In 2019, Jessica and Abbie embarked on their Year of Marathons. The plan was to run twelve, which is totally reasonable. But twelve turned into a thirteen when the opportunity to run the TCS NYC Marathon presented itself - and that's an opportunity that you just don't turn down.
As the thought of actually sitting down to write a recap of the thirteen marathons that Abbie and Jessica ran in 2019 seemed too overwhelming, this post was spoken, recorded, and transcribed over the course of an evening with the support of Robby, Dan, a photo slideshow, and a mini-keg of Hopslam.
PROLOGUE
Robby: Tell us why you're doing 13 marathons?
Jessica: Well, we've done them. And also, I did them because Abbie made me. After many conversations and many beverages, my arm was twisted, and I just gave up.
Abbie: I'm pretty sure it happened because I was injured, and I felt "I have to do ALL THE THINGS" when I can do things again.
(Editor's note: Abbie suffered a stress fracture in her foot in June 2018 while running the Lighthouse 50-Mile Ultra Marathon. But that is another story to tell.)
MARATHON #1: GROUNDHOG MARATHON
February 2, 2019 ~ Grand Rapids, Michigan ~ Finish Time: 6:38:04
Jessica: We knew we had to had run Groundhog. Because it's there. And it's in February. And there are no marathons in January - and we were going to run Groundhog anyway because I always run Groundhog… but only the HALF. It wasn't actually a very bad course last year, which is surprising, because just prior to that week we got dumped on with snow and ice and there was the whole week called off of school. I kept thinking "oh great" - but the bridge was dry; definitely not as bad as it could have been. Most definitely my slowest marathon ever. Was it?
Abbie: This reminds me, this is my favorite winter running outfit -
Jessica: That's because you have that cute skirt on.
Abbie: Right. There are fleece-lined tights which are hella warm and you only need them once or twice a year when you shouldn’t even be outside anyway because it’s so cold. So my favorite winter running outfit is just regular tights with the skirt to cover your butt, which is what gets really cold.
Jessica: That's as we were going out for our beer loop - I feel like the beer loop was the best choice we made.
Abbie: It was an important motivational tactic. It was part of the plan all along - we are going to have to do six loops, so we're going to run five and then walk the last one with a beer and just celebrate finishing the Groundhog Marathon.
Jessica: I slowed us down when I had to use the porta-jon next to Alan.
Abbie: Remember when we came through his aid station and Alan said, "I'm sending someone to the liquor store" -- and then we got a shot of Rumple Minze on the next loop?
Jessica: I was trying to explain Rumple Minze to Beth: "It tastes like Christmas, but also more burning."
Abbie: It wasn't good.
Jessica: It was good for the moment! And let it be known that I placed 3rd in my Age Group at this race. Out of FIVE! Oh, and this is where the pose was born. I will have one finger up and showing how great we are --
Abbie: And I'm like “oh, we’re posing for a photo?” Because I’m very bad at posing for photos, so in a panic, this was my very bad millennial-hand-on-your-hip-thing which I think is done to look flattering? But clearly I don't know how to make it look flattering.
Jessica: And shout-out to Ed & Jake for bringing donuts and cheering!
MARATHON #2: ROCK 'N' ROLL NEW ORLEANS MARATHON
February 9, 2019 ~ New Orleans, Louisiana ~ Finish Time: 5:34:22
Jessica: This was not originally in the plan. Initially, we had signed up for the Vancouver, WA Marathon, and then shortly after we signed up we received emails that said "this race is cancelled, here's your money back" - which was lovely - and then we were trying to figure out, "Well, what the heck are we going to do?" because we'd planned on that race as being part of our 12 - which ended up not being 12 - but we'll get to that …
Dan: SPOILERS!
Jessica: They already know, Dan. They’re reading the blog post.
Abbie: Robby pointed out that we needed to add one early in the year because June is full - the whole fall is full - we need a marathon stat - so he was like, "How about Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans" and I was like "F@#k yeah!" I'll go to New Orleans in a hot second because it's one of my favorite places on earth. Then I texted Julie, who had just moved away from New Orleans, and asked, "Do you want to go to New Orleans and run this race, too?" And she was like "F@#k yeah! I'm in!” And then she straight-up ran a half marathon when she hadn't run in like a year.
Jessica: We experienced King Cake! And daiquiris the night we got in!
Abbie: You said, "All I want to do have a drink and walk down the street."
