If you’ve been following along, you know that this was supposed to be a full marathon recap. Unfortunately, the full got canceled, and not due to Covid. While I felt upset when I first heard the news, staying in that space didn’t serve me, and all was well in the end. After some really lovely adventures, I am not mad about needing to return to South Dakota at some point on my journey to run a marathon in every state.
We arrived in Sioux Falls late on Friday evening after a full day of driving. With stops, we were in the car for about 12 hours. Initially, we wanted to leave Saturday morning, but the race expo closed at 4 p.m. and even leaving crazy early, we’d have been pushing it. The plus side of that was we had all day Saturday for packet pickup, a shakeout run, and eating all the carbs.
The expo was quick and easy. We got our packets, breezed through a few rows of vendors, watched some little kids compete in a 100-yard dash, and hit the photo booth. Just enough to feel some pre-race hype, but not spend too much energy.
The race course passes through the iconic Falls Park, but we knew we wouldn’t be able to fully take it in during a race. We decided to head that way for our shakeout run so we could soak up the views and snap some photos. The mill ruins were interesting and made me wonder what it all looked like in its hay day (and also what it looked like before there was anything man made, when it was still native land). It’s always surprising to find such natural wonders right in the middle of a city—it reminded me of Minneapolis’ Minnehaha Falls and Stone Arch Bridge. We continued on The River Greenway, a paved bike trail that follows the The Big Sioux River, which also makes up part of the race course.
The flow of the day was basically: eat, take a break, eat, take a break, eat… We found a really tasty lunch spot with a shaded patio called Bread & Circus. After lunch, we walked around downtown looking at sculptures lining the sidewalks, then grabbed a great cup of coffee, biscotti, and coffee cake at Coffea Roasterie.
With rain storms moving in, we decided for dinner we’d get takeout from a place called Fancy Bowl to eat in the hotel room. I got a huge chicken and rice hibachi bowl with cucumbers and seaweed salad. They weren’t playing around with the “large” bowl. It was easily enough for two normally, even a bit too much for a marathoner carb-loading (especially because we also got a round of spring rolls AND sushi rolls too). It is crazy hard to eat the recommended amount of carbs, and I felt like this one was the best I’d ever managed which also meant I felt over full and kind of heavy.
We went to bed with full bellies to the backdrop of thunder booms and lightning flashes. I slept fitfully, maybe because of the intense storms, maybe just pre-race jitters, probably both.
When I woke up at 4:55 a.m. I had a feeling. The first thing I did was check Sioux Falls Marathon’s Facebook page. In the wee hours of the night, they posted news that there was flooding on the full marathon course, it was impassable by foot, and they’d make a call closer to 5-5:30. I started my normal prep. Coffee, cup of oats. I kept refreshing for news. By the time I finished my oatmeal, they posted that the full could not go on, but all registered participants could jump in on the half, which started 30 minutes later.
I had a two-minute pity party, which went something like this:
There goes my “A” goal. No new state for me!
And Ugh, so carb loaded, all for naught.
Then moved to sadness about not getting to test two things: my fuel plan, as I felt like I finally have it dialed in, and how I would fare at 26.2 with training geared mostly toward an ultra.
A small part of me wanted to really race and go for a half marathon PR. But that is a whole different animal from a full, and I knew I wasn’t really prepared for that kind of effort. Instead, I’d get to run with Louie and just have fun. And 13.1 run at a moderate pace meant I wouldn’t be sore for all for the hiking we had planned at Wind Cave and Badlands National Parks.
We sipped a little more coffee while waiting in the hotel lobby for go time. It became obvious that not everyone had checked the Facebook page. People were coming back into the lobby after having rushed off to the start line having not seen the news. I didn’t fault the race organizers for making a tough call, but they should have emailed or texted participants in addition to posting on their Facebook page.
The start line was just around the corner from the host hotel, so they get good marks for easy race morning logistics. You could actually almost miss the start line. No big blow up or balloon arch. Just a couple of small signs off to the side. I didn’t even bother taking a photo, it was that ho hum.
We did a leisurely mile warm up with the sun rising, casting pink and golden steaks across the sky. Another small moment of regret, as the weather was perfect for a marathon.
As people moved toward the start line, we hung back and to the side to not be in the thick of a big crowd. Their PA system was kind of small, so we actually missed the anthem being sung. We only realized it had happened based on the cheers from people further up.
After having been up and ready for so long, getting moving felt great. We fell into an easy rhythm. The Cathedral of Saint Joseph was an early highlight. It’s a lovely church, but the setting makes it even better. Up on a hill with changing colors in the sky.
After a brief time on roads, we hit the first of the parks. This is one of the best parts of the race (and Sioux Falls as a city): the series of parks linked along the Big Sioux River featuring miles of bike trail along the way. Highlights included a second pass through Falls Park with the waters absolutely raging from the storms and Terrace Park’s lush green levels, which reminded me a European vineyard. The full course passes through still more parks, and I was sad to not see all of them.
Race organizers warned us that there were some slick spots along the course. As a trail runner I thought, Whatever. A little puddle is no big deal. Ha. I was wrong. There was no actual standing water. Instead, there were 5-6 stretches where flood water had subsided, leaving behind the slickest mud I’ve yet to meet. It required a lot of slow down and careful foot work to stay upright. In some spots, they diverted runners into nearby grass. For some of them, it was necessary to go single file through one safer pathway. It definitely made me glad I’d set aside any notions of a PR.
The hills are very doable, but definitely add up throughout the course (315 feet of elevation gain). There are just as many downhills as up, and for some it just felt like we were flying. Our pace went up and down accordingly, but I felt like we actually ran a very even effort. Our last mile was one of the fastest, and I still felt fresh at the end (which made me wonder all over again, What could I have done in the full?).
The finish is on the track of Howard Wood Field. I love, like really LOVE, a track closer. There’s just muscle memory and magic on the track. I can pretty much always find another gear or two. While Louie and I had run together the whole race, I couldn’t help but zoom to the finish. The cool part of that was I got to watch him bring it home and cheer for him as he crossed the line.
Louie and I run together now and then, and yet I’ve failed to notice until these Sioux Falls race photos that he runs with a little bit of a thumbs up going on (scroll back for the first one to note the clear trend). I mentioned this when we saw the photos and he said, “YES, people think I’m giving them thumbs up all the time, and I’m like, ‘Okay yeah!’ Even though I was just keeping my hands loose.” We had a good laugh about that. After more than 20 years together, I can still be surprised and learn new things about him.
We caught our breath and took a few photos (of ourselves and for others). I commiserated with a woman who had traveled from New Jersey to nab SD for her 50 States. We picked up some water and snacks (they had bananas, a couple of packaged things like granola bars, chocolate milk). There was a long line for beef sliders and beer, but we don’t eat beef or drink alcohol. We were more focused on getting showered and packed up to head off to Wind Cave to set up camp before we lost daylight, so we didn’t linger long.
If we’d run the full, we would have had pizza in Sioux Falls, but as it was, we decided to get on the road later in the day. We lucked into this great place with a patio in Rapid City.
Thanks to the easy race, in addition to our hikes, I got a couple of bonus vacation runs in unexpected places. All’s well that ends with pizza and adventure. Until next time, South Dakota!
The details:
Sioux Falls Half Marathon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
August 29, 2021
Weather: 60 degrees at the start, 88% humidity, mix of clouds and sunshine
Finish time: 1:47:54