State Number 17 – Bear Lake Marathon, Idaho
St. Charles, ID
19 June 2015
THREE marathons, THREE states, THREE days. The three-state area of Idaho, Utah and
Wyoming in the Bear Lake vicinity is an ideal setting for a trifecta and a perfect
race weekend for 50-State Club runners.
The centralized location of the Bear Lake trifecta is
ideal for us Fifty-Staters and die hard marathoners who can’t pass up the
opportunity to check off three states in one weekend with only a 45-minute, or
less, travel distance between the three races.
How great is that?
On a side note, the Wyoming marathon was run twice, Thursday
18 June and Sunday 21 June. Thursday was
available for those wanting to run Wyoming early, did not want to run on Sunday
or wanted to complete four marathons in four days. I believe most ran Wyoming on Thursday.
We boarded a short United flight from LAX to Salt Lake
City (SLC), rented a car and drove up I-15 to Montpelier, ID via Highway US 91
through Logan and Preston, ID. After
stopping for a pleasant visit with one of my cousins in the Preston area, it
was off through the scenic Idaho Route 36 over the Bear River Range Mountains
into Bear Lake Valley’s Montpelier.
As we entered the city of around 2800 residents lying
in the heart of the farming region north of Bear Lake tucked away in the far
southeastern corner of Idaho, a scary life-sized bear statue of Old Ephraim
stands on a grassy patch along the main highway greeting those who drive or
walk by.
Settled by Mormon pioneers, the city is also situated
on the historic California/Oregon Trail.
This trip was my first ever visit to the Bear Lake
area and I was excited to run two of the three marathons. Since I had already run Top of Utah (State
No. 4) nearly three years earlier, I decided to skip the Utah portion of the
trifecta. The Utah marathon was held in
between the Idaho and Wyoming runs, so a one-day break between marathons advanced
my morale.
It was beautiful weather in the valley with
temperatures hovering around 70°F.
The forecast called for sunny skies with warm temperatures. NOT an ideal situation for me. Shade in this part of Idaho seemed to be
minimal, at best, and I prepared myself to be in it for the long haul.
The elevation of the Bear Lake area averages around
6000 ft, so I was a little nervous how, or if, the altitude would affect my
performance.
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| No, not the capital of Vermont |
Some runners may claim that the Bear Lake marathons
are so-called “fake marathons” just so runners can crank out as many states as
possible in one trip. While I’m not
opposed to such marathons, if it is a way to knock out some states, then I’m
all for it. Some runners may like only
large marathons with all the glitz, glamour, bling and swag; but occasionally I
prefer small low-key events from time to time.
Besides, there’s no hassle or frustrations that come with the larger
marathon events.
Idaho, as well as the other two, was a small race with
a small field of runners. The Bear Lake
Memorial Hospital in Montpelier served as our bib pick-up location – no expo or
swag to speak of. The race director looked
disorganized and had a disheveled look on his face from a lack of sleep and
non-stop running around. Anyone trying
to organize three or four marathons without major glitches by him/herself using
only a handful of volunteers must be a difficult undertaking.
This year’s course layout looked to be different from
previous years. The point-to-point
course began in Montpelier and finished in the community of St. Charles nearly
18 miles to the south along US Highway 89. Because of the point-to-point configuration, I
left the hotel a couple of hours before the start time to drive and park the
car near finish line area at the LDS church in St. Charles and caught a shuttle
bus back to the Montpelier start line.
It was a cold and crisp morning and I was dressed anticipating
warmer weather later as the day progressed.
Since the runner pool was small (around 150, more or less), runners were
allowed to use the rest rooms and keep warm in the hospital lobby until the
0600 start time.
The marathon did not begin on time – surprise,
surprise. Runners gathered at the rear
of a largely empty parking lot across the street from the hospital. There was no hint of starting line delineation
and the race director told everyone to “stand about here” as he pointed to the
ground. The director said the course
“should be well marked with small signs and to follow the arrows.” After that, he yelled, “Go!” and we raced out
of the lot with minimal fanfare.
Wow! That was
it? No chip timing? On the face of it, low budget. I was surprised there were a few official
pacer runners. I was concerned if the
course actually measured 26 miles 385 yards in length. I wasn’t about to complain, however, as I set
out to enjoy the scenery throughout the agricultural and livestock grazing
lands outside the Montpelier expanse.
The wonderful whiffs of the livestock, feed lots and grazing land aromas
brought back some old memories.
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| We start about here! |
It wasn’t long before Montpelier’s asphalt covered
roadways turned into county maintained gravel roads. I’m not a fan of running on gravel roads and
it reminded me of Colorado’s Mt. Sneffels Marathon (State No. 3). With little pebbles somehow working their way
into my shoes, I had to stop every so often to remove those annoyances before a
blister or hot spot appeared on my foot.
