…named after Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, a French explorer who travelled the Great Lakes and was said to have stayed the night on Fisherman’s Island one night during a harsh storm.
Signed up for my Michigan marathon after scoring crazy cheap tickets on Southwest. Denver to Grand Rapids – direct flight, $110 roundtrip. A week out from race day, goggled directions from Grand Rapids to my shared hotel in Petoskey. 3 hours? Ugh…that’s an unexpected haul. 2 hours from the Canadian border, 45 minutes from Mackinac Island.
Ok, I can work with that. Marathon first, Mackinaw second 🙂
Quick sleeps, up early. Room shared with 2 other Maniacs: Andy from Houston & Todd from Missouri (thanks Stacy for connecting us). Todd drove 800 miles [from Missouri], picked up Andy in Indianapolis – made my 3 hour ride from Grand Rapids seem kinda small.
Secured parking downtown & watched the morning rise over Lake Michigan. Lotta colour – truly stunning.
Cool temps, gun start over the town’s historic drawbridge. Charlevoix is a small resort town – today’s course hugged the lakeshore. Fairly flat run – one steep incline coming outta town at mile 5.
Fav part of the run: treed section starting at mile 10, looped at 13, same return view thru mile 16 on this out-n-back course.
Ended in a sprint with another runner who failed to stop at the Finish, fell over a barrier & bloodied his face. Lotta excitement, over-achiever 🙁 Finisher’s medal – one of my favourite, adorned with a working drawbridge.
Congratulations!
K R HagaFinish Time: 04:16:57.0
No shower this day. Quick sink bath at a local pizza joint (post-race lasagna), then ferried over to Mackinac Island. Only bicycles & horse-drawn carriages on this island. FAAANNNTASTIC!
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- Good Morning Charlevoix!
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- lighthouse on Lake Michigan; picturesque one-bridge town (only 2 hours from Canada)
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- town’s scenic draw-bridge represented on today’s medal — pretty amazing location, pretty amazing day!
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- direct flight to Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids — week out ’til race day, hadn’t noticed Charlevoix was 3+ hours away…ROAD TRIP!
First 2015 marathon in the West – ROAD TRIP!
Have always wanted to hike in Wyoming’s Bighorns – just south of the Montana border – so planned a 3-day weekend around the Casper Marathon on Sunday. Unfortunately, late spring snow (2 weeks ago) followed by a week of heavy rain impeded my plans – State Highway 16 from Buffalo to Ten Sleep flooded so…Plan B.
North on I-25 from Colorado to Casper, straight shot. Stopped an hour short, near Douglas – first destination: Ayres Natural Bridge. Snapped a pic & snagged some sage (natural car deodorizer & FREE). Short walk over the natural bridge cut by LaPrele Creek (tributary of Wyoming’s North Platte River). Peaceful place. Would stop here again on Sunday, after my run.
Storm clouds rolled in. Spent the afternoon at Casper’s Tate Museum viewing dinosaur bones, then the Nat’l Historic Trails Interpretive Center – 4 major wagon trails passed thru Casper (Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, California & Pony Express).
Dinosaur digs & fossils make “the Cowboy State” a paleo- tourist destination. More dinosaur finds in Wyoming than any other U.S. state.
So many fossils at Tate – WOW! In New York museums, you see maybe 2 or 3 dinosaurs. In small town Wyoming – big dinosaurs, little dinosaurs, mammoths, sediment fossils. GREAT way to spend an afternoon. Highly recommended.
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- 2 miles off the Oregon Trail, often visited by emigrants traveling West
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- natural bridge cut by LaPrele Creek
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- dirt road treasure near Douglas (LOVE this sign)
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- a paleo- tourist destination
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- 11,600 year old Columbian Mammoth (unearthed locally in 2006)
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- afternoon storm clouds rolling in
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- Mormon Pioneer handcart
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- the Pony Express – St Joseph MO to Sacramento CA
Started Saturday at Garden Creek Falls in Rotary Park (crazy beautiful), then hiked Casper Mountain. Not the Rockies experience of the Bighorns, but a good 5-mile day hike. Probably not the best prep, day before a marathon but…I’m a lover of mountains.
Afternoon plans? Float trip on the North Platte. No rapids here, lazy river float. What I most remember is our Riverton-based guide’s colloquial speech. A fourth generation Wyomingan, he recommended a trip to Fort Caspar where Native Americans were slaughtered. Couldn’t be taught not to steal cattle – so were exterminated. I asked about Sacagawea’s grave site in Fort Washakie. He commented she was a Sheep Eater, a Mountain Shoshone. Seriously? And if so, who cares? None of his facts matched any ‘semblance of reality.
In rural Wyoming, there are Cowboys & there are Indians. Seems the two do not mix – even in 2015 🙁
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- Bridle Trail – 5 miles roundtrip
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- 1957 tragedy – 4 teens veered off Mountain, 3 survived
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- lazy river float, no rapids here
Shower, change of clothes, quick turnaround from today’s marathon run. Booked a 3pm sailing excursion on Lake Champlain with Whistling Man Schooner – only a few blocks from my hotel, pier off College. Pretty cool idea, huh?
Boarded the “Friend Ship” on its maiden commercial weekend – new ship, opening weekend. Motored out of the harbor, popped the sails, kicked back & took in landscape – beautiful Burlington Bay/Lake Champlain (separates Vermont from New York state).
In 1823, the forty-six-mile-long Champlain Canal was completed, linking Lake Champlain to the Hudson River and the New York City market, and twenty years later, the twelve-mile-long Chambly Canal was constructed in Quebec, bypassing the Richelieu River rapids and allowing cheap Canadian lumber to flow from the St. Lawrence River to Lake Champlain. These two canals led to the growth of the port at Burlington, and by 1873, Burlington had become the third largest lumber port in the country.
Placid, rolling waves and GREEN – whole lotta green everywhere. Best post-marathon activity yet – laid on my back & soaked in the cool lake air. Docked three hours later & enjoyed post-marathon lasagna (it’s become tradition). FAAAANNNNTASTIC day!
Early morning flight on Memorial Day Monday. Arrived home in Colorado – plenty of time for an afternoon cook-out (unofficial kick-off to summer). Burgers, corn & grilled peaches & pineapple. YUM!
Happy Memorial Day 2015 🙂
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- Burlington Boathouse
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- Whistling Man Schooner’s “Friend Ship”
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- post-marathon sailing adventure
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- Burlington Breakwater North Light
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- best post-marathon activity yet – laid on my back & soaked in landscape
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- small airport, small plane — 6 hours later: Home, Sweet Home
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- grilled peaches & pineapple — unofficial kick-off to summer, YUM!
sailing on Lake Champlain
