2015 Sioux Falls Marathon

Recap of 2014 Sioux Falls Half Marathon HERE

Argus Leader (SF Newspaper) Story about Karl and Myself HERE

A 4:30 AM alarm does not rank among my favorite things. It was necessary this past Sunday though so I had enough time to eat and digest a couple of bananas to feel comfortable for the 6:30 AM race start of the Sioux Falls Marathon. I usually try to eat some toast with peanut butter before a long run or race but my appetite was virtually non-existent. Hopefully the bananas and some GU Gels and Powerade taken at aid stations throughout the morning would be enough.

Last year Karl and I completed the Sioux Falls Half Marathon with me pushing him along the way. The goal was simple: Survive - and keep Karl comfortable. We were able to accomplish both goals in a little over two hours with a wheelchair that was definitely not made for competitive running! 

This year, we upped the ante to the full marathon while the goal was the same: Survive - and keep Karl comfortable, through 26.2 miles this time. We also went into this year's race with the benefit of a special lightweight wheelchair made especially for running that the 605 Running Co. in Sioux Falls was kind enough to let us borrow and even bring to the race start for us.

In the past, the Sioux Falls Marathon and Half have started on the track and Howard Wood and finish at Sertoma Park. This year, the revamped courses both started just outside the gates of Howard Wood Field in the parking lot and wind their way through both city streets and the bike trail before each finishing with a 3/4 lap on the track at Howard Wood.

This was a welcomed change and an exciting time to run my first Sioux Falls Marathon (I have done five fulls in other places as well as two previous Sioux Falls halves). The updated route passed within blocks of the house where I grew up and took us over the same bike path and city streets where I ran countless miles as a high school runner in Sioux Falls.

Pre-Race. Everything is all smiles when it's too early to
lucidly think about running 26 miles in the coming hours

Arriving at Howard Wood Field at 6 AM on Sunday, the sun had still not crept onto the horizon and it was immediately clear that this would be a great day for running. The air was cool and crisp with very little wind and the forecast called for temperatures that would not exceed 70 degrees throughout the majority of the race. I found Karl and his posse and we located the chair and got him buckled in and ready for the long haul.

We took our spot towards the back of the starting line - not very crowded at all with just over 300 runners running the full (the half had over 1,000 but they started 30 minutes after us). I got some positive words of encouragement from my college coach Randy Fischer who came out to watch the races start and we took off across the starting mat and onto our journey. 

Having never used this chair before I was not sure what my exact goal would be but I thought that maybe finishing around 4:00 would be possible. I figured we'd start near the back at a very conservative pace and slowly work our way forward as long as things felt good. We passed the ballfields near Covell Lake and ran our first mile in about 10 minutes. Mile two took us towards the Cathedral with some uphills mixed in and I realized that the uphills would be the deciding factor in this race. I really had to dig in and push hard to get the chair up the hill without losing too much time. It hurt and burned my calves, hamstrings, and quads, but as soon as we crested a hill my legs felt immediately relief and we were able to surge ahead.

Winding through downtown and Falls Park form miles 3-6 was enjoyable with some nice crowd support and Karl and I continued to pass other runners a few at a time. We were not doing anything crazy, just slowly increasing our pace as we went along and surviving the small occasional uphill.

The hills I was most concerned about were at miles 9 and 11 but we made it through those areas unscathed and actually passed quite a few other runners during those portions. Karl was doing awesome, staying engaged in the race and encouraging me verbally and also by lifting his right arm in the air (his signal to go faster - I had to tell him a few times that I was trying!). I took a GU Gel at the Mile 7 Aid Station and was alternating water and Powerade every couple miles and felt plenty energized as we neared the halfway mark.

A big highlight of the day was to get waves and encouragement from a few longtime family friends that were driving by on Sycamore Ave. and 57th St. on their way to church. It's hard to overstate how important crowd support can be during a marathon - but it is even more important when it is someone that you have known for almost your entire life and have a longtime personal connection with.

Karl's entourage was also cheering for us at various points throughout the race as well as plenty of people that had heard our story or knew Karl and his family so that was a big encouragement as we went along.

Can't overstate how awesome that chair was!

 As we hit mile 14 we caught the 3:55 pacing group.... at that point I knew we were moving at a pretty good clip. We stayed and chatted with the group for a bit - and had a nice talk with the group leader about some of the races he had done in the past. Had a nice laugh about the fact that we were about to run up a hill on 57th St. (railroad viaduct) that did not used to exist. As we went by Lewis Park and headed downhill towards rejoining the bike trail at Tuthill Park we made some good time as I was running pretty close to an all out sprint for a few hundred meters to keep up with the chair since it rolled down the hills so well.

Miles 17-19 and 20-25 were back on the bike trail and flew by. I took another GU around Mile 17 and that along with the water and Powerade kept me feeling great. Those final five or six miles really did fly by - it's a great feeling when you pass another mile marker and think that there is no way it had been a mile since the last one!

