Without further ado, I hope you enjoy your run through and around Mackinac Island (on 11.11.11 :) ) !
***NOTE: Since this is a "Destination Race" (i.e. getting to my race destination took multiple days and an over-night stay) I've decided to divide this report into two blog posts: a Race Post and a Trip Post. By doing this I'll be able to write what I'd like to write and not have to worry about a post getting to long. So, first, my Race Report!***
I was out the door bright and early on Saturday, October 22 to make the two hour trek up to Mackinaw City to catch the ferry to Mackinac Island for the Great Turtle Trail Run Half Marathon. To make the trip less strenuous my boyfriend and I decided to stay at his parents' house the night before, their location being about half way between our house and the Straits Area. So, I was out the door before 7am and as well rested as can be expected.
A little after 9am I pulled off of I-75 and made my way to Central Avenue. I decided to pass up my first ferry choice, Shepler's Ferry, and head down to a less packed Arnold Transit Co.. The lady helping me at the booth got me a ticket, directions to the main ferry dock and a call over to said main dock to let them know I was coming--all in time to make the 9:30am ferry. (A BIG thank you to this wonderful person!...if I didn't make the 9:30 I would have had to wait an hour which would have meant much less time to prepare for the 11:30 start). I got to the dock, checked luggage, scanned my ticket and took my seat on the lower deck of the boat. (Sorry, I didn't have time to take pics on the way in, and I wasn't seated a good spot to get some good photos during the ferry ride to the Island.)
We pulled into the Mackinac Island ferry dock at around 10am and my luggage and I were soon rolling along Main Street. A second reason I decided to go with Arnold's was because their ferry dock is on the east end of downtown...a great advantage when you need to head east and your mode of transportation will be your own two feet. Hence, I was a little closer to Mission Point and had plenty of time to make the 10 minute walk.
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| Mission Point Resort was the headquarters for the Great Turtle Races. It's also the headquarters for the Mackinac Island 8 Mile Races that takes place in September. You can see that in this photo employees had already started to ready the gardens for winter (i.e. taking out the foliage :) ) |
I reached Mission Point Resort and went strait to pick up my number and race swag. I must say, while I'm not one of those people that runs a race because of the neat goodies you might receive, I do enjoy getting a race t-shirt...to me it kind of represents another accomplishment. When I wear that shirt it's saying "I did that" and I think that's kind of cool. I was very impressed with this particular apparel!
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| Race Swag! |
I've never received a jacket before and what a great alternative to the many t-shirts that we "race junkies" receive (not that I'm complaining :) )
I checked my bags, survived the unavoidable "women's restroom marathon", and had some time to walk around before the start of the race.
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| Here's the starting line (the blue and red timing strip is laying across the road.) The finish line was on the grass to the left of the "FINISH" sign, unfortunately not very visible here (but you can kind of see the cones.) I thought we'd be finishing here until we veered off of the road at the end of the race :). The half marathoners began running in the opposite direction that this photo is facing. |
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| Here I am in front of a great view of Lake Huron from a deck at Mission Point Resort. I wish it were sunnier because this photo would be even better. Thanks so much to the person who stopped to take this for me! |
Energy was high before hand and it was easy to see that everyone was excited to be there. There were pictures being taken, many people talking of previous years' races, well wishes being given out to others and jokes about "hoping to finish" (but at the same time always expecting to). We were corralled behind the starting line and I looked around and checked out the variety of race shirts that others were wearing. I saw many local Michigan racers, and even a Kiawah Island Golf Resort Marathon participant. Soon the race director finished his speech and the countdown began, trickling through the crowd til we all joined in. 3..2..1..and we were off at exactly 11:30am, 5.7-milers heading west and half marathoners heading east.
I will preface my race description with a disclaimer: no matter the difficulty level of this race or the pain you experience, you will want to come back to run here. Welcome to miles 1 through 2.5:
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Just before Mile 2: As we approached this mile marker a bicyclist came roaring past, yelling at us to get to the right. The reason? the front of the 5.7-Mile Race pack was heading past us in the opposite direction. It was great to see these front runners (no pun intended) push themselves to the limit and know that they will be rewarded for it!
Miles 2.5 to 5: Two words: up hill. I knew that it would be hilly, but this was 2-1/2 miles of just plain UP and my body wasn't quite prepared for it. I did survive though, no worse off (my calves definitely were feeling it at the end!). I really enjoyed the little bit of trail running we did through here. My only wish was that the trail wasn't quite so narrow; this made it difficult to pass others.