Jessica: And it never happened! All I wanted to do was walk around with an open container and drink in the middle of February, and did we make it happen? No. The day before the race – we had brunch at the Ruby Slipper -
Abbie: And Robby got a flight of Benedicts, which is basically his dream dish, because he doesn't have to choose just one thing to eat.
Jessica: And also that day we got a giant delicious pile of beignets, which were amazing and were worth the wait. Then we went to Dat Dog and had some beers there - then we went to that bar I don't remember, but that guy wished we would go away. And then we went to that German place for dinner.
Abbie: Because pizza is the normal pre-race meal, and we tried to go to Pizza Delicious right next door, but it was so f@#king full.
Jessica: And then we went to that parade thingy. And then we got up and ran this race.
(Editors note - That "parade thingy" was actually an early Mardi Gras parade, Chewbacchus.)
Abbie: The first half of this race was one of my favorite parts of any marathon ever.
Jessica: And it was just an out and back, but it was so fun.
Abbie: It was just down St. Charles, but you go to Audubon Park, and you see the sights... we saw Dathan winning his race, got a high-five from a Darth Vader guy... but it wasn't until we turned back that there were party stops. That's where we got the King Cake, mimosas - they had pitchers of cocktails - mimosas, and French 75 -
Jessica: This is all in the first 6 miles, right?
Abbie: Yeah. And then you go back to City Park through the Quarter... and then you turn in to this desolate no-mans-land. It was terrible.
Jessica: The half marathoners go to the finish line, and we turn right and run over a highway, and it's desolate and you're all alone, and then you're running by nothing - well the water. (Editor's Note: "The water" is Lake Pontchartrain.)
Abbie: Around mile 10, I said, "Jessica, we just need to get halfway in, and then on the way back, we'll stop at a daiquiri stand and just walk it in." Because clearly I hadn’t bothered to look at a course map to see where the second half of the race was going.
Jessica: It was just the middle of the suburbs - there's no daiquiris anywhere. And then we finish, and you know what's at the finish line? Mic Ultra.
Abbie: Races think runners like Mic Ultra.
(Editors note: They do not.)
MARATHON #3: CARMEL MARATHON
March 30, 2019 ~ Carmel, Indiana ~ Finish Time: 5:37:37
Abbie: Carmel Marathon was not a good race. Ranked last. 13 out of 13. Because here's the thing -
Jessica: Should we explain why we did this race? Because it was super cheap.
Abbie: And Robby had heard about it for a while as a fast, flat course and Robby was eyeing it for a PR course.
Jessica: Well, and so much of your life has taken place in that area, and so I wanted to go down to Indianapolis - I had never been - I was IN on that. And I wish I hadn't been.
Abbie: We got this VRBO. It was a sweet looking VRBO. It was downtown; there's no VRBOs in Carmel because it’s probably against the law in Carmel to have a VRBO. Anyway, this VRBO was above Kilroys Bar - I don't know how none of us read the reveiws about this VRBO? It was above a bar, which meant loud music until 3 in the morning - and not just loud music, but it's actually shaking the floor and walls in the VRBO, which was most of all a problem for Robby - but also for us. Because Robby was all about his taper and carb-loading gearing up for this PR attempt, and was boiling spaghetti before we went out to dinner. And then eating dinner at dinner. After eating the spaghetti before dinner.
Jessica: We had this really great pizza the night before -
Abbie: Bazbeaux - YAAAS! One of my favorite pizza places anywhere.
Jessica: We also watched Free Solo the night before the race – after dinner – and after stopping at that grocery store...
Abbie: Where Dan and Jessica learned about weird Indiana liquor laws, and how sometimes grocery stores can't have cold beer, only cold wine. Anyway, this race was shitty. The rain was shitty, the weather was shitty. But like, whatever – that stuff is unavoidable. I think we were even okay that our feet were soaked before we made it to the start line. Robby was mad, because he was trying to BQ and PR - and he did. But this is not about him.
Jessica: This wasn't a double loop course, it was like a Figure 8 – and there was just so much water and wind...
Abbie: Which, again, would have all been okay – because you can’t control the weather. BUT, the biggest, biggest bullshit was -- a) they promised beer at the end. Nary a beer was to be found at the end - even for people who finished on time. And b) There were no food or snacks left when we finished.
Jessica: They're handing out bottles of water and saying, "Here’s some water - there's no more snacks. The snacks are gone." And we finished a full hour ahead of the final pace team!
