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CSR members take on Mad City What do you do if you happen to be in Madison, Wisconsin on Memorial Day weekend? Besides the normal brats, beer and cheese (the three basic food groups of Wisconsin), there are always the races of the Mad City Marathon. Amazingly, that is exactly what seven members of Club South Runners did on a cool Sunday morning (May 25, 2003). The event offered a smorgasbord of races including the full marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K. And, judging by the numbers, there were a lot of folks that gorged themselves on different fitness fare. The marathon had 1000 athletes, the half marathon had 1400 runners, the 10K had 400 participants and the 5K had 350 slackers. The CSR cadre ran several race events including the marathon (Enette Larson-Meyer, Mike Meyer, Madlyn Frisard, Ryan Russell, and Patricia Beasley), half marathon (Barb Dutrow) and 5K (Darrell Henry). We decided to give you the perspective of racers in three different events – 5K, half marathon and marathon. However, first let’s give a little background on Madison and the Mad City Marathon. |
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Madison is often considered part of the great frozen north, and it is, part of the time - think Green Bay Packers and Lambeau Field. However, in May spring actually does come around and the city is full of green grass and flowers. Madison is at the margin of what was a huge continental glacier 10,000 years ago. What does that have to do with racing – think hills. These glaciers helped make 4 large lakes around which Madison is built. So, you have hills and you have lakes - meaning the road layout will be very strange, with the uninitiated likely to lose their way. Madison is also the state capitol and, of course, you build the capitol on the highest hill between the lakes. That is where the Mad City Marathon started – on the State Capitol Square. Madison is also the home of the University of Wisconsin so the campus has some excellent lakefront routes to run through. Why is it the Mad City Marathon? If you grew up in Madison or even had a brief visit, you would understand – it is sort of like Tiger Town with mufflers. |
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The race day started out cool (lower 50s) and dry. The line of 20 or so port-o-lets looked like a luxurious number at about 6:45 am when there were a few hundred folks around. However, as the crowds swelled to well over 5000 so did the lines to the port-o-lets. The race starts were staggered with the marathon starting at 7:30 am, the half marathon at 7:38 am and the 10/5K at 7:46 am. Fortunately for some, the race was chip timed so their race started when they actually crossed the timing pads. Back to the lines – as 7:30 am started to approach the lines did not seem to shorten and quite a few of the marathoners and half marathoners were getting concerned. Despite this concern, it appeared that everyone made their start, although some were about 5 minutes late. What follows are the impressions of 3 racers that ran different races in Mad City. |
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Marathon (Enette Larson-Meyer) Mike and I decided to give the marathon a shot again. We had both ran Grandma’s in Duluth, MN, BC (before children). Mike had run a pair of 2:59s and I had run an acceptable 4:05 (he snuck an extra one in while I was pregnant). We, of course, had goals for Mad-City, Mike’s was under 3 hours and mine was under 4. And, as all good Club runners do, we recruited a few fellow Club members to join our efforts. Madelyn (aka MAD) agreed because it was HER marathon and Ryan agreed just in case there were cute girls. |
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Why the Mad-City? The University of Wisconsin (UW) is Mike’s medical school alma matter, Mike’s folks live about an hour a way in North Fond du Lac, and the city and university have a lot to offer. Madison has several microbreweries and an eclectic collection of restaurants (with lots of vegetarian options). UW’s union has a gorgeous view of Lake Mendota and the best ice cream in the World (sorry LSU). Unfortunately, Mike had hill amnesia (he claims that is because he did not have time to run in Medical School) so we signed up. Excitement was in the air the day before the marathon. We bumped into lost of nasally-sounding runners and attended a nice Health and Fitness expo. We skipped the pasta dinner and talk by Bart Yasso from Runners World to have dinner at The Great Dane Microbrewery. Don’t think this is where the trouble started, Mike and I had only one and Madlyn and Ryan refrained. We awoke the next morning only to find Starbucks and the hotel restaurant closed. Apparently, no one had suggested that they might get some early business that morning (after all, both were two blocks from the starting line). I settled for sharing two bananas with the twins, hoping to get some Gatorade at the starting line. No such luck. Nonetheless, the air was cool, I had plenty of gel and a volunteer told me there would be Gatorade starting at mile 4 or 5. |
