Racing Americana

NV

Saturday March 13 2021

Nevada is a state I’d had planned two or three times before, but as I have come to expect from Democrat controlled areas of the US, cancelling tends to win out. I was thrilled to find a race not cancelled this leading weekend of Spring Break 2021. So I took a week off between jobs, and planned a nice trip out west with Becca.

We flew on Friday afternoon, and landed in Las Vegas, only to find the world’s longest line for the car rental shuttle. We moved to the world’s second longest line, and had a taxi take us to the rentals hub. We picked up our Mitsubishi Eclipse, and headed north to Boulder City, NV. This is the location of Hoover Dam, and where tomorrow’s half marathon was taking place.

We grabbed dinner en route to the hotel, at a little Mexican restaurant, Toto’s, and checked in to the Hoover Damn Lodge around 2100.

The race was The Las Vegas Six Tunnels to Hoover Dam Half Marathon, run on The Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail. Packet pick up was the next morning, in the hotel parking lot. After picking up my bag and chip timing bracelet, I finished getting ready in the room and headed down to the start line with Becca. Some of the 5K runners were already finished and on their way back up past us on the rocky path, as we traipsed down through the desert to the start line.

The race was staggered starts every 10 seconds and to be run whilst wearing a mask! Accordingly, I had researched among the student athletes I coach, who currently have to play in masks, and found that the surgical masks apparently cause the fewest breathing problems. So I packed some of those, and a plastic mouth/nose breathing support frame. I had done a two mile training run on Friday in a mask/plastic frame, and it was awful. Luckily by mile two to three or so, I noticed other people not wearing their face coverings, so followed suit and removed mine. A competitive race was not the time to make a political statement that impedes breathing.

I had chatted with a guy called Seth on the way to the start line, and we ran together for the first 8 or 9 miles, which was nice. We overtook a lot of people and set a good tempo. The first half of the course was all asphalt, and I kept wishing I’d worn my Vaporflys, but as the second half was trail, I think my choice of Nike Fly 3s ended up being a fair decision. The first few miles had a lot of uphill but after the first turn around, one one windy uphill section, we could let the brakes off, which was great. The race went back through the start staging area, then up into the gravel trail hills leading through the tunnels to the Dam. It was really cool running through these historic structures, carved into the mountainous desert landscape, and it was after going in the first couple, that I stretched away from Seth. But I felt good and caught some more half runners ahead, and a bunch of 10Kers, too. The turnaround at Hoover Dam was a soft gravel loop that went really quite steeply uphill before rejoining the trail through the tunnels, and it was tough going. I finished strong, and having taken in a Maurten gel at 4.5 & 9 miles, felt my lungs were good, just my legs were heavy. Probably due to my recently reduced (and pretty aimless) weekly mileage. My time was 1.31.16, which put me 4th overall, 1st in my age group. With the elevation, the masks, the climbing and the terrain, this wasn’t bad.

After the race, we checked out the National Parks visitors centre, headed back to the hotel to shower and pack up, then got on the road. We checked out the Hoover Dam, then hot-footed it to California – specifically, Death Valley National Park. There we did a little ‘hike’ to a scenic peak, and visited Bad Water Basin – the lowest and hottest point in the US, 282’ below sea level.

From one extreme to the other, our next destination was snowy Sequoia National Park at 8500’! We got back on the road and eventually drove as far as Tulare, CA, grabbing a quick In N Out Burger in Bakersfield on the way. We even made time before that to stop off at some natural hot springs in Remington. The Rangers actually threw us out of there after a while because it was dark, and the springs are only legally accessible sunrise-sunset, but it was quite an adventure. We hiked down the wrong way, bumping into another couple on the way, which was a crazy adventure in itself, but we found the proper route on the way back up after speaking to the rangers!

We stayed in a La Quinta in Tulare that night, and I explored the town with a six mile run the next morning, which seemed a lovely little place. We grabbed our bagged hotel breakfast (still no indoor dining in California), and drove the rest of the way to Sequoia. We drove through the beautiful foothills, orange trees all around, and made our way up the winding mountain road, picking up the required snow chains on the way, as the temperature dropped and snow increased along General’s Highway.

We hiked through the snow from the visitors centre out to Tunnel Log and some other magnificent sites, then followed footprints in the snow along the Soldier’s Trail, until we got back to the car. We then drove along to The General Sherman Tree, and explored Giant Forest Grove until sunset, meeting a really nice local guide named Paul (sequoiatours.com). He was out cross country skiing, and bumped into us at the Cattle Cabin. His wife is from Birmingham! We made a shortcut down through the deep hillside snow on the way back to the car, and drove up to Wuksachi Lodge to check in, grab pizza for dinner, and get some rest.

Maps –

Day One in Sequoia –

The next morning I ran 5.5 miles in the thick snow, before grabbing breakfast and heading back to Giant Forest Grove for another day of exploring in the snow.

Day Two In Sequoia –

It was very hard to follow the trails at times, because we were pretty much the only people out in the forest, few trails had any footprints, and the snow was so deep that most signs were covered up, too. The snow was falling so heavily that I noted on my morning run, that my fresh footprints on the closed road, were gone about ten minutes later (after the turn around if my out and back). Becca and I eventually found our way back to the car but had to push our way through some waist deep snow at times until we found the ridge trail we needed. Amazingly, the thick snow was so powdery and dry that we still weren’t wet.

We got back to the car eventually, and headed back to the lodge for dinner, showers and an early night.