For the final mile we turned off the bike trial and onto Russell St. to head back towards Howard Wood. The crowds picked back up the final quarter mile before the track so that was exciting to have more support as the excitement of the finish line also drew near. The last 300 meters were run on the track at Howard Wood (a place I had logged many laps throughout high school and college) and the announcer read off our names as we were cheered into the finish. We passed a half-marathon finisher as we rounded the track and it was pretty obvious it was his first race of that distance. We offered him some encouragement which he seemed to genuinely appreciate. 

Crossing the finish line. Coach Fischer is in the foreground

We officially stopped the clock at 3:48:36 for an overall pace of 8:43/mile. Quite a bit faster than last year in the half. That chair made a big difference and I was also probably in a little better shape.

The team post-race with Karl holding the bib number and wearing the race medal

Overall we placed 89th out of 306 runners in the full. Starting near the back of the pack we did not get passed by everyone for the entire distance, so that is always a nice feeling :)

I was pretty sore on Monday for my morning 2-mile run with the middle school cross country team but felt much better by Tuesday.

Not sure what the future will have in store for Karl and myself. Just found out that he will be moving to Omaha with his family next June... so might need to put the Omaha Marathon on our calendar. Time will tell.

Soaking up the post-race scene

2014 Sioux Falls Half-Marathon Recap

On a cool Sunday morning in September 2012 I lined up at Howard Wood Field to run in my first Sioux Falls Half Marathon. I had run a handful of halves by this point and growing up in Sioux Falls I ran countless miles on the bike trail greenway and lap after lap around Howard Wood’s track while competing for Washington High School and later Mount Marty College. As the gun went off and I settled in near the front of the pack I was a bit alarmed as each mile clicked off at a pace a little faster than I thought I could sustain. Luckily, it was one of those days that only runners can describe, where everything feels fluid and effortless. It is the type of day that is rare in training but you can only dream of having during a race. I never slowed from the early faster than usual pace and crossed the line with a three-minute personal record, running the 13.1 miles in just over 1:18 to place 10th out of over 1,000 runners. I had won races before and since, but that performance three years ago is still something I am trying to return to.

Fast forward two years to September of last year and I competed the half for the second time, nearly 50 minutes slower. I could not have been any more thrilled with the result.

That is because last year I completed the Sioux Falls Half Marathon as part of a two-person team with my young friend Karl Madsen. Karl and I met a number of years ago when he was a family camper where I worked during the summers throughout college at Lutheran’s Outdoors camp near Custer. Although his mobility and speech were hampered by a traumatic brain injury he suffered as small boy, Karl is full of life and is more active and enthusiastic than almost any other middle school student you’d meet.

Pre-Race... Ready to go!

The idea of pushing Karl in his wheelchair throughout the half so he could join me in the competition was something born out of the legendary Team Hoyt from the Boston area. I had seen some videos and read stories about the father and son duo and their running and triathlon and other athletic accomplishments. Knowing how vibrant Karl is and how strongly his mother Anna advocates for her son’s inclusion in “normal” events (although a half marathon might not be considered all that normal for some) I figured they would be open to the idea of Karl and me running the race together.

So that is exactly what we did. We did not use Karl’s normal wheelchair but the chair we had was not exactly made for running either. I knew we could survive 13 miles; I just wanted to make sure that Karl would remain comfortable and that we would stay out of the way of other runners.

We lined up towards the very back of the pack – a welcomed change from my usual up-front “sizing up the competition” ritual. Once the gun went off we slowly made our way around the 3/4ths of a lap before heading out onto the streets and bike trail of Sioux Falls.

Immediately numerous other runners and spectators were offering Karl and me encouragement and kudos – with many other runners coming over to give Karl a high-five or pat on the back which he was loving. We were able to see friends and family and familiar faces throughout the course – including my high school and college coaches - and although downtown Sioux Falls is much hillier than I previously remembered, we were making decent time and staying competitive in the back half of the pack.

On the bike trail; mid-race and feeling good

Aside from keeping a slower pace than normal I really did not notice any differences in running the race with Karl aside from the fact that I was getting the greatest core workout of my life. My midsection was absolutely searing throughout the final 2-3 miles of the race but there was so much crowd support and the excitement of fellow runners knowing how close to the finish we were made those final miles fly by in an instant. At last we were crossing the finish line and as I gave Karl the race medal and bib number his ever-present smile that morning grew even larger across his face. There was no question that we would try this again sometime.

Finished!!

I guess the next logical step for me was to see if Karl would be interested in giving the full marathon a shot. Sioux Falls is his home and where I grew up and the fact that the city has this growing and well-run event (no pun intended) made it an easy choice to decide for our first full marathon together. The plan once again is to survive the distance and to make sure Karl remains comfortable and gets to let his competitive side take over for the morning. Running with Karl is a terrific escape for me from the “train to win” philosophy that we can get so wrapped up in and is a way for me to bring the joy of running back to the very basic reasons that I love to be outside and active and among like-minded people.