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

50/50 - Anchorage Mayor's Marathon

My last frontier and the family photo finish I hoped for!

This goal of running a marathon in all 50 states has been 10 years in the making, all of my 30s, in which so many life events have occurred: a marriage to the most supportive and wonderful woman with whom the above 3 spirited kids were introduced, a career change from corporate-suited-lemming to stay-at-home dad, and moving to Libertyville, IL and building a running community by starting the Libertyville Running Club who participated in and encouraged me for 2/3s of these states.

Now what?

Retire? Take up cycling? Redo the 5 states that are not under 3 hours? You guessed it, I'll redo marathons in WY, ME, NM, SD, VT - and DC while I'm at it - to tidy this thing up and become the 8th known person to complete that feat... or 9th... or who cares?! This isn't a race against others; I just want to achieve what I set out to do as A Bear On The Run... what? I like bears and I like running. Alaska was the perfect place for my 50th state marathon!

1st place Masters bear! 

So yeah, I ran Alaska in under 3 hours: 2:56:01, 4th place overall, for my 45th state marathon in under 3 hours. Though I had planned this EVENT for this race for 3 and 1/2 years, I did almost none of the planning. We were bringing the whole family, including my parents, along with almost 50 people from LRC to run a course that had its challenges for an 18-day vacation. I was too nervous about the race so my wife took charge.

This trip began on Father's Day, 6 days before the race. Traveling with my kids on Father's Day was not the gift you think it could have been but by playing a zone defense on the 6 and 1/2 hour flight, we managed to arrive in Anchorage intact to enjoy dinner and beers at Humpy's Ale House.

We drove to Denali National Park the following morning for a rare glimpse of Denali Peak, a family hike, and the kids' 1st Junior Ranger program - an activity offered by our National Park Service at each park to promote exploration, learning, and protection of our parks to the next generation of conservationists.

An easy 2-mile family hike at Denali Visitor Center

"As a Junior Ranger, I promise..."

Tuesday, Melissa and I took a light aircraft expedition in search for bears along the Cook Inlet, landing on the beach in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, and boy did we find them! How's this for A Bear On The Run - Melissa walking with bears video link HERE? Before relieving my parents of the kids, we snuck in another brewery, Glacier Brewhouse, for some Alaskan King Crab because... we're in Alaska! Oddly, it's no less expensive here.

The plane! The plane!

Should we be turning our back on a field full of bears?

The next morning's drive to Girdwood was magnificent. The views along the coastal highway present one awe-inspiring scene after another for the 45-minute drive to the Alyeska Ski Resort where we rode the tramway to the mountain top for lunch. Once off the mountain, we left my parents and kids at a park and found Girdwood Brewing, one of the better breweries in Alaska so far.

The kids are like mountain goats, climb they did!

30 minutes of kid-free "play"

In LRC, we do a Wednesday night fun run from a different bar or brewery each week and with some of us already in Alaska, we did one from 49th State Brewery to preview the last few miles of the courses, including the nasty uphill finish that both the marathoners and half marathoners would experience.

Making room for that yak burger - not worth $25

Thursday was dedicated to the Hops On the Rail Tour with our compadres, the Bartuschs. This 11-hour tour began with breakfast (and conductor hats!) in a glass-domed railcar that left from Anchorage and traversed the vast wilderness of Alaska to deliver us to the town of Talkeetna - a registered National Historic Place whose mayor was a cat named Stubbs from 1997 until his death in 2017. From here, Bryan of Big Swig Tours picked the 4 of us up for a private tour of 4 breweries (Denali Brewing Co., Arkose Brewery, Bleeding Heart Brewery (favorite), Odd Man Rush Brewing) along the drive back into Anchorage.

Our one other tour buddy, Kurt, assimilated quick enough

We made it back in time for my oldest son, Mars's 1-mile kids race, his 2nd state; like father, like son! After running along side him for about a block, he stopped and said to me, "Dad, my legs are tired," so we began to walk for a moment... "Ok, I want to win!" he stated emphatically, and we began running again! He finished in 10:31, his PR.

Mars's second state 1-mile race!

I was planning to get all my brewery visits in and relax Friday before the Saturday race. After our group shakeout run on Friday (ok, and a flight of beers at Moose's Tooth), I did just that; Melissa took the kids to see Toy Story 4 while I napped and hit the sauna in our Airbnb.

Shakeout run - we're almost all here!

There was a time I thought this race, previously referred to as the Midnight Sun Marathon, was actually run at midnight... alas, I was wrong. LRC was in force for the marathon start at 7:30am.

Pledging to not screw this one up!

