St. Brons Marathon

Plover, Wisconsin

	Time/ Pace	Div.	Div. Pl.	Gen. Pl.	Ov. Pl.	Bib #
Owen	4:35:23 10:30	Male 40-49	2/3	10/14	13/22	382

Written by Owen:

My friend, Chris, was signed up for the 2015 Chicago Marathon.  This would be his first marathon.  Because I'm trying to run a marathon in each of the 50 states, and I already ran Chicago, I thought it would be cool if I could find a marathon in a nearby state on the same weekend.  That way we could do a road trip together.

I wanted to find one on Saturday, because the Chicago Marathon was on Sunday.  That way, I could run mine, then cheer for Chris in Chicago.  The only nearby marathon I could find was the same day in a tiny town called Plover, Wisconsin.  It was a small race (only had 22 finishers).

We rented a tiny car to save on gas.  When I picked it up and realized it didn't have cruise control, I was really disappointed.  I didn't know they still made cars without cruise control.  We left Thursday night with the plan to get a hotel when we got tired.

Friday we got up and drove the rest of the way to Chicago.  Chris had already made plans to share a room with his long-time friend, Pete.  So I found a cheap place to stay on airbnb.com.  It was actually a cot in someone's spare bedroom for $25/night.

We did some sight-seeing, including going to the observation deck at the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower).

When you go to the top of this amazing building, they have these glass cages that extend out and you can go out there and take pictures. Because it was marathon weekend, it was very crowded.

Saturday night, I drove up to Plover, Wisconsin, where I had hotel reservations just for the night before the race. I got into town late, picked up my packet Sunday morning, and was ready to run.

It was a beautiful day, I had really let my fitness slip, so I was just trying to casually run this, with no goal in mind. I was more concerned with Chris in Chicago. I had signed up for text alerts whenever he crossed timing mats. After the first one came in (I checked it while running), I immediately texted him "OMG, Chris, slow down!!". He was way ahead of schedule. I later learned he had airplane mode on so his battery wouldn't die while listening to music, so he didn't receive that text until after the race. He finished with some pretty bad knee pain but did great.

My race was very painful. You cannot fake your way through a marathon. It doesn't matter how many you've done, they each require proper training, nutrition, etc. I finished it, but it wasn't very enjoyable.

At the finish line, they had a local WWII vet putting the medal around the finisher's neck. That was by far the highlight of my day. Here is text of a Facebook post I posted after the marathon:

Will Lehner is a WWII Veteran and Pearl Harbor Survivor. What an honor it was to meet him. He put my finisher's medal around my neck as I crossed the finish line. I saw there was no one finishing for a long time, so I asked if he minded talking. He told stories of Pearl Harbor and how he sunk a Japanese sub then went back 60 years later when they found it at the bottom of the Ocean. What a treat it was to spend 10 minutes with him.

After the race I got in my rental car to drive back to Chicago. I stopped at a truck stop and paid for a shower. It was so nice, I will for sure do that again in the future if I ever need a shower after I've checked out of my hotel.

On the way to Chicago, I stopped in Madison, Wisconsin to see if I could find some gifts for my family. Madison is a neat city with a really cool part of town that is great for souvenirs. I bought Malissa and the kids some University of Wisconsin tins. I went to Starbucks for my mom.

I got back to Chris' hotel room late Sunday night. Chris and Pete offered for me to stay in their hotel room in a cot that room service provided. I was really thankful they did that. The room I was staying in was not in a good part of Chicago and I didn't feel very safe going there at night.

Monday (Columbus Day) we drove back to Charlotte, where our families ambushed us with decorations, silly string, a cookie cake, and awesome matching shirts. It was a really fun weekend.