I always try to take my birthday week off on vacation from work. For years I have been wanting to run the NYC marathon, but the lottery hasnt been kind to me. This year was no different. We still try to find races to do that same weekend and Charlotte fit into the schedule for this year. I had originally planned to run the full marathon for this race, but after a less than stellar training cycle over the summer and not hitting my goals for my 2 marathons leading up to Charlotte I decided to just run the half. The marathon had a strict 6 hour cut off and the way I've been racing this year I ultimately decided i wasn't comfortable having that sort of cut off pressure looming over me. I signed up for the half about 3 weeks before. Nothing like waiting until the last minute to decide. By that point we already had all the other lodging and travel arrangements in place. My significant other was also registered for the half. This year's race only had the full/half option, though I think there was a relay option in the past

We traveled into Charlotte by plane from our home state of Iowa. I was able to use miles to book our tickets out of our small regional airport arriving around 3pm on Thursday before the race. Rental car pickup was easy and we made it downtown(uptown as the locals call it) in record time. Actually a bit too early to check into our airbnb/vrbo apartment. My significant other did an excellent job at find a place in uptown that was about 3 blocks from the start, 1 block from the finish line and directly across from the park where the finish line party was going to be held. Downtown (uptown) was easy to navigate on foot and we parked the car for the rest of the day and ate and drank around the area. The following day was my birthday so we ventured out of downtown (uptown). To freedom park for a shakeout run. It was quite chilly that morning! I like it cooler for running, but my toes were freezing for the run. It was going to be only a little warmer for the half the following day so it was a good mental preparation shakeout to anticipate what to wear for the race. After heading back to the airbnb to clean up. It had warmed up a bit so We decided to just walk to the expo which was located at the Sheraton hotel about a mile from us. As we got closer the excitement began to build as we noted other people walking away with their packets and bibs. There seemed to be nearby street parking for free and there was a parking discount/validation right at the entrance to the expo. The expo was a bit small, but easy to navigate if you're into smaller expos. Signs stated to go to ANY counter to pick up your bib as numbers we're assigned on the spot and not predetermined like several races choose to do. This would become a minor issue later on, but more on that later. A short distance away was a different table where you could pick up your shirt which was a purple canvas style t-shirt this year boasting your
Chosen distance on the front. The expo was relatively small with 1 booth selling official merchandise and a few others selling last minute items like gels, belts, and socks. We were through the vendors in about 15 minutes or so before we exited. We walked back to the airbnb and hit up some places for my birthday including hibachi and sushi. We could see them setting up the finish line and race area from the parking garage. We had Thai and more sushi for dinner before settling in and getting our gear ready for the next day.