It was a bit warm for Anchorage, 70 - 80 degrees this week; they would experience record high temps in the 90s the following week. Couple that with the course elevation chart fresh in my mind and I decided to run with music, something I've only done once before (at Richmond Marathon) in 70 marathons. With 650 marathoners and a different start time and route for the half marathoners, I had a feeling I'd be alone - and I was from mile 3 to the finish - and could use the motivation from my 2009 iTunes catalog: Coheed & Cambria, The Hold Steady, Baroness, Off With Their Heads, Led Zeppelin... the same playlist I've been running to for years. You kids and your new music!

The reviews don't do this course justice, it's beautiful and full of variety. Beginning at a high school, the first few miles transition from road to bike path then to a gravel road that carves its way through the foothills along Chugach State Park, diverging onto approximately 2 miles of single track trail that led us to the highest point on the course. Those 15 miles were rolling and climbing before returning onto the asphalt for a fast downhill mile 16. The rest of the course is downhill to flat except for that sadistic climb in the last 3/4 mile that I had previously scoped out.

Those old Nike 4% shoes got me 7 sub-3-marathons out of 7 races and a PR!

I had an average 6:30-min/mile pace at mile 19. I saw my wife and Amy, gave them my finish estimate of 2:55 - 2:58, then dialed it back. I was feeling good and pretty confident early on that this race would be under 3 hours. The music helped, as did the crisp, clean air. The thrill of knowing all that it took for all of us to get here together inspired me to be successful, knowing I wouldn't have a chance to recreate this moment with these friends and family.

With 50 states now complete, I've compiled a short list of stats via a post to Strava, linked HERE.

Family finish photo

Shortly after finishing, the weather that was sunny and warm took a turn to shady and cool (go figure!) as we lined the finisher chute to cheer in all of our friends: PRs, 1st timers, and finishers of hard-fought half marathon and marathon races that flew thousands of miles to be in Alaska together. In LRC fashion, we celebrated with a brewery crawl all afternoon, hopping (get it?) from King Street Brewing Co., to Anchorage Brewing Co. (probably my favorite), to Turnagain Brewing (wait, this might be my favorite). It was a late night; the sun hardly sets this time of year. 11:30pm still looked early.

We started on the rooftop at King Street Brewing Co.

Post-race LRC gathering stop #2 at Anchorage Brewing

Stop # 3 - Turnagain, where details get a bit blurry

The next morning, we boarded the train to Seward, AK - trail marker mile 0 of the Iditarod National Historic Trail and home of Mount Marathon, a crazy 5km footrace up a 3,000ft mountain and back down (an average 36% grade!) that takes place on the 4th of July - yeah, I wanted to do this pretty bad but it's difficult to get an entry and it didn't align with our cruise plans. Someday!

Where the Iditarod Trail begins

Mt. Marathon towering over a cute church-turned-coffee shop

Anyway, the train parallels the coastal scenic highway to Girdwood described above, then continues for 3.5 more hours into the Chugach National Forest for views of glaciers and mountains while periodically being alerted of animal sightings and given historical context along the way by the train narrator.

You'll love trains after this trip!

Seward is a beautiful port city where we would embark on our cruise ship Monday, the following evening, for a 7-day cruise exploring Alaska's Glacier Bay and Inside Passage, finishing in Vancouver. With a day and a half to explore this small town, we took advantage by booking a shuttle tour that picked us up from the train depot.

First stop: Iditarod dog sled tour! What's more Alaskan than learning about the dogs that compete in this grueling 1,000-mile race from Anchorage to Nome in March from the family that is accustomed to winning?

Next stop: Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park - where the kids earned their 2nd Junior Ranger badge. This short hike brought us to an overlook where we took in the views of a glacier literally melting before us; that heatwave was here!

Exit Glacier hike with the little mountain goats

The peak of salmon run season is July but by late June, we were able to stop and see salmon beginning their trek up stream from the ocean to spawn and die; ah, the life cycle of salmon, what a life! Afterward, my kids discovered king crab and loved it. Great, they have expensive taste. Mostly, I think they just liked the shells they took and carried with them for 3 weeks which I finally threw out - so long, "Crabby!"

Kid took half my dinner!

Catch and release, ha! Notice the crab leg shells.

And finally, a 4-hour boat tour of Kenai Fjords National Park before boarding a cruise ship... out of Kenai Fjords National Park.

Spotting beluga whales

You come to Alaska to see wildlife and that you will see: bears, moose, eagles, salmon runs, sea lions, sea otters (the cutest!), puffins, whales; we found them all via train, plane, boat, and automobile! My takeaway from the overwhelming amount of animal encounters is that eagles are basically the pigeons of The North... THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!

