New Minneapolis Full/Half Marathon

A great new marathon along the Mississippi River .. with a seven hour (rare in this part of the country) time limit! Check it out.

http://www.teamortho.us/Minneapolis_Marathon

Picture: late April.. so expect even more green late in May. (Along Mississippi near Minnehaha Pk)
Mercedes Birmingham Marathon... see past 4 posts.

Marathon for Love

The very special story of the Mercedes Birmingham Marathon.....
http://www.mercedesmarathon.com/about.php

For pictures of this year's marathon see previous 3 posts.

Mercedes Birmingham Half/Full Marathon

See the flowers and the churches on the race course in the previous 2 posts.

All pictures are clickable to enlarge.

If you want to run a half or full marathon where the organizers and the volunteers know what they are doing, consider this one!!
The expo did not disappoint. Sign in for the races went smoothly.

The children's race on Saturday morning was popular.







Because I remember
growing up in the 50's,
I am delighted to see
girls encouraged to run.




On race morning we parked in a ramp
right at the start/finish.




The course took us from downtown and back into downtown for a delightful view of the city.





We ran by parks..

And more parks...


Mother and daughter had brought their blankets.. and when I aimed the camera at them, they did proud the meaning of enthusiastic spectators!!

Running through various neighborhoods is to experience more of the city.









A grand old house reflected in the side of a new building.



Kids and dogs are great spectators.



In praise of volunteers.. and they were fabulous in Birminham!





Left: technical finisher's shirt

Runners wearing whatever they choose to wear.. check out the pink tutu!

A marathon finisher and her daughter, view the waterfall from just in front of the fountain.


The finish for marathoners... just a slight uphill.. but a fantatic finish at the city park.


Sweet Pea and I ran the half this time.. and were so pleased with the course: once around for the half; twice around for the full... a beautiful course. If we had been running the marathon we would have been happy to run it twice.

For another review of the Birmingham Marathon, see "Don's Make It a Masterpiece" blog.

Birmingham Marathon - Churches on the Race Course

Church archectecture ... old or new, any denomination ... interesting and fascinating!
The Birmingham Marathon race course was rich in variety ... a marvelous tour of the city. Thanks to all who made it possible.

Coming in the next post.. a little about our running of the race... I promise!

NOTE: Previous 2 posts are also pictures from Birmingham.

February Flowers in Birmingham

Future posts:
Birmingham Marathon/Half Marathon
Birmingham churches on the marathon race course
Paducah ice storm

Birmingham, an 1100 mile drive south from St. Paul, was about to burst into spring, and the flowers were starting to appear last weekend.

Birmingham Half/Full Marathon

Details later