Geezing – verb, the act of retelling stories, usually starting with the phrase “back in my days” or “back then”.
I ran my first marathon in 1993. In May 1996, I headed west to run two marathons in two states, just 8 days apart.
Back then, not every state had a marathon. Kentucky did not host one until 2002. Brent Weigner was a pioneer in running a marathon in each state. He was a teacher in Cheyenne and, in 1978, founded the Wyoming Marathon, the first in that state.
The race included a 50-mile and a marathon option. Both races started in Laramie, heading toward Cheyenne. The 50-mile race finished at the bottom of the state capital steps. The marathon finished on the side of the road where the distance was complete.
Laramie is at 7165 feet, and Cheyenne is at 6086.
I ran the race on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend in 1996.
The internet was in its infancy. I don’t recall if I found race information online or if I needed to mail away a request for information and an entry form. I know I mailed in an entry.
Race information included a course description and the locations of aid stations. There were no race-supported aid stations. Our personal race crew could meet us anywhere on the course.
My brother and mother were living in Greely. Colorado. They were my crew for the event. I flew into Denver on Thursday, and we drove to Laramie on Friday.
The weather on race morning was ideal for marathon running. It was cloudy, and the temperatures were in the 40s. There was a chance of a passing shower.
I ran a mile warmup. If you’ve run at elevation, you know that in the first mile, you think you are going to die, breathing harder than usual. That day was no exception. After that first mile, your body becomes accustomed to the stress and you get more comfortable.
The race started near the University of Wyoming, and the first couple of miles were in town. The next six miles climbed 1300 feet on Interstate 80. We used the emergency lane facing traffic.
Heading up the hill, there were a few sprinkles of rain. My brother had driven ahead to the next exit and came back downhill to a roadside turnoff. When I reached him, he informed me of the snow at the top of the pass.
Fortunately, the shoulder was wide enough that the spray from speeding downhill trucks did not reach me. Sure enough, before reaching the summit, the rain changed to a nice wet snow.
The exit off the interstate was at 8,640 feet, the highest point on that coast-to-coast road. The exit took the route onto Happy Jack Road, a less-traveled road that extended into Cheyenne. The final 17 miles of the course stayed on this road.
After reaching the summit, the snowfall stopped, leaving 3 inches of slush and snow on the road to the finish.
There were posts marking every mile. Rather than my crew driving next to me, I asked them to drive to the next post and wait.
Except for wet feet, the run on the road was easier, as it was mostly downhill. The only issues I had were the nice drivers. There were worn paths on the pavement where a car would usually drive, with slush between the tracks. Approaching me, most drivers would slide to the left, spraying slush.
Just after 26 miles, I could see a finish chute in the ditch to my left. There was no cheering crowd, loud music, or refreshments. At the race start, we were informed that we could decide which race distance to run. If we stopped at the marathon finish, we would be included in the marathon results.
This was my best placing in a marathon, with a sixth overall finish and fourth in the 30-39 year old age group. They only gave age group awards.
The 49th edition of the race will be held on May 24, 2026. The course changed before 2000. The current course is off-road on gravel and single-track trails in the Medicine Bow National Forest. It begins near the Interstate 80 summit and descends for 35 kilometers before returning west for the final 7 kilometers. The current races provide on-course aid and include a half-marathon option.
In 2025, there were 23 finishers with a winning time of 4:26, compared to 15 in 1996.
Geezing is a derivative of the word geezer, as in old geezer.
Brent Weigner has completed a marathon in every country that hosts one. In the late 90s, there was no marathon entirely in the District of Columbia. He convinced the DC Road Runners to host a January race using 8.5 laps of Haines Point. I ran it twice. That’s a story for another day.