Woke up around 6am with the race starting at 720. Went back and forth on how many layers to throw on with the temperature starting in the mid 30s that morning. We were on a high floor of the building but you could see small waves of people coming from every direction heading towards the race start. Decided on leggings, tank. Long sleeve tech shirt and throwaway gloves and a pair of handwarmers. I brought a used space blanket with me too that I threw on top just in case. As soon we stepped outside around 655 I was glad to see or feel rather that it wasn't nearly as cold as the morning before. We made our way to the start line and noticed that people were going to the front of the line and trying to swim upstream to the slower start areas. This seemed unwise so I told my significant other that we needed to just go along the side of the corral and try to jump in further back. They weren't well marked, but there were areas to get in with pacers sprinkled throughout to estimate where to seed yourself. There was quite the log jam at these openings so we weren't actually able to make entry until the race started and people started moving forward. We crossed the start line at 723am. The first mile weaved through downtown (uptown)area passing down tryon street and several restaurants and shops and turning onto e. 4th where we ran for a while. My significant other and I were running together, but hadn't originally planned on it. We caught up to the 230 pacer in this stretch and they had a large group with them. We stuck with them for a half a mile or so before speeding up and continuing on ahead of them. There were some short climbs here and there. But nothing completely debilitating. There were scattered chunks of people cheering along the way and great sections of cheering at the water stops. My watch was just a smidge ahead of the mile markers, but that was expected with starting downtown with all the bigger buildings and the weaving early on. I urged my significant other to go ahead a few times especially when I walked some of the steeper hills, but he stayed with me until about 8.5 miles where I walked on an uphill section and he kept on running (bye Felicia!) I slowed down a little in this section with rolling hills and during a long slow climb just after the mile 10 marker. During the climb we could start to see downtown off to the right side up ahead, only to be teased and sent to the left to continue on a bit of an out and back through a neighborhood we would visit a few days later to grab some great coffee(wooden robot, check it out!). Finally we turned back towards downtown and I could hear the 2:30/5:00 pace group hot on my heals. The turn went straight into an uphill and I lost them. We went under the highway and the panthers stadium came into view on our left side. This was right about where the full marathon took a right turn to continue on for the next 13 ish miles. I was losing steam and was happy to know I wasn't doing the full. One more small climb and the oh so familiar finish chute gates came into view. They were a bit narrow. It would be one last turn before we saw the finish line and it opened up wider. I instantly thought about the marathoners and how crowded it would get for them in that final finishing chute with the slower half finishers coming through. Medals came shortly after the finish line and I got into a line forming for the post race goodies immediately after the medals. We were given a small reusable bag from Publix and you were able to fill it with the granola bars, water bottles, Gatorade and a few other snacks. A little past this area was a BBQ sandwich from a local place for the half and full finishers. There were a few vendors selling refreshments and the free beer area wasn't too far away in the park where the post race activities were being held. We stuck around for a few minutes before heading back to the room to shower and warm up a bit. We enjoyed a late breakfast at the famous toastery a few blocks away and saw more marathon finishers in the park enjoying the finish festival. We passed back by the park after eating and we were surprised to see the festivities were nearly shut down. They weren't joking about the strict cut off time! The area was very quickly torn down probably within an hour of the cutoff time. And most nearby streets were quickly reopened as well. Pictures were posted within 24 hours or so of finishing via email. Here's where the minor problems arose. We looked at our results and there was a bit of a mix up. My significant other's results showed up under my name. His results showed a nearly impossible sub 2 finish after running the first 8ish miles with me at an 1115 pace. There were a few numbers surrounding ours that seemed to have mixed up results as well. Not sure if there was a mix up in number/chip assignment at pickup. We emailed the race organizers and they were able to get it all cleared up within about 1.5 weeks post race. We were able to go to a panthers game the following day and easily walked to the stadium. The team kind of sucks, but it was a fun experience with all the fans. If you're looking for a city race in Charlotte area, I would recommend this one. Youre always running with other people and lots of spectators to help you through the hilly sections. Everything was well run and very convenient for an out of town runner.

Pre race: I signed up for this race about a month before. I didn't know much about the race or really much about Cheyenne wyoming other Than it being the capital of Wyoming. My significant other and I had a trip planned to Jackson hole the next weekend where I was already signed up for the full marathon. Welp I need a half in Wyoming too why not knock them both out over the course of 6 days!

I'm constantly on the internet looking at ways i can fit in a race when I have my 48 hours off lined up well. Normally it's a drivable distance, but I'm running out of states with a reasonable drive over the weekend. Ive looked at flights in and out the next day, but they typically leave too early, leave too late or are unreasonably expensive. I looked for races on Sept 18th and came across Cheyenne half marathon. Definitely not drivable from home in Iowa, but the airport an hour from me had a direct flight for 200$ to Denver, CO which was only an additional 90 minutes drive to Cheyenne. Wow. Maybe I can pull this off. Price of the race when I registered a few weeks out was 85$ with about 8$ in signup fees.

I was still working on Fri night the 16th into Saturday morning, getting off at 8am.

* Did my typical shakeout before traveling the hour to the airport. This airport is super easy to navigate and I've never waited more than 5 minutes in the TSA line. Next up was the 2 ish hour flight to Denver. We landed a. Little late but I had plenty of buffer time to make it to packet pickup by 6pm. That was until I got to the rental car pickup and the line was literally out of the door with only 2 agents assisting customers. I Iiterally watched time tick by on my phone panicking as my buffer became non existent.

