Race Recap: Wisconsin HM

The Not So Little Mermaid & I on race day.

Race Day -1
The daughter and I had traveled since Thursday morning to get first to my cousin's house near Scott AFB, Illinois and then drove the final 5-6 hours to Kenosha today (Friday). While the drive was long, it was pretty...when it wasn't a downpour of rain. There were actually periods of the drive in south/central Illinois where the rain was coming down in sheets that caused me to slow to 20 miles slower than the speed limit on the highway and that actually caused some people to pull over to the side of the freeway to await the rain's passing. Once we got to Kenosha I found the Best Western Harborside easily and picked up my packet as well as $50 worth of Bondi Bands for myself, the daughter and my cousin. After stopping briefly to take some pictures of the two lighthouses on the harbor, we headed over to Great Lakes Naval Training Station to check into lodging there. It took awhile to finally get registered to go on base but we finally got checked into our room and since it was already so late (about 4:30pm) we decided to put off a trip to Chicago until after the race. After a quick trip to the commissary for groceries and getting my gear ready for the next day, we settled in for the night with a dinner of whole wheat linguine and sauteed shrimp.

Race Day - 5/5/12
After driving a total of 1,210 miles to get to this race, I woke up to pouring rain and wind in the morning. As I drove from Great Lakes Naval Training Station,  I had the window wipers going at max speed just to try to be able to see the road in front of me for most of the 30+ minute drive. The rain was so bad at points that I almost decided not to run the race. Thankfully enough, I continued on and by the time I arrived in the area of the start to park the rain had slowed to a steady, even rain enough so that I still needed an umbrella plus a cheap rain poncho to keep myself warm. After I purchased and dumped my stuff in a couple of lockers (my race bag and mini cooler wouldn't fit in a single one) the rain had slowed to a light drizzle.

Marathon Maniac/Half Fanatic group pic...an nod to Dave Mari!

Sister Half Fanatic Brenda,
she went to the wrong museum for the pic.

Half Fanatic/Tinkerbell/Bling Ho sister, Run Kat with the Capt'n.

I headed over to the Civil War Museum for the Marathon Maniac/Half Fanatic picture and then proceeded to walk around looking for my TinkerBell sister, Run Kat, who I had planned to meet and run the race with. Funnily enough about 20 minutes or so before the race started we suddenly turned around and found ourselves facing each other just out of the blue. After a few squeals of delight, we moved to the All Cheese Corral at the front of the starting line (you had to be wearing something cheese related) and waited for the start. The wind was still blowing and since we were right on the edge of Lake Michigan it was a cold wind with the temperature somewhere around 48°F. At this point I still had my rain poncho on to keep warm.

Yes, she ran with this the whole 13.1 miles!

In the All Cheese Corral, you had to wear
something related to cheese to get in.

Once the race started we found ourselves running in and amongst a well established neighborhood to the south of downtown Kenosha with grand houses and no resemblance to the cookie cutter, tract homes of the modern day. The course brought us back down into downtown and along the harbor eventually running in a park alongside Lake Michigan. Even though the day was overcast and windy as all git out (especially when we were closer to the water) it was a beautiful sight for this landlocked gal to have the scenery of one of the great the inland oceans, lighthouses and greenery around us. While most of the course was relatively flat, there were some small to moderate hills in the park. Oddly enough, or perhaps because I've actually gotten experience running on hills now, these particular hills didn't seem to bother me as much as they would have in the past. Kat had begun having some trouble with her knees and I was beginning to experience gastrointestinal issues so I ran ahead so that I could get to a "real" restroom rather than a port-o-pot and just planned to meet her at the finish line. When I had finished what I needed to do, I began to run again believing that I was still ahead of Kat. In a short time I found that I had crossed paths with Dave Mari, a well known individual in the Facebook running community, and spent some time walking and talking with him before again taking off to finish the race.

I met Dave Mari, a bit of a celebrity in Facebook running circles.

As I finished the race, feeling rather good considering that I still had quite a cold/cough and low grade fever, I got into my lockers for my post race chocolate milk and a banana and put on my jacket/Mylar blanket to go in search of Kat. I looked for a bit around the finish area and then began to walk the route in reverse. After about a mile or so without locating Kat I turned around and headed back to the finish line to see if I could find her in the area. Unfortunately it wasn't until quite a while later that I discovered that she had in fact passed me at some point (I guess I was in the restroom longer than I thought!) and finished the race about 5 minutes before I had!! lol! After a few short text messages I packed up my gear and headed back to the base to prepare for a trip into Chicago for the afternoon.

All in all, even with the weather and being sick this was a very nice course. I haven't actually run a race with someone since TinkerBell in January and it does indeed help the time pass faster. While I do like running solo, the change in running and talking with someone is a nice break to the routine.

What I liked about this race: Nice course, scenic, not too strenuous. Good company during the race...Thanks Run Kat and Dave Mari! :)

What I didn't like about this race: Only the weather...I know that can't be controlled but 2-3­° warmer and less wind would have been nice!

Would I do this race again? Yes, most likely if I was in the area already rather than making the trip specifically for it. I'd love to do it in better weather! ;)