June 11, 2011
We began the day with an awful rainstorm that made for poor visibility on I-75 from Gaylord north. We were aiming to catch the 8:30AM ferry to the island and rolled into Mackinac City with about 10 minutes to spare. Colleen and I grabbed our umbrellas and hugged our gear bags (hers with a change of clothes, mine with a change of clothes and my trail gloves) close to keep them from getting wet while hiking up to the ferry terminal. I made it a point to take advantage of my bare feet and stomped through every puddle I could find. Inevitably I got the "where are your shoes?!" question from one of the luggage guys outside, but I shrugged it off saying I was keeping them dry in my bag.
The ferry was maybe half full on our way to the island and most of the people appeared to be runners. The ride was surprisingly smooth considering the weather. We checked the weather report on our phones during the 15 minute ride noticing it looked like the rain might die off by race time.
Arriving at the island we began the half mile walk to packet pickup, which was at the Mackinac Island School. Everything was going down in the gym, which made for a great staging area where people could leave their bags. By the time we got checked in and used the restroom, the rain had died and everyone's spirits seemed to lift. On the way back to the starting line (which was 1/4 mile back towards the docks -the school was where the finish line would be) I felt bad for everyone struggling to avoid the large puddles while I happily stomped through them.
The race took us through the downtown/harbor area for about a half mile before turning and heading up the hill behind the fort. The first few hundred feet reminded me of the hills at home, and I thought “no sweat!” and then it got ugly. Making a short turn the slope of the hill increased to the point where it felt more like a climb than a run. Many people slowed to a walk and nobody was talking. It was brutal.
Reaching the “top” I cheered our victory until I saw that the hill kept going, although not nearly as steeply. The fact it kept going at all seemed to bring everyone down a little. The hill finally ended at roughly the 1.7 mile mark. From there it was generally downhill to the halfway point, where there is a small restaurant called something like “The Cannonball” (I can't remember exactly -I just know they supposedly have world famous fried pickles). Colleen and I planned to have lunch there until we saw exactly where it was. We were not in the mood for a 3 mile hike for lunch after running a 10k, particularly after conquering that nasty hill.
The back half was nice and flat, running along Lake Huron with what would have been a great view of the Mackinac Bridge if not for all the clouds and fog. I did my best “persistence hunter” impression, passing several of my targets before hitting the final chute, where I broke into a sprint and passed 3 or 4 more people. I finished with a personal best of 57:57, which would have been good for 6th place in my age group, but since I had registered in the 200-219 Clydesdale division, which was surprisingly competitive, my actual result was a measly 8th place (dead last) in the division, getting passed in the standings by a guy who finished a full minute behind me who got a 2 minute handicap for being 7 years older than me.
After the race I had a nice chat with a guy who had seen me and the others at the IBRD event in Ann Arbor. He had run in some VFFs and was hoping to be ready for the Detroit Marathon this fall. I was impressed he recognized me but it dawned on me that our group must have made an impression on May 1 if someone recognized me at a different race a month later and 300 miles north of where he saw us.
This was a pretty neat event with some great scenery and good people. The main hazard for barefooters was the occasional road apple, but they were usually easily avoided (I almost stepped in one when in a tight pack of runners and I couldn't see far ahead because of the bodies). I only wish there had been more crowd support along the course, but it that's ok.
We began the day with an awful rainstorm that made for poor visibility on I-75 from Gaylord north. We were aiming to catch the 8:30AM ferry to the island and rolled into Mackinac City with about 10 minutes to spare. Colleen and I grabbed our umbrellas and hugged our gear bags (hers with a change of clothes, mine with a change of clothes and my trail gloves) close to keep them from getting wet while hiking up to the ferry terminal. I made it a point to take advantage of my bare feet and stomped through every puddle I could find. Inevitably I got the "where are your shoes?!" question from one of the luggage guys outside, but I shrugged it off saying I was keeping them dry in my bag.
The ferry was maybe half full on our way to the island and most of the people appeared to be runners. The ride was surprisingly smooth considering the weather. We checked the weather report on our phones during the 15 minute ride noticing it looked like the rain might die off by race time.
Arriving at the island we began the half mile walk to packet pickup, which was at the Mackinac Island School. Everything was going down in the gym, which made for a great staging area where people could leave their bags. By the time we got checked in and used the restroom, the rain had died and everyone's spirits seemed to lift. On the way back to the starting line (which was 1/4 mile back towards the docks -the school was where the finish line would be) I felt bad for everyone struggling to avoid the large puddles while I happily stomped through them.
The race took us through the downtown/harbor area for about a half mile before turning and heading up the hill behind the fort. The first few hundred feet reminded me of the hills at home, and I thought “no sweat!” and then it got ugly. Making a short turn the slope of the hill increased to the point where it felt more like a climb than a run. Many people slowed to a walk and nobody was talking. It was brutal.
Reaching the “top” I cheered our victory until I saw that the hill kept going, although not nearly as steeply. The fact it kept going at all seemed to bring everyone down a little. The hill finally ended at roughly the 1.7 mile mark. From there it was generally downhill to the halfway point, where there is a small restaurant called something like “The Cannonball” (I can't remember exactly -I just know they supposedly have world famous fried pickles). Colleen and I planned to have lunch there until we saw exactly where it was. We were not in the mood for a 3 mile hike for lunch after running a 10k, particularly after conquering that nasty hill.
The back half was nice and flat, running along Lake Huron with what would have been a great view of the Mackinac Bridge if not for all the clouds and fog. I did my best “persistence hunter” impression, passing several of my targets before hitting the final chute, where I broke into a sprint and passed 3 or 4 more people. I finished with a personal best of 57:57, which would have been good for 6th place in my age group, but since I had registered in the 200-219 Clydesdale division, which was surprisingly competitive, my actual result was a measly 8th place (dead last) in the division, getting passed in the standings by a guy who finished a full minute behind me who got a 2 minute handicap for being 7 years older than me.
After the race I had a nice chat with a guy who had seen me and the others at the IBRD event in Ann Arbor. He had run in some VFFs and was hoping to be ready for the Detroit Marathon this fall. I was impressed he recognized me but it dawned on me that our group must have made an impression on May 1 if someone recognized me at a different race a month later and 300 miles north of where he saw us.
This was a pretty neat event with some great scenery and good people. The main hazard for barefooters was the occasional road apple, but they were usually easily avoided (I almost stepped in one when in a tight pack of runners and I couldn't see far ahead because of the bodies). I only wish there had been more crowd support along the course, but it that's ok.