Abbie: And we got to split that bottle of water. So then, I was like "FINE - I'm going to blow up this race director's post-race survey." Was there a post-race survey? No. I finally went on their Facebook page and found the most polite place to post something and was like "Hey, this was some bullshit," - but in a nice way because I imagine that being a race director is not an easy job – and never got a response from the director. But other people chimed in to say, "Yeah, same experience."
Jessica: We did forget to mention the most important thing about this race.
Abbie: Our husband's bad behavior?
Jessica: Yes. It's raining - windy, cold, miserable - the water tastes bad - and we're running the race, and we get a picture of Dan and Robby in a nice cozy coffeehouse like, "Oh, look at our Cortados and hot breakfast sandwiches!"
Abbie: And we're are mile 17, running INTO the wind and rain and it's cold as hell -
Jessica: Around all those damn traffic circles - it was so bad. We sent them a picture of exactly what we felt about their picture. But then we left, we came back to town, we got our Crew Day on at Creston (Brewery), AND we got our first Dairy Queen of the season.
MARATHON #4: GLASS CITY MARATHON
April 27, 2019 ~ Toledo, Ohio ~ Finish Time: 5:38:03
Jessica: This was not my favorite race, but I had a lot of fun at Glass City.
Abbie: For one that felt like a "filler" race to get us to 12 (13), I'd run it again. Robby brought us Timbits, and then I ran with the Timbits. It was a big hit with the volunteers.
Jessica: Glass City was only a little sad because Dan wasn't there.
Abbie: There was no beer on course - so Robby had to bring us beer on course. And this was my first race as a Masters runner!
Jessica: The day before, we went to that bar where they refused to serve us - then we went to that place -
Abbie: Black Cloister though? With that pretzel? I would go back to South Detroit just to eat that pretzel again.
Jessica: Then we went to Meijer, and bought Bears vs. Babies - and we've never played that again. And then we got up the morning of the race, and it was raining -- because that's how we do.
Abbie: As you can see from the pictures, this is the expo where I bought my Des jacket and then wore it for the race.
Jessica: I feel like this might have been the first time we did shots at 13.1 - but no party vest this time.
Abbie: I think the party vest makes its debut at Bayshore. We'll find out! Oh, and this was maybe my favorite medal of the whole circuit. It’s the "front butt runner." Make sure we get a close-up of that medal.
Jessica: Also - just so everyone knows - we went to Creston after we got back.
Abbie: Yes! Drive straight home to Creston.
MARATHON #5: BAYSHORE MARATHON
May 25, 2019 ~ Traverse City, Michigan ~ Finish Time: 5:37:43
Jessica: Bayshore - one of the best weekends of the entire year.
Abbie: Fact. So it's going to rank pretty high.
Jessica: We watched Spiderman: Homecoming the night before, and we woke up the next morning, and it was raining like crazy and red all over the radar. And I was like "We're all gonna die!" and “Dan's gonna die!” and he went out to stand in a field in a thunderstorm (because he was running the Half). And by the time Abbie and I showed up at the Marathon start line, everything was fine! It was actually really lovely. I will always love that course.
Jessica: We split a Woodford Reserve at halfway -
Abbie: Because the party vest makes its debut!
Abbie: “Party people!” This is where we got into our groove for how the rest of the marathons are going to go. We're just going to run along for the first half, banking the miles at a nice, easy pace, and then we get to the halfway point - and it's like "Time to party it in! The second half is the celebration!" And inevitably, we pick people up along the way who are having a tough time and need a little silliness and joy because it’s their first marathon, or they're pushing too hard or down on themselves – you know how marathons can go.
Jessica: We bring joy.
Abbie: We can be happy at mile 22! Come along with us!
Jessica: We can be happy walking! In the last few miles, we met up with that group of people who found us at Charlevoix – the ones who yelled, “Hey! Party people!” at us on the Charlevoix course.
Abbie: And this was the most of the Moomers ice cream I've ever eaten after Bayshore, because it’s the best I've ever felt at the end of Bayshore.
MARATHON #6: CHARLEVOIX MARATHON
June 22, 2019 ~ Charlevoix, Michigan ~ Finish Time: 5:56:06
Abbie: Ah, Charlevoix.
Jessica: At Charlevoix we had probably my favorite VRBO - the mushroom house - it was absolutely lovely! We had the best view! I could have stayed there for days and just sat in that living room area looking out at the lake. I have this awesome photo of Dan walking through poison ivy, and he still hasn't worn those jeans again – or washed them. This race was really hard because we were revisiting much of the 50-mile course that we'd run at Lighthouse. That was mentally really difficult.
