The Leading Ladies Marathon is an all-woman race in Spearfish, South Dakota. The race director, Elaine Doll-Dunn, is a Maniac and a 50-Stater and married to Jerry Dunn (race director of a few other races in similar places). I was looking forward to a small but well-executed event, by runners and for runners, and this race did not disappoint.
OTOH, I was a little worried about feeling awkwardly out of place, as I often do whenever surrounded by large groups of women who already know each other or who are really into the female bonding thing. I had hoped that my daughter and sister would be accompanying me to this race, but it did not work out. So I was travelling alone, and I really am a loner at heart, anyway. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to Spearfish. There were plenty of other women there by themselves. I was not made to feel weird at all.
How I Got There
From Cincinnati, I flew into Rapid City, SD via Minneapolis on Delta. I rented a car from Dollar (best price, offsite pickup but there was a shuttle driven by a friendly elder gentleman), and the car rental place was a Subaru dealer, so it was all good. I enjoyed my weekend of driving in my cute little Subaru sedan.
Where I Stayed
I stayed at the Holiday Inn Convention Center hotel in Spearfish, which was the race hotel. The pasta dinner and expo were at this hotel, and the bus to the start line departed from there. Had I known the area better, I might have stayed at one of the places across the street, which I suspect were cheaper---it would have been no big deal to walk up the hill and across the parking lot to catch the bus. There’s also a Best Western (I think that is what it was) in downtown Spearfish that is probably close to the finish line, and if not there is plenty of parking to drop a car at the finish and pick up the bus (which made a stop there) to the start. Holiday Inn was over-priced, but at least I got Priority Club points.
Tourist Attractions
I flew in Friday morning and walked around Mt. Rushmore before driving up to Spearfish. It was ridiculously cold and I didn't have quite the right clothes. Fortunately for me it warmed up a bit by race day.
Friday evening, I had dinner in downtown Spearfish and walked around some. Saturday morning, I had breakfast at Perkins across the street from the hotel, and then wandered the grounds of the historic D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery (in the park near the finish line of the race). Had lunch at a little coffee shop.
Sunday, post-race, I had lunch at a sports bar downtown, then walked around the High Plains Western Heritage Center. Had a chocolate milk shake at Culvers (a chain restaurant across from my hotel). Ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was decent but I wish I had gone there for lunch instead.
On Monday, I drove to the Crazy Horse Memorial before dropping off the rental car. In retrospect, I should have done that on Friday, also, because I only had an hour there on Monday.
Changed My Mind
So I went back and read this over and who am I kidding? Of course, if you are reading this, you want to know about the food. Maybe you don't need to read about the woman who sat next to me on the first flight who wiped down the entire seat cushion with an anitbacterial cloth before sitting down, or the guy on the second flight who had just returned from Alaska, but you do want to read about the food.
So here is more detail about the food:
Between flights in Minneapolis, I had a breakfast sandwich from Caribou Coffee. I was trying to eat healthy, so I had the egg white, cheese and spinach on a wheat bun. Kind of bland. I would not recommend it. And I'm not sure the egg white even makes up for the cheese.
Friday night dinner in downtown Spearfish: Ate at a somewhat overpriced place called the Bay Leaf Cafe. Food was just ok. Ambiance was of a slightly rundown 70s cafe, trying to be gourmet. I know, it is probably somebody's dream I am stomping on here. I had a cup of clam chowder, herb-crusted walleye, and a chocolate mint cheesecake (that last part was a little better than okay). Ordered a glass of wine that was terrible. Served in the wrong type of glass, and did not go well with the walleye. Actually could not finish it. Also, flies buzzing around in the restaurant that I had to fight off. Gross.
Saturday morning: Two cups of coffee in the room before showering. Perkins was Perkins. I had three pancakes with butter and syrup (you have to pick your poisons), 2 poached eggs, fruit instead of hash browns (ate some of it), OJ and more coffee.
Lunch at Common Ground coffee shop. Had smoked salmon cream cheese on a bagel. Read article in local magazine about how owner catches salmon in Alaska over the summer, and that was the salmon in my cream cheese.
Pasta dinner is covered below.
Race morning: two cups of coffee and half a Bobo's Oat Bar.
Post-race: Disappointed (as is mostly the case) in the variety of food at the finish line, and there is no one there to bring me a turkey sandwich. Good thing I got a ride back to the hotel swiftly. Back downtown, I had a burger at a sports bar, the name of which escapes me but that is where the waitress tipped me off to the shakes at Culvers, which I hit later that afternoon.
Dinner at the hotel restaurant. Surprisingly good. Had salmon with an orange butter glaze, incredible cheddar smashed potatoes (would like the recipe for those), and turkey wild rice cream soup (too rich for an appetizer, didn't finish it), and a Ranger IPA draft.
Breakfast on Monday morning: Coffee shop in the WalMart plaze across from the hotel. Nice ambiance inside but the coffee was weak and the bagel was a fluffy roll.
Try to eat "lunch" in the lone sitdown restaurant in the Rapid City airport, but there is just one overworked waitress for all the customers, so after 15 minutes I gave up and had a grilled chicken salad from the carryout place by the gate.