Mile 5: Got to check out the airport and all of the construction their doing on it right now. There's a giant "X" that lights up to let other pilots know not to land here. Interesting to see the extensive and unusual construction project.
Mile 6ish: A trek through the Village on Lake View Blvd. and Grand Ave. with fleeting glimpses through the West Bluff "cottages" of the SPECTACULAR view (to bad we didn't get to run on West Bluff Rd, check out the photos below)...I love this little neighborhood with such beautiful houses, and the spectators here were GREAT! So enthusiastic and some even put out a stereo system and played some music that was great to run to. I loved it! If any West Bluff spectators ever read this, thanks so much for keeping us motivated!
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| 2009 photo: A view from the West Bluff looking east with the Grand hotel to the left. |
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2009 photo: Another view looking east: Round Island is more prominent in this photo, as is Round Island Lighthouse. Round Island Passage Light is barely visible to the left. Bois Blanc Island is behind Round Island. 2009 photo: A friendly face greeting you at the front porch of one of the West Bluff Cottages. 6-2/3ish to 7-1/3ish: We ran past the Grand Hotel's backyard, crossed Cadotte Ave and were in the midst of Fort Mackinac and it's historic splendor...no time to stop and read the Michigan Historical Marker, though (I stopped later :) ). We had a group of spectators here, too...thank you to them! |
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| The race route ran right through the Fort Mackinac grounds (the road is barely visible on the right). |
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| 2010 photo: Boy Scouts near their barracks. Every week anew group of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts come to stay on the grounds of Fort Mackinac. Click here for some information from the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau, and here for some information provided by Mackinac-Island-Insider-Tips.com. The Scouts' role on the island is pretty neat. |
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| 2009 photo: Looking west from the East Bluff is the Mackinac Bridge. On the right is Huron Road, the street that runs along the East Bluff and grants us spectacular views. |
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| 2009 photo: Another view from the East Bluff, this time looking southwest. Round Island Passage Light and Round Island Lighthouse are to the right, while Round Island is to the left. |
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| 2009 photo: Looking west on a beautiful clear day from the East Bluff. |
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| 2009 photo: Looking through Arch Rock into the waters of Lake Huron. |
Mile 11 to 12: Beautiful lakeside views, again! No matter how many times I run/walk/bike this stretch I can't seem to get enough of the view!
Mile 12 to 12.5: As we approached the final turn to the finish I spotted an oil tanker making its way through the Straits of Mackinac. These ships are quite a sight; they look so small from far away, but become more massive the closer you get. Truly amazing to look at! I was hoping that I'd make to the finish in time to go grab my camera, but it was moving to quickly for me to be able to do that.
Mile 12.5 to 13.1: The final stretch! The end of the race is always exciting...there are always so many people cheering you on, from spectators to runners who already completed their race.
13.1: FINISHED! I went and stocked up on bananas, granola bars, a cookie or two :), and rehydrated.
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| The red tape and orange cones outline the finishers' chute. (Taken before the race.) |
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| My Finisher's Medal |
Right after I finished there was a nice man who congratulated me...he had given me encouragement on the final stretch (I think I passed him a ways back). "You caught up!" he said, to which I smiled and agreed. It was so nice of him to say a few words to me as we ran. Sometimes you don't know you need a boost until you get one. I also need to send out a big thank you to the woman from Ida, Michigan who so graciously\ gave me her sunglasses that she wasn't going to use (not an expensive pair, if they were I would have refused them!) to replace my broken ones. I was prepared to load up on motrin after the race, but she came and saved the day! To the woman from Ida if you ever read this blog, thank you!!! and I'm so sorry that I didn't get your name while we were participating in the "bathroom marathon" :)
Even though my final time was WAY off of a PR, this race was exactly what I'd hoped. I felt great that I had finished--because of my knee it'd been to long since I'd completed a long distance race. The weather was fantastic! The Mackinac Island Road Races Facebook page posted the day before the race that it was going to be sunny and 52 degrees...but I suspect it was at least in the mid-50's upon race completion. The course was great, from route to scenery (had I researched the elevation chart a little more I might not have picked this course as my "recovery race", but I'm so glad that I ended up running it). And of course the company was fantastic. I think the best thing about running races is the fantastic community of people that are always a part of it. Everyone is there to enjoy themselves... it's awesome that I can share these types of experiences with others.
So here's my LONG race report...thanks so much for sticking with me! A trip report is coming soon!
Until next time!