Tuesday morning, we rose early and we’re on the road at 0700. We nearly crashed into the mountain pass walk on our way down through the ice and snow, but we made it out fine. The snow and ice clogged up the little Mitsubishi in any way it could, but it handled well, and we were safely on our way through warmer Californian climes. We stopped for lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Barstow and zoomed along through the baked dystopian valleys of California until we arrived at Joshua Tree National Park. We even found time to stop and try to help a jack-knifed truck and trailer, alas, unfortunately to no avail.

We hiked a couple of different trails in Joshua Tree, Hidden Valley and Barker Dam, visited a couple of other beautiful sites like the Cholla Cactus Garden, and got back on the road towards Desert Springs. We stayed in a lovely Natural Aquafier Spa Resort that night and explored its different baths, rooms and spas, before grabbing a Chinese takeaway for dinner. The next morning I ran six miles out into the desert, spad some more, then got on the road to zoom to LAX so we could fly home.

Joshua Tree –

Desert Springs hills at night –

Run in Desert Springs –

View from the plane leaving LAX –

40 states down and some amazing areas of California explored. What a fantastic trip.

ND

Saturday February 13 2021

America gets very cold in the winter, so I don’t think my racing exploration of this great country would be complete without tackling races in its most extreme of weathers. This trip to the Frozen Feat 10K in Grand Forks, North Dakota, provided just such an opportunity.

After winning in Perry, I was recommended this race in Grand Forks ND, as an even stiffer test of man vs mercury. I’d been given the Race Director’s details and reached out to make the arrangements.

Getting to the start line proved a real test in itself. I was due to fly to Grand Forks via Minneapolis with Delta, departing at 1250, Friday. That morning I got a notification that the CLT-MSP leg was delayed. Enough to mean I’d likely miss my connection to Grand Forks. I tried calling Delta but the hold time was an hour and a half.

So I headed to the CLT airport forthwith, (three hours early for my flight) and got a human to change my connection to a later one, flying into Fargo instead. I cancelled my rental and rebooked a one way Hertz rental from FAR-GFK. A drive through ND would be nice… The Hertz counter in CLT, by the way, said they had no way to make this change. I had to call India and wait it out… Great stuff.

This is a map for reference, of quite where these places are by the way –

The CLT-MSP flight was delayed, then delayed some more, and when we eventually boarded, I’d already had to bump myself to the later MSP-FAR flight, and let my Air BnB host know I’d be getting late. I also had to speak to the Race Director to get a COVID exemption for race morning Bib collection, because I would now miss Packet Pick up on Friday evening.

The flight eventually taxied to the front of the long runway take-off line, then had another mechanical issue and returned to the gate. Excellent. I ran off and just managed to get one of the last seats on a different Delta flight – leaving in 50 mins – the last one of the day leaving CLT for MSP. I was now getting into Minneapolis around 8 or 9pm, so it no longer saved any time to fly into Fargo then drive north. So I changed my connection to the last MSP flight direct into Grand Forks.

This meant I had to cancel my Hertz rental, again. (Hertz is apparently not able to change the rental location on a booking). However, as I was now landing in GFK at 11pm, this was impossible because the Hertz booking system for that location finished at 10pm. My Air BnB host said they were OK waiting up for me, and even offered to collect me from the airport, but I’d still need to get around in Grand Forks for the race, so a rental was pretty important… Accordingly, I called the GFK Hertz location direct, and they said they could stay open until 11pm for me, but no longer had any available vehicles, since I’d cancelled mine before. Having tried the two other rental agencies at the airport, I called Hertz back, and they agreed to put aside a vehicle due back in to them later that evening, for me! It would be uncleaned, but obviously by this point I couldn’t have given less of a shit.

This CLT-MSP flight was delayed by an hour, so that was fun, but it eventually took off. With the time zone difference, I landed in MSP with about 10 minutes to spare before my Grand Forks flight, but I hadn’t eaten all day, and now all of MSP eateries were shut. I eventually found a vending machine that worked and grabbed some snacks to eat before boarding. I was relieved to see us actually take off. Next stop Rental to the Air BnB via a 24hour Scottish restaurant I’d found in Grand Forks – the only place in town still open at that hour.

For reference, when I landed, it was 2220 and -17F. I thought I had understood previously, the expression ‘biting cold’. I was wrong. It really was unbelievable how crisp it felt walking outside to pick up the Ram 1500 truck that Hertz had kept aside for me. At that temperature, snow surrounds you, the night is silent, the ground is frozen solid, and you can see ice crystals in the air. I blasted the heating but had to put on gloves to even touch the steering wheel. A true polar vortex had enveloped the Northern Midwest, and I was right in the middle of it.

In driving through Grand Forks, the night was still, the sky was clear, and so were a few other things – this was a college town, this was a military base town, this was farm country, and if you go outside unprepared for the cold – you’re dead.

After my drive-through, I drove another 10 minutes and arrived at the Air BnB. My hosts were very nice, and race day morning rolled around in the blink of an eye. I took my time getting ready, drank my Maurten, and even got a granola breakfast from my hosts, Paul and Debbie. The temperature had dropped to -26F (-32C), and it was even cold enough for us to demonstrate the Boiling Water disappearing trip that people do on YouTube – https://youtu.be/pTf7X_COAvM

As a reference, this is the temperature in Antarctica & Mount Everest –

I had added a Goretex jacket, a Nike Therma Sphere hooded face covering, and activated hand warmers to my running clothing from last weekend in Iowa, and even put on my North Face snow trousers and Olympic snow boots to make the journey to race check-in.

I drove the 10 minutes to Lincoln Drive Park, found a space to park up, and walked over to the shelter to collect my packet. I said a quick hello with Race Director Robyn, with whom I’d been in contact, and nipped back to the truck, to continue getting ready in the warm.

