Pere Marquette Trail Run 2011

Ahhhhh, December, we all know what that means, time for the Pere Marquette trail run. You could not be a slacker if you wanted to run the race this year, the race filled in just over 6 hours. Good thing for me I entered at 5 am and got in. The way things are going, next year, I will need to be at the computer at midnight when registration opens. Funny, you would think being the Vice President of the Metro Tri Club, I would have an automatic in, but not true, I have to give it my best shot and try to get in before it closes just like everyone else. If I didn’t get in, I guess I could threaten the president, Mike Wever, or something, but he is a tough cookie when it comes to this stuff, so threatening may not work. I think the next time I can get a photo of him looking really bad, I will just keep it as my ticket in, just in case I don’t make the cut one year.

So once I was in, I started some hard core hill training with my friend Jenny, she was kicking my butt and making me run hills when I really didn’t want to.

Jenny on the rock steps

My goal was to try and run not a PR, but something close to one. I really wanted to run a 1:24, I have run this course in 1:19 before, but I knew I wasn’t in good enough shape to pull that off this year. Along with the hill work we were doing once a week, I started running the PM course every couple weeks. My first training run was 1:33, then a few weeks later, another 1:33, then a 1:30 and my 4th time on the course a 1:27. I was feeling good and was pretty confident that I could make my goal of 1:24 if the conditions were right.

Well the best laid plans never seem to work out, the week after I ran the 1:27 I broke my tailbone by sliding down a muddy hill and hitting a rock. Yeah I know, it’s pretty frustrating to be on target for a goal and then get injured. Even though I had hopes of making it back injury free before the race, once again, I was wrong. I really hate to admit that I was wrong and some doctor who doesn’t even run was right, but in this case I have too.

So when PM came around I was still nursing the tailbone, but I didn’t want to miss the race for two reasons, first because I love the race and I just don’t want to miss it and second because to win the coveted Godzilla of the year award, I needed to finish PM. I didn’t have to finish fast, I just had to finish.

Race day came and I picked up Russ, a new Team Godzilla member and we headed out to PM. Russ was going to take picture during the race and checkout the course to see if he wanted to do it next year. (see all Russ’s picture here) I had to get to the lodge early because I was distributing vest before the race.

Robin and Krystal

Giving out vest is a great job because everyone gets one, so I got to see just about everyone I know, when they picked up their vest. It was really kind of fun, and of course I heard butt jokes from everyone. I’m actually the butt of all jokes now.

Mark S got me this shirt for Christmas

The gang handing out vest

It was time for the race to start, so I headed out to the starting line with Keith and Chuck, who were both working the vest distribution with me and racing also.

Keith in Motion

Chuck on the rock steps

Of course, they were in much earlier waves than I was in. I was in wave 13, I have never in my life been in a wave greater than 7. In fact, earlier in the week when I found out that I was in wave 13, my pride was hurt and my spirit was broken. I went as far as too yell at Mike Wever, who sets up the waves. I said “Mike, I know I have a broken tailbone and will be slow, but come on, WAVE 13”. He was very apologetic and said, he didn’t know how that happened, we figured it out, the previous year I ran with a friend who was injured and didn’t want to run alone so we just ran it for fun and the time was pretty darn slow, that brought my average down and that’s how I ended up in wave 13. Mike did offer to put me in wave 1, but I declined. I thought it would be better to be in wave 13 and be able to pass people then to be passed the entire run.

I still like Mike even after he put me in WAVE 13

The race started and before I knew it, Mike was calling for wave 13 and off I went, I was actually up front in my group and didn’t really get passed by very many people, I even passed some people in earlier waves. My tailbone was hurting pretty bad on the uphills, yeah I know, everything seems to be an uphill at PM, but I was not stopping, I just wanted to run the race and cross the finish line on my own two feet. I did walk a couple times, but mostly because the runners in front of me were walking and there was no way around them. Of course, that was not the issue on the rock steps, I walked those because if I didn’t I would have had a heart attack. And wouldn’t you know it, the rock stairs is where Russ and Patrick were standing with the cameras. I yelled no taking pictures of me walking, but you know that is just what they did.


Just before the end of the race, I saw Jim D on trail and he yelled “how’s your butt” I said it was going to finish the race and just then a girl behind me said “are you Robin”, I said yes, we had never met, but I had two registration transfers that I sold to her and now the reason she knew who I was, was because of my butt. See didn’t I tell you how funny the whole tailbone thing has become.

I soon crossed the finish line to the cheering of friends and strangers, it had been the perfect day and the best possible run for me. There is nothing I would have rather been doing than racing PM on this beautiful December day surrounded by such great friends.

