Bob Mann: 2009 Deadwood Marathon

Sun Jun 7, 2009

I ran my 11th marathon on June 7 in Deadwood South Dakota. This was my 11th state in my continuing quest to run a marathon in all 50 states. My wife Maggie joined me on the trip, the first time she has traveled with me to a marathon in quite a while. It was nice for us to get a weekend away together. We met up with Joe, who flew in from Ohio. This is my third marathon in a row that I have run with Joe, and fifth overall. Actually, it could be six since he also ran Chicago in 2005, even though we didn't know each other then.

We had run the entire marathon together in New Orleans, and about half the race together in St Louis. We decided that we'd like to stick together the whole way this time. We both had some issues going in: Joe was fighting a nasty cold, and I had been having some bad back pain the week leading up to the marathon. Neither of us was sure how we'd be affected.

This would be my first trail marathon, so I was a little worried about the terrain. It turns out that the surface was hardly a problem at all. The Mickelson trail was an old railroad track that was converted to a running and biking trail. Overall, the trail was very smooth. However, there were other factors that made it a difficult race. The morning was a very chilly one. Since the course was a point-to-point one, we were bussed out to the start line, 26.2 miles away from the town of Deadwood. Joe and I caught the first bus, which got us out to the start line at 6:30am -- for an 8:00am start. So we had to wait around for an hour and a half in the cold. It might have been June, but the temperature was below 40 degrees. That wasn't the most comfortable weather to be sitting around.

Thankfully the rain stayed away. The forecast had called for rain, and there was in fact some heavy rain very early in the morning. But by 6:30 the rain had stopped, and we experienced nothing more than a very light mist for the rest of the day. There was a little bit of mud along the dirt course, and the ground was somewhat soft in spots, but it could have been a lot more uncomfortable if we had been rained on during the race. I'm certainly glad the weather was the way it was, and that it wasn't 85 with blazing sun, or anything like that.

Also, this was the highest altitude that I had ever tried to run at. The start was at over 5000 feet, and the altitude varied from there. I didn't notice the air being any thinner than I was used to, but perhaps it was and it was affecting me very subtly.

This was the smallest marathon field I had ever been a part of. There was also a Half Marathon, but they started at our halfway point, so that we all finished at the same place. Thus there were barely 400 of us lining up out in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota.

The race began at 8:00am, and we ran the first mile or so along the road until we came to the Mickelson Trail. The race started off downhill, and we ran a quick 8:11 pace. Once we hit the trail, we started going uphill. Little did we realize, but that hill would last a long time. For 12 straight miles, we climbed and climbed. There was no break in the hill. No downhill portion there, not even a leveling-out spot. After the initial 8:11 mile, our pace gradually slowed and we got more and more tired climbing the hill: 8:48, 9:00, 8:58, 9:14, 9:14, 9:27, 9:30, 9:47, 9:47, 10:24, 9:42, and 10:06, up to the halfway point.

We knew that the course would turn downhill soon after the half, so we just hoped that we could retain some energy to take advantage of the downhill. At about Mile 13.5, we finally crested the top of the hill, and began going down. Our pace did improve for a while: 9:37, 9:03, 8:58, 8:47, 9:03, 9:25. After Mile 19, we met with one final uphill climb that lasted for about three-quarters of a mile. That mile slowed us to a 10:02 pace. Soon after Mile 20, we hit a couple very steep downhills that made the footing somewhat treacherous. Early in the race, it might have been fun to fly down those hills. But that late in the race, extra care had to be taken to retain balance. As a result, Mile 21 was done in 9:52, despite having the largest net elevation drop of any mile.

Up to here, my back thankfully hadn't given me any problems. However, at about this point, I was starting to get nagging aches and pains elsewhere. My right ankle, my left knee, and the tops of both feet were hurting. Joe's cold seemed to be bothering him early in the race, but by this point he was holding up much better than I was. Our next few splits were 9:21, 9:31 and 9:17. It felt as though I was really poking along, so I was surprised to see the pace as fast as it was. I'm sure the downhill slope helped greatly, and I am really glad that we weren't ending the race heading uphill. Around Mile 23, I was getting ready to stop running and take a walk break. But I knew that if I did that, I'd have a very hard time starting back up again. Joe also did a great job of convincing me that I could push on just a little farther. I'm sure Joe could have left me behind, and sped up to better his time by a little bit. But he stayed with me and helped pull me along. We did the last couple miles in 9:45 and 9:23.

And we finally came back into town, and crossed the finish line. My time was 4:08:12. This was slightly slower than my prediction of 4:05, but I will take it. Between the cold, the soft terrain, the elevation, the nagging aches, and especially the hills, I am pleased with the outcome. Until now, I have said that the most difficult marathon I have run had been the Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham AL. But there's a new champ in that category now. So this wasn't my fastest race, but that's perfectly fine with me. At least I've got another state checked off on my marathon map.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon. My biggest complaint has to do with the fact that we had to wait and hour and half at the start line before the race began with no shelter. Had the weather been worse, this would have been a big negative. The scenery on the course was beautiful. The word "vast" came up many times to describe the countryside. This was a very challenging race, but one I was happy to have run.

We spent the rest of the weekend checking out the sights in Deadwood, including the gravesites of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Deadwood is a cute little town, although it's almost a little too touristy kitschy. And no trip to the Black Hills region would be complete without a visit to the Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore. Overall, it was a very enjoyable weekend, and I'm glad I made the trip.

And now the photos. Click any image to enlarge.