Grandma’s Marathon: Elite excitement & expo

My experience as an elite athlete at Grandma's Marathon was truly unlike any I've had before!  I can see why many runners return to this event year after year.  I was honored to receive an elite entry, especially because this race boasted many true elites, including eventual winner Kellyn Taylor, who is now the 7th fastest ever American female marathoner.

I received helpful email communication from the elite coordinator leading up to the race, including hotel and travel information, weekend schedules, and documents detailing the elite packet pick-up, bottle procedures, buses to the starting line, and post-race events. This added to my pre-race excitement, although it was also intimidating!

Hospitality room

Jon, Albani, and I arrived in Duluth late-morning on Friday, just a half hour after my parents arrived.  There was a media luncheon offered to elite entrants on Friday, but since we were unsure what time we would arrive, I didn't want to commit to attending.  We checked into our hotel upon arrival, then walked to the convention center, which was probably around a mile from our hotel via a skywalk (this was extremely helpful since it rained much of the time we were in town)!  We went straight to the elite hospitality room, where I picked up my packet and dropped off my bottles to be placed on the course.  I was so excited that I would NOT have to carry my gels in my shorts!  While there, we talked with my coach and his wife, who was an elite entrant in the half marathon.  Albani enjoyed the snacks that everyone else was passing up (there was also fruit, bagels, baby carrots with dip, bars, etc. and several drink options).

Fueling like a future elite, hah!  I think it's
clear that Jon was supervising her when she
filled this plate.

I placed these at 5 (gel), 9, 13 (gel), 15, 19 (gel), 22, & 24

From there we took a brief look around the main expo, then hopped onto a bus tour of the course that was complimentary with my elite badge.  I also met up with Michelle in line for the bus.  As we were waiting to board the bus, a significant storm rolled in.  The course tour was not that informative because of the heavy rain; it was difficult to see much of anything.  It was fun to hear the driver's commentary and I tucked away a few bits of information about Lemon Drop hill and the final miles.  Otherwise it was just a bus driving straight into a torrential downpour of grayness!

Main expo

I needed the sign my mom has at Bass Pro 2016!

We talked often during our training cycles,
which made sharing race day extra fun

After the course tour we ended up going back to the elite room to pick up passes for the other members of my family to attend the post-race VIP reception.  My timing worked out well, because I met up with Nichole there.  We'd connected several months ago, and both have the long-term goal of running the OTQ standard for 2020, but also both felt like we weren't quite there for Grandma's.  We planned to start out together around 6:30 pace, and it was great to meet her in person beforehand.

Marathon signs were everywhere!

Then I headed back to our hotel with Jon and Albani, and my parents headed back to their RV.  Our hotel had a race hospitality room too, and we stocked up on fruit and Clif bars wherever we went.  Marathon excitement was truly wherever we went as well!  I prepared all of my race gear, foam rolled, did legs up the wall, and rested a bit in the hotel room while Jon took Albani swimming.  We ate dinner in our hotel room and were in bed by 9:00 p.m.!

My Golden Ticket for the weekend!