are memorable, even if their location is not. Sitting on their balcony in a faceless plaza, I struck up a conversation with Jim, a writer for an athletic publication. We waxed poetic about running, cycling, Leadville, Russia, beer. He left and I sought dinner.

Spicier than last night's fried chicken

Fort Collins has a great downtown promenade. It's Friday night and people are congregating around a live band under the band shelter, drinking beers, watching their kids dance their asses off. I found pie at The Chocolate Cafe, beer at Equinox Brewing, and donuts (on National Donut Day) at Peace, Love, and Little Donuts. You can take your pro-athlete nutritional regimen and shove it.

Hippie donuts at my hippie commune

Saturday morning is when it hit me: my quads are shredded. A 2-mile shakeout run confirmed it. I took a yoga class at my hostel hoping for some relief. It's a 5-hour drive to Casper. It could be 3 hours, but my engineer friend suggested taking the scenic route: Snowy Range Scenic Byway through Medicine Bow National Forest. Any time you have a chance to veer off the Interstate, do it! This route took me to the Saratoga Hot Springs; this gem of a public hot spring is located on the outskirts of an unassuming small town. It's free. It's got a couple of pools and a river with natural hot springs. Maybe this will help my aching legs?

The road just opened last week and the snow was 12 feet deep at points

Medicine Bow Peak

The main hot spring pool and bathhouse, all free

Alright, alright, let's get to the race.

If it weren't for us 50-state-marathon runners, the Casper Marathon might not exist. Fortunately, it does and it's celebrating 15 years. The race hotel, the Ramada Inn, is the finish line. That's convenient. It's a short bus ride to the convention center, the highest point of the course at 5,300ft, where the start is located. Bathrooms and shelter are available inside - another convenience. If the forecast weren't 90 and sunny, it would be a great place to stay warm before the start.

This might not be a familiar sensation to many of you, but at the start line, I felt like I did on day 2 of back-to-back marathons. My head was ready but my legs couldn't find that next gear. There's 120 of us running the marathon so it got lonely quick. Luckily, there has never been a course more well-marked than this one. I hung onto a sub-3-hour pace until about mile 14. Knowing it wasn't going to happen, I tried to hang onto 2nd place, hoping for a payout that would subsidize my plane ticket back to Wyoming. I finished in 3:10:48 in 2nd place... with no payout. Coincidently, the last time I missed my sub-3-hour goal was 1 year ago on this day in South Dakota, with a similar time of 3:10:24. I should just not run on this weekend!

The course is beautiful - much of it is rolling hills on the Platte River Trails that follow the North Platte River. The finish party was quite stocked with food and beer for such a small race. It was hot and sunny and the elevation was a mile high; I was comfortable with those factors. In the end, I made a mistake that cost me the sub-3-hour goal yet I don't regret it. 55 marathons later and I'm still learning. I had a drive to the airport to reflect on this with time for one more brewery along the way: Freedom's Edge Brewing Co. in Cheyenne, WY.

Oh, FHS!

While I won't pay for the race pic, the look on my face says I paid dearly

 I'll be back Wyoming!