I’m going to start this race report with two lists. First, a list of lessons I learned. We’re all here for the takeaways, right?

  1. Don’t trust people who tell you races are flat.
  2. Always wear sunscreen.
  3. Don’t part your hair down the middle for marathons.
  4. Don’t skip the warmup ever ever ever.
  5. Go ahead and pee in the bushes.

I always say it’s a bad idea to sign up for a race on the tail of another race, especially a bad one. But last fall, after a whole season of never feeling good (running or otherwise, which might’ve been iron, life stress or both or neither) I scrapped my fall marathon and running a half instead, and not particularly well. My husband was signed up for the full and ended up DNF’ing, so it was a rough day all-around. On my way home I was texting about my poor performance with one of my best friends. She replied that she was planning on Grandma’s, and over the next few days I did a little research. I knew a bunch of girls had run hella fast there last year, the weather should be okay, and it was net-downhill. Plus my friend was going and Mr. Chic doesn’t usually run a spring full. What the hell!I figured. Time to get myself sorted out, to get in some good training, take a fun girls’ trip, run a new race and see a new city. I signed up within a month.

Not only was the entry cheap-ish, but you get a jacket if you sign up early. A JACKET!

Which brings us to the second list, a list of things I did not know, that you may want to know before signing up:

  1. The race entry is cheap, but nothing else is.
  2. Hotels are expensive and sell out fast.
  3. Flights are pretty limited into Duluth.
  4. It’s a net-downhill course in the same way Boston is. The hilly way.

Read the whole race report: http://www.saltyrunning.com/chicorys-grandmas-marathon-race-report/