Where I Buy My Souvenirs
Race expo and packet pickup: This was surprisingly good for such a small event. There were a couple of local running stores represented, and they had brought an interesting assortment of products. I bought some stuff, including a running skirt, a couple of tops with running-related designs, and some spicy beef jerky. I also bought a cheap wine glass with the race logo hand painted on it, mostly because I felt sorry for the person selling them as there did not appear to be many takers. The race shirt is a short sleeved white performance top in a woman’s cut. It feels kind of itchy but I haven’t tested it out yet. The half-marathon shirt was in black, which I would have preferred.
Entertainment
Guest speaker: Pre-dinner. Better than expected. Helene Neville is a cancer survivor who ran across America last year. To be a little different and make it more challenging, she took a southern route (CA to FL) in the summer. She showed us slides and talked about the experiences she had on her trip.
I'll admit, I was not expecting much from her talk. I thought it was going to be just another story about some cancer survivor who ran across the country. Ho hum. But it was better than that. Helene was very real and refreshing, funny and sweet. I enjoyed her talk very much. Helene did not seem to be a very experienced motivational speaker (despite what her web site says!), but we were a gentle and welcoming audience, and receptive to her story. Maybe what helped make her presentation compelling was precisely the fact that she does not think of herself as very extraordinary. She is just a regular person who decided to try to do some extreme things.
Helene is a nurse, and her mission is to inspire other nurses to be healthy---to eat better and exercise. She does charity/fundraising work for a Catholic elementary school in the Philadelphia inner city. Her next adventure will be to run 300 miles non-stop, at the end of which she will be announcing her candidacy for the Senate, from Nevada, if I am remembering correctly. Note to self, get her book. Helene was not running in the race, but I remember seeing her volunteering at an aid station somewhere past the halfway mark.
Pasta Dinner
As I expected, the food was decent since we were in a hotel. Rigatoni in plain and whole wheat, spinach linguini, alfredo and meatball sauces, and rigatoni in a veggie cream sauce. And chocolate brownies. (I confess I had to go back to my notes for this part).
Dinner company better than expected. I sat at a table with five other women: Ruth from NYC (by way of Dayton, OH), Debbie from Columbus, OH, and another woman from Rapid City (but by way of Ashland, OH) so we were joking that we were the Ohio table, until we were joined by a couple of women from Oregon. We had some good conversations about the races we had done. The Oregon women were 50-Staters/Maniacs. Ruth was run-walking a marathon a month. She was not a 50-Stater yet, but she had multiple completions in NY and was working on doing it enough times to get a permanent automatic entry.
Debbie was doing just her second marathon and hoping to BQ after a 4:08 last year in Columbus. She said her workouts all indicated that she was just on the cusp, and she had a lot of people back home who were pulling for her. I asked if she had done her Yasso 800s and she didn’t know what I was talking about. The woman from Ashland was going to do the full as her first marathon, but had chickened out and switched to the half. She had just returned to the US from S. Korea with her husband, who is in the military, and they have a young child.
Bus Ride to the Start
I was down in the lobby at 3:45 am to catch the bus, which departed at 4. Yikes! But at least with the time change, it was two hours later for me. I saw next to a woman from the Denver, CO area. We were a little quiet at first but soon started chatting. She had done seven or eight marathons before, mostly in Colorado. She recommended Steamtown as the one for me to do in CO. Like Debbie from dinner, she was hoping for a BQ, but I thought she had a little more realistic idea about it than Debbie did.
At the Start
I hit the portapotty line right away, then took a couple of pictures. It was not too cool at the start, so I went with just my ratty old blue anorak over a technical tee. It was bright enough for my sunglasses, even at 6 am. I had not been crazy about the long ride to the start plus the wait outside once we got there, but I survived. It was not raining. I felt good. The altitude did not seem to be bothering me and I had no niggling aches. My goal was just to finish in under 5 hours, in relative comfort.
The Race Itself
The race begins with a little downhill jog, and then we were on a dirt/gravel road uphill for most of the first mile. People were commenting on how the race was supposed to be downhill, but I just thought that I was used to being lied to by race directors, so what else was new? I was hoping there would not be so much gravel, though!
Fortunately, we were soon on regular asphalt. The race was mostly downhill, but with enough breaks and changes in the cant of the road that you didn’t get fatigue from over use of specific muscles.
I ran most of the race alone, but almost always with other women in sight. Had a little conversation around mile six or so with a woman from New Jersey, who was breathing hard and complaining about the altitude just before she left me in the dust. She had run Boston four times, and she was further along the 50-State odyssey than am I, and she happily shared these facts with me. Is that a New Jersey thing? She appeared to be of Ethiopian heritage, so I decided that would explain how easily she could pass me despite her problems with the altitude.
I felt solidly mid-pack, not a bad place to be. The scenery was beautiful. I carried a camera but did not stop to take pics (except of the Elvis impersonator near the halfway mark). I was going to take pics if things started going really bad, but since I was running pretty well I didn’t want to stop.
I kept a pretty steady effort, slowing down a little in the second half but not dramatically so. Crossed the finish in 4:36:26 chip time, which put me 10 of 31 in my age group and 69 of 155 overall. My time was about what I expected, and it wasn't too much of a struggle. So once again I am left wondering what would happen if I actually trained properly.
I enjoyed this race and my weekend in South Dakota. I would highly recommend this race to any woman who appreciates a small but well-organized marathon in a scenic locale. It's a race that I would go back to again and again if I lived near there, but I don't, so I won't.
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