2023 Race Recap Grambassador: Angie M-B

We departed the expo to grab some lunch, and then back to the hotel to rest and wait for a friend to arrive. 

The evening rolled around and we walked back to the finish line for an ambassador photo and some chit chat. My friend needed to grab her bib, so back to the expo we went, on my way to get ready for the 5k.

Ok, I know what you are thinking. Didn’t you just run 3 miles in the morning? Aren’t you running a half marathon the next day? Here’s the thing, I like running and it’s been a while since I have taken it too seriously. Meaning, I am never pushing to exhaustion, I know when I have had enough. Leading up to this weekend (within the past month,) I had done a 24 hour race, an overnight endurance run, a half marathon and a 16 mile trail training run. I also run at least one mile a day. I just like running. I wasn’t too worried and I was going to enjoy the 5k, because I was in town, might as well.

It seemed like the 5k took forever to start, but that is because there were sooo many people jammed into a small space. I am pretty sure the section roped off on the left side of the starting coral was for the lead runners to be able to come through. I made some small talk with someone as we waited. They were from Virginia and were concerned about the hills on the course.

It was then time to start running. I might have mentioned this before, but in all the times I have run the 5k it seems the course was always different. However, I think this year was finally a repeat of last year. It’s also a good course giving you a tour of the lake front and around the big freighter sitting in the harbor. This also gives spectators a good chance to cheer everyone on.

I passed by the water stop and under the lift bridge. I heard some Go Angie cheers from some volunteers. I believe they are fellow ambassadors, thank you for volunteering!! Then it was time to run to the finish at Bayfront park.

I crossed the finish line, paused my watch and saw Grandma. So of course I had to take a selfie. There were finisher medals, bottles of water, bananas and a protein bar. Then a volunteer had a beverage ticket to hand out. Ending exactly at the park is perfect, everything is right there. 

I snagged an adult beverage, while making my way back to the DECC to meet my husband and friend for the pasta dinner. 

I had two pasta dinner tickets and my husband made the wise decision to purchase another one ahead of time. The line to get tickets was really long and since we had tickets, we skipped the line to the front. Not sure if this helped as the merging people created a small bottleneck. 

Once we were in a line for dinner, they ran out of pasta. Ok, maybe not that dramatic, but there was a wait as they needed to have more cooked or bring some more in. People were getting hangry. The place was packed!

I stepped up and handed the volunteer my ticket. (Probably more volunteers at this pasta event than are at my local 5k.) I then asked for noodles – no sauce or meatballs. This always gets the strangest looks. I can eat a lot of plain noodles. I received my plate back with some noodles, lettuce, dinner roll and 2 sandwich cookies. It didn’t look like much, but I could get seconds, thirds, etc.

We found a place to sit and there was bottled water and more bread on the tables. We discovered there was milk and coffee available. When we were done with our seconds and thirds, we topped off the meal with ice cream. With full stomachs, we walked back to the hotel for the early wake up.

Saturday, race day! I was awake super early, I never sleep well before a race. I was going to run the Garry Bjorklund half marathon for my second time and I think my 70th lifetime half. My friend would be running her second ever half and I was going to make sure she finished!! My first event in Duluth was the 2014 half marathon, it still holds my PR. I have run the full every year since, and yes this also means virtually.

After some encouragement, my friend and I were on the walk to pick up the bus at the DECC. It was a good idea to arrive earlier in the pickup window. We dropped our gear bags in the hopper and boarded a bus. As we left, we made note of how long the line was to board more buses. 

We departed the bus and walked the short distance to the corral. I was ready to get running, but we still had a lot of time to wait. It had been so long since I ran this distance on this course. The starting area was just different. We waited alongside the edge of the road and met other runners. One person was concerned about the phone battery making it the distance, so we told them about airplane mode. 

We could hear the National Anthem, so we got ready to get moving. Then my friend discovered a port-o-potty with no line and she took advantage of the opportunity. After that, there was no turning back, only one way to get to the finish line, that was on foot. 