It was the coldest Frozen feat race ever –

We lined up in the coral at 0850, ready to start wave 1 of the 10K at 0900. I hadn’t done any warm up, and just standing there, music blaring, was incredibly painful on the extremities – fingers, ears and toes (inside my Next %s). I kept moving on the spot and flinched in choosing NOT remove my Nike down jacket to run.

The race began and a lead group of eight or so separated. This evolved into a front three of local club runners, then me and another guy. I was soon hot in my jacket, so managed to get that off around mile 2, to discard it on a bench, making a mental note of where that was.

Around half a mile later, I dropped the guy in the hoodie, and at the turn-around, caught the bearded guy in leggings and cool gloves. I felt pretty good, and over the next mile, reeled in the two guys who had led from the start. At this point I realised we had actually had a tail wind on the three miles out, and the Arctic blow was now fully in our faces. With two miles to go, it was just me and the leader. We tussled and kept pushing one another, staying neck and neck until the start of mile 7, where I managed to kick and take the win in 40.50. Certainly a race I will never forget! It had seemed simply too cold to manage a gel during the run, and I didn’t even listen to any music, it was just a good honest race – man vs man, and the elements.

We had some pictures and awards and I headed back to the truck to warm up. I managed to locate my discarded Nike jacket from the bench, and headed back to the Air BnB. I had a nice hot shower, packed up, and was even given some food by my hosts. I headed back to Grand Forks airport, drank a celebratory beer, flew to Minneapolis, grabbed food there at Twin Forks restaurant, and flew home later to Charlotte, arriving in time for Valentine’s Sunday!

GFK –

Departing the Polar Vortex –

So all in all, I spent 12 hours in North Dakota, during half of which I was asleep, won a race, and experienced the coldest temperatures of my life.

The after effects of racing in such temperatures were not insignificant. My left third toe, both cheeks, and right earlobe were all quite swollen and painful for some days afterwards. The toe and earlobe turned out to be frostbite – not ideal. The Therma Sphere hood had really been amazing, and without it, I’m sure things would have been much worse!

As an aside, I really need to think more carefully about which books to travel with. In today’s altogether tepid PC society, much of the literature that I digest is rendered simply unreadable when sat in public amongst strangers on a plane. Books like Eric Randolph’s manifesto or The Diary of Hitler’s Gardener just seem to get people’s backs up these days.

39 down, next stop Arizona!

As a note, realising I had actually won in both North Dakota and South Dakota, I took a moment to work out my overall top three placements in all the races I have completed so far –

*1st Place*

OH 10k trail
WI 10k road
SD 16 mile trail
ND 10k road
IA half road

*2nd Place*

AL 10k trail
CT 10k trail
KY half road
MD 10k road
MT half road
PA 4 mile trail
VT half road (in Sun race)

*3rd Place*

NE 10k road

IA

Saturday February 6 2021

For a runner seeking to race, the winter months provide sparse pickings at the best of times. During the current government reaction to Corona Virus, and the people’s reaction to that – it is even worse. However, I was able to find a race, in perhaps a more unlikely US state for the winter months – Iowa. The PBR Half Marathon. And what an event it was.

We left Charlotte Friday morning. The truck was having some bed cover work done, so we Lyfted to the airport with a fellow Joseph, a nice older gentleman, who used to be in the navy. We touched down in Des Moines around 1300, picked up our snowy bags and Hertz rental (a classic Nisan Rogue, which was about to be put through its paces), and headed out into the tundra.

Our view from the plane as we came in to land –

Iowa in the winter is a harsh place to be, and with a Canadian cold front sweeping down through the US, the weather forecast looked pretty fresh…

*Bear in mind that’s Fahrenheit, so for Saturday (race day), that’s -14 to -23 C…

We drove about an hour north west to Perry – it is here that the race was taking place. The PBR half. Nothing to do with the beer really, but the race is point-to-point and goes from Perry to Berkeley to Rippey.

Before checking in to the hotel, we drove the course, to get a feel for the terrain, any elevation, and to figure out if the snow was settled on the road or if there was gritting, whether it was icy, and what type of running shoes would be best.

I did a little test run around Berkeley – a tiny hamlet, with more old vehicles than places to live – and deemed the Vapor Flys would work!

We headed back to Hotel Pattee and got settled. We had a delicious steak/rib & cheese curd tea in the hotel restaurant, and actually got to switch rooms to one of our choosing, on the second floor, because our first room, on the third floor, was ‘one of the cold rooms’. Our new room was a big suite and all the rooms were individually themed. During our selection process, we had eschewed a peculiar clown / beach room for our own – one decorated in memory of Hollywood sports films. Tomorrow was about to feel a bit like one, so we watched Angels & Demons, and got an early night.

Saturday morning came, snow was falling, the wind was blowing, and the hotel festivities for the BRR ride had begun with music and fanfare. The BRR ride is a cycling event that happens the first Saturday in February every year. Riders from all over travel in the freezing temperatures from Perry to Rippey and back. It was the festivities of this event that three years ago, spurned the creation of the accompanying PBR Half Marathon, courtesy of a keen runner and fantastic local man, Zachary Norgren.

Our morning view from the hotel…

I breakfasted in the room on pistachios, fruit and cereal bars that I had brought with me, and began to get ready. I had come prepared – indeed, getting ready for this race had taken some planning!

