Elliot Heath's Staging Area

I ran this race due to the time of the year and the location (my family has a cabin just over an hour away). Due to the Twin Cities Marathon being cancelled, there was a large surge of runners who signed up for this race last minute (someone said 200 extra). We were bussed to the start line from downtown Ashland. We got to the start and there was a line forever for the porta-potties. I got in line and there was a total of 7! porta-potties for 400+ marathon starters. The line was forever but the lady on the microphone kept saying that they “wouldn’t start without you” and that they apologized for the long line. As start time was nearing, they said they were going to start at scheduled time, but due to it being chip timed, anyone could start once they got through the bathroom line. By the time I got out of the porta-potties, the gun had already gone off, about a minute earlier. I raced through a huge wave of spectators walking the course, then raced through the back of the field to try and catch up. I know it was chip timed, but I was hoping to better my BQ from a few weeks earlier. I continued to catch up to groups of runners and maneuver around (the course was very very muddy due to persistent rains the day before and day of) the course lanes to keep my pace. The spectators were pretty good and the aid stations were well run. I caught up to a lot of the walker half-marathoners towards the end but all were very courteous and super supportive. Despite the muddy gravel and headwinds once we got into town, I was able to run a 3:01:53. I was most disappointed with how the start of the race was handled. I did not mind the course, but if looking for a big crowd to pump you up, this isn’t it. I think it would be much easier if it wasn’t so wet and muddy. I thought the slight elevation drop was not noticeable except in mile times. Because it is pretty much a straight shot, my total distance was 26.25, which I really liked.