Abbie: Also, as I mentioned, by this point I was a Masters runner, and thus the three or four hard tumbles I’d taken the weekend before at Trail Ragnar meant I was hurting A LOT. Because I'm old.
Jessica: There are very, very few races where Abbie is not the stronger runner of the pair of us.
Abbie: I also think it's this trail; I am not a strong runner on this trail.
Jessica: But also, I had so much fun at this race. There's no pressure! I didn't have to worry about slowing anyone down, and it was so lovely. At Mile 20, I almost lost Abbie. I thought I wasn't going to be able to keep her going.
Abbie: I was not in good shape.
Jessica: We got her some moonshine and everything was alright.
Abbie: My body hurt, my knees hurt, my shoulders hurt, my quads - if I fall at Ragnar like that again this year… whoo. We were so convinced up until the half turnaround point that we were in last place, and we were taking it in and soaking it up – because that’s an achievement! And then we passed like a dozen people on the way back - and, "Damnit, we're not last." This is also the race where those people who, when we were coming back in to Charlevoix, got really excited about Radio Ga Ga coming on the party vest playlist - that guy on his porch was like "Yeah!"
Jessica: This is also where Dan and Robby were talking more about their Gazelle Boi race – something involving the drawbridge in downtown Charlevoix.
Editors note: the course for Gazelle Boi North has not been finalized.
Jessica: It's such a pretty city.
Abbie: I love Charlevoix.
Jessica: It's so lovely.
MARATHON #7: MILLENNIUM MEADOWS MARATHON
August 25, 2019 ~ Grand Rapids, Michigan ~ Finish Time: 5:59:17
Jessica: But before we get to Millennium Meadows, we have to talk about the fact that between Charlevoix and Millennium Meadows, Abbie decided she was just going to go poop out 140.3 -
Abbie: 140.6, excuse me! I had to. I signed up for it in that same haze of "I can't do anything right now; I'm going to do everything next year!"
(Editor's note: #readaboutitontheblog #racereportlakeplacid)
Jessica: So, Millennium Meadows. Well, it's absolutely better than Carmel. Hands down. The thing for me is that Dan and I ran Millennium Meadows the first year, so I'm very invested in continuing to do this race every year even though it's really hard. The best part about it is that we started at 6 a.m. Super necessary because its super f@#king hot because it's August. Also, we continued our tradition of the beer lap that we started at Groundhog - I mean, it's the same course, so why not? I knew I could get through five laps running-ish, and we'd have that beer on the last loop. Also we had Ed and Jake come out and they brought fantastic signs again, and donuts again, and that was lovely.
Abbie: I feel like we got into Lizzo when we volunteered at MiTi, which was a week before this race. And I thought Good as Hell would be a great late marathon power song to add to our playlist.
Jessica: And it's great that it showed up at Millennium Meadows, because it turns out the next weekend I would need it even more.
Abbie: BUM BUM BUMMM!
MARATHON #8: MARQUETTE MARATHON
August 31, 2019 ~ Marquette, Michigan ~ Finish Time: 5:46:20
Abbie: Marquette! This is in my top tier of Marathons.
Jessica: I love Marquette. I love Marquette to the point where I keep talking about it and trying to talk other people into running it.
Abbie: Robby forgot his shoes or something that morning, so he couldn't get on the bus with us and had to run back to the VRBO.
Jessica: We got on one of the first buses so we got that spot next to that light fixture with the generator at the start line to try to stay warm because it was really cold. And then we saw Robby, and he got there on time.
Abbie: This is just such a great point-to-point course.
Jessica: I love it. It’s so beautiful.
Abbie: They bus you up to Ishpeming, and this year the school bus had no problem getting up that hill. You start in Ishpeming and pass through Negaunee on the way down the Iron Ore Trail in to Marquette. It is lovely. And since we’ve run it before, I knew this year about the bathroom situation, which if anyone out there is thinking of running Marquette, just know there's a bathroom at mile 2 and mile 4 and not another bathroom until mile 27. I was in some dire straits that first time we ran it.
Jessica: This was the race that Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey joined us - Abbie: Which is the best on-course booze as far as I'm concerned. From now until eternity.