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The course was beautiful, first skirting the southern shore of Lake Mendota and then heading through UW campus. A few miles after the half, it weaved through the Arboretum, around lake Wingra and finally along the west shore of lake Monona. Unfortunately, most of our group appreciated it only for the first 8 or 9 miles. Despite our vastly different times, our stories were similar. One minute we were caught up in race day excitement and feeling good, and then next minute we were feeling like crap. Mine hit somewhere between mile 9 and mile 10 despite my uneventful 18-week training plan that included two 20-milers, a 21-miler and near weekly tempo and 9-minute-mile pace runs. As I staggered up the huge hill to the 10-mile clock (just ahead of schedule), however, I knew I was in trouble. By the half, I was a few minutes behind and I allowed myself to walk at mile 14. Somewhere after mile 15, I gave in and just walked and ran, staggering in 4:32 something. The Louisiana group and our one representative Wisconsinite (Mike’s brother Mark who lives in Milwaukee) were all 20 to 30 minutes off of our goal - except for Madlyn whose goal was just to finish her marathon). We all walked a lot of the course. We had similar excuses. The hills were tough, the air was dry, our lungs were tight….and the Meyer kids had prevented everyone from a good night sleep (Darrell and Barb were lucky enough to be in another hotel). But we finished and there was to be food and microbrewery beer at the finish line. Trouble was, the food was gone by the time Madlyn and I struggled in. Mike, Mark and Ryan claimed “those 5K and half-marathoners must have pigged out” (thanks Darrell and Barb). The beer, as good as it looked, was not free and was not even appealing on a nauseous stomach. We were beat. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa were there to help with the kids. Would we do it again? Ask us in a few months. Would we recommend it? Sure, just do your hill repeats and don’t travel with the Meyer kids |
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Half marathon (Barb Dutrow) Finding myself in Madison, Wisconsin on marathon weekend, I signed up for the half marathon not feeling fully recovered from Big Sur. Madison is situated amongst four lakes, providing ample opportunity for scenic routes. Race morning dawned cool, clear, and dry, under a sunny sky. The starting line was downtown, near the steps of the State Capital, which was nearly overshadowed with lines from the port-o-lets. Racers took off fast, downhill, only to be lead into the many rolling hills. Most of the half marathon course weaved through residential neighborhoods, with a brief interlude into the University of Wisconsin campus, and around one of the lakes. There were so many turns, several hairpins, upramps and over roads, that I didn't feel like I could keep a consistent stride. |
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After feeling like there were so many turns, I returned to the Mad City Marathon website. In fact, the race course description lists 46 turns!!! However, running in the midst of the city brought out many spectators, bikers who stopped to watch, and all cheered encouragement (unlike some races where folks just watch in stunned amazement). The race was well supported with water stops, and well organized with the finish line in a local park (although they made you BUY beer at $4 per glass – thank you Mockler Beverage for support of CSR races). I finished in 1:35:28; 85/1336, for 8th overall female, 1st in the 45-49 age group. |
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5K (Darrell Henry) After watching the prior races start with varying degrees of grace, the 5 and 10K runners lined up for the 7:46 am start. The wait for the start was punctuated with several variations of “(expletive deleted) Let me through, I am running the half” as several runners frantically worked their way through the crowd. After that had settled, we started our own race by making a right turn and having a nice downhill run from the Capitol Square for about a half mile. As we approached a neighborhood near Lake Monona about a 1 mile into the race, the 10K folks split off, not to be seen for some time. The 5K runners ran another quarter mile and then had to do a 180 turn in the middle of the street (I hate those kinds of turns). The rest of the route was flat and fast with the course following the bike path along Lake Monona all the way into Olin Park and the finish line of all of the races. The route along the Lake took us past the Monana Terrace building which was a recently-built and controversial building based on a Frank Lloyd Wright design. During the run the temperatures were steadily climbing and were probably in the 70s when I finished, and I knew this was going to be tough for the long distance runners. Fortunately, I had a reasonable run (23:24) and finished 2nd in the 50-54 male division of the 5K – I was just fortunate that the real runners were doing the other races. |
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