Course spectators were nowhere to be found with the
exception of every two or three miles or so, at a manned water station staffed with
a couple of volunteers. There was only
water, but no Gatorade or other sports drinks.
Honey Stinger energy gels were available at select tables; however, I
took some energy gels with me just in case.
Beginning around Marathon Mile 7 as runners diverted
to the gravel surfaced Airport Road, the course intersected an active railroad
track. I heard the sound of train horns off
in the distance and wondered if any runners behind me would be stuck behind a
train causing their finish times to be longer than expected.
The long section of Airport Road, with an occasional
tractor or farm truck passing by, wound its way through Wardboro, the livestock
fields and across the Bear River. Of
course, I took an interest with all the irrigation district ditches, take-out
structures and in-stream weirs as I crossed over them or were visible from the
road.
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| On the gravel roads |
Besides a smattering of houses, an LDS church, post
office and a park/playground, the rural community of Dingle was a welcomed
relief from the emptiness of the agricultural lands and gravel roads. It was a blessing the good folks of Dingle
came out to cheer on the runners for a much needed boost of energy and
confidence.
About a mile after leaving Dingle, the paved road once
again became a graveled roadway heading up the course’s only “hill” skirting
the escarpment of the Eastern Bear Lake Fault overlooking the Bear Lake
National Wildlife Refuge and Mud Lake situated on the northern end of Bear
Lake.
For the next 6.5 miles, the steep escarpment alongside
the road provided much needed shade as the sun was hastily rising to the east. The weather was beginning to warm, but the
shade turned out to be my sole luxury along that segment of the course.
I had to stop and remove all the pebbles that made
their way into my shoes as I negotiated the turn leaving the gravel road at the
Bear Lake Hot Springs Resort. That’s
when the wheels came off the proverbial bus.
I was now becoming worried for the remainder of the course. The next 5.5 miles ran along North Beach Road
that separated Bear Lake from Mud Lake. With
the sun at my back, there was not a lick of shade (excepting the trees at the
Utah Power & Light facility), and I was becoming sunburnt, overheated and
dehydrated. The weather forced me to
resort to walking most of that section. The
water level of Bear Lake was noticeably lower than the shore’s usual lake
line. The allure of running down the
beach area and jumping into the striking blue waters of Bear Lake was very enticing,
I had no time to spare, I had to finish.
I don’t know which was worse – walking or
running. Walking seemed just as
torturous as running in the blazing sun, but running became more and more
painful. As various thoughts kept trolling
through my mind, I was constantly weighing the balance between “do I want to
finish sooner?” or “do I want to experience less pain with more time in the
sun?” With approximately four miles
remaining, my wife texted me that she finished and expect the course to be
about 0.25 mile short. Also in the
message, she informed me that she signed up for the Utah portion of the trifecta. I so wanted to be done and the thought of the
course being short lifted my spirits somewhat¼ultimately the “do
I want to finish sooner?” won out.
I had just under two miles left coming off North Beach
Road and the penultimate turn onto Powerline Road. This final part of the course was again on a
gravel road, but I didn’t care. The heat
and sun were brutal. No breezes, no
shade – just sun. But since I was so close
to the finish, I put that aside and cruised into the finish line on one of St.
Charles’ rustic streets, 100 North, just east of US Highway 89 with a time of 5:05:19
(age graded time 4:36:32 – age graded score 45.87%).
My Garmin read approximately 0.25 mile short of the
26.2 miles needed for a full marathon, but I wasn’t complaining. It was close enough for government work and I
was happy to be finished after a brutal five hour run. Time for my medal. What?
All that work and no medal? My
wife told me medals were available in the food area near the church.
As for the altitude, I don’t believe it had much of an
effect on my performance. When the
temperatures were cooler, I kept pretty much a steady pace for 19 to 20 miles. On the other hand, with Mt. Sneffels being
over 8000 feet, I immediately noticed the effects of high-altitude running just
after a few short miles. In the
for-what-it’s-worth department, I train at an elevation of 350 feet, more or
less, with occasional hill training that reaches altitudes of 800 feet.
Considering all the marathon participants, the average
finish time was 5:09:26 with a standard deviation of 1:04:14 and a median time
of 5:03:40. Bearing in mind how awful I
felt over the last seven miles, at least I was above average.
To quote George Sheehan, “Have you ever felt worse
after a run?” Given Idaho’s performance,
I would have to answer that question with an emphatic “yes!” I usually feel good after a run – who doesn’t
feel better after a dose of endorphins? My endorphin dose must have assimilated back
into my system throughout the course of the day since I lacked any sense of
euphoria after crossing the finish line.
Let’s see¼the other times I felt miserable, Mt.
Sneffels, CO (State No. 3) and First Light, AL (State No. 9).
