After training for 6 months, I ran my first Marathon. The Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon in Deadwood, South Dakota. It was a proud day for me. What made it the best was Dennis. My loving hubby was at every possible aid station cheering me on, and it was really awesome. At times, I was really feeling the race and having mental problems, but knowing he was there really kept my spirits up.
Deadwood, South Dakota is a wonderful little town nestled among the mountains. It has a lot of grit and is an old miner town. The marathon event was planned to a tee and the community really makes racers feel welcome! There were aid stations every few miles with bananas, apples, m&ms, pretzels, and bagels pieces. There was also goo, electrolyte drink, and lots of cool water.
For a carb load up, the night before, I would recommend eating at Roma’s Ristorante. It’s about 20 minutes drive from Deadwood, but it’s worth the drive!
The biggest challenge with this marathon was at mile 9, I had an encounter with a very mean woman from Texas. She accused me of drafting off of her. We were running uphill with very little/no wind at probably a 9.5 min/mile pace. In other words we were both going…slow! How assinine!
I said, “This is a my first marathon and this trail is open to everybody, so we can run where we need to run”. Then I said, “I don’t understand why we can’t run together. If you don’t like me running with you, then by all means, run faster!”.
Mean Texas Lady says, “You can run with me but not ~right behind me~!” I told her to go eff herself, and then I ran ahead a little bit. I really didn’t want to deal with that drama! My gosh
…At the end, she ended up finishing about 10 minutes ahead of me, passing me at about mile 19. This was wonderful as it was much nicer scenery without her in it.
It was a very odd experience and hard mentally for me to deal with her. Most runners I’ve come in contact with are generally very nice people, so this was a shock. I did not train for this and so it was a huge turn off. A big let down. Several of my running friends have since told me that this type of situation is unheard of and they were shocked. So, I guess it was just a freak thing.
I was happy that I finished the race feeling strong and healthy. I didn’t make my goal of under 4 hours, but I think were I to do it again, I would! Trail marathons are tougher than road. Also, the Mickelson Trail is mostly uphill (for about 17 miles) then it’s downhill the rest of the way.
Tags: Deadwood, Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon, Running, South Dakota