The website mentioned mailing packets being an option, but but the time I registered that was no longer within the mail cut off limits. Website didn't mention anything about race day packet pickup which I know a lot of races don't do. I took a chance and emailed the race director knowing there was a good chance they wouldn't read it. I finally obtained my rental car and may have made about the fastest time driving from Denver to Cheyenne. I hadn't even eaten at this point since leaving home that morning, but I figured maybe if I go straight to the packet pickup location there might still be someone there so I could race in the morning. I got there about 640pm and saw someone inside. It was the race director and I nearly cried tears of joy when she said she could give me my packet tonight and I could pick up my bib in the morning before the race. The whole drive up I kept imagining that I had spent this money to end up not racing. Race director was kind enough to show me a map and give me the general idea of where the start was and how to get around in the morning. Packet included a tech style baby blue short sleeved race shirt and some sample packs of a few items.

I headed to my hotel the red lion hotel which was the partner hotel about 10 minute drive. This hotel had a shuttle in the morning for racers and was a Phone call away for post race. Hotel wasn't too fancy, but it was one of the cheaper ones in the area and provided all the basics including a late checkout with request.

*This hotel also provided a shuttle race morning which was super helpful since I traveled solo and didn't want to worry about carrying my rental car keys(no bag check). There was a sign up at the front desk for a shuttle leaving at 615am that i put my name on. I had my traditional pre race meal of a burger and pancakes and indulged in my new favorite of crumbl cookie flavor of the week. This was in a commercial area 10-15 minute drive from the hotel. Lots of chain restaurants, a mall and target and Walmart along this strip. I grabbed some extra water and Gatorade to make sure I was hydrated for the elevation to my body on short notice.

*the next morning I woke up around 520am to get ready. I debated just driving myself and carrying my keys since I didn't know how late they would be handing out bibs at the start line with the full starting at 630. I ultimately decided to take the shuttle van and eliminate worries of losing the keys. Me and 2 others were on the 610 van ride. One of the guys on the bus was running the full. Shuttle driver for the hotel was awesome and got us to the start line in a record breaking 9 minutes. I was concerned for the full marathon runner😂. But he made it in time even for a short warm up. I noticed people were parked along the grass just a stones throw away from the start line. The line was long when we pulled up and instructions said people needed to be parked by 625am because traffic would be closed off once the full started. The race was located at Archer recreation complex. The course was pretty straightforward for the half making a large rectangular loop back to the start area. I can't speak on the full course, but seeing their signs along the way made me a bit confused of the route.

The full marathon started at 630 am promptly and although the weather was a perfectly cool 49° I was happy to not be running the full that morning. There were about 50-60 full runners and 3 pacers sprinkled in at various finish times. Some of the 5k runners were there early and the other half runners were all in the area around the start line and port a potties. The race director made some announcements that were difficult to hear starting in the back of the pack. There were a few pacers in the half start area 2:30 being the last one. The race started at 7am and we were off!

The first part of the race was on gravel which I thought was going to be temporary until we got to the roads. The gravel lasted about the first 3.5- 4 miles with some steeper climbs built in. I dont think i was expecting that much gravel so it slowed me down a bit. Not to mention the elevation difference from my flat land home was taking my breath away. I heard some ladies who were more local comment about the race course changing and that it used to go through downtown Cheyenne. There was a brief section of paved trail around 4 miles that lead to hereford ranch which the race director had mentioned was one of the oldest ranches in the country. The next 4.5 miles were on a paved road closed off to traffic on one side and light vehicle traffic on the other side. There were wide open spaces and clear skies meant you could see for miles. I was able to pick up some time here even with the small rolling hills. The paved road meant that I didn't need to watch my footing as much. Water stations were about every 1.5-2 miles and easy to access and well stocked. Some of the later stations had some much welcomed candy and treats to nosh on. With about 5k left to go we returned to more gravel roads. I stopped at the aid station to tape up a blister that had started to nag me. Volunteers were super helpful with getting me gauze and tape and sending me on my way.

The recreation complex was in sight, but there would be one more nasty climb before we could get back to the finish line. After cresting the last hill the last aid station came into view. I snagged a reeses peanut butter cup from the station as I finished catching my breath. Blister was still annoying me, but manageable as I shuffled across the finish line to half state number 31.

Enthusiastic volunteers were cheering for me and everyone else as I crossed the finish line. A medal with a brown ribbon was adorned on my neck and a room temperature bottle of water was handed to me. I sat in the closed off road just past the finish line and stretched out while watching others triumphantly cross the finish line of their own half and full marathons.

