South Dakota

In the couple of weeks before coming to Deadwood for the Mickelson Trail Marathon I mulled over a few facts:
1. I finished my 50&DC circuit three weeks earlier at Brookings.
2. I wanted to hike several other sites in the area.
3. I felt a nagging ache in my foot that worried me: maybe I'm verging on a stress fracture. I took this even more seriously when I remembered that the hormone therapy for my prostate cancer can decrease bone density. So I'd do no training in this three-week interim.
4. Altitude. The Mickelson Trail marathon course steadily ascends to over 6200' at about m12 before the mercifully downhill second half.
5. Weather forecasts consistently predicted a high of mid-70's for race day, which would certainly mean 70ish by my finish (probably pushing the official seven-hour limit). I wouldn't mind the discomfort so much as I would the substantial blisters that would surely result on my residual limb.

All things considered, I decided to switch to Sunday's half marathon in lieu of the full. This gave me freedom Saturday to tackle the strenuous 10K Volksmarch up Crazy Horse Mountain (to some 5400'+), some brief, very light hiking around Mt. Rushmore, and a few more easy miles around Devils Tower. And now I didn't worry about the cumulative effect of hiking, at altitude, this total of some 10-11 miles on the day before the event.

click images for enlarged view
expo/pick-up	5:30 a.m. bus	start	m01	m03a	m03b

We had full daylight as we boarded the buses in Deadwood at 5:30 a.m. Some 600+ of us began the course on time at 7:00 a.m. Sunlight teased the treetops but I still enjoyed plenty of shade over most of the first few miles. Aid stations, only every three miles in the first two years, now appear every 2 to 2.2 miles. The fine gravel trail headed gently and consistently downhill until m5, where we faced maybe a half-mile incline (equally gentle).

click images for enlarged view
m04	m05a	m05b incline	m05c	m06a	m07b

Mile 6 brings a couple of brief steep downhill stretches

Mile 7

I've made it well into mile 8 when the first marathoner passes. Also in this mile I see the first of several beaver dams in the creek along the path. Neat!

If I'd undertaken the 26.2 today, it'd mean real suffering—far more than the fundamental struggle of simply covering the distance. Heat, altitude, and dry air all conspire to wear me down in even this 13.1. Plus, though I stop to make at least six sock adjustments (probably adding at least 10-12 minutes to my time) they never satisfactorily offset the growing ache in my stump (probably linked to so much hiking yesterday).

Finally the final mile brings asphalt. No more hassling with those (insert expletive here) little pebbles that keep popping up into my shoe (the only annoyance about this otherwise wonderful trail). The final half-mile or so takes to the streets in Deadwood: left on Sherman, left on Pine, right on Main, straight down to the finish. Maybe a dozen marathoners have crossed the line before I complete my half.

click images for enlarged view
m08	m09	m10a	m10c	m12b	done

Home stretch. Some of the spectators sit here because they can't afford to do anything else,
having ignored the laws of statistics and blown two years' salary in a half-hour in Deadwood's casinos

Finisher's medals consist of alabaster mined nearby. The design is just a sticker, but still it looks classy. And this certainly stands out from the all-too- ordinary metal. I appreciate something that both looks distinctive and reflects the region!

Another nice touch on the amenities: pre-registration gets you a personalized bib. Late registrants can write their names in the otherwise blank green space

Thanks goodness I got my South Dakota 'thon in Brookings so I didn't have to do this one. Today would not have gone well for me, far beyond the fundamental struggle of completing the distance.

Knowing too well what conditions today's last few participants have to endure, I drive out to a few spots on the final miles and cheer some of them on while I listen to the Sunday broadcast of Prairie Home Companion. During that time I see Jarrett, from several other events, knocking off his 49th state. In the next few weeks he'll (1) get married and (2) finish off his 50&DC in Hawaii. Congrats in advance, man!

After maybe an hour and a half of offering encouragement, I begin the drive to my Sunday night hotel room in Keystone. I'd hoped to do some brief out/back hikes from trailheads in the Black Hills on this drive but I just didn't have the energy (duuuhh). Too hot, too dry, too little oxygen. I do stop for some photography (a few shots here) along the way.

Monday morning I get some good photos on a too-brief drive-through of the Badlands. I don't have time to enjoy it as I'd like; I have to get back to Rapid City for a noon flight (via Salt Lake and Atlanta). On my flight to Salt Lake I was lucky to sit by Dana Reising, the fourth woman to complete a marathon or longer on all the continents. She had some fascinating tales about (if I recall them all correctly) Paris/Europe, Bali/Asia, New Zealand/Australia, Two Oceans/Africa, and Sao Paulo/South America. And especially Antarctica, where the course could change according to the day's weather, and the course offers no conventional "water stations" because they'd quickly become ice stations!

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