Jessica: Should we talk about this year, compare it to the first year we ran this race? That first year it was raining and windy and we almost got blown away – but this year, we got down to Lake Superior and it was absolutely lovely, and the sun was shining, and then I almost lost you.
Abbie: It was a funny sign. Who's going to run off into the woods when there's a paved trail?
Jessica: We kept bouncing back and forth with another runner -
Abbie: A dude and a lady, who were not running together -
Jessica: Who were not together, but the lady was running her first marathon, and the dude was very supportive and helping out, and we tried to convince them to come with us because, party vest, obviously. But they were running their own race, and that was really great. Well then months later, at a River Bank training run, we find out she's a Road Warrior, and she remembers us. The only complaint I'll ever have about Marquette is the entire last mile is uphill --
Abbie: It's great! I love that mile.
Jessica: We listened to Good As Hell THREE TIMES before we made it up that stupid hill.
Abbie: I didn't realize it would take us that long. I may have started the triumphant power song a smidge early. Fine. But also, this year it was not screaming rain and wind - it was beautiful at the finish, and we were able to walk right in to Blackrocks (Brewery), have a beer, and hang out.
MARATHON #9: AKRON MARATHON
September 28, 2019 ~ Akron, Ohio ~ Finish Time: 6:06:55
Jessica: Dan's cousins, Emmy and Dan, have been bugging me to run Akron since I started running marathons. And it used to be like, "I can't run Akron Marathon because I'm already running Grand Rapids. Run two marathons in ONE YEAR? What kind of crazy person does that?" And so when you were like "Ok, let's run 12 marathons in a year!" I was all, "Fine, but I have to run the Akron marathon." The expo was actually well laid-out, and interesting --
Abbie: And Des Linden was there!
Jessica: The most important thing is we got to meet Des Linden.
Abbie: If only Dan had a jacket…
Jessica: Yeah, he kind of threw it off - we have this picture of the team with Des, and Dan just kind of looks like an outsider.
Abbie: Akron: Run the Blue Line!
Jessica: Did it rain the morning of the race or rain when we were standing there waiting for it to start? Abbie: A little bit at the start. We were standing there watching all those dark clouds passing by to the north of us.
Jessica: And there was the rainbow right before we started! But one of my favorite memories of this race was - we were maybe three miles into this race - and there was a guy standing out on his front lawn with a six-pack of beer. Great Lakes Oktoberfest. And he's yelling at people "Who wants a beer? Who wants a beer?" And people were saying "Ha ha, that's funny," but Abbie yells, "Hey, I'll take a beer!" and he hands her an entire bottle!
Abbie: And he was so happy, and I was so happy, and we were all so happy.
Jessica: And we drank maybe a third of that bottle of beer -
Abbie: It's foaming everywhere -
Jessica: We were running past another house and had to stop and say, "Hey, your neighbor gave us this beer - can we leave it on your lawn?"
Abbie: The first half of the Akron marathon was our BR: Beer Record.
Jessica: It was ridiculous.
Abbie: If it had continued at that pace for the second half, we would have been turnt city. However, for better - and for worse - it was not like that for the second half. But, oh, the snow cones were my favorite mid-race treat of the year! People were out everywhere - look, there were snow cones, there were milkshakes, there was beer all over the place -
Jessica: If you just want to run a half marathon and have a half marathon of parties-- Abbie: and I do -
Jessica: THIS is the half-marathon you do.
Abbie: Even more than just all the beer, everybody was just out and excited. There were house parties and lawn parties - people just lining the street. It was a good time. (to Robby) Did you run this one? Robby: I ran to spectate you.
Jessica: He came out in his shorty shorts.
Abbie: OH! That’s right. Emmy and Dan and Brian all came out, too.
Jessica: I wasn't feeling all that great when we got to the Ido Bar & Grill where you all were, because we had all those hills that we hit just past halfway – and so hot, no shade, nothing. But they were so happy to see us that I was like, "Great - give me that beer, I'm going to walk the rest of this." I would definitely run the half marathon at Akron again and be super happy about it. Also, if we only ran the half marathon at Akron, we could totally keep up with Emmy and Dan and their crazy business post-race. Because those kids --
Abbie: They can party! Jessica: They CAN party.
Abbie: This is where the idea for getting the BIMp was hatched, because that Froggy bar was across the street from the Goodyear Blimp garage. And we said, "F@#k the RV, we need a blimp. And it can be the BIMp!"