What I wore – AE Flex Boxer, Gyakusou leggings, Balega Enduro 2 Crew 200, Next% Vapor Flys (soon to be changed to me Nike Wildhorse Trails), hamstring supports, shorts, Skins baselayer, Nike aerovent T, Nike Therma Sphere hooded long sleeve top, Gyakusou windbreaker, Nike Aeroloft jacket, Garmin watch, iPhone & armband, Neck Gator and neck warmer/mask, Sweden headband, Oakley sunglassses for the blowing snow, neoprene undergloves from my work colleague Bryan, plus my new purchase – the fantastic Nathan HyperNight Reflective Convertible Glove/Mitt Galaxies. All this to say, I wore all that, and was still absolutely frozen when I got to the start line, where by the way, I looked round to see lots of the runners set up in trail shoes with YakTrax over the top (like snow chains for car tires). I thought “Oh dear…” and quickly changed into my trail shoes. They served me fine until the last five miles, where, now ion a well gritted road, I was able to stop for 30 seconds and switch back to my road shoes – with a little help from Becca to tie the laces as my hands were still numb!

Start of the race –

The race started slowly and coldly (6 degrees, approx -14 C). I ran with Zachary for the first two miles or so. We saw a local truck driver donutting in the snowy street, let a couple of runners take the lead and chatted for a while. It was good to get a feel for the terrain, the weather, and just to get to know Zachary a bit more. Our RD peeled off at the first aid station and I pressed on, got some music going in my right headphone and took the lead around mile 4. The wind was shooting in from the right and the snow continued to come down heavily. “Snow on snow on snow on snow”, as Bert Jansch sings. I left my hood up, found that running with a face covering over my mouth was too difficult, and noticed that it was now so cold that anything elastic – hamstring sleeves, iPhone arm band, legging waistband – all stopped working. They just stayed in their stretched position, losing all elasticity.

About mile 6 I had a gel, removed my jacket and gave it to Becca through the car window – my one person race support team who was following/leading diligently in the Rogue – and pressed ahead to Berkeley for the loop I had practised the day before. On the run out of Berkeley, I experienced the only mile of the race where it was not head on wind and snow, and tried to get my pace up a little. The cold was really limiting blood flow to my muscles, so any push for speed was incredibly difficult, I just felt heavy, slow and cumbersome. This little push out of Berkeley even gave me a twinge in my hamstring, probably because the muscles just couldn’t warm up properly, so I didn’t stress it too much, and stayed on an even pace before turning right for the last 5 miles, down the long straight road for the finish in Rippey. This was the road that had been gritted, so around mile 9-10, I was able to stop, meet Becca to change into my lighter Vapor Flys as forementioned, and take in another gel – which Becca had had to carry so it didn’t freeze in my pocket.

During the race –

The last stretch was pretty painful – my mouth was frozen open – which was fine for breathing, but not great for spitting any saliva away, so my cheek froze solid with ice. The road was either OK to run on, due to the cross wind being so powerful that it blew all the snow away off the surface – or terrible to run on because the snow had not been blown away, due to the coverage from the violent wind provided by a barn or silo in the field. The mittens/gloves really were a lifesaver, maybe literally so.

I crossed the line at 1.41, a 7.40 mile pace, which, given the conditions, was not bad at all, and it was really fantastic to get the win.

Finishing race –

I collected my winning medal and Scotcharoo prize (baked by Zachary’s Mum), tried to warm up in the car whilst Becca worried that I had frostbite, and even managed a quick change of clothes into the extra T Shirt and down jacket I had packed; before giving my congratulations to the other runners, offering a lift to fellow finisher Brian, and getting on the road back to the hotel.

Official race pics – before, during and after –

Race data –

It was a hell of a race, a real battle, and it was lovely to have a warm shower in the Hotel Pattee room, before getting our stuff together and heading off to Des Moines, the snow still falling heavily.

We ate a huge lunch at Zombie Burger, then checked in at our hotel – The Renaissance Savery by Marriott – which was lovely.

I set some of my running items to dry off in the hotel room –

We then headed out to explore Water Works Park in Des Moines. We drove and walked around the beautiful snowy expanses of the river park, and after exploring the banks of the frozen river, even stumbled across a Dodge Challenger stuck on a snow bank. A group of us tried to push it out but the AWD wheels unfortunately just wouldn’t bite.

Below is our view from the hotel, of the Iowa State Capitol Building, and some photos from up close when we went to look around the impressive building itself, upon returning from our adventures in the park.

We grabbed some champagne and food to eat in the hotel and retired for the evening. The next morning I did a quick workout in the hotel gym, before we checked out and grabbed brunch at Waveland Cafe (a political campaign hot spot). We then headed to the airport and flew home to Charlotte.

We loved our stay in Perry and Des Moines, and I can’t think of a race I would rather have completed in representation of the great state of Iowa than the PBR Half Marathon. So there we are, 38 states, and one real engagement with the Midwest farmland winter – down.

OK

Sunday December 6 2020

I went out too fast, again. And had COVID slowing me down. But apart from that, this Tulsa Runners’ World Half Marathon race was good…

We flew from Charlotte Friday after work, departing around 1800, arriving in OKC at 2000. We collected the rental (I had a strop) and drove to eat an OK meal at Ludivine. We shared some salmon and steak, then headed to the AC hotel. Saturday morning we had a delicious breakfast at Kitchen No324, visited the Oklahoma bombing memorial and visitors centre, before heading to the National Museum of Cowboys and Western Heritage – it was quite fantastic.

We drove the 90 minutes to Tulsa along the very boring turnpike, and picked up my race packet from Runners World. We visited The Greenwood memorial and monument, before checking in at the Marriott to relax before a delicious Gnocchi, short rib and gluten free chocolate cake dinner at Amelia’s Wood-Fired Cuisine, downtown, next door to the Woody Guthrie Heritage Center.

We relaxed at the hotel, caught up on the Cornhole World Championship on ESPN, and hit the hey after prepping for the morning’s race.