After the race I stood around talking to friends. I saw Wendy D, she had a great race even with a bum ankle that she had injured badly just recently and she like me, was just happy to be out running.

Wendy

Since Russ was at the finish line taking photos, it was like having my own personal photographer, he snapped photos of me and many of my friends, while we told race stories and No they aren’t like fish stories, I really did do that triple lindy and land on my feet then jump over a deer crossing the trail, while eating a Honey Stinger waffle and getting a drink from my Ultimate Direction water bottle.

The Gang Hanging out

Mike, Robin, Bill, Chuck

Robin and Kate G

Robin and Mike A

Robin and Mike H

Runner’s World Trail Edition Editorial

Running in the US has morphed over the years to become not only a sport for the elite but also a sport for the everyday person. It seems that it is every runner’s dream to run a marathon, and many new runners train for a half-marathon so that they can go on to run a full marathon in the future. The running craze has moved from just a short term boom to a way of life.

And as more runners adopt this way of life, many are moving from the road to the trails, looking for the next big challenge. As a runner, what do you do once you have accomplished the marathon distance? Some runners train harder to try to achieve a faster marathon time or win age-group categories. But many everyday runners don’t feel that running faster is what it’s about; instead, they feel it’s the challenge, the feeling they get when they think, “Wow, I finished a marathon.” These runners soon tire of all the road miles. They know they can do it, so they wonder, “What will be my next running accomplishment?” These are the runners who are taking on trail running.

Trail running is such a different beast from road running. It’s much more technical to run on a trail covered with dirt, mud, rocks and roots. Plus there’s the realization that at any time you could fall off a cliff and be injured or die. This might sound like it’s not that much fun, but here is where you are wrong: It is the most fun a runner can have, and it is so much more challenging than any road run. It never fails – no matter how tired, stressed or time-constrained I am, once on the trail I feel like a new person who could run for hours with little effort. The trails just bring on a peacefulness you can’t find on the road.





You wonder where I’m going with this, don’t you? Let me explain. Runner’s World, a magazine I have been reading for 30 years and love to read every month, published a special edition on trail running last month. Since trail running is one of the sports I love the most, I read the edition cover to cover, soaking in every word. When I started reading through “A Guide to America’s Top Trail Running Towns,” I was so excited to get to the St. Louis area, knowing that the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run (PMETR) would certainly be listed. There was no doubt in my mind that it would be there because it is one of the premier trails races in the Midwest – of course it would be listed.

I know this little editorial may seem self-serving, or maybe it sounds like my pride has been hurt, since I am the Vice President of the Metro Tri Club, which has put this race on for the last 22 years. It could be a little of that, but really think about it. This year will be the 23rd year for the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run. The run started in 1989 and has never been cancelled due to weather conditions. Its motto is “No Wimps, No Whiners.” It is known as the toughest trail run in the Midwest and has been run in freezing temps (5 degrees Fahrenheit once), rain, ice, snow, wind and mud, the latter of which was the issue in the 2010 race. Mud so deep it sucked off shoes, so slick that runners slid down the descents on their butts. But this is the most fun a runner can have in the middle of December in the Midwest. Entry in this race is so coveted that it sells over 600 slots, fills in less than 10 hours and has a waiting list of hundreds who hope to get a slot. To top it off, the club holds 25 spots for servicemen and women who may be deployed and aren’t able to enter in time to get a slot, and every year we fill many of those slots with those who make it possible for us to have the freedom to run this race.





So, as you read this are you asking yourself the same question I’m pondering: “Why wouldn’t the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run be mentioned in the trail running edition of Runner’s World?”

Runner’s World mentioned some of the local trail runs, and I have competed in two of the three listed. They are fantastic events and deserve to be on the list, but none has been in existence for as long as PMETR has been, none is discussed in the running circle to the extent that PMETR is. PMETR is the run that everyone wants to do but that many people are afraid to do because they have heard how tough the course is. Yet if you ask any trail runner in the area what the most popular and well-known trail run in the Midwest is, they will say PMETR. They will also tell you that they will get up at midnight when registration opens to register before the race fills. I can tell you this: I was at the CheckPoint Tracker National Adventure race in Moab, Utah, last October, and I saw a person wearing a PMETR wind shirt. Just last month I was at the Land between the Lakes Adventure race in Kentucky and saw multiple people wearing the PMETR vest from two years ago. There have also been sightings by other MTC members in the Seattle-Tacoma airport, Colorado and Utah. This shows how popular the race is.

I think the only thing left for us to do as a trail running society is to lobby for a PMETR cover story in an upcoming edition of Runner’s World. I’m in. Are you? If you agree with me, then go to the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run to grace the cover of Runner's World Facebook page and like our page. Let’s get a Runner’s World cover for the Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run.