After about 30 minutes of stretching and cheering on other finishers and chatting with other runners I made my way over to the finish line festival about a 10th of a mile away. I got in line for the food truck. Suddenly the food truck announced that they were out of food. Noone in line budged so I thought I misheard them. Nope. Alas it was true. They had run out of food. This was disappointing as even though im a slower runner, the majority of marathoners had not finished at that point. And a good chunk of half marathoners were still finishing up. I sat down at one of the nearby tables and listened to awards. I heard a guy go up and use his food voucher for an ice cold water while the food truck was making the remainder of the meals already ordered. I decided to do the same and handed over my food voucher from my bib for an ice cold water, sitting back down to listen to awards for the 5k and half.

The race director stopped the awards and made a special announcement. She apologized profusely for the food running out and explained that she had called the other food truck the night before and she had confirmed that they were coming for the post race festivities. The second food truck had not shown up despite just speaking with them the night before. The director announced however that she had made a deal with a concession stand In the event center across the street and that they would be accepting people's bib food vouchers over there. Damn. I had already used mine for the water. I called the hotel shuttle to get a ride back so I could get in a shower and head back.

* I watched more awards as I waited for the shuttle van. Race director announced a few more times during the awards about the food change of plans and apologized for the inconvenience for the marathoners to walk all the way across the street for food as more of them continued to cross the finish line.

My shuttle arrived and I headed back to the hotel ready for a shower and a long day of traveling back home. In order to make this trip more cost effective, I returned my rental car after 1 day of use. This meant getting to the airport around 3pm with my flight not being

*until 820pm. Not ideal but Denver Airport is an interesting Airport to spend 5 hours in. Look it up if you haven't heard about the conspiracy theories out there. Plus it was super busy so lots of people watching. Really wanted to sleep on the flight back since I had to drive an hour back home and still be to work at 730am Monday. I even paid a little extra to move from my middle seat to a window seat with the hopes of some restful slumber. Alas twas not meant to be. Slept all of 5 minutes. Got home, after driving , a little after midnight.

I wish I could have run this race when it went through downtown area. Those types of races are much more interesting to me. I'm glad I did this and I was able to knock off a half marathon state in about 34 hours of my 48 off shift. I would reccomend this race if you're looking for a half close to Denver in Wyoming. I personally think Jackson hole is more scenic. But much less cost effective. Look for that review soon!

I found this race in a search for a last minute distance race that was closeby to me. I debated up until the Wednesday before between this race and Madison half marathon and ultimately decided on Capital pursuit since it was about 1.5 hours closer and I had never done a 10 mile race before. I was able to register online very easily through the website.

The race takes place in Des Moines, Iowa. According to the results of previous years, the race has historically taken place in mid September. This year the race was held in mid November. Unsure if covid was the reasoning for the move. Mid November in the Midwest can be a bit unpredictable weather wise and I was closely watching the forecast daily and becoming discouraged as the temperature kept dropping and the wind speed keep increasing. The race was scheduled to start at 9am and the weather was forecasted to be 31° with 17mph winds. The race was held on a Sunday morning.

I was able to find a cheap airbnb close to downtown des Moines where the race starts. I've been to des Moines countless times for races and for leisure. I made my way into town around 5pm. The website listed packet pickup at a local running/fitness store, but I opted to do morning of pickup so I could take my time visiting my regular stops like zombie burger downtown. While I was in the area I checked out the start area right by the Pappajohn Sculpture Park where I could already see Porta potties lined up. The pre race emails informed us that parking was free in downtown on Sundays and suggested a nearby parking garage where people could park.

There was a light rain on Saturday night and the wind speed kept picking up overnight. I woke up Sunday morning questioning my life decisions and also debating how many layers to wear. I ultimately decided on three top layers, two layers of gloves, leggings and a buff to cover my face in the wind. I grabbed a hot coffee at a local coffee place called Smokey Row hoping it would warm me up for the cold race. I got to the downtown area hoping to park at the ramp. I instead found some street parking a block away from the start line! Score! Now I could wait in my warm car until a few minutes before the race. I grabbed my bib and shirt from packet pickup and rushed back to my warm car until about 10min before the race start.

