Paavo Nurmi Recap

Here is the long-awaited recap from the Paavo Nurmi Marathon than I ran nearly five months ago. This race was more about the destination and the people than it was about my finishing time.

With a then 21 month-old daughter and a son on the way, Jenelle was kind enough to let me pick one more marathon to do before we would quickly become busy with two kids. I considered a number of races, including the Chicago Marathon, the Air Force Marathon (Dayton, OH), and some smaller races in northern Illinois. What drove me way up north in Wisconsin for an early August marathon?

1. I have never completed a marathon in August before. In the past seven years, I've managed to hit all the other months at least once.
2. I have family somewhat close to Hurley, so they could join Jenelle and Eliana to cheer me on.
3. Our son's due date was in November, so this gave me plenty of time after the race to focus on preparing the house for his arrival.

It took us about six hours to get to my aunt and uncle's cabin on Long Lake, which is in Mercer, WI.  They made a lovely dinner for us, and Eliana had lots of fun playing with them. Their cabin has plenty of space for visitors, so I got a great night's sleep before the race.

I woke up a bit early and drove myself to the finish line. It was interesting to travel on roads where I was more concerned about deer than other cars. I eventually reached the main highway (51) and headed north to Hurley, where I parked the car. The weather was just about perfect for running. I boarded a bus that took us to the start line in Upson, about thirteen miles to the southwest.

On the bus, I realized that I had not left my wallet in my car as planned, so I had to stow it away in my gear check bag. This is where someone gave me some extra help. One of the race official offered to lock my gear check bag in her vehicle to ensure it would not be stolen. What a wonderful gesture -- I sent her an extra e-mail of thanks after the race.

The race started right on time, and I had both my Garmin GPS and my iPhone tracking on, just like I did in Minneapolis in June. I didn't expect much in the way of reception in this part of the state; I figured the Garmin  would work okay, but real-time race tracking would be spotty if it worked at all. As it turns out, RunMeter tracked me perfectly until my phone's battery died. I even got one early comment on Facebook read back to me, though later comments never got through. Yay for technology.

The course headed north for four miles and then east for three miles before reconnecting with the highway (77) that the bus used. We passed through several small towns, including Iron Belt at mile 7.5 and Pence at mile 10. I kept things nice and easy in the early going, enjoying the scenery and averaging about 8:50/mile for the first ten miles. My plan was to pick it up in the second half, and I predicted I could finish in about 3:50.

We went through Montreal (that's Wisconsin, not Canada) at mile 12 and headed south to Gile at the halfway point, which I reached in 1:55:47. The course was not flat, and I remember a few substantial hills, but it didn't seem like anything that would dramatically affect my performance.

We traveled back to north and then northeast on highway 77 for a couple more miles. At this point, I realized that I might not have quite as much gas in the tank as I was hoping, but I still felt pretty good. At the 15.5-mile mark, we were less than a mile away from Hurley, but I had much further to run. We headed south on county highway C, which we stayed on for about six miles.

Somewhere around mile 16, I spotted Jenelle, Eliana, and my aunt, who were full of cheers and encouragement as I ran by. I recorded a movie of them while Jenelle recorded a movie of me. Yay again for technology. It was wonderful to see all of them, especially Eliana. They cheered me on at several points on highway C, which was great after being on my own for the first part of the race.

Shortly after seeing my family, I discovered that I recorded an 11-minute movie of the inside of my pocket. Whoops. Not a big deal, except that it significantly drained my battery. It probably would have lasted the whole race were it not for that mistake. Still, it made it all the way to mile 23, which is pretty good for my iPhone 3GS.

At mile 20, highway C turned left, directing us east. At this point, I realized that I was not going to be able to pick things up in the last leg of the race. I wasn't super-tired, but I certainly did not have the speed that I had in early June in Minneapolis.

At mile 21.5, we reached highway 51 and turned north. There was a wind in my face. Combine this with some hills, late-race fatigue, and the tension from cars passing by at 55 mph, and you have an interesting finish. We had a decent amount of space on the side of the road to run, but I still get a little bit nervous in these kinds of situations. I did my best to relax and ensure that I finished somewhere under four hours.

Before I knew it, I was in Hurley, turning left on to 'historic' Silver Street, passing by my family and hearing my name announced as I crossed the finish line with a time of 3:58:10. Woohoo! Later that day, I enjoyed some tasty pizza at Liberty Bell Chalet.

We got to spend a lot more quality time with my aunt and uncle before we headed back home the next day. It was a pleasant and enjoyable mini-vacation in the beautiful northwoods of Wisconsin. I'm not sure if I'll ever run this one again, but it was certainly a unique experience.