We drove the 5 minutes down the road to Turkey Mountain, and had enough time to settle and warm up before the 0930 race.

It was a strong field, and frustratingly, I went out too fast, once more, pulled along by the race at about 6.08 per mile. I settled into a better rhythm as the course turned and headed along the far side of the river. We turned around, headed back to the start, including the now-uphill section after crossing the bridge. We Td at the start/finish area (at around 8-9 miles) and headed downhill and along the near side of the river. My energy levels really started to deplete and by the time I turned around again, just after 10 miles, I was starting to flag. I made it back to the start, but especially with the steep uphill to finish, I was a mess crossing the line, and immediately collapsed and had to be sick, which was nice.

It turned out I had COVID – so it would take me some time to recover and get back to running.

We shot straight back to the hotel for a quick turn around, and headed to Tulsa airport to fly home, exercising my newly attained Platinum AA status.

A tough one, but state 37 complete, and now two months to rest until Iowa in February.

And the week had started in such exciting fashion!

LA

Saturday November 21 2020

We flew from Charlotte Friday afternoon, arriving in New Orleans (‘Norlins’) around 6pm. We picked up our compact and drove north to Ponchatula. The town was abuzz with a big local wedding, trucks aplenty, not a mask in sight. It was fantastic being around that now-ailing sense of collective humanity – people smiling, having fun, loving and enjoying each other – the only really purpose a human has, if one even exists. We had a nice tea in La Carreta then headed to our Air BnB. A big modern house with a pool. Once we had fixed the smoke detector, I got ready for Saturday’s race, The Old Highway 51 Half Marathon, and bedded down for the night.

We left early Saturday, driving the 10 minutes south to Akers. We had to park up before the big bridge, and walk over the half mile bridge to get to the race epicentre, at Gators Den. I picked up my packet, stood for the Anthem and headed to the start line.

Chuck and his team had really put on a fantastic event. Music, food, great organisation, prizes, a PR Bell, results podium, local sponsors and contributors. It was just lovely to be around, and I felt so lucky that my original New Orleans event – The Big Easy Half – had been cancelled.

Off the back of a few strong performances, I lined up on the front row on the start line. Alas, I went out too fast, and I paid the price, especially as my right hamstring tightened up a lot – something that happens after dropping training levels lower.

There were some very strong runners in the field, the 10-mile course set off at the same time as the half marathoners, it was hot, sunny and there was no shade. It was also the first race I’d done in a while where things were back to normal – IE. Everyone set off at once. So you could see the pace of those ahead of you, and besides the half/ten-mile confusion, you had a definite calibration on how far behind the pace you were.

So it wasn’t my finest hour of racing, or indeed my finest hour and a half. My pace slowed over those middle miles, and I came over the line at 1.31.31. 7th overall and 3rd in my age group. I got some good prizes anyway, so after collecting myself, and some food & drink, we bade farewell to Chuck and his team and rushed back over the bridge to the car, Andouille sausage in hand.

We zipped back to the Air BnB for a quick turnaround, before zooming off to Westwego for an air boat tour of the swamps.

We looked around the local fish market, then grabbed a couple of fried alligator & crawfish sticks for lunch, then headed to The Saint hotel in central New Orleans. We rested briefly then went to look around and have a few drinks. We checked out Bourbon Street (particularly Lafitte Blacksmith Inn), Frenchmen Street, ate a nice dinner at Herbsaint, then grabbed dessert at Kilwins before hitting the hay.

Sunday we did a little more exploring before eating lunch at Galatoire’s and heading back to the airport for our flight home.

NH

Sunday November 8 2020

New Hampshire’s State Motto is “Live free or die”. Its most populous city, Manchester, is a dark manifestation of this excellent mantra. Reeling economically from restrictions imposed by Corona Virus response, its metropolis is now a veritable tent city for the jobless, the homeless, the desperate. A presumably defunded police force patrols the street corners, attempting to deescalate rampant criminality, and stop flagrant heroin addicts from injecting in the open. Welcome to the true cost of this nation’s failing lockdown measures.

These scenes, around the Hilton Doubletree I had booked due to its extreme proximity to the Manchester City Marathon & Half Marathon start and finish, were awaiting my Saturday evening arrival. I had been coaching in glorious Carolina sunshine Saturday morning, then rushed straight to the airport to fly to Manchester.

As the plane had come in to land, and the New England autumn scene unfolded beneath me, it was the first time on these adventures that I found myself asking, ‘What exactly am I doing?’ It was beautiful in Charlotte yet here I was, traveling by myself, almost to Canada, to run myself into abject pain, for the sole purpose of completing this 50 States challenge that I had dreamed up without prompting or cause. There was also almost nothing to do in Manchester – and those activities which would normally be if interest, were of course unavailable due to Corona response.

However, my spirits picked up immediately upon a realisation that the weather was in fact refreshingly mild in New Hampshire. It seemed a quiet but bright place and I had time to relax. I ordered my Lyft to the hotel, via the Millenium Running Store in Bedford, where I picked up my bib.

I’d booked the Double Tree using points, and it was a lovely change from Air BnBs! After settling in at the hotel, I headed out for dinner at a local Greek restaurant. It was very quiet there, but I read my book whilst eating a fairly average tea. I hit the hay early, and rose at 0600 Sunday, to head downstairs for the race. The city was abuzz, it was a big event.

I did a very small warmup, before socially distanced coral staging began at 0722. Racers started in descending pairs, the first two heading off after the 0730 musket shots.

I shed my layers as we edged up closer to the start line, and went out with my Livestrong tattoo sporting partner, whose bib indicated he was running the full. The course was undulating – 650’ of elevation in the Half alone. Livestrong commented that we both must be sticking to a 7 minute mile race plan, and although that was the time I’d put in on the race entry form, I told him that’s fine but I might push a little. Our first mile was 6.28 pace and I left him behind on the hill that followed.

