Reading The Fine Print

Paul and I are planning on running a marathon next weekend. We were planning on running 1 of 2 different marathons both about an hour away from our homes. One was the Madison Marathon and the other was the Great Midwest Marathon.

Paul and I went over the Pros and Cons of each race. Pros of Madison is that is it a well organized marathon that we are both familiar with (I have run the full marathon once, the 2 person relay twice, and the 4 person relay once). There are a lot of runners to keep you going and quite a fans plus the course is very beautiful for an Urban marathon. The cons are that is is a larger marathon (1800 in the full and 4500 in the half) and that I have already run this one.

The Pros for The Great Midwest Marathon is that is is very small (we like small) with only a little of 20 finishers last year. It is also a race we did not run before as last year was the first year. A possibility for a high placement sounded good too. The cons were that is is so small and new that is could be a major disappointment and the course seemed on the map to be kind of boring.

Mike said we should do the Great Midwest Marathon since we had not done it before. I have now done 9 different marathons in Wisconsin so a 10th sounded like a good idea so we decided to do the Great Midwest Marathon. Then something didn't seem right.

Marathon Guide has the Great Midwest Marathon listed as coming up next weekend and we have been checking out the website looking at the course maps, race times, etc. Then I saw the date and it still listed 2010 on the website. More checking showed old info as well. I emailed the race with an email listed on the site with no reply. Oops, guess the race doesn't exist anymore.

So now we are going to Madison which I actually wanted to do more that Paul did but he wanted the other so I went along with him this time. I am getting excited though. The race begins and ends now at the Capital Square which is really cool. I also get to see a good friend of mine I haven't seen in awhile. Jamie is running the half marathon so I will get to see her for a bit before the race. Jamie has graciously offered to pick up our race packets the day before so we don't have to drive all the way to Madison to get them only to drive all the way home or stay over night. Jamie lives right outside Madison so very convenient for her. Paul and I will leave early Sunday morning for the 7:00AM start.

I am not into full marathon race shape but that hasn't stopped me in the past. I will go out and just have fun, enjoy the scenery, and finish #33.

Glad I read the fine print!

Keep on Running!!!