A Runner's Ramblings: Volume 20; 10th Edition
131.3 miles run in 2025 races
Race: Mother's Day Half-Marathon
Place: Laramie-ish, WY
Miles from home: 848 miles
Weather: 46 degrees; 46% humidity
I am going to try to keep this recap from bleeding into another post about finishing all 50 states with a half-marathon but it will be difficult to do so as they are so intertwined. That said, getting to the starting line of this race allowed me to take a deep breath for the first time in months.
I had a knee replacement in February of 2025. I was able to finally start doing my first mile a few months later in July after almost 16 months of not running. Combining almost two years off because of surgeries with time off from not racing because of COVID throughout our country left me with very little time to finish an overarching goal of running a marathon and a half marathon in all 50 states before I turn 50. In fact, I hadoriginally intended on finishing two weeks ago in New York until a few monthsago I realized that I did not have a race in Wyoming under my belt. How that had slipped past all of my plans is beyond me but it left me with this particular race as one of my only viable options.
What kind of race would that be? It would be the second highest I have ever started a half marathon and the highest by far that I've ever finished one. A few months ago when my running was going stellar on my return from knee surgery this might not have been nearly as challenging as it was. However, since late January/early February I've been dealing with some muscle imbalances that caused me great pain and forced me to barely run at all in that time period. So I showed up to the starting line out of shape, overweight, and still trying to get back to where I was a few years ago. But getting to the starting line meant that no missed flights, no broken down cars, no anything was now going to get in the way of me finishing this 50th state just one week before I turned 50.
Race Morning:
I awoke at 5:30 for a 7 am start time while my hotel was just a scant 8 miles away on easily drivable highways. I wanted to get in some stretching exercises my physical therapist had given to me to assure my quad and calf worked with me. Exercises done, showered and dressed, and I still found myself sitting in my car at the starting line with over a half an hour to kill.
The temperature was a lovely 46 degrees and while it was already sunny (the sun had been up before me which was shocking when I opened the drapes) there was a slight chill in the air and it was the least humid run I would have done since November.
I got back to the starting line with a minute to spare,
shook out my legs, and away we went at the starter’s pistol.
To Mile 4:
Right out of the gate a guy with a dog ROCKETED down the hill. Like complete breakneck speed. I was astounded. I knew I wanted to use the mostly downhill of the first four miles ot put a little extra time in the bank. Even with a small uphill in the first half mile when I crossed the first mile I saw a 7:13 on my watch. That was pleasing. But I could feel my lungs protesting at the 8500 feet elevation we were at so I quickly slowed it down. Almost immediately two runners passed me. The next mile was a more respectable 7:45 and another runner passed me as I continued to lay off the throttle. At this juncture other than the guy with the dog everyone was running the half marathon so I sat in fourth place.
Not long thereafter a runner passed me running the marathon and I fell in behind him, passing the 3rd place half-marathon runner at the same time. Even as we continue to run downhill I could feel I was slowing up a touch, with my third mile being a 8:07. I had really hoped for another sub-8 at the effort level I was doing but alas.
The sun was mostly blocked to our left buy some trees so I stayed in the shade as much as possible. Even in the cooler temps and humidity, I was still sweating profusely.
I couldn't see what was happening at the front of the race to determine whether the woman or the young fella who had passed me at the beginning were in first place but I figured it would all shake out in the end. And if not the end I would at least see where they were when we turned around and came back home at the halfway point. Perhaps I still had a chance to win this thing.
We approached the fourth mile and after that soon was the
first aid station. This was a cupless race meaning you had to carry your own
container to get liquids. I appreciated the one gentleman volunteer who was out
there but he didn't even have the water bottle open as I approached him
looking to get my cup filled. I used that brief respite after we had crusted a
small hill to drink my fill and get ready for the rest of the race.
To the Turn Around:
After a fast but steep downhill I noticed that the female runner wasn't all that far in front of me. The young buck was out of my sight as we twisted and turned through the Wyoming landscape. My perusal of the course profile showed me that we had a slight uphill to deal with before the turn around but not long after I caught sight of the female runner we began to make a series of steep climbs. I was using her as a yardstick as to when I would walk and when I would run because it was definitely too steep for my basically sea level lungs to handle running full out at this elevation.
