Race Recap: Med City Marathon

May 31

Race Recap: Med City Marathon Rochester, MN State #11

Well, this one was definitely interesting!

With Josh being in Virginia, Noels Dad took on the spot of crew lead and joined Noel and the kids for race weekend!

We arrived Saturday evening for packet pick up. It was a smaller expo but still some nice booths to check out running stuff at and to get all the race feels going.

After packet pick up we grabbed some food from a local BBQ spot, ate and went to bed.

Race morning was IDEAL. Overcast skies and upper 60s for weather. There was a storm on its way but it was supposed to miss the Rochester area.

There were plenty of port-a-potties at the starting line so even though the lines were long, they moved quickly and I did not feel pressed for time trying to get my pre-race poop in

Although the race is smaller, there was a lot of people at the start because there were several distances. The full marathon, 20miler, full marathon relay and half marathon all started at the same time and place.

Things started off well, other than the course being all rolling hills, but a little before the halfway mark, the sky opened up and the storm that was supposed to miss the area was there. Due to lighting and thunder racers were told they could not go on to do the full and needed to head to the finish line and it would just be a half marathon for everyone today.

Noel sprinted across the finish line in the rain but when she looked up she could tell the storm was going to pass. She asked the race officials if she could go back out and do the full since that was what she was registered for and that was the medal they were trying to give her.

The race officials said they couldn’t let her officially race the full at this time but if she wanted to do it anyways she could remove her bib, go around the block and rejoin the course. So that is what she did.

It ended up adding about two miles to the distance trying to get back onto the course and when Noel hit the next aid station all the volunteers were still there and they said the course had been re-opened so she could put her bib back on.

The hills did not stop throughout the whole course with a huge hill from miles 21-23, so Noels legs were toast plus the added sprints at the half marathon mark were not helping but she pushed on and was able to cross the finish line again for the full marathon. Although her watch said she ran 28.2miles and there was no official race times since there was the delay, we still got it done and checked off state #11.

Papa Joe was great at crewing and even took care of the four legged crew members the whole time. Here are the products Noel used for fuel before, during and after the race and some pictures from the adventure. Stay tuned for state #12 coming next month and do not forget to submit your own race recaps that we can share here!