State Number 15
– Run for the Lakes, Nisswa, MN
25 April 2015
The annual running
of the Brainerd Jaycees Run for the Lakes Marathon located in the city of
Nisswa, Crow Wing County, in central Minnesota came to us by happenstance. My wife and I were offered a pacing job for
this marathon complete with room and board at the Grandview Lodge Resort
facility on Gull Lake’s north shore.
Typically, we
prefer to combine multiple states into one trip as a way to minimize air
travel. However, as this opportunity
presented itself, I didn’t hesitate to accept the offer even though it was a
single state trip. Although this
marathon was not on our radar, nor was this state on our immediate plans, I’m
glad we accepted the pacing job and ran this small-town marathon.
The springtime
running of this Boston qualifying marathon takes runners on a tour of the
area's seemingly innumerable scenic lakes and waterways, along quiet country
roads through forested areas with an abundance of wildlife in the nearby wooded
areas.
We booked the
non-stop 3.5-hour flight from LAX to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
(MSP) on Sun Country Airlines. This was
the first time I’ve been on this airline, so I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms
of service and on-time performance.
The flight from
LAX departed in the usual manner and arrived at MSP around 1730 hours on Friday
afternoon. According to my GPS, the
150-mile drive to Nisswa would normally take about 2.5 hours. However, Interstate 494 was chock full of
construction activities, and, combined with Minneapolis’ peak-hour traffic, the
drive was actually around 3.5 hours. We
later found out that Minnesota has two seasons throughout the year – winter and
construction. Unaware of this, it was
too late to do anything about it.
It seemed that
traffic snarled up about every five or so miles up the interstate. Once traffic got back up to speed, there was
another slow-down. Of course, it didn’t
help that is was the Friday afternoon peak-hour traffic. Once we merged onto Interstate 94, traffic
thinned out and was back up to freeway speeds all the way to St. Cloud. From St. Cloud, we traveled onto MN 15 to U.S.
10 to MN 371 by way of Brainerd and into Nisswa.
The expo at the
Grandview Lodge closed at 2000 hours, so time was tight. After the last hour or so of driving 80 mph,
we arrived in time with time to spare to pick up our bib, room key and pacing
signs. My wife chose to pace a 4:15
group, where I was the 5:00 pacer.
The weather was
rather cool and pleasant. The forecast
had temperatures in the upper 30s for the 0800 start. I was not complaining. If the skies were overcast coupled with the
cooler temperatures, I was in for a great marathon.
Our room, or bungalow,
was very nice. It had a woodsy, hunting
cabin type motif with leather couches and chairs, Adirondack chairs, board
games, library books, kitchen and nine bedrooms, each with an ensuite
bathroom. Down a hall was a flight of
stairs that led to a basement game room complete with a billiards table. With only four of us, it was great having the
luxury of choosing whatever room we wanted.
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| Walleye |
After we settled
in to our room, it was time for dinner.
We walked up the path to the main lodge building through the forest of Norway
pine trees (Pinus resinosa) and
decided on the Northwoods Pub situated on the lower level of the main building. It was a busy place with practically all
tables taken, so we made ourselves comfortable at the bar. The pub was very festive and noisy and looked
as if everyone was having a good time.
I ordered a
grilled walleye (Sander vitreus)
sandwich complemented with a Grainbelt Nordeast beer and my wife ordered a
rather delicious-looking burger with a domestic beer.
One thing when
sitting at a bar is you never who you will get to know, or don’t want to know. We talked with a Minnesotan who seemed to
have a bit too much to drink. He was
there for a spring vacation with family and friends and was quite fascinated
and impressed with our 50-state marathon journey. Whether he remembered the conversation the
next day, I’ll never know.
After we ate, we
strolled down to the lake front and walked onto the dock. The sun had just set, but the overcast skies
prevented any colorful sunset. The air
was quite chilly and signaled to me that it will be cold in the morning. It was time to head back to the bungalow to turn-in
for the evening, as we had a big day scheduled for Saturday. We sat down in the library/den and watched a
little TV in the meantime. ABC’s 20/20
was airing, featuring the Bruce Jenner interview with Diane Sawyer. Shortly after we sat down, another fellow
pacer came in. Instead of watching TV,
we talked about the marathon and others coming up on our schedules. I was glad, since I was not interested in
watching that episode of 20/20.