MARATHON #10: MILWAUKEE LAKEFRONT MARATHON
October 6, 2019 ~ Milwaukee, Wisconsin ~ Finish Time: 5:37:03
Abbie: Milwaukee Lakefront was some bullshit.
Jessica: Milwaukee made me really angry. The race. Not the city.
Abbie: Though Milwaukee resulted in some really good pictures.
Jessica: We had really great pre-race beverage consumption on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, Dan wasn't able to come hang out with us because he decided to stay home with the dogs, which was his personal choice. We had the best tour of Lakefront Brewery - that woman was AMAZING. We also went to the bar where I ordered one beer, and got two mugs!
Abbie: The Milwaukee Lakefront marathon sucked.
Jessica: The start was great -- Abbie: Was it?
Jessica: It was a beautiful morning. Look at this picture.
Abbie: Ok, it was a beautiful morning. However, there's no lakefront to the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon. Until Mile 25. There are no closed roads, and you're running on the shoulder of the road with cars driving straight at you.
Jessica: And then finally at mile 21, we found our savior on the course, who had tiny Dixie cups of beer. The one guy. And then Robby finally caught up to us - and took one of my favorite pictures of our entire year of marathon running, the one -- that's the one. It's absolutely fantastic.
Abbie: One of the best parts about this photo, and one of my favorite parts about this time in the race is that there were so few of us out running at that point that there were tourists out at the art museum and along the lakefront, and they're confused and asking us, "is there a race going on?"
Jessica: And then after we crossed the finish line, I was riding high - we get these really great snack bags; there's this woman at the finish line asking, "How is the finish area?" and we said, "Great! Everything's awesome!" And then we go and get in the beer line. Everything's great, we're chatting with the other finishers around us, and everything's fun because we just finished this race. Then we're up to second in line. And the woman at the table says, "That's it! That's all we got. We ran out of beer."
Abbie: Just as I was handing in my ticket.
Jessica: Oh god, it was absolutely the worst.
Abbie: We had finished a FULL HOUR ahead of the cutoff -
Jessica: I was so angry, and you know what we got instead? Wendy's.
Abbie: This was also - we drank so much beer the night before in Milwaukee that we couldn't eat dinner because we were so full of beer. I ate a slice of pizza. I could only eat one slice at dinner, and we had ordered so much pizza!
Jessica: I don't even remember pizza. Abbie: That place that was out in, like, funky town - it was good! That one piece I had.
Jessica: Oh yeah, that place that my internet friend said we had to go to.
Dan: Is this the race where Rob learned you can't run more than the people running the marathon?
Jessica: Oh, that's also the race where Rob parked the car, and then on the way back from the finish line was like, "I think the car is over here."
Abbie: Yeah, he made us walk, like, two miles back to the car.
Jessica: "I think the car is this way. Oh by the way, you have to climb 18 flights of stairs to get to the car."
Robby (deflecting): Look at the map, you were right next to the lake the whole time.
Abbie: We were not next to the water, we were next to the rich peoples' houses blocking our view of the water.
Jessica: You know what could've been better there was more beer.
Abbie: I think our next race is Grand Rapids Marathon, and that's where we met our friend Lisa, who, when we were chatting on that course, was also like "Oh, Milwaukee Lakefront? That race SUCKS."
MARATHON #11: GRAND RAPIDS MARATHON
October 20, 2019 ~ Grand Rapids, Michigan ~ Finish Time: 5:37:06
Jessica: We had cocktail night on Friday, and then Sue ran Run Thru The Rapids and Ellie had her cross country race on Saturday, and the next day was Grand Rapids Marathon! And we did our early start, which is my absolute favorite thing about GR Marathon because you have so much running before the fast people catch you. When we saw Beth, I was so overjoyed. Beth and Maya, out on the course - I had no idea they were going to be there - it was so lovely. Do you have the other photo there too? Don't we look like actually overjoyed - legitimately and authentically happy?
Abbie: Yeah! I think my legs look great in that photo, too.
Jessica: Girl, yes.
Abbie: Don't my legs look great? Jessica: They do.
Abbie: That's like my best leg photo ever. I found the pose, I'm never going to be able to strike it again, because Lord knows how I even got there.
Jessica: GR is one of my favorite races of the year. I love that course.
Abbie: My legs look great when I run it.
Jessica: I just, I don't know if it's just that I know so many people who run this race and that's what brings me so much joy?