And then there was the cruise. Look, you just had to be there! This was my favorite part of the trip and the most relaxing way to finish. If ever you go to Alaska, you MUST do the cruise. I'll just leave these pics to tell a bit of the story:

Kayaking at port stop #1: Glacier Bay

Some of the LRC group before a run around Hoonah, AK.

Erika and I jumping into Glacier Bay, post run video HERE.

Hubbard Glacier

Port stop #2 - panning for gold in Juneau

A run up Mt. Roberts Trail, Juneau

We have unlimited drinks but... Devil's Club Brewery, Juneau

Dancing, a LOT of dancing

More dancing

And my parents dancing when they didn't know we were watching video HERE.

Brothel tour with matching Alaska wolf shirts in Ketchikan

Beer mile on the cruise ship deck

We even convinced a couple to join in on the beer mile!

Vermont Again! Marathon #69

Vermont, you elusive land of nectar, you! 

"I'm ready enough," I thought. Then came the storm delay, the humidity, the sun, the heat, the hills, the self-doubt... the excuses. This was my second swing-and-a-miss in The Green Mountain State; you're lucky you're pretty Vermont because this 3:04:41 won't be the last you see of me!

After The New Jersey Marathon, I was physically and emotionally wrecked. Sprinting down the homestretch to 40 years old, stressed from operating an all-consuming run club, and all of the sudden my hips hurt, then a strained calf muscle kept me from redoing South Dakota on 5/11. So, in the 4 weeks between NJ and this race, I rested. The mileage wasn't there but the pains were subsiding.

But enough about running, let's talk about why we're really here...

I flew into Burlington Friday morning and drove the 1.5 hours to Hill Farmstead Brewery intent to fill their noon to 5pm hours with beer, a book, good conversations, and the views from the remote farm on which this brewery is located. I met some great people from Los Angeles and this book on Chernobyl is fascinating, all-in-all, a rejuvenating visit.

Hill Farmstead's location is its true charm

Dinner and drinks at The Reservoir, next to the bed & breakfast we had in Waterbury, turned into hours of conversation with the locals. At the end of day 1, I had more adult interactions than I get as a stay-at-home dad in a week!

The following morning, I woke up to pillow talk with Laurie - yes, the same Laurie from NJ... she was saying something about all the pillows each of our beds had. What did you think I meant?! She arrived late, after I had passed out.

I forgot my toothbrush, I improvised

No trip to Vermont is complete without a stop at Ben & Jerry's and the highlight is the graveyard of retired flavors.

R.I.P. luscious flavors of the past! 

The Alchemist Brewery has a cult following in the beer world with Heady Topper double IPA. They recently built a facility with a beautiful outdoor space to meet the demand of New England but after we had a few beers contemplating a round of disc golf from their patio, I felt it just isn't the same as having to follow their delivery truck schedule to head off a delivery at Warren Store like Melissa and I did in 2014 on this NH & ME double marathon trip - that's how crazy it was back when they were small and didn't have a taproom.

Calling it what it is

At the Trapp Family Lodge doing our Sound of Music pose

You know what's happening down the road this afternoon? Bernie Sanders's 1st Vermont rally of this election cycle! We thought about it...

The only thing missing from this trip was Michael, who was with us in NJ, so...

Now, back to running.

Our Hotel Vermont room is rustic chic and perfectly located close to the start line where we watched as a storm rolled in off Lake Champlain, delaying the start by 45 minutes. We were in for a warm, humid morning.

This race is a big deal for Burlington and the townsfolk do a great job of volunteering and supporting the runners. There were several homes with their own aid stations handing out Freeze Pops (I had a few), Vermont maple syrup (it's quite good as a gel substitute), and high fives from children. After conquering the rolling hills, peaking on a not-insignificant climb up Battery Hill to mile 16, the remainder of this course is fairly flat. However, I was drained and when my average pace per mile crept over 6:53 at mile 20, it was time to change the narrative.

Mile 24 - being happy with "failure"

This is my 1st race as a Master and new Boston-qualifying standard which I thought was 3:05 (turns out it's 3:10) - new goal for the day! I finished with enough time to shower, drink a beer, grab one of the hotel bikes to see Laurie at mile 25.5. She succeeded in breaking a habit of dropping to the half in her last couple of marathons and finished in 3:51. I was happy for her; we both made it a great race!

It was a fun weekend. Plenty of great conversation followed at one of my favorite VT breweries, Lawson's Finest Liquids. It was perfect weather to be outside: I took Laurie to Warren Store to grab dinner and wade in the nearby stream before heading back to Burlington's Foam Brewery and Burlington Bay Market for their Maple Creemee and a Lake Champlain sunset.

Getting artsy

Lake Champlain

See you soon, Vermont!