Twin Cities Marathon 2010 (watching, not running)

SteveQ pointed this way to possibly a better report than his. Sorry folks, there won't be too much to read here today.

I got really early to meet my friend BC in Highland Park at 6:30am. Our (my) plan was to get over to the St. Thomas hill before 7:30 in order to see the leaders of the TC-10. I got to BC's house and unloaded my bike. I saw BC and realized right away that all we were missing was a sheep. :-) BC was wearing Wellies and a Kilt. I lived long enough in the UK to know that those were two out of three ingredients to many jokes. Like I said, all we were missing was a sheep.

We hopped on our bikes and stopped for coffee on the way. It was a nice, crisp ride up to St. Thomas and we found a sweet spot to watch the race. It wasn't too long before SteveQ walked up and we chatted for a long time and before we knew it, here were the TC-10 elite women runners. Katie McGregor was #1 or #2. She looked strong and ended up with a win. Not long after, the guys came through. I didn't recognize the leaders. Just under 30 minutes in, we saw SteveS and he looked to be on pace for his sub-60. Way to go Steve!

I was able to see most of my friends running the TC-10 and they all looked good. The weather was great for racing and we had a great spot to watch the runners. I think we stayed until nearly all of the TC-10 runners had passed and it was time to leave SteveQ and get refills on coffee.

For the TC marathon, the lead wheelchair racers were already through by the time we got back to our 'spot'. For the marathon, we found a cozy spot in the sun and it was just a fantastic day to be out and watch the marathon. I hung out with SteveQ as well as my running friends BC, and Julie, Hannah, and Tom. It was cool and sunny and perfect. I would have missed running in it but I just ran in a marathon last Saturday. Therefore, I didn't feel like I was missing anything by not running it.

During the marathon I also saw most of my running friends, some were heading to new PR's, some for Boston Qualifiers, and some were NOT having great running days and would be not meeting their goals today. Well, meeting goals or not meeting goals, I know my running friends will be lacing up their shoes soon enough and will be hitting the running paths, working towards that next goal.

Anyways, CONGRATS to ALL that ran, and THANKS to all that volunteered this weekend. I will be watching the TCM again, one year from now, from the same spot at 21.5 miles into your race. I really enjoyed watching both races! See you next year.

--Mark

p.s. I have mentioned my training partners a few times this Summer. Michelle, Aileen, and I all trained for a 3:40 marathon. Michelle and Aileen both ran the TCM and it came down to how things went 'that day'. Aileen beat her goal of 3:40 with a 3:37:40 and near-ideal splits of 1:48:34/1:49:06. Michelle did not meet her goal but was still able to finish in the 3:50's.