Mesa Falls Marathon, Pre Race

We intended to head out to Idaho by 8am on Friday morning. Of course, that didn’t happen as I still had to water all of the plants, and we had to empty the diaper pail. However, we were only a couple of minutes behind schedule. Then, we got to dad’s house, and everyone there was still packing up Little Bro’s truck. It wasn’t long until everything was in and we were ready to go. So, we headed north!

Unfortunately, Bub and I argued for most of the drive. Lots of reasons – none of them great. Having never been this far north into Idaho (that I can remember), I was surprised by the initial flatness of the land. We all stopped in Pocatello for lunch. We were the only ones who packed a lunch, so we had to drive through the city to find someplace for everyone to eat at. It was HOT (90*+), so we didn’t have many choices since there were three dogs in the Brit’s car. Eventually, we stopped at a softball field. We stayed with the boys, the dogs, and the peanut butter sandwiches while everyone else went to get burgers. The dogs got a good drink of water, and the boys blew off a lot of steam. It was fun even if it was pretty darn warm.

Eventually, we were back on the road. Bub and I stopped in Rexburg to pick up last minute groceries, and then we were off again. We drove through Ashton on our way to Island Park and our cabin. Even though it’s on the main street in Island Park, finding our cabin wasn’t actually easy! Island Park has the longest main street in America. And, it’s loooooooooooooooooooooong. Like miles and miles and miles long. And, it’s all pine trees. There are some businesses on the main street, but generally, it’s pine trees and pine trees and pine trees with the town tucked behind them. Finally, we arrived at the Lazy Trout Lodge, before entering our cabin I noticed an interesting smell in the air. It didn’t seem to bother anyone else, and I guess that it didn’t actually bother me – bother is not the right word – but I could smell it constantly. It was sort of a lemony mint plant that was so strong that I could even taste it. Interesting. The cabin was a perfect size – for four people. We had nine. Oh, yeah – NINE and three dogs! But, it wasn’t too bad. It was a nice little cabin – next in line for the upgrade – with side beams that we all keep whacking our heads on – but it was cozy and clean and inexpensive when split it between three couples.

After settling in, little bro, sis-in-law, Bub and I all headed back for the pasta dinner in Ashton. It was being held at the local elementary school. We grabbed our race packets – put together in potato sacks, cute! – and headed for the pasta line. The spaghetti wasn’t Bub’s, but it was much better than some that I’ve had at other marathons. It was prepared by a local organization – I forget who – but it was tasty enough for me! The other runners seemed satisfied, too. In my opinion, it was better than those catered by chain spaghetti restaurants. Unfortunately for the servers in the lunch room, the baking sun was streaming in through the windows. Added to the steam from the cooking pasta, the hot spaghetti sauce, and the hundreds of baked potatoes, they were sweating up a storm but I never saw anything but smiles on their faces!

As we sat down to our dinner on the little cafeteria tables, I saw Carol Co-worker and her hubby. So, I said hi and we chatted for a few minutes. I was happy to see that they had arrived safely. She informed me that a lady next to us was about to complete the 50-state challenge for the second time! She’ll achieve this milestone next month! Pretty darn impressive. I was also eyeing a gal at the next table because she looked a lot like the pictures of Laura from Absolut(ly) Fit. She was wearing a Humpey’s ‘thon shirt, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch since the blogger in question had finished that ‘thon just last weekend.

After we finished our dinner, I just had to know if it was her or not. I know, I know. It sounds so very blog-stalker, but I enjoy her race reports, and I admire anyone who has a goal to be the youngest 50-stater ever. She’s only 24, and she already has 26 ‘thons under her belt. A grand accomplishment, to be sure! So, I approached her and introduced myself. I know, I know. YES – I approached a stranger and talked like a semi-intelligent person. Yup – me. Stranger danger be damned. It turned out to be Laura, and although she was a bit surprised at first, she was gracious and kind and willing to chat to another marathoner. I wished her luck for the next day, and as she pursues her goal. She’s more than ½ way there!

We finally returned to the cabin and struggled with the boys to get them to sleep. (Big shocker.) Everyone was nice enough to give us the only closed-off bedroom (probably for their own sanity), but even that didn’t help the boys sleep. And, none of the beds are bigger than a double, so there was definitely not enough room for all four of us in the bed. So, a boy and I slept on the floor. Not the most restful pre-thon idea, but not horrible. I set my phone alarm and Little Bro set his, too.

We wanted to leave at 4am, latest. Well, we got up at 4am. Oh well. We both wore our race clothes to bed, so I only had to put my contacts in and pin my number on. We jumped in the truck and headed to Ashton for the pre-race breakfast and the bus ride to the start line.

The breakfast was much more varied than I expected. There was coffee, tea, hot chocolate, juice, milk, cereal, bagels, all kinds of fruit, donuts, instant oatmeal, and probably more that I didn’t even see! I don’t remember which organization does the breakfast, but there were a bunch of nice little old ladies bustling around, stocking the food, and keeping everything organized and clean. Seriously, a community must be really invested in the activity to have more than two people willing to get up at 4am to serve bagels! I hope that this ‘thon is a yearly boost to their economy.

There was, of course, a sense of anticipation in the air. Runners were applying anti-chafing stuff, blister stuff, and doing last minute checks of the route’s elevation change. The race director was encouraging people to get on one of the first three buses so that they could get moving. We got what we needed, and boarded bus #3. As luck would have it, Laura was on that same bus. We talked for a minute, and I introduced her to Little Bro, but I don’t do small talk well, and she wanted to catch a bit more sleep. (How convenient for both of us….) The race director boarded our bus (and probably all of them) for some last minute instructions. He notified us that there was recent bear activity in aptly named “bear gulch” but told us not to worry. With 500 runners and Search & Rescue on the trails, we should be fine. If nothing else, he told us that we didn’t need to outrun the bear – just the next closest runner!

During the drive to the start line, Little Bro and I talked a lot about his race “strategy” with the recent knee problems he had been experiencing. He decided to just run my pace for a while, and if he felt up to it, he would speed up and run his own race. If not, he wouldn’t. “Can he?” That question hung in the air for quite some time.