I ran pretty well, didn’t need to stop for hydration at any of the aid stations, and took down a Maurten gel at 4.5 & 9.5 miles – timing that has become staple to my half marathon race plan. I caught a guy who had started ahead of me around mile 9 – funnily enough (NOT ironically enough by the way), the same mile at which he had, somewhat erroneously, warned me about a steady mile-long hill beginning. After dropping him, I took down blue floppy hair and military Camelpak – two guys who had overtaken me way back around mile 3-4. I was feeling strong, and though I’m loathed to admit it, the huge mileage I’m currently pushing in pursuit of my 2020 in 2020 goal, must really be helping my endurance, and my energy levels on hills. The weight I’ve been losing must help, too. But frankly, I don’t care. I still look forward to dropping that weekly mileage and putting the muscle mass back on. In fact, we have even been pushing ahead with a home gym garage set-up for just this reason.

The race was very well organised and supported, but a little confusing at time, as it looked back past the start/finish area, at the same time some other distances were setting out. My miles had varied over the course but I pushed a 5.30 coming into the finish, something someone who cared more about running would probably see as an indicator that I could keep pushing to achieve some really impressive times. But there you go. I had finished feeling like I could keep running further, and was happy with my 6.35 average pace, 1.26.50 finish and 6th in age group placement (42nd overall).

I strolled back to the hotel to shower and relax, before checking out the local running store and grabbing lunch (a late breakfast) in the delightfully old school Red Barn diner. It was a quaint, rough and tiny place, and one that must maintain an old time customer base that believes in their state motto more than those governing over them…

I Lyfted back to the airport with John, a fascinating Sudanese fellow, and flew back home to the QC. MO take two next weekend, and plenty of early morning miles to clock before that. Always good to be home, and it’s great to be almost done with New England and the Eastern Sea Board – just New York State to go.

VT

Sunday October 25 2020

Vermont in Autumn is beautiful. And boring. But definitely really beautiful. The bright coloured leaves on the trees create an oil work patchwork canopy as far as you can see. The trees cover the rolling hills surrounding the bays, and the cold fresh water laps at the pebbles on the shore. It was cold in Burlington, with the atmosphere of an approaching winter, flowing down from French Canada – but all this helped me run a good race early on Sunday morning, the Half Marathon Unplugged.

The colours on full show as we came in to land

I had been scheduled to run the Dorset Hollow 10K in southern Vermont. Of course, this fell victim to CVR, Corona Virus Reaction, so this Burlington event was one of those new-look set-ups, as the racing community attempts to survive in a world where local permits to hold races, are difficult to attain. There were various emails before the event – such as the one stating any visitors to Vermont from outside New England, must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in the state. What prejudice, particularly with the state of affairs in New York. Anyway, it was alright, I live in Maine… A health screening was required upon arrival, all runners had to remain six feet apart at all times, masks were required when not running, and the race was split into different waves, over the weekend. I ran in the Sunday 0800 wave, with maybe 50 other runners. We could see the similarly sized 0900 wave coming out, as we were on our way back to the finish line, as was the set up of this nice out and back course, with a park loop to start things off.

It was just me on this short trip. I left home on Saturday morning after an early Zoom call to celebrate my brother’s 39th birthday. I arrived in Burlington around noon, briefly waited at the airport whilst I figured out what to do with my time before checking in to the Air BnB, and settled on a Lyft to the only option open, and/or vaguely interesting – the University of Vermont’s Fleming Museum of art. I looked at the various exhibits here – some good South East Asian artifacts, some nice landscapes painted by European masters and also Americans, and a fascinatingly self critical exhibit focused on Egypt, I think, but mainly focused on our own guilt.

I wandered into town, checked out the limited centre of this student spot, and as a town formerly under the mayoral leadership of Bernie Sanders, it was predictably… closed. With CVR in full flow, most places seemed closed, shops only let five people in, everyone glared at anyone not wearing a mask, no eateries allowed dine in, and presumably every employee and business owner here is either increasingly destitute, or reliant upon the already record levels of national debt to increase further, in order to keep them safe from a virus that has infected 1% of the population, and has the following CDC reported survival rates; 0-19: 99.997%, 20-49: 99.98%, 50-69: 99.5%, 70+: 94.6%.

I digress. I grabbed a late lunch/early tea from Subway and relaxed in my room at the Air BnB – a small bedroom in a Colombian architect’s (quite cold) apartment. I ate some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (also cold), watched Khabib retire, and read my book about Hitler, before turning in for the night.

Sunday morning, I walked down to the race, had my health screening and wandered about for a bit, doing a handful of stretches. The race started with a loop around the park before hitting the shore front bike trail in the other direction. It was an old light rail line so a nice width and pretty flat, most of the run was flanked by the water and those Autumnal leaves were everywhere. I went out in about 15th place and by the time the park loop was done, I was in 6th. I pushed on a little more and as the route started to climb slightly to follow the old rail route, there were just three runners ahead battling it out and me tucked behind in 4th, with about 30-50 yards between me and that group at different points. There was a guy in layers, a trail runner guy with long hair and a female running hard, all challenging each other and leading the way. I noted that the last two miles coming back would be slightly downhill, which was good. Layers pulled away at about mile 4 or 5 and held that until the end. I caught the Girl on the bridge around mile 8 after our loop around the neighbourhood, caught Traily around mile 10, but couldn’t quite catch Layers. He beat me by about 10-15 seconds, I finished second, but I still clocked a new half PR in 1.25.40, which was great for a non downhill course. This placed me in overall 7th place for all waves over the weekend (450 total runners), and similarly, 2nd place in my 30-39 age group.