The first two miles clicked by fast. It’s nice to have each mile marked with a balloon in the sky, it just seems like you can see them so far in advance. Then it was time for the first aid station. We made sure to stay hydrated and walked thru, grabbing a drink.

Throughout the race I made sure to point out sponges, ice and other things. We were quickly in the Duluth city limits, which surprised me as I am not used to this part of the course coming so quickly. I enjoyed some free beer, candy, pickles, watermelon and encouraged my friend to have some fun as well. Don’t worry I had some water too. I also made sure to take some selfies with the characters along the way. She made sure to tell me she had some pickle juice that perked her up. That same excitement came when we grabbed that slice of watermelon.

During this time we also noted two jets flyover, which would signal the start of the full marathon.

Then came Lemon Drop Hill, we just kept moving. I think the stretch after that hill is my least favorite. Maybe it’s because the lake doesn’t seem so close. I always think that portion would be better if I stopped in the fast food restaurant to get a Coke. My friend considered a Diet Coke. 

The last mile was upon us. I made sure to change to my last GoPro battery. The camera wasn’t uncomfortable, but the battery situation was difficult. Some of the batteries shut the camera off with 20% remaining. I think I got all the coverage that was needed, I can’t wait to see the final video.

My friend thought the last mile was brutal, we came around the turn by the freighter and she thought it was the final push and I knew better. It does seem like the turns just keep happening before you can see the balloon arches and finish line.

In this last mile, the wheelchair racers were starting to approach, so we made sure to stay out of the way.

We were on that last stretch and I made sure my friend crossed the finish line, and better yet Grandma was there to give her a high five!!! We snagged some selfies and got our medals. I asked if she was ok, and well, to this day we still talk, so I guess she was just fine. 

The finishers area had more cups of water, Powerade and bottled water. A heat sheet was available and the volunteers were eager to place them across your shoulders. Then it was time to pick up your finisher shirt, which was also handed out with a drink ticket. From here we went to get our gear bags. Then we went to the post race food area, where we could choose from apples, bananas, protein bars, chips, bagels, peanut butter, pork sticks, chocolate milk and yogurt. Grabbing our bag first was the key, as we could put a snack in there for later. 

To my surprise there was also a table in this area to pick up a Challenge medal for doing the two races. I don’t recall ever getting a third medal for the challenge in the past. We have always received extra swag, but this was a nice surprise. 

From here I could tell my friend needed a break from being on her feet so we went to the VIP tent. It was nice to have a seat and some shade. There was food, beverages and a fancier toilet. I made a note to find out how to purchase VIP in the future, this place was awesome. 

Don’t worry, we didn’t forget about my husband. He was running the full marathon, so after we relaxed and did some tracking with the official race app, we went to cheer him on to his finish. It’s also fun to cheer everyone on, the finishing chute is an inspirational place. 

The sun was shining and it was getting warm, we were all glad to be done running. We reunited at the local restaurant near the finish line for some celebratory drinks and snacks.  It was then time to shower and relax after a great morning of running. 

We didn’t make it back to the Bayfront park until later in the evening. This is where you can redeem your drink tickets and listen to some music. It is a nice area, but after running it seems like a long way to go. It’s nice to wait until later in the day, maybe after a nap. 

While that might seem like the running was done for the weekend, it was not. There was another shoe demo run at the local running store the next day. Since I have a run streak going, I decided to join. It was cool to try a different shoe and I met up with some people that recognized me from my social media account. Nice way to cap off the running weekend. 

After we said goodbye to my friend, we couldn’t leave for home without a trip back to the starting line, so we took off for Two Harbors. (We also made sure to stop at the candy store along the course for some treats later.) We noticed volunteers back along the course picking up the discarded trash and cups. There are a lot of people that make this weekend possible, thank you!! From here we kept driving south, back home. 

Grandma’s Marathon weekend is always a good time, I am not sure I can stay away. I am happy to represent the race as an ambassador. When someone asks me what my favorite road marathon is, I always answer Grandma’s Marathon. Now, time to get to planning my hotel for 2024. Happy Running!