I enjoy running. I have had a bit of a love hate relationship with it at times but I have become a much less angry runner. I have achieved my less than 30 minute 5K, a less than 60 minute 10K and I have run several half marathons both road and trail and now two marathons. I am beyond aiming for a time. I am out there to experience the run, the people, the water stops, and the scenery. As we move around the country I love running more for the places it can take me than for the time at the finish line. That is probably because I am not fast or competitive with anyone other than myself. I am there for the fun times that surround each race. This race was amazing. It is called the Leading Ladies Marathon and it takes place in the stunning Spearfish Canyon area of the Black Hills in South Dakota. Living in Rapid, we are not that far from Spearfish but Jesse and I decided to make a weekend out of it and board the dog so we could stay at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge.
We woke up early and headed off to the Geographic Center of the United States of America in Bell Fourche, South Dakota and Devil’s Tower in Wyoming (more on those in Jesse’s post). After exploring those areas we headed to Spearfish to pick up my packet and check into our hotel. The Holiday Inn is where the packet pick up was and there were lots of goodies at the Expo. I bought myself a fun shirt and some salt pills. I have never tried them before but I tend to sweat out all my salt when I run so I figured why not?
We then drove up to our hotel. It is in Spearfish Canyon and the drive took us along the half marathon route of the run. It was beautiful, there was a waterfall on the left and the pine trees were picture perfect. I knew it was going to be a great run. I was still nervous though since I really would not say that I trained for this marathon. I spent more time hiking the Black Hills than I did running long runs on the streets. I knew that it was mostly downhill and I can muscle through anything if I try hard enough. The goal was to finish and not hurt myself.
The hotel was beautiful. It was nestled in the trees and surrounded by these crazy rock formations. It was all wood and my mom would have loved it. The lobby had high ceilings and a beautiful stone fireplace. Everything was wood and they had a cute little bar area if you were in the mood for a cocktail. We checked in and lugged all of our stuff to the room. When we walked in we were greeted by an adorable bear on the bed. His name was Dakota (of course) and he was available for purchase in the gift shop (again, of course). The room was full of rustic wood furniture and the bed was amazingly comfortable; I wish I could have stayed in it later than 4am. It felt a bit like home for some reason; Jesse even remarked that it smelt like my childhood home. We changed our clothes and headed out for some short walks to the Roughlock Falls and the Spearfish Falls. Each was only a mile or so since I didn’t want to tire myself out too much before the marathon the next morning. The Roughlock Falls was a bit more tourist friendly with paved paths, wooden bridges and various places overlooking of the water. The Spearfish Falls on the other hand had a Trail Closed sign pushed off to the side and was not high heel or wheelchair friendly. You had to walk down a rocky path and over a grate bridge. These falls were much higher than the others and you could even walk into the water if you were so inclined.
After seeing the falls we decided to head to the Latchstring Restaurant for some dinner. It is part of the Spearfish Canyon Resort and had the same hunting lodge feel. The people were so friendly and we had a window table overlooking the canyon. The food was great and we ate a ton of it. I had to fuel up after all! We headed back to the hotel and I set out all my running gear so I was ready for the marathon. I made sure to pack up my other stuff to make it easy for Jesse to check out of the hotel while I was running and running and running.
I was up at 4am and started getting dressed and had a snack. Jesse drove me to the start line in the dark and we milled about while chatting with a few of the other runners. There were some inspirational women there. One lady we were walking with was going to walk the whole thing while the other was there with her Boston Marathon jacket on. We also saw another woman that is trying to WIN a marathon in every state. I believe she did in fact win this one.
The race started in the quiet morning on a gravel road that was gently rolling up and down. It meandered through a meadow with a babbling brook along the roadway. The first aid stop had two men dressed with tuxedo jackets, top hats and white gloves. It was very cute. The road continued along into what I can only describe as a Thomas Kinkade painting come to life. The most perfect log cabins sat among pine trees and meadows full of wild flowers. There was a large stone home that was next to the babbling brook with a backyard of pines and flowers. I loved it all. I snacked on a mini cliff bar for a mile or so and was feeling good. I made it to the halfway point and saw Jesse at the water station. He was having a good time keeping the young guys in line and he ran a bit with me since we had to make a small loop to ensure we hit our 26.2 miles. He gave me a handful of pretzels and filled my water bottle and I was on my way for my second 13 miles. I came to a porta potty and had to ask a nice man to hold my pretzels for me so I could go pee. He was even kind enough to give me a Ziploc bag with some more pretzels. I later realized he was cheering on a fellow runner and was not a volunteer! I felt a little bad but I was sure to thank him again when I saw him.
I was feeling amazing. I had the soundtrack to RENT blaring in my ears and at about mile 19 Jesse pulled past me in the Jeep yelling out the window that I was doing great. I was still feeling awesome at mile 20 and thought Hell Yeah! I can do this! Unfortunately at about mile 22 we were no longer in the cool, shady canyon we were on a larger highway next to a pistol range. It became a bit less fun and the blisters on my toes were really getting to me. I ended up walking a lot of the last few miles but overall this was a great experience. I made it to the finish line where a young man put a medal around my neck and handed me a long stem red rose. Jesse gave me a huge and took some pictures of my smiling face. It was a great second marathon. I am happy I did it even though I was terrified of my lack of training. I don’t think I will be marathoning in the near future since a schedule of 8 on 6 off is not conducive to 20 mile runs, at least not for me, so this was a great way to end the time here in South Dakota.
The running and hiking has been truly memorable and I am so happy to have been able to spend time here in this glorious state. What an awesome marathon with wonderful women!
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