The race started at 9am sharp after a singing of the national anthem. The 5k and the 10 mile started at the same time so it was hard to seed myself in the group of about 250 people. We took off towards downtown and weaved through downtown for a few Miles before separating from the 5k about 2 miles in. Several of the turns through downtown were familiar as we ran these same streets in the Des Moines full and half marathon. Once we separated from the 5k the numbers definitely dwindled. But my body was finally thawing. We made our way up a street that was a slow climb and not very scenic. Then we took a left hand turn and started heading towards drake University. Some more familiar streets that were also on the IMT Des Moines marathon route. There were some nice houses to look at along this stretch. We crossed over the highway and made our way to grand Ave which was about a 2 mile downhill to the finish line. An announcer stumbled over my name as usual and I was handed a medal as I crosses the finish line. There were three or 4 water stations along the route but I didn't personally utilize any of then due to it being so cold and a shorter race.

A few steps away was a table packed with post race food! I was surprised to see the selection for a smaller race. Krispy Kreme donuts, cookies. Milk, water, Gatorade, energy drink sample, and a snack box with pretzels, sunflower seeds, fruit snacks, and a granola bar. I sat down for a few minutes to watch the kids dash and a few people who finished after me then I made my way the 1/3 of a mile back to my car by that point I was freezing cold again. Was able to take a nice hot shower at the airbnb and then did some shopping and drove the hour 45 minutes home. There was a post race at a local brewery with a free beer ticket for runners but I'm not much of a drinker and still had to drive home so I opted out of this

This was a nice low key race to knock out a longer run. A good training run for IMT des Moines in October if this race moves back to September. There were a few climbs, that might not be much to people who train better on hills than me. I likely won't run it again since I'm trying to run all 50 states. I would recommend it to others though.

The big sky marathon was not a race I was familiar with at all. My significant other came across this race in an internet search for races in mid-July where we both had some time off of work. Typically the options for distance races in July are understandably slim. I can’t say that July is my first choice, or even 11th choice on months during year when I want to run a full marathon, but when you’re trying to do a half and a full marathon in all 50 states sometimes you gotta run in less than ideal conditions. We started making plans to run this race and visit Yellowstone Park since it was a short drive away. Registration on their website was simple and straightforward and around 100$ which is pretty standard, if not cheap for a full marathon anymore.

PRE-RACE
The race advertises itself as not being a “pansy ass big city race.” The race is made for 50 staters, marathon maniacs and half fanatics. There is a race called the Madison marathon the day before big sky with half and full marathon options. I did not participate in the Madison day before. The race starts around 8500 ft with around 3600 ft of elevation drop it also boasts itself as being one of the largest downhill road marathons. I’ve run a few Revel downhill marathons, so I was expecting a similar setting for this race. I scoured the internet for reviews and could not find many reviews. I kept joking with my significant other that he had no idea what he got us into. The race website mentions that since its not like big city races that aid stations are very limited and you should carry what you need for support to get you to the finish line. I’m used to running, and love big city races so this was a big change for me. I purchased and started training with a hydration pack during the last few weeks of training. This would turn out to be a necessity!

We started looking at flights, hotels and a rental car for the trip. We were Flying into Bozeman airport which is a little over an hour away from the race location in Ennis, MT. *WARNING: rental cars are super expensive from this airport during this time of year. Apparently everyone wants to go to Yellowstone during the summer months😂. * our rental car for 5 days was going to cost over 2000$ for a basic economy option. I was willing to throw away the race registration fee at that point and just not go. 2K for just a car is not reasonable to me by any standards. Luckily we found a cheaper option on Turo and could begin booking the rest of our trip. We stayed at the red bear inn right in downtown ennis, and about 10-15 minute drive from the bus pickup location We noticed after the race that several other participants stayed there as well. Speaking of bears, pre-race emails made several mentions on warnings of grizzly bears and bringing bear spray. And to also be on the lookout for Great Pyrenees dogs protecting their territory and instructions on what to do if we encountered one. Oh my what did I get myself into?!

