Sunday, November 2, 2008

Indianapolis Monumental Marathon

Don ran the marathon (32nd marathon, 19th state); Sweet Pea and I did the half.
Don's myeloma diagnosis was just after his first marathon. He has no symptoms and doctors say, whatever you are doing, keep doing it.
Both race started out together.. for the first 6 miles. Weather was just right for running: temp around 50 degrees.
Indianapolis is a city of monuments, many of them made from Indiana limestone.
Gatorade in "poison" cups.. On Halloween day.
Little trick or treat bags of chocolate candy were a fun addition to the race bags.

Marvelous fall color all weekend... Pumpkins decorated doorsteps for Halloween.... and Obama lawn signs were abounding on the historic north side of Indianapolis.
The race began and ended near the Indiana State Capitol Building.
Registration was in the rotunda of the capitol. No security screening was imposed
There was NO expo.

But the next day...
when Post-race spaghetti was offered there, too.. somebody decided to set up security screening, locked all but one entrance to the building....

AND FINISHERS WERE REQUIRED TO (TEMPORARILY) SURRENDER FINISHERS MEDALS, CELL PHONES, CAMERAS, ETC TO GO THROUGH SECURITY BEFORE ENTERING THE CAPITOL TO
SEE THE UNOFFICIAL RESULTS POSTED AND EAT POST-RACE FOOD!!!

Truly, during the race, police and volunteers were super.
Only a few motorists had missed the road closing warnings and honked impatiently.

A walk along the canal... You can click to enlarge the wording on the plaque.
Sunset on a beautiful day.. as we drove all the way back to St. Paul from Indianapolis.
Next morning we ran a 5K on the University of Minnesota golf/cross country course.
... final race of the local grand prix season.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like a great day with much to celebrate! :)

rocketpants said...

You all just keep going! I love it!! Keep up all the great racing. Looks like a great event.

Backofpack said...

Cool medals! Looks like a beautiful area. Glad you had nice weather!

Amytrigirl (aka Amybee) said...

Looks like a very fun Race.... I would not have surrendered my medal for pasta either....

Enjoy the beautiful fall day back here in MN. Looks like the last one we'll have in a long time. (Bummer)

CewTwo said...

Wow! What a weekend! Looks like you had a lot of fun!

Nice run. Pretty cool medals.

I am OK. I t is the busy time of the month at work for me. I'm thinking of running the Las Vegas marathon in December!

Vickie said...

Congrats on another finish! Beautiful medals too.

ShirleyPerly said...

What a fun way to celebrate a new month. And those cups, oh my, how funny! Having to give up your race medals to see post-race results and get food is outrageous, though!!

peter said...

Somehow, I don't think I would have drunk anything from those cups! I'm glad you all had a nice race and good weather for it. Each state is different about their capitol. In Virginia, you have to get screened, can't bring parcels in and have to be escorted wherever you go. In Maryland, although there is a guard's booth with an officer or two at each entrance, you can just stroll right on in.

Anne said...

What a crazy system that requires you to surrender your medal just for pasta. Well, it otherwise seemed perfect and great that Don did so well. I've run on that canal with a friend and it's just beautiful in the summer, can only imagine how lovely it looks in the fall.

DawnB said...

congratulations to all of you nice report and great photos

Unknown said...

Lovely! I always enjoy your pictures. :-)

IronWaddler said...

Awesome race report and I love the photos.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a great marathon and great medals also. Congratulations to all of you!

Anonymous said...

It seems a little more than I need to check the information, because I was thinking: Why does not my GLOG these things!

brack said...

Hello, I wasn't sure how else to reach you. I'm working on a graphic for the Monumental Marathon and wanted to know if I could use one of your photographs? me@brackwho.com Thanks in advance.

Sunshine said...

Sure Brack... Be sure to let us know what you come up with!