I wanted my medal and I was in desperate need of some
water and food. Before I could enjoy the
fruits of my labor, we had to walk another quarter mile or so – maybe to make
up for the course being a quarter mile short – to a community park area
adjacent to the LDS church.
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| Stalactite and stalagmite formations |
We didn’t spend a whole lot of time at the post-race
festivities and drove back to Montpelier for some pool/hot tub time to relax
our tired muscles.
After we cleaned up and relaxed in the hot tub, we
embarked on a visit to Minnetonka Cave
up the St. Charles Canyon just outside of St. Charles. Because everyone knows, the best thing to
tackle after a marathon is exploring a strenuous cave formation by hiking 444
stair steps – multiply that by two for the trip out. While waiting for our tour group to enter the
cave, we took the edge off our appetites by consuming a Snickers candy bar. It was just enough to temporarily tame the
hungry bear in us.
The one kilometer long limestone cave leading deep into
Idaho’s Bear River Range mountains glistened with stalactite and stalagmite
formations with large cavernous rooms bathed in blue, green and white light to
accentuate the natural beauty the formations create. Numerous bats clung to the ceiling seemingly
ignoring the noise and commotion from the tour groups. The temperature in the cave was a nice, cool,
constant and comfortable 40°F, so it was a revitalizing and welcomed
relief from the outside heat.
I didn’t find the passage into the cave that
difficult. Sure, I was a little stiff
and sore from the marathon, but I didn’t allow that to hinder my enjoyment of
our spelunking adventure and the stair climbing. Moreover, the energy expended on the stair
climbs can only further my endurance training.
What’s a cave without bats? Seeing the numerous bats flying in and out of
the cavern was incredible. I found it remarkable
how they can fly so fast under the cover of darkness while skimming over
people’s heads simultaneously avoiding the rock formations, cave protuberances and
other obstructions – thanks to their biological sonar capabilities.
As we drove down the canyon road back to St. Charles,
we happened upon some a herd of bovine quadrupeds sauntering down the highway without
paying much attention to the vehicular traffic.
With a little coaxing from the car’s horn, they seemed to take notice
and eventually moved off the roadway.
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| Yikes, this dude is huge! |
We arrived back in Montpelier with a giant appetite
for some lunch. But first, we needed to
strike a pose with Old Ephraim. The
effigy is a life-size representation of the bear who once roamed the area in
the early 20th century. I was
amazed with his sheer size and would unquestionably not like to encounter something
that size in the wild.
For lunch? Pizza,
at this hole-in-the-wall place called Always Fresh. It was a busy little establishment off the
main highway not far from our hotel. Packed
with summer visitors and a youth sports team, it took some time for our pizza
to arrive – all hot and cheesy. Of
course, we also needed to sample of their “famous” ice cream. I wouldn’t say it was the best, but it had a
pretty creamy texture with a good flavor, at least with the flavor I had.
Before heading back to the hotel, we made a pit stop
at Broulim’s Grocery Store for some snacks, bottled water, Diet Cokes and some
food items for pre-marathon breakfast meals.
After we got back to the hotel, I wandered across the
street to the National Oregon/California Trail Center to see if anything captured
my interest. There were a several pieces
of flotsam and jetsam and some interesting relics, but I didn’t spend much time
perusing the vast collection of artifacts.
During the Idaho marathon, another runner convinced my
wife to sign up and run Saturday’s Utah marathon in Laketown, UT in addition to
Wyoming to complete the trifecta and compete for the fastest overall time. She, too, also completed Top of Utah, but I
guess accepting the challenge was just too tempting.
I was surprised by the text that she
was tackling Utah and I was glad she took up the
challenge. Since Utah is already in the
books for me, I was perfectly content with a rest day. Because my wife needed to prepare for another
marathon, our day was cut short for some much needed rest.
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| At the ID/UT state line boundary monument |
Yes, the Idaho marathon was small and probably laid
out on a whim with no official USATF measurement other than a vehicle’s
odometer reading, but I found this marathon to large in life. It wasn’t surprising to me that the course
ran short and with the race director and his volunteers looking frazzled and
stressed out. I hoped that my next marathon in Wyoming would serve me with some
better results. However, it being on
Sunday, who knows what could happen.
Very few spectators lined the mostly gravelly road out
and back course. With the small number
of runners, it could be a lonely time for some.
I enjoyed the peace and serenity, but when I started on the final six
miles across Bear Lake, the heat and sun really took a toll. When all is told, I did enjoy my experience
in Idaho even though it was small and low key, i.e., like one of those “fake
marathons”. I would not doubt course
layouts will change in subsequent years until a certified route is nailed down
through the process of trial and error. I
have to give kudos to the race director and his “staff” for their unrelenting
dedication to make these marathons possible.
See you in Wyoming!
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