I listened to this wonderful song over the last couple of miles to push me home. An incredibly powerful piece, do listen, at own risk.

It was so cold and my warm up had been so non existent, that it was really only mile 3 by when my back muscles had warmed up enough to let me breathe in deeply! I’d carried three Maarten gels but only used two – 4.5 & 9, I didn’t need to onboard water at any point, ran in a pair of my bright pink Off White ZoomX racing shoes, and as is becoming consistent, was again surprised by how well I had performed in the colder temperatures. It must really regulate my energy output.

1.25.12 is the long course adjusted half time

After the race, I showered and got things ready at the Air BnB, Lyfted to the tiny Burlington airport, grabbed a bacon roll for lunch and headed for home. State 34 complete. Not the most eventful of trips touristically, but a great memory to hold from a running perspective. I should be 37 (plus a shored up MO option) by Christmas.

View from the plane showing where we’d just raced

WI

Saturday July 4 2020

It was fourth time lucky for Wisconsin. Attempt one, Devil’s Lake Trail in July – Cancelled. Attempt two, Golden Kettle McMiler in August – reduced to a time trial. Attempt three, Two Rivers 10 miler Oct 17 – cancelled last minute. So… upon hearing of the latter, I was fortunate enough to find the Jayhawk 10k in Whitewater, the same weekend as the cancelled Two Rivers event, just Saturday instead of Sunday. The Jayhawk event was a road event, and originally I had docketed something trail for Wisconsin, something rugged, maybe something on the Ice Age Trail itself, but life goes on – or so it should – so this event seemed good to me. I can’t wait until the world decides it must push back, I have set myself a goal and can’t rely on the the whims of the weak to achieve it. I have also taken a liking to road events as this states running adventure has plodded along, and that trail event in Maine, has definitely put me off hilly trails, for a while at least!

We left home Friday afternoon, flying into Chicago (IL) because it was so much cheaper than the WI airports. We picked up the rental and drove the two hours north to Whitewater, a quaint college town, eating in a nice Italian restaurant, before checking in to our Marriott hotel. We were in room 316 by the way, which seemed very apt (or ‘ironic’ if you’re an American), because EVH had died only last week.

Saturday morning, I rose, got ready and ate breakfast, then made the short drive across town to the race start point for 0740. It was pretty cold… I checked in and did a very minimal warm up before starting at 0800. It was a small event – combo of 10k then 5k race – affected predictably by COVID reaction rules, but hey, at least the race was on. Racers started 30 seconds apart, and I quickly overtook the two runners starting ahead of me, so I was out on my own. The course was an out and back 5k, completed twice with a straight turnaround for the 10k racers. It was pretty flat. No one caught me, and I even started to lap some of the slower runners. At the point of the 7.5k turn, I noticed some of the 5k runners hot on my trail. I thought they would catch me and push me hard for the finish but I kicked well and actually increased the lead I held on them. I had a gel at 3.5 miles and because my FreeSport headphones hadn’t wanted to work, just had music from the ‘phone speaker on my arm.

I seem to perform much better in colder temperatures, I was wearing my Next %s, and I PRd with a time of 38.35, feeling pretty good really. I was first place overall, so that was great – the third state I’ve won in now!

After showering, resting and eating the boxed up remains of last night’s tasty pasta (and chocolate cake), we got back on the road, and drove back to central Chicago. We dropped bags at the hotel and headed straight to check in for our boat tour – a river cruise with a focus on the architecture and history of the city. We then had some time to relax at the hotel, before grabbing an Uber to our reservation at the Michelin starred EL Ideas. It was a fun, interesting, and very lovely meal.

Sunday morning, we slept in before I snuck away to run a recovery 10 miles along the beautiful waterfront of Chicago. Running along the river then next to the lake shoreline, along the cliffs around the observatory and through the nature reserve on the city edge. The rain and wind came down, and the typically unfriendly locals seemed to think I was mad running in no shirt, but the run really felt great, and it’s always so nice to have such spectacular and different scenery to take in, especially whilst slogging out those 2020 miles.

Later on Sunday we visited the sculpture park to see Cloud Gate and grabbed a large and tasty brunch at the Michelin Guide recommended Stax cafe in Little Italy. We pottered around for a bit before heading back to O’Hare and home to the QC. A great little weekend away. Next weekend, a shorter sojourn awaits as I travel to Vermont.

AR

Saturday September 26 2020

I had originally scheduled a 20K trail race for Arkansas, and had reserved a room at an historic plantation house for accommodation – but panic struck, and those plans were nixed. However, I spotted Jonesboro’s Heart and Sole Half Marathon was still taking place, so I signed up and off we went.

We left Charlotte Friday afternoon, now as a Gold status AA member…and touched down in Little Rock around 1600. We got straight on the road in the rental and headed north to Jonesboro (not to be confused with Jonestown). We arrived at the Marriott around 1800 and headed out for a nice BBQ meal, and to buy Becca some swim wear from Target for tomorrow’s trip to Hot Springs! I prepped for next day’s race and tried to get an early night.

The race started at the Baptist Hospital, which was literally across the street, so, adorned in my new pink VaporFlys, I headed over 10 minutes or so prior to the 0700 start gun.

There actually wasn’t a start gun, just an overweight woman in a golf cart shouting at us then driving off, but the race was off. A strong lead pack of five or so guys lead out following the lead car, and I paced in slightly behind. The shoes felt good. The first two miles were at 6.30, a sub 20 5K pace, so I relaxed into the middle miles. It was just me, and the green Arkansas fields stretching far into the distance. The course was hilly, nothing too steep but just rolling, all the time, especially around the golf club. I was surprised the elevation came in at 600’ because it felt like even more.

