Medora, North Dakota, USA 27-JUL-2019 Calendar Year BLT 34 Strava Link Garmin Link I arrived in Bismarck at about midnight and started driving to Dickinson where my buddy Andy had a room already. Due to a time change between Bismarck and Dickinson I arrived at about 1am, good news for me, an extra hour of…
Tag: marathons
Madison Marathon 2019
20-JUL-2019 Ennis, Montana, USA BLT 215 Strava Link Garmin Link 2 years ago a group of my friends signed up for this marathon just outside of Yellowstone in a small town called Ennis (pronounced like tennis not like penis). The opinion among those friends was that this race is one of the hardest marathons in…
Grandfather Mountain Marathon 2019
13-JUL-2019 Boone, North Carolina, USA BLT #32 for Calendar Year 2019 Strava Link | Garmin Link Short version: All the beauty (and climbing) of a mountain trail race, but lots of blind corners on mountain switchbacks. After landing in the Charlotte airport there’s a 2 hour drive to Boone. Named for pioneer/explorer Daniel Boone, the…
Hatcher Pass Marathon 2019
06-JUL-2019 Willow, Alaska, USA Lifetime BLT #212 Strava Link | Garmin Link Short version: Climb 4,000 ft over 25 miles, natural beauty, HOT (even by Florida standards) The first time I’d heard of the Hatcher Pass Marathon it was because a friend, Jennifer Hatcher, had signed up for it as her Alaska marathon, because—well, because…
Wellington Marathon 2019
30-JUN-2019 Wellington, New Zealand Country #18 Strava Link | Garmin Link Short version: Perfect weather, weird course, undoubtedly not the best race in NZ, but still plenty good. “Why on earth did you come to Wellington?!” It was the incredulous question I was asked by nearly everyone in Wellington when I told them I had…
Charlevoix Marathon 2019
Lifetime Big Long Thing #210 Calendar Year BLT #29 Strava Link | Garmin Link Short version: Out-and-back on bike path with nice views of Lake Michigan, but overall somewhat dull. The Charlevoix Marathon in Northern Michigan is a reasonably flat out-and-back almost exclusively on bike path, though a small part weaves through the western part…
Manitoba Marathon 2019
Country 17 completed at the Manitoba marathon in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, a flat meandering course that seems to pass all the major landmarks in town and finishes in the University of Manitoba stadium (Go Bisons! Pedantic aside: Yes, I am aware that the plural of “Bison” is in fact “Bison”. It would seem that they…
Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon 2019
Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon complete in Deadwood, South Dakota. A point to point race from Rochford to Deadwood on the George S. Mickelson Trail, a rail trail that offers stunning views of the surrounding Black Hills Nation Forest. A steady climb for 13.5 miles followed by downhill the rest of the way with the exception…
Vermont City Marathon 2019
Big Long Thing 206 done today at the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, Vermont. A brief backstory: 3 years ago I did this race and they cancelled because it reached 83 degrees. They cancelled 4 hours in so it was a very expensive trip to a fun run. I was, and remain apparently, pissed. I…