Wisconsin Marathon/Kalamazoo Marathon - 2/3 May 2015 - The Mittens Challlenge

Mittens Challenge

Wisconsin Marathon - 2 May 2015 - Kenosha, WI
3:43:31 Chip
128/762 Overall and  14/62 M40-44
Third 26.2 of 2015 and 24th Career 26.2
14 US State and 30th Career Marathon/Ultra

Kalamazoo Marathon - 3 May 2015 - Kalamazoo, MI
3:56:11 Chip and 3:56:43 Gun
102/503 Overall and 17/48 M40-44
Fourth 26.2 of 2015 and 25th Career 26.2
15 US State

166.8 Miles Raced in 2015

I had seen the Mittens Challenge advertised on the Marathon Maniacs webpage back in 2014 and the Wisconsin Marathon/Kalamazoo Marathon double appealed to me.  It fit nicely into heavy block of work-up training for my spring long ultra and it was within driving distance from Toronto.

Wisconsin Marathon Pre-Race.  My key concern heading into the weekend's races was the state of my ankle after having suffered a moderate sprain in a fall at the Pick Your Poison 50K the weekend before.  Luckily for me ice, rest. compression and Motrin worked and I was off to Kenosha. I spread the drive down to Kenosha over two days, leaving Toronto right after work on Thurs, stopped over night just past Lansing MI and finished the drive for midday on Fri.  Packet pick-up was held at the Best Western in downtown Kenosha but there wasn't really an expo. 

Wisconsin Marathon Start Line

 

Wisconsin Marathon Race Day. Race morning dawned bright and a little cool. I drove to the race and found parking relatively nearby easily.  The race has an early 7am start and although it wasn't corralled the start line wasn't really packed and the start was much better then many races I've run in terms of congestion.  My plan for race day was to find a comfortable groove just under 8:30/mile pace and stick with it. The course was very flat with only 233 total feet of elevation gain for the complete course.  I found a comfortable pace for the first small loop of downtown and then headed north along Lake Michigan with a turn-around just after 8 miles when we headed south again.  The half-marathon headed for home just after we crossed the downtown again.  I found I had a bit of a lull from 11-14 miles but soon after got back in rhythm.  The south leg of the course ran through the lakefront homes of Pleasant Prairie before turning around just north of the Wisconsin/Illinois state line just after 19 miles.  The day had started to heat up soon after 9 am and the last few miles were definitely warm.  By mile 22, I was pretty confident that I'd get a sub 3:45 and eased up for a few miles to save my legs a little for Sunday before a good push for the last mile.  My ankle although a little sore was never really a negative factor in Kenosha.  After finishing, I enjoyed a nice recovery brat and beer.  Link to Garmin Connect. 

Race Done, where's the brat and beer

Transition.  After meeting a few Marathon Maniacs and 50 Sub 4 members after the race, I headed back to my hotel, showered and got on the road for Kalamazoo.  I decided to gamble on driving through downtown Chicago in hopes that on a Saturday afternoon it would proved faster than the Tri-State Toll way but I think I lost that gamble.  I finally pulled into my hotel in Kalamazoo around 7:30 pm , grabbed some dinner, got ready for Sunday's race and got to bed.

Mittens Challenge Runners
Photo - Steve Walters

Kalamazoo Marathon Race Day.  Sunday was another very bright day. The race's website had given me some concern about parking and I made sure to arrive extra early, scoring a parking spot less than 100 yards from the Start/Finish Line. I picked up my race packet at the Mittens Challenge tent and made sure to make the Mittens Picture.  The race gun was at 8am and it was a little more congested than Wisconsin but not too bad.  It took the first couple of miles before I was able to loosen up and get into a groove around 8:40-9:00/mile pace. The race started east of the city and first few miles were downhill toward the Kalamazoo river and downtown.  After crossing downtown, we hit West Michigan University where the course took on a more rolling nature for the next ten miles or so.  We dropped back into the valley after the 16 mile point for about six more miles.  The temperatures on Sunday were a little warmer than on Saturday and hit 75F (24C) by noon.  By the 16 miles some of the runner's were starting to show the effect of the heat although I was OK until around 21 miles by which time my ankle was also really starting to throb as well.  After that it was a tough grind back to the finish, with some more rolling terrain thrown in for good measure and I finished just under 4 hours.  I found the rolling Kalamazoo course ran very similar to Mississippi Blues in Jackson MS, Flying Pig in Cincinnati OH and Route 66 in Tulsa OK.  After a little bit of recovery, it was back to the hotel and the long, sore drive to Toronto.  Link to Garmin Connect. 



The last 5 miles were tough

Mittens Complete

Bling and Travel.  Bling from the Wisconsin Marathon included the normal shirt and medal, a head band and for the "mitteneers" a pair of mittens while at Kalamazoo there was a second medal for completing challenge.  I drove from Toronto to Kenosha, Kalamazoo and return which very achievable for a three day trip.  I booked my hotels late and I ended up staying Gurnee IL since many Kenosha WI hotels were full.  The Kalamazoo hotels were similarly full since the race overlapped with Western Michigan University grad. 

Final Thoughts.  I really enjoyed completing the Mittens Challenge.  It was great opportunity to meet and catch up with many Marathon Maniacs and 50 Sub 4 members including Steve W, Cade R, Glen A and Jenn H.  Now it's back to the trails again for this weekends Seaton "Soaker" 50K on the Seaton Trail in Pickering ON.

Toronto based coaching staff modeling the bling