The race was well marshaled and there were lots of aid stations. There were even volunteers holding aloft every mile marker sign, encouraging you on. I had a Maurten gel at 4.5 miles and then after 9. Psychologically, it was tough having no one to chase down or pace against, but the last half mile or so of the course took us around the hospital grounds itself, so there were some 5Kers to chase and pass. I came in at 1.30.24, but with the course running a little long (13.23), it was at 6.50 pace, which is a 1.29.35 half. So, although, I didn’t feel particularly inspired, upon reflection I was happy – to be finished…and to have run a good time, on a grueling course, without much company. I placed 8th overall, 2nd in age group.

Becca met me at the end and we headed back across the street to shower at the hotel. We drove two hours to Little Rock, visited the Central High School historical site, then enjoyed a very nice brunch at South On Main. Following signs to Texarkana, we then drove an hour through the thick wooded Ozarks on our way to Hot Springs AR – a beautiful place that emerged like an old world town from another time, nestled in the North Mountain foothills. We drove high up into the National Park to see the view, then experienced the naturally heated pools at Quapaw in the bustling town centre – the pools were very relaxing, and soothing on the muscles. We headed on an hour until we got to our motel – in Glenwood, and had a tasty Mexican tea at El Diamante.

I woke early Sunday morning, and did a recovery 7 miles out and back in the mist down the main road. We then packed up and drove an hour to Diamond Crater State Park. Here, visitors can search for their very own precious gems. I bought Becca some screens to help her soil panning, and we found lots of stones we thought might be diamonds…but alas, we ended up with no life-changing discovery, and made the two hour drive back to the airport for our flight home.

A week or two off racing now, so this should allow me to relax, but keep pushing away at the 2020 in 2020 challenge. Next state planned, Milwaukee. It’s been cancelled before, twice, so let’s hope ‘third time’s a charm’…

SD

Saturday September 19 2020

South Dakota always polls top in the tables I research online regarding ‘States with the fewest COVID restrictions’. Nevertheless, bizarrely, Vacation Races cancelled their Mount Rushmore half marathon event for 2021, very early, concerns over not making enough money probably weighing heavy on the organisers… Luckily, on the same weekend, I found a replacement race in Deadwood – The Blackhills Veteran Marathon & March. I entered the ‘Mini March’ event – 16 miles on the George S Mickelson Trail – and I’m very glad I did. What a great event, and a fantastic weekend.

Keeping with our original travel plans (plus pushing our return later after Delta tried to move it forward), we left Charlotte early Friday, changed planes in Minneapolis and were rental car keys-in-hand by 1100. Via a genuinely lovely dive bar lunch in the infamous town of Wall, we headed straight to Badlands National Park – an amazing place to visit, with an alien landscape as a former sea bed, and North American wildlife aplenty. We saw the big five (variously sized five) – Bison (‘American Buffalo’), Prairie Dogs, Longhorn Sheep, Pronghorn & Deer.

After Badlands, we went to the Crazy Horse rock carving – very impressive but without a conclusion in sight; and Mount Rushmore – simply impressive.

We checked in at our rustic motel in Keystone and had a nice dinner at the neighbouring Nepalese restaurant!

Saturday morning, we left early for Deadwood (a quaint western town belonging in Red Dead Redemption), and though we arrived in good time, the start line busses left five minutes early and I wasn’t on one. We drove up to the trail head and the race started. First two miles were a gradual uphill. I went out steady, overtook the young kid soon enough, and gradually reeled in the high-cadence military sunglasses guy in the luminous yellow tee, whilst still going uphill, and I was on the lead. We plateaud then started to head down hill. We went through the first checkpoint shortly after two miles, I was still leading and the volunteers were cheery, helpful and supportive. Each checkpoint also served as a team march relay handover station, so all of them were very lively and active places. I pressed on at a good trail running pace, mile after mile, music on, overtaking marathoners and team marchers as I went, still in first place. There was a tough section at mile 8, an unexpected uphill, but I didn’t stop running. My left leg, which had hurt for the first few miles – still not recovered from Mahoosuc – was starting to loosen, my lungs and heart felt good, it was just heavy upper legs that were holding me back from speeding up much more.

I pushed through to the 16 mile finish, with no one left ahead of me to overtake; came down through Deadwood and crossed the line in the Rodeo Grounds, to a military handshake and my commemorative coin. First place overall!

I was covered in flies from the trail, so we headed back to the motel, via a quick day light stop at Mount Rushmore so Becca could get her National Park Services Passport stamp.

I showered, had a quick lunch in the room and we headed back out. We drove to visit Jewel cave then drive the scenic loop in Custer State Park – where we saw Bison, Deer, Prairie Dogs, Pronghorn, wild Donkeys and a Coyote. We had a big dinner in Keystone’s finest restaurant, Powder House Lodge, and retired to bed.

Sunday morning I did a recovery six miles around Keystone, seeing plenty of deer as I explored the old town and hillside cemetery with a view of Mount Rushmore. We drove to Hot Springs to visit the quite fascinating Mammoth Museum – a current paleontological site – then headed to Rapid City for a nice lunch and a trip to Prairie Trading Company, where we purchased a couple of pieces created by local Native American artists.

We flew to Minneapolis but missed our connection due to flight delay, so Delta put us up at the Crowne Plaza hotel overnight, where we ate dinner. I ran six miles Monday morning in the Minnesota Valley national wildlife preserve, before heading back to Charlotte.

31 states down, what a great trip.