Minneapolis Marathon 2009
May 31, 2009

Dr. Rodney Chang

I live in Hawaii and run select mainland marathons to avoid the heat. I watched the weather report with vested interest as race day approached. Anything above 70F for my aging body (63) is risk for leg cramps after 18 miles. The day before it was 71, but race day shot up to 84F, catching slower runners like me in the afternoon peak heat. I cramped, as expected - at 22.5 miles. It was a grueling and disappointing final miles for this walking wounded. (Somebody later said to try in taking ionic calcium) The next day it dropped back to 71, then the following day to the 68F that I had prayed for.  Guess the marathon gods had it in for me! :=(

But the race, even after the weary layover flights from Honolulu to Minneapolis was, overall, a pleasant experience. I loved the trail route along the Mississippi River, even if most of the run is along it, backtracks on it, making all the trees and the river then become a bit monotonous.

Accommodations at the sponsoring Depot Renaissance Hotel were wonderful, especially since I love old trains and the place was the train station, with its heyday in the 50s (think Lionel trains!).  The cooking was delicious in the sponsoring hotel's restaurant.  They even thought of having chicken linguini for carbo loading the evening before the race. It is a great convenience to out-of-towners to have the packet pick-up, start, and finish line all at one location.

As Hawaii's only participant in this inaugural race, I appreciate the wooly "fleece" long sleeve pull over, with nicely designed logo of the marathon. The organizers were also more generous than competing events by awarding quality long sleeve shirts to the finishers - with "Finisher" printed on it.  Nowadays, as everybody knows, participants have to BUY Finisher t-shirts at sign-in expos, at $35-45.  What happened to the good old days when the challenge of finishing was earning the Finisher t-shirt besides the medal?  Yah couldn't buy a finisher's shirt - unless you earned it!

The most fantastic moment during the course for me was when I came upon Ft. Snelling along the forested Mississippi trail.  I never heard of it before. Its stone ruins were so fascinating.  Now I realize it is a national registered historic site. Union infantry soldiers, Civil War volunteers, and WWII recruits all did service at the federal site, first built in 1820 to guard the spot were the Mississippi River and Minnesota River join up. As a professional artist, this juncture of the run turns out to be the inspiring scene which I shall oil paint to reminisce my Minnesota once-in-a-lifetime marathon run. And I thought I'd be painting trees in this award winning "green city."

One disappointment is that the Metrodome was not on the course as I am a Viking fan. In New Orleans the start is the Saints home field and in Nashville (I ran both this year too) the finish is the home of the Titans.

For about 100 photos of the course from a runner's viewpoint, visit marathoncoursephotos.com as I do this photo-documentation of every marathon that I participate in- in order to aid other runners get a better idea about race courses, the scenery, and aid station support & portable potty locations. I make NO money at this; it's my way of "volunteering" to promote through visualization our great national sport.

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