They could have come up with a better name for this marathon. Something creative, like Hiawatha Marathon.
The race was managed by Mainly Marathons, which hosts 13 week-long series across the country comprised of 70 days of racing.
The Prairie Series consists of 8 days, one each in Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota. `I need Kansas, Nebraska, and North Dakota as three of four states to complete all 50. North Dakota’s race was not until Thursday, May 18, which conflicts with the Historic Half. So, I planned to run the Kansas and Nebraska races.
I was well prepared to run a good marathon. I planned to run the Kansas race for a good finish time and see what happens in Nebraska.
The Kansas race was in Hiawatha, a small town 40 miles west of Saint Joseph, Missouri. Saint Joseph is where many Oregon Trail wagon trains organized and started their trek. Because Hiawatha is small, I stayed in the Hampton Inn in Saint Joseph and had to leave at 4:30 am to drive to the race.
The forecast for the day varied on the days leading to the race. The prediction at 4 am on race morning was 62 degrees, with cloudy skies from 6 am until noon. With the 6 am start, I hoped to finish around 10:30 am.
The course was 18 out-and-back laps with 7 feet of elevation gain per lap. Unfortunately, the race surface was 100% concrete and only 20% shaded.
If I could maintain 15 minutes per lap, that would be a 4:30 finish, 16 minutes, 4:48.
My overnight readiness score was 96%. So, I was rested. I planned to go out at a comfortable pace and see what my expected finish time could be.
Being a multiple-lap course, I was allowed a tub on the drink table with replacement drink bottles. I wore my single-bottle belt. So I could walk while drinking.
Before the race, I mixed four bottles of UCAN energy and two bottles of UCAN hydrate. I would finish a bottle every three laps. Also, I included a bottle of spray SPF 50 sunblock in my tub.
I planned to walk for 2 minutes at the beginning of each lap.
I wore shorts over compression shorts, a singlet, a ball cap, and my Saucony Triumph 20 shoes. I did not put on any sunblock with the sun behind clouds.
The first lap was 15:30, a little slower than I felt I could run but still in the desired range.
During the second lap, I started feeling the effects of the concrete. Concrete is six times harder than asphalt. Shoes take part of the shock. Asphalt takes some, too. On the second lap, I started feeling the pounding in my legs. My second lap time was 15:35.
On lap 3, the sun peeked out from the clouds, so I sprayed on some sunblock when I changed bottles.
By the sixth lap, I noticed the long sections of ups on the route that did not impact me in the earlier laps. My legs were losing their bounce.
The rain started on lap 8 for a couple of laps. I went through the half-marathon in 2:23:13 or 15:55 per lap, but I was not feeling great.
I changed my walk pattern to walk the ups and run the downs. I’d wait for the first uphill in a lap to drink.
My pace slipped from 16:46 in lap 10 to 23:01 in lap 16.
During that time, the sun came out on lap 13. I sprayed on more sunblock before lap 14 and lap 17.
In the last three laps, my left foot started rubbing. I didn’t get a blister, just irritation and swelling. Also, I noticed my fingers were swollen, a sign of low sodium with excess water filling up my cells.
With lap 16 being so slow, I walked the last two laps in 24:10 and 23:37 for a second half of 3:03:52.
I thought I applied enough sunblock, but I did get a little burnt. I didn’t realize the temperature had risen to 80 degrees.
My finish time was 5:27:05 for sixth overall.
This marathon was my 82nd in my 47th state. I’ve finished a marathon or longer race for my 31st consecutive year. As for my favorite race list, it falls near the bottom.
The organizers provided a starter medal with hooks on the bottom to attach a finisher medal.
Looking at my FitBit heart recordings, I never reached 85% of max but 182 minutes over 60%.
After the race, I drove 4 hours north to Sioux City for the next day’s marathon in Nebraska.
A side note about Mainly Marathons: When I had my A-Fib issue last fall, I had to skip two of their races, Nebraska and North Dakota. I didn’t ask for a refund but a discount for future races. Their policy gave me a 100% credit for the two races this May—an excellent company to patronize.