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| Paul Bunyan Trail Nisswa |
Before we traveled
to Minnesota, I studied the course map so I would know what to expect. The route is basically a 13-mile loop (marathoners
loop twice) encompassing Clark Lake and Lake Hubert. A portion of the course finds its way onto
the Paul Bunyan State Trail which is a multi-use recreational rail trail linking
the cities of Brainerd and Bemidji and is the longest continuously paved trail
in the U.S.
As the Burlington
Northern Railroad abandoned its lines in the 1980s, the state converted the old
rights-of-way into recreational trails.
The Paul Bunyan Trail connects with a system of other trails which
ultimately continues to the U.S.-Canadian border.
The trail gets its
name from the famed giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan in American folklore.
In my days as a young
lad, I vividly remember reading a book about Paul Bunyan and his life. My mind was full of imagination and would always
picture Paul as a real life person each time I would look at that book.
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| Paul Bunyan stands tall in Klamath |
It is said that
Paul Bunyan was born in Bangor, Maine and it took five giant storks to deliver
Paul to his parents. His first crib was
a lumber wagon pulled by a team of mules and his father had to drive the wagon
up to the top of Maine and back whenever he wanted to rock the baby to sleep.
Paul could cry and
holler so loud he scared all the fish out of the rivers and streams. Even the frogs started wearing earmuffs so
they wouldn't go deaf when Paul screamed for his breakfast. His parents had to milk two dozen cows, twice
a day, to keep his milk bottle full and his mother had to feed him ten barrels
of oatmeal every two hours to keep his stomach from rumbling and knocking the
house down.
As the years
passed, Paul grew up to become a lumberjack and one day while out in the woods
he met his best friend and his constant companion, Babe, a big blue ox.
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| Paul Bunyan stands short in Bemidji |
Paul is reported
to have been bigger, taller and stronger than any man around and could cut down
entire forests with a single swing of his axe.
The most unique landscapes in the United States were created by Paul and
Babe. Paul supposedly dug out the Grand
Canyon by dragging his axe behind him while he walked. Paul and Babe are reported to have created
the Land of 10,000 Lakes in Minnesota by walking in the snow and leaving behind
footprints, that later turned into the lakes we see today. The lakes seen in the Nisswa area may be
remnants of Paul and Babe.
Some tales even
say Paul made the Great Lakes as watering holes for Babe. He also created the Grand Teton Mountains
while playing around with Babe. He supposedly built Mt. Hood in Oregon by
piling rocks on top of his campfire to put it out. After building Mt. Hood, he purportedly
traveled to northern California to log the coast redwood trees (Sequoia sempervirens) since they were
bigger and taller than many trees around, challenging his strength and
stamina. As a tribute to Paul and Babe,
effigies of them are enshrined at Trees of Mystery in Klamath, Humboldt County,
California – as well as in other parts of the country.
A colleague of
mine have a friendly long-standing disagreement about which Paul and Babe
statues are most representative and better looking. Of course, being a native of the Northwestern
California coast, I am partial to the statues in Klamath and, of course, my
colleague, being a native Minnesotan, is partial to the statues in Bemidji. We both agree that we each have our own opinion
and we leave it at that. On occasion,
the argument presents itself again – but in fun.
Saturday morning
finally approached and it was marathon day.
I was a little nervous about my pacing job since I didn’t want to
fail. The weather was definitely on my
side – cold and overcast – so I shouldn’t worry. I ate my pre-race meal consisting of a banana
and a bagel and packed a couple of energy bars to consume during the race.
We drove a couple
of miles from the lodge to downtown Nisswa where we parked along one of the
main streets. We found out that the
Chamber of Commerce building was available for runners to use the facilities
and to hibernate before the race began in an effort to keep warm. What a nice treat.