RACE MORNING:
We got up dark and early and started getting ready. The weather was looking to be less than ideal by the end of the race. But was going to start in the high 50s and low 60’s at the top of the race. Wildfires this year caused a steady Smokey haze to permeate the Big Sky. My significant other was running the half and I was running the full. We both filled our hydration packs with ice, cold water and various gels and chews. We got in and drove the short drive to where the buses pickup location was. Part of the road that we drove in on is the last 8 out and back miles of the marathon Parking was pretty simple. This is a relatively small race between both distances. This ain’t no pansy big city race so no expo and no fanfare. We picked up our bibs, safety pins, T-shirt and matching drawstring bags and boarded our separate buses for the slow bumpy ride up to the start line. The full bus had about 50 people on it. The buses follow pretty much the first 18 miles of the race course in reverse. Narrow gravel roads cause this to be about an hour drive. The sun started to come up during the drive creating excitement amongst the riders. Listening to conversations on the bus, a few people had done the race the day before. Other people talked about their upcoming marathons and their past races. One lady exclaimed that she brought the bear spray and to call out to her during the race if you needed it. About 5 miles before the race start area, the half marathon bus behind us stopped. There were no porta potties I’m sight. My significant other later told me that the half start area did not have any bathrooms and that people were scurrying off into the tree lined areas to relieve themselves pre-race. The full bus trucked on to our start area. People raced off the bus excited to use the 2 available toilets at our start line. The bumpy ride must have shaken things out of everyone. The small group self seeded ourselves and we started the race at the sound of the race directors count.

RACE:
The race starts off on the road we just drove up. Gravely but even. There were views on either side, but the Smokey Air was tainting them. The sun was out, but it wasn’t hot...yet. Most people had on hydration packs or belts. The small group quickly thinned out and I was basically running by myself. The first few miles are a slight downhill. The gravel began to get a little less even after a few miles and I was walking more and more out of fear of twisting an ankle. I’m not a trail runner for this very reason. There were large sections of chunky gravel where I didn’t feel comfortable running. My water on my back stayed cool for awhile. Along the road you could see the limited water stops every 3-5 miles or so. The water stops consisted of probably 5-10 gallon jugs on the side of the gravel road. By the time I got to one I actually wanted to use, it was completely empty. The course became more of a downhill after about 5 miles in. It wasn’t the easy breezy speedy downhill I had been anticipating, it was downhill but still the chunky gravel where I was afraid to go too fast a lose my footing. I leap frogged a few people back and forth, but was mostly running solo the whole time. I did spend some miles off and on with a wonderful lady named Gail from Alabama. You can see why this place is called big sky, I’d imagine in non Smokey conditions you could see for miles like the sky and mountains just never ended. After about 14 miles the biggest portion of the downhill ended and it started getting warm.

The race is now out in the open with no shade and the temperatures rising into the 70s and 80s. There were ranches and farmland that we passed by and a gentle flowing stream to the right that I may have considered jumping into around mile 16. The gravelly road continues and follows the same path as the half marathon to their finish line. The full marathon is teased though since this is only mile 18 and we still had 4 miles out and 4 miles back on a long stretch of gravel road with no shade and temperatures tipping into the 90s. My significant other finished his race, went back to shower and came back to wait for me to finish. He also brought me the most refreshingly cold Gatorade which was amazing since my water on my back was now warm and Mostly empty. He drove off and I continued on the death march of the last 7 miles. Every once in awhile a car would pass by me leaving the area because they had finished their race. I was so jealous! Everyone was very encouraging as they left! I passed by the woman Gail from before and she instructed her husband who was driving nearby to give me cold water. Another welcome refresher. My cell phone was just starting to get some intermittent signal long enough to play some of my favorite tunes as I cross the finish line.

POST RACE:
The race director was there to hand out my medal and record my finish time(no chip timing). It was my slowest marathon to date. Partially due to undertraining. Partially due to conditions and weather . No official finish line to cross no fanfare. Remember this ain’t no pansy city race! There were some warm bottles of water left over in a truck. No post race food. We got in the car and went back to our room in ennis for a refreshing shower. Lunch options ended up being limited in town most likely due to lingering covid restrictions. We spent the day in town walking around some of the parks and headed to West Yellowstone the next morning. A scenic drive with slightly less smoke in the air!

Overall this was a very limited support race with nothing extra and less than ideal conditions in July. If you’re okay with running alone, possible bear sighting, bringing your own supplies, and a road run that feels like a trail run, then this is the race for you. I’ll be mostly sticking to the pansy city races personally.