Abbie: We met our new friend Lisa around mile 7 or 8, and we were just chit chatting with her the whole time, and I felt like every mile or two I'd be saying hi to somebody - and you feel like, "Yeah, this is my hometown race!" Jessica: Sometimes you want to go to a race where everybody knows your name. Grand Rapids was fun, and it has one of the best post-race parties ever. Sometimes you wish you had a little more energy to hang out a little longer.
Abbie: All the good beer you can drink. NOT Mic Ultra. Also one of my favorite moments from this race, which is unfortunately not caught on camera, is between mile 5 and 6 where that aid station and porta-potty is, and that's the first time we saw Ellie and Sue, and we were walking it out - because there's something about that mile that makes me have to poop my pants. We saw them and were like, "We have a situation," and Sue's like, "OH! You have a SITUATION! I know all about the SITUATION." And then you kept walking when I popped into the porta-potty, and when I came out, Neumann and his My Team Triumph team came up behind me and said, "Hey, where's your partner?" And I was like, "I had a situation, she's up ahead. I'm running to catch her." This is why the party vest has Imodium in it.
MARATHON #12 (13): TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHON
November 3, 2019 ~ New York, New York ~ Finish Time: 5:52:20
Abbie: And then, the bonus marathon - number 13! But number 12 chronologically. It was mid-to-late June, and Robby's work people were like, "Hey who wants to run New York?" And I said, "F@#K YES, I want to run New York," because it’s long been top of my list for races that I want to run but has a prohibitively fast qualifying standard, so I'd never get in that way.
Jessica: I don't want to get too deep into this race, because I have very important thoughts that I'm in the middle of writing a blog post about: "what happens when you hate-run the race that everyone wants to run."
Abbie: Aw man. But what a race, right? Jessica: What a race!
Abbie: Here's the thing, if you're going to run New York, only run it when you're a VIP.
(Editor's Note: Abbie would run New York again without any such conditions.)
Jessica: If you can't be in the VIP tent, don't even do it.
(Editor's Note: Jessica hopes to god that she is never invited to run this race again.)
Abbie: It's the biggest marathon in the world.
Dan: You guys didn't even see what it was like getting to Tavern on the Green to watch the finish. The number of people - the amount of disaster that was just everywhere for blocks around that finish line. You couldn't walk! It was elbow to elbow, squeeze your way through - I've never seen anything like that in my entire life, the volume of people --
Abbie: Thank God you had several more hours until we finished!
Jessica: The thing I will say about this race: I am surprised about the lack of on-course bad ideas beverages that were available. But I guess I can understand because if you're gonna provide beer for one person, you should provide for all, and that's a lot of beer, so maybe that's a problem? So I very much appreciated the donuts - that was a good donut. Thanks, Katie! But the best moment for me in the entire race, sorry Dan, was seeing Lauren.
Abbie: Lauren was the best spectator in New York!
Jessica: I was very much appreciative that Dan made it out, but Lauren was SO excited!
Abbie: Lauren had a great time spectating the whole day.
Jessica: And I don't even understand why!
Abbie: That was my favorite part of the whole course, too, where she was, because it was just like we ran right onto the Sesame Street set. It was this moment of one of the most beautiful experiences of my life running combined with one of the most beautiful places from my childhood memories.
Jessica: Dan, you were definitely second-best spectator. Dan, the problem with being you, is that it’s a joy to see you but at the same time, it makes me want to quit.
Abbie: Ohhhhh….
Jessica: Well you know that moment where you have the one person who you feel like can actually offer you comfort, and you just want to be comforted, and you're like, "All I want to do is stop running and just be with this person and not run anymore."
Abbie: But you're like - oh, Abbie's still running, so --
Jessica: I wanted to get to Central Park... but I will TALK ABOUT THAT IN MY OTHER BLOG POST.
Abbie: I loved running New York. I would run New York again in a heartbeat. This is where Jessica and I totally diverge.
Jessica: It was better than Carmel, yeah! Carmel's last one on the list. Also this photo -
Abbie: Washington Square Park! Remember when we were done running?
MARATHON #13 (12): INDIANAPOLIS MONUMENTAL MARATHON
November 9, 2019 ~ Indianapolis, Indiana ~ Finish Time: 5:46:00
Abbie: The last marathon of the year. The victory lap. Monumental.
Jessica: Hmm.
Abbie: It's a terrible, boring course. Here was the problem for me - related to the comment you made earlier about Indianapolis being a big place from my life - is that this course is definitely more aligned with my life there, but there's actually a lot of shitty memories that I have of places on this course. So… that's part of it for me. And there was a disappointing lack of beer. Only like two beer stations, and they were right across the street from each other, there in Broad Ripple.