On and on we climbed for the next mile and 1/2 and I was astounded how much more elevation there was. I guess I had misread the rudimentary map on the basic website. A marathon runner passed me with about a mile to go before the turn around and soon left both me and the female runner in front of me in his dust. Pretty impressive.
We continue to climb and I wondered where the actual
turnaround was because it was clear that it was going to be more than 6.55
miles away. That would make this longer than 1/2 marathon for sure which I assuredly did not need. Not long after this realization, the lead runner headed back our way and passed me running down the
hill. I felt I might have a chance to cath him if I could just get my lungs under me. Then a half-marathon runner passed me. I was now in 4th place. Within a few steps another runner passed me but this was right when the course finally flattened
for half a second. While I grabbed water from the aid station (again from an unopened jug of water - I guess they were expecting people to make quick pitstops) and while I grabbed water from a seemingly unexpected person
at another aid station I made sure not to let those two runners get away from me.
To Mile 9:
At least I knew what to expect as we began our trek back to the finish line. I quickly passed the one man who passed me and was soon within sights of the second man. As I gingerly crossed a cattle grate (one of three I think we had to traverse) I could see that I was more or less keeping pace with the gentleman in front of me. I wasn't making up any ground but at least I wasn't losing any either! He was a pretty good downhill runner as well. I was more than pleased to see that I ran an 8 minute mile here even with a small uphill in the middle. I thought that maybe I was completely cooked from earlier but it was clear that as long as it was downhill or flat I could still run a pretty good speed.
This section felt great as I continued even to run up the small uphills and began to think that perhaps I would shock myself with a negative split on this course. I looked behind me on a curve and saw no other runners. I had cleared all those who has passed me and none from behind were making up any ground. This was going ot be an epic finish!
However, when the downhill finally ended and there was a little bit of an incline as we began our climb back to the aid station that was at mile nine, I found myself really beginning to search for air.
To the Finish:
I stopped at the aid station to throw some water on my head as I was a little warm and to fill my cup. A half-marathoner passed me who had seemingly come from nowhere. Damn it. I figured it would be a battle between us the rest of the way but little did I know that the next 4 miles would basically be me running until I felt like I was going to pass out and then walking until I was able to potentially run again.
That's more or less how I spent the last four miles of this race as it climbed 500 feet back up to 8700 feet above sea level. A handful of other runners passed me here and there and I did my best to keep them in sight but sooner or later they all pulled away. It was demoralizing. But I also couldn't breathe so that mattered more than my ego.
I began to wonder if I should really push hard to still break 2 hours for this half marathon or just accept the fact that this is probably going to be my slowest half marathon ever. The latter soon became my state of mind as I was just in survival mode.
Even the slight downhill with half of a mile to go gave me little respite as I could find barely enough energy to run down the hill. That's when I know it's bad. With the last quarter of a mile to go after I had already hit 13.1 miles it was clear this race was definitely going to be long. Worse than that it was the steepest part of the entire course that would take us to the finish line. I did my absolute best to jog but it was really no faster than a fast walk so I quit even trying.
I was able to muster enough strength to jog the last 100
yards or so to finish in my absolute worst time ever of 2:17:34 - nearly anentire hour slower than my half marathon PR. I finished in 9th place overall
and couldn't have been happier to be done.
Three major notes of interest in this race.
1. There was a 9 year old boy completing his first marathon with his Dad and it was incredible. Looked like he was having the time of his life and I am just flabbergasted that this difficult course was theo ne they chose to break that seal. Great job, Ezra!
2. The guy who ran out like bat out of hell I think was the one who won the 50k in an blistering time of 3:48. Given the elevation and hills, this time is ridiculous.
3. At the packet pickup, of this small race, the guy who was next in line behind me was ALSO from the Twin Cities and ALSO finishing his 50th state. The only thing more amazing than that was how completely un-gobsmacked he was by this fact while I stood there completely in shock.
So the 50 states are done. It is quite funny that the final half is the slowest ever. Now I am going to take some time off and see if we can get everything healed and ready to potentially take on some more challenges. Or do nothing at all!
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