Pere Marquette Trail Run 2010

This year’s Pere Marquette race made my 15th year of competing in this race. I have to say that this year I had more fun than I have ever had in all my 15 years of running it. So I know what you’re thinking, what made this race so great, well let me tell you.

This year has been a particularly hard training year for me. I have competed in 6 Adventure races, including the Checkpoint Tracker National race, the Louisville Ironman, the Berryman Epic mountain bike race, and the Vino Fondo, plus many shorter races of all types, tri’s, bi’s, bike races, and trail runs. All this to say, I’m have become a little burned out and having a hard time really concentrating on my training since early November. I have been chasing my friend Jenny religiously up and down our hill course training for the PM race, but my head was just not onboard. So when my friend Val asked me if I wanted to run with her, I said yes, I would love to just run this for fun and not even try to make it a race.

So two weeks before the race Val rolls her ankle and has to take some time off running, she finally gave running a try the day before the race and decided if she took it easy she could run. Well race day came on with a bang, when buckets of water were dumped on us overnight and throughout the race. You can not even imagine how muddy the race course was. Our plan was to run the pace that worked best for Val’s ankle and with all the mud that pace was going to be slow.



My wave was 11 and Val’s was 20, so I just hung back and started in wave 20 with Val. We took off up the first hill and our feet were just sliding around in the mud, but this mud was nothing compared to what we would find later on the course. Like on the first really steep hill on the way to the first water stop. Not only was it so muddy that it pulled my shoe off, but there was a gang of Zilla’s at the top of the hill cheering us on. I felt like Rocky when I finally made it to the top of the hill. The palms of my white gloves were covered in mud from a couple near misses on being sucked completely into the muddy black hole. I couldn’t help but give Bobby the course marshal a nice high five when I made it to the top of the hill. The cheers and taunts on my way up the hill, made it all so much more personal and fun. I’m just really glad that I wore my new shoes for this race, what better way to break in a new pair of shoes.



After making it to the top of hill one, we had some downhill and we got to one corner that was so muddy we had to run over the side of the hill where a really nice runner helped us down so we wouldn’t end up flat on our face in the mud. After we made it through this section, we hit a few really wet spots, which weren’t so bad because the mud was a little thinner and it wasn’t trying to suck my shoes off at every step. Next stop the road crossing at the top of hill two. Once again the Zilla gang was there cheering us on and giving us water. There is so much to say for a race where you know all the volunteers, it made it so much more fun. By now we were way behind the pack with only a few runners still behind us. I have never been this far back in the pack, but I kind of liked it. We talked to everyone, we laughed about everything and just had fun. I couldn’t believe how much fun I was having sliding around in the mud and not worrying about trying to run fast and place. I met some great people, caught up with Val on life in general and even discussed the great YouTube video “I’m an Ironman”. If you haven’t seen this video you have to watch it, you will laugh the entire time.

Now we were on our way up hill three, we caught a few people and the hill didn’t seem nearly as bad as usual, since it was so muddy and we were just trying to get through with our shoes in tact, I completely forgot to concentrate on how hard that stupid hill is. I looked up and was at the top of the hill before I knew it. We ran through the next few rollers and headed down the railroad tie steps to the road crossing which starts hill 4.



Coming to the road we saw Lori taking pictures, so we made sure to look good for her. How can you not look good when you are having so much fun. One thing I have to point out, this was the first time I have wore my new Zilla long sleeve running shirt, and although I really liked it, it was a bit of a dress. I think next time I better tuck it in my tights so I’m not racing in a dress.

We crossed the road and made it up the steps and back to the first muddy hill, you saw how muddy that hill was on the way up, now how to get down the hill was a whole different animal. Bobby the course marshal, said everyone is sliding down on their butts, so you guys should do it that way. Haha, we must be really gullible, because we just said OK and down we went. Val even used here feet to try and propel herself down even faster. Where else can you just sit down and slide down a muddy hill on your butt and think it is a normal thing to do. By the way, do you think this mud makes our butts look big.



We ran across the finish line with a smile on our faces with no idea of how long it took and even better, we didn’t care how long it took. When we finished the awards were already over, the hot chocolate was all gone, the volunteers were starting to clean up and the parking lot was starting to clear out.

We found a hose and rinsed off all the mud, then grabbed our clothes and headed to the bathroom to change. So the race was over and I was driving home when I noticed that I still had a stupid grin on my face and couldn’t stop thinking about how much fun I had. Next year I will be back to racing and wanting to win, but no matter how fast I run this race, I don’t think I will ever have more fun then I had this year.