A couple of
minutes before 0800, everyone was lining up at the start on Lower Cullen Road
just past the Carlson Hardware store.
There were approximately 1200 runners in total, with a vast majority of
them running the half marathon. I
estimated that approximately 100 runners ran the full marathon.
At 0800, the gun
sounded and off we went while a small crowd of cheering spectators wishing us
luck in our journey.
Typically in the
month of April, areas of snow are usually seen alongside the roads. This year, however, the snow melted early and
there was no snow in the area at all. I
overheard others saying that there wasn’t much snow that had fallen during the
winter and the lake ice was gone.
It wasn’t long
after the start that a few people asked me if I was going to run an even
pace. I informed them that I was going
to keep an 11:18 to 11:25 per mile pace which would put us two or so minutes
fast at the half marathon distance. The
few people in my group were doing the half marathon with the exception of one
man from nearby Verndale, who was doing the full. Shortly after the one mile mark, he increased
his pace and left the group.
Within the first five
miles, no one was left in my group. I
was on my own at that point, but I continued on with a steady pace. Some faded off while others forged ahead.
Even though I had
no one in my pace group, I was happy to run among the serenity and scenery of
the pine forest and take in the cool temperatures. Besides the volunteers at the aid stations,
spectators were virtually non-existent.
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| Camp Lincoln Road |
Just after Marathon
Mile 8, I made a right turn onto Camp Lincoln Road and noticed a large United
States flag draped over the road suspended by a cable attached to two opposite
trees, the bottom of which was about seven feet above the road surface. As runners passed under the flag, they would swipe
the bottom of it with their hands.
Whoever suspends the flag is not afraid to display their patriotic
pride. I believe the flag display is a
marathon mainstay.
Around Marathon
Mile 11 runners turned off County Road 13, and began the final homestretch to
the finish on the Paul Bunyan State Trail.
As I made my way
down the Paul Bunyan Trail, the cloud cover was beginning to break and the
skies turned blue. The temperatures were
still cool and there was plenty of shade on the course that it wouldn’t impact
my performance, so I really wasn’t too concerned.
Around Marathon
Mile 12, a couple of half marathon runners came up behind me and asked if I was
still on pace. I informed them I was and
will finish within two minutes (for the half marathon). They were happy with that and ran with me for
maybe two minutes and then took off. I
was alone once again.
As I approached
the marathon split and veered back onto county roads, I crossed under the
half-way point timing mat. To my
astonishment, I was almost three minutes fast!
There must have been a systematic error in their clock since my watch
was pretty much on time. At the
beginning of the second lap, the number of runners significantly
decreased. Now, I was really on my
own. I wasn’t too bothered since it was
a time to reflect on my thoughts and to admire the scenery.
After a few miles
into the second lap, I passed a few runners and most relay runners passed
me. It was easy to tell the relay
runners as they had the freshest legs.
On County Road 13,
just past Marathon Mile 23, I noticed a marathon runner walking with a slight
limp. As I approached him, he immediately
recognized me. I found out he was in my
pace group at the beginning of the race.
Since I had some time to burn, I walked with him for a minute or so for
some encouragement to fight on. He said
he was upset because of nagging knee pain, he went out way too fast and that he
should have stayed with me.
He said he would
try to finish with me, but it wasn’t likely – too much pain.
The last three
miles were on my own as no one was remotely close to me. I knew I was going to hit my target time as I
was feeling really good. Since no one
was in my sight along the Paul Bunyan Trail, being the conservative person I
am, I kind of stepped up the pace since I wanted to finish in front of five
hours.
Just before the
final turn to the finish line, I was about three minutes fast. I saw my wife near the turn so I stopped and
talked for a minute or so. I know that’s
a no-no, but with no one around, I couldn’t help to pick up the pace.
I finished in a
time of 4:59:49 (gun time) – 4:59:29 (net time) for an 11:25 pace.
Age
graded score 46.71% Age graded time
4:31:33
The
marathon only had 84 finishers and I was number 73. All that mattered is that I hit my mark.