Jessica: And we didn't quite have Sam and Craig indoctrinated into "This is how you bring us beer on course."
Abbie: And who even f@#king knows what Dan was doing.
Jessica: Dan was just trying to have a great time with Craig. And he did. They had a great time.
Abbie: Let's see. What did I like about this course? I liked that my cousins and Ed and Jake came out and were also running this race.
Jessica: Courtnie was like, "I'm going to run with you guys." Then after the first mile, she's up there, and why is she still running away from us?
Abbie: You do you, Court!
Jessica: I WISH Ed and Jake would have STAYED with us.
Abbie: It was kind of our fault - it was everybody's fault. It was the race's fault.
Jessica: We had different pre-race plans. Ed and Jake were checking bags, and we were just staying warm until the start.
Abbie: But also we could have found each other at the start had it not been such a clusterf@#k in the start corrals, which were terrible. However, I also think Ed would have caught up to us eventually if we had not found Lisa – but I’m glad we found Lisa, so -
Jessica: She kept wanting to run! It was breaking up our run/walk method – in which we have no method. Man, I want to run a marathon with Ed so bad but I don't know if we're ever going to be able to convince him. He has to start it with us and have fun with us. But maybe someday. We'll give him this year to get over it and give him some space, and next year I'll lay it on thick. I don't know if I've ever been that happy at a finish line before in my entire life. And it wasn't just being finished, it was - that's my shit-eating grin that Dan references often -- I just felt so happy at the end of that race. I wasn't happy that it was over, but I was just happy that we had accomplished this incredibly ridiculous thing that we had set out to accomplish, which became even more ridiculous when we had an extra marathon that we attached at the almost-end of it. While I had a lot of really low points in a lot of the races that we ran, and they were not ideal - or perfect - nor was I trained...
Abbie: Under-trained and over-raced.
Jessica: It just felt really good to have completed it, and we did this thing. The whole last mile I was spending a lot of time thinking back on all the adventures that we had, and I think that was the thing. The experiences that we had, and the traveling, and the time together - that was really rewarding to me. And I'm not sure that I will ever be ready to run that many marathons in one year again, but I was very grateful for the experience.
Abbie: It was a fun year.
Jessica: It was a crazy ass fun year. Are we doing Marquette this year, though?
Abbie: Yeah. I think that's what we've decided during this conversation: we are IN for Marquette, 2020. Who's joining us?
RANKING THE MARATHONS
1. Grand Rapids Marathon
2. Marquette Marathon
3. Bayshore Marathon
4. Akron Marathon
5. Glass City Marathon
6. Groundhog Marathon
7. Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Marathon
8. Charlevoix Marathon
9. Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
10. Millennium Meadows Marathon
11. Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon
12. Carmel Marathon
UNRANKED: New York City Marathon
Jessica: Groundhog - while that race was ridiculous, we had a lot of fun! The problem with New Orleans is that second half is a shit-show, so lonely and so desolate and so boring, and makes you want to die.
Abbie: I'd rank NYC higher, but Jessica wouldn't.
Jessica: My experience at Charlevoix was better than Abbie's experience at Charlevoix. Abbie's experience at New York was better than my experience at New York.
Abbie: I hurt at Charlevoix, but I loved Charlevoix.
Jessica: I'm not happy that you hurt, but I also liked that I was not the slow one for once.
Abbie: I get it. I feel you. I feel like maybe New York doesn't even belong on this list. Maybe we should leave it unranked. It was not one of the twelve to start with. We had vastly different experiences. It is a totally different animal.
Jessica: My saltiness didn't affect your experience of that race at all? Abbie: Not at all. Because like I said before, it was - my experience of the NYC marathon was unlike my experience of the city any other way or any other time. It was so quiet and it was so small in a way that I can't quite explain. It was beautiful.
Jessica: The opportunity the race gave me to experience the city was something that I would never give back. That was absolutely beautiful, and I appreciated it very, very much. I saw more of the city than I would ever have seen just visiting. I loved that part of it. I just wish that my stomach hadn't felt like it was going to murder itself the entire time.
Abbie: Starting a marathon at 11 a.m. is suck.
Jessica: When are we going to run 12 marathons again? Abbie: Whenever you want. 2022! Because 2021 we have other plans...
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