It was a pleasure to leave Florida's 90+ degree temperatures with matching humidity in order to run a scenic Northern marathon -- the Governor's Cup Marathon in Helena, Montana. Since this was a June 6th event I carefully purged cold-weather items such as tights and a pull-over hat from my race bag. Predictably, the starting temperature for the race was 37 degrees.I had made reservations at a Helena motel in the downtown area, on Last Chance Gulch -- the site where Helena started as a gold rush town in the 1860's. All motels were completely booked for the weekend. But it wasn't because of the 200 marathoners. There was also a 10K, a 20K and one of the largest 5K's in the country, which drew more than 4000 runners. There was an accompanying health fair with informational tables lining the walking mall of Last Chance Gulch. I entertained myself there the day before the marathon, and by taking a tour of the Historical Museum (which features Indian and pioneer life, and Montana mining history). It was also fun to take a narrated historical tour of Helena on a pneumatic-tire "train", the Last Chance.
On race morning runners huddled in the cold, awaiting buses to take us to the ghost town of Marysville (elevation 5200 ft.) for the start. As we milled about I talked with many members of the Fifty Plus DC group who were there expressly to check off Montana by running that state's only marathon. We watched the start of the single wheelchair entry, and saw him later changing a tire damaged by the rough course surface. The first six miles were mostly downhill on a hard-packed dirt road that follows an old horse and buggy trail through a dense pine forest. I found myself unwisely running at 7:15 pace for the first two miles. I was accompanied part of the way by a German woman living in New Jersey and by a Florida State graduate from Jackson, Wyoming. After emerging for a stretch on asphalt, we ran a two-mile loop at the remote Silver City Bar (where you get to see your faster and slower race companions). The next leg, to mile 19, was rolling country road with short steep rises and lots of downhills. I noted familiar signs of distress from my right big toe as it banged against the front of its shoe on downhills. The course took a detour through a military outpost, Fort Harrison, and a VA complex, and then entered another stretch of dirt road through a park. There was an unwelcome uphill at mile 24 followed by a relatively flat finish in central Helena. Marathoners had a lane to themselves for the final miles as the rest of the road was filled with walking or jogging 5K participants.
The course and how you run it really DOES make a difference. For the Governor's Cup, the altitude and the downhills were the important factors. Another runner and I shared our race experience while we waited in line for a post-race massage. I mentioned that it had taken me 16 minutes longer to run this marathon than the one last month (Pittsburgh) where altitude and hills weren't a factor. He did a quick calculation and came up with the same 16 minutes difference compared to his last marathon.
I had prided myself on both consistent good running times and fast recovery from the past half-dozen marathons. The day after the Governor's Cup all muscles from the butt on down were sore. The race turned out to be an elaborate subsidy of my massage therapist and podiatrist. The nail on my big toe required surgical removal (since it was only attached at the root). A bright spot was that I didn't get the usual friction blister on the outside of my little toe, having experimentally covered it with a strip of "Compeed" the morning of the race. This past week has been a week of recovery. It was brightened somewhat by reading the June issue of "Runner's Niche" by Woody Green, who reminded us that "a running life is a better life".