I told
my wife how great I felt after finishing and that I had enough energy to
complete a 50K.
At the
finish, I met up with the man I saw walking at Marathon Mile 23. He finished in 5:02. He said I encouraged him to fight it out to
the finish. He did and I was happy for
him. He looked like he was in a lot of
pain though.
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| Decorated Babe the Blue Ox |
My
wife finished in 4:14:40 so she hit the mark also. It was a good day all-around.
After
we finished with some food and water, it was time to head back to the cabin to
clean up, check out and drive back to Minneapolis.
We
walked over to the dock and lake shore for some pictures and take in the beauty
of the area. The area is remarkably
similar to the landscape in Finland and reminds me of the time I spent in the
old county back in the 1980s. I can
definitely see why people of Scandinavian ancestry migrate to Minnesota. The state contains the largest percentage of
Scandinavians in the U.S.
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| Gull Lake at Grand View Lodge |
When
we got back to the bungalow, I sat outside on the Adirondack chairs on the deck
enjoying the calm air and sunshine. I
noticed a maintenance vehicle slowly driving around in the parking lot. The first thing that came to mind was the
cleaning crew waiting for us to leave.
They sat there for the longest time before we got the hint it was time
for us to leave.
We
packed up the car and drove up to the main lodge for some last minute pictures
and enjoyment. It was a beautiful
afternoon with temperatures in the 50s.
Around
1530, we hit the road back to Minneapolis.
Hunger hadn’t set in yet until around the city of Brainerd. I looked at my phone for a pizza place, but
couldn’t find any that suited us, so we continued down the freeway to St. Cloud
where I ended up driving through the city without stopping hoping a place along
I-94 would reveal itself.
As we
approached the city of Monticello, my wife noticed a blue information sign that
said Pizza Ranch. I immediately took
Exit 193 and drove over to Pizza Ranch.
I had no idea what this place was about.
I walked around the restaurant to find it was an all-you-can-eat buffet
that had different varieties of pizzas, salad bar, chicken, mashed potatoes, soup
and desert bar. Also, pizzas can be made
to order.
The
place was very busy and the line to place orders was rather long. All indications this was a good place to eat.
The
hunger was coming out now just from seeing all the food. We stuffed ourselves with pizza, fried
chicken, potatoes, salad and a desert.
The food was scrumptious and we were quite full on our drive into
Minneapolis. I wish a Pizza Ranch
restaurant was available in California.
I guess we’ll just have to wait one day as the chain grows.
The
second night of our trip was spent at the La Quinta Inn & Suites in the
City of Minnetonka. Being a Saturday
evening, traffic wasn’t an issue on I-494, so driving into the Minneapolis
metro area was quite easy.
We
checked in to our new temporary place of residence and relaxed. We were already full from the pizza buffet,
so we didn’t venture out. During the
check-in process, we noticed a convention or some kind of business meeting
taking place in one of the conference rooms.
People were talking and laughing rather loudly and we hoped it wouldn’t
spill over into the night, since our room was nearby. To our surprise, it did go on into the
evening hours. We had to call the front
desk to complain about the noise and commotion.
It helped a little, but soon after the noise level increased again. Needless to say, we didn’t get a lot of sleep
Saturday night because of the noise. During
check-out, we voiced our displeasure.
Sunday
was a day of sightseeing before our flight left later in the afternoon. Since time was of the essence, we mapped out
our tour for the day.
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| Mary Tyler Moore |
The
first stop took us into downtown on our way to the Minneapolis Sculpture
Garden. “Who can turn the world on with
her smile? Who can take a nothing day,
and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?”
Ah
yes, growing up in the 1970s, my wife and I watched the “Mary Tyler Moore Show”
and the antics that existed in the newsroom at WJM-TV Channel 12. Since we were in downtown, why not stop to see
the Mary Tyler Moore statue?
After
that brief stop, it was on to the sculpture garden near the Walker Art Center. Perhaps the most famous sculpture and
centerpiece on the garden is the Spoon and Cherry. The garden is also home to many other
permanent pieces of art.
The
garden is home to the Cowles Conservatory where many types of flora and fauna
grow. Within the conservatory, the
famous standing glass fish is displayed.
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| Spoon and Cherry |
Next,
I set my GPS to Lake Harriet and the rose garden. It was a beautiful sunny day, so a stroll
around the lake seemed to be a fun activity after a marathon. There were lots of people out and about,
either running, cycling or just walking.
We
decided to take the 3-mile walk around the lake’s perimeter as a way to keep
the muscles limber. We were out wearing
jackets, with the locals in shorts and t-shirts. I guess after a long winter of freezing
temperatures, a day in the high 50s is worth getting out. Being from California, that was not the type
of day to get out and enjoy the weather.
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| Glass Fish |
After
our little exercise excursion, we departed for Minnehaha Park to see Ford Dam,
also known as Lock and Dam No. 1, on the Mississippi River since I have an
interest in dams and locks, the visit was worthwhile. The Wabun Picnic Area was packed with kids
playing on the playground equipment with parents and grandparents
watching. The day was so nice that the
West River Parkway was packed with runners and cyclists. It was a nice place to relax, so we parked
the car to take a short nap to make up for the lack of sleep at the hotel. Instead of a nap, I decided to take a little
walking excursion down a trail to the river’s shore.
Lunch
time was quickly approaching, so the next stop was the 5-8 Club just outside of
Lake Nokomis Park for a taste of the famous Juicy Lucy burger. My wife and I each ordered one, mine with
fries and hers with onion rings. I had a
Grain Belt beer with mine, but my wife just ordered a Bud Light.
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| Ford Dam on the Mississippi |
It is
definitely a different kind of burger, but was very good. The cheese in the middle of the beef patty
was very hot, so I had to wait for a while to eat it without burning my mouth. The cold beer hit the spot.
After
the great lunch, it was time to visit the largest mall in the United States,
the Mall of America in Bloomington.
The
mall is located on the site of the former Metropolitan Stadium, where the
Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins played until the Hubert H. Humphrey
Metrodome opened in 1982. A plaque in
the amusement park commemorates the former location of home plate, and one seat
from Met Stadium was placed in Mall of America at the exact location it
occupied in the stadium, commemorating a 520-foot home run hit by hall-of-famer
Harmon Killebrew in 1967.
I
always wanted to visit the mall, so I was excited to see what was there. Of course, all kinds of construction was
taking place around the mall property.
With new roads, pedestrian overcrossings and parking structures, traffic
was a mess. Finding a place to park
wasn’t too bad. This being such a large
mall, finding your bearings and remembering where we parked were the hardest
things.
Once
inside, I found the place to be an ordinary mall, but with four stories and an
amusement park in the middle. I found it
was more for kids than for adults, however.
We
made our way up to the fourth level to walk around and people watch. What interesting people passed by. We even witnessed an argument between a
person and mall security. I don’t know
what it was about, but someone was quite angry about something. He was escorted away by security into a back
room.
Sadly,
it was time for our trip to come to an end.
We drove back to the airport and into the rental car facility. The mall isn’t too far from the airport, so
it didn’t take too long to return the car and go through security.
We
boarded Sun Country Airlines about 1500 hours for the 3.5-hour trip back to
LAX. The trip to Minnesota was a great
experience and I would love to go back someday.
Overall,
the Run for the Lakes Marathon was a well-organized small-town marathon and
well worth the experience.
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| Harmon Killebrew seat |
I have
nothing but positive things to say about this marathon. For those who like small marathons, this one
is for you. It was a well-organized
event and the support was tremendous.
The course is very scenic with a few minor rolling hills, but they
didn’t pose any problems.
Spectators were not very abundant; however, that
provides runners a time to enjoy the serenity of the area. Marathoners must make two laps around the
loop course, so the same thing is seen twice, but the scenery is worth it. A stay at the Grandview Lodge at Gull Lake unquestionably
tops off the marathon experience. A big
thank you goes out to the race director and all the staff for such a great
event.
