Seeds of adventure

The seed for this most recent running adventure was planted back in April when Mird and I visited Arkansas to watch the solar eclipse. Somehow it grew into another beautiful running experience!  Oh how I do love when seeds germinate, grow and thrive especially when those seeds involve running cool races and not keeping a plant alive because I've killed countless plants!  Anyhow, back in April during a brief conversation about running, Tera, our second cousin, and her boyfriend, Kobe, mentioned the St. Jude's Marathon Weekend and how awesome it was.  We all promised to meet in Memphis and run it together someday.  Well oftentimes "someday" ends up being never, but in this particular instance "someday" became December 7, 2024. Yes last Saturday, Mird and I ran the St Jude's Half Marathon in Memphis and it was as Tera promised one of the best races I've ever run...Ridiculously Awesomesauce!!!

Here's how this seed came grow.  Tera texted us a few months after the eclipse letting us know she was turning 25 on race day, she had created a team for the occasion, and she invited us to join her team. We knew we had to figure out a way to make it work and somehow we did!  When we signed up, I knew precious little about Memphis, like basically nothing.  And honestly I didn't feel like my life was any worse off because of this fact.  As the race grew closer, I figured I should probably learn something about the city so I began asking people about Memphis. Anybody.  Family. Friends. Strangers on the street. Nobody was safe from my inquiries and I covered all the bases... What do you think of when you think of Memphis?  Have you ever been to Memphis?  Would you ever go to Memphis?  What should we do in Memphis?  You know those kind of deeply probing questions.  Just call me Katie Couric!  What I learned is people mostly think of blues music and Beale street, barbecue, and Elvis when they think of Memphis and not necessarily in that order.  

The three Michiganders

Well what I've since learned is that Memphis is so much more.  Like, did you know that Memphis is the only city in the United States to win the cleanest City in the country a whopping 5 times? I know get out of town!  Or that a person from Memphis is called a Memphian?  Also, while Memphis is the largest city in Tennessee, it is not the capital, Nashville is.  Also, Memphis is in the Central Standard Time Zone this is important to know if you travel there particularly by car!   

Speaking of time zones I learned this time zone fact as we were leaving on our trip. We therefore were an hour ahead of schedule for a majority of this trip!  Yep for this race we were actually ahead of schedule and under budget which basically never happens so it was obviously an unforgettable adventure!  Merrily we drove on down to Memphis to run 13.1 miles in the name of kids who are fighting cancer and to see if we could find Elvis or some authentic Memphian barbecue!  It was quite a harrowing experience and spoiler alert.  While we were waiting for the race, we not only found Elvis, but also cousin Eddie! 

The King and I

Shitter was full!

The car ride was as are most of our car rides surprisingly enjoyable.  I think road trips are actually one of my favorite things.  I know a lot of people would disagree with me and I probably sound like a dog talking, but hear me out.  On a good old fashioned road trip you get quality time with those you love, you get to snack on special road trip snacks and you save a boatload of money that you can spend on other cool races, groceries, or college educations for your offspring.  During this particular road trip, we randomly had a brief lesson in parasites as we discussed lice, bed bugs, swimmers itch and other types of unfortunate parasitic infections. And... We also got a contact high from the car in front of us during a long stretch through one horrible construction zone that lasted basically the full length of Illinois! You certainly wouldn't experience those things on a quick flight to Memphis!  

                Road trips rock! Yes I'm driving again!

We made good time and since we were already ahead of schedule we got there with plenty of time to hit the best race expo I've ever visited to pick up our packets. Then we headed back to the hotel to figure out dinner since we'd been living off road trip food all day long. Realizing we had to run a race in the morning, we figured a little real food was probably a good idea.  However, we had no plan. None. Other than we thought it would be nice to eat dinner together with all of our cousins who were in town (Tera's team had grown to 15ish people including many family members).  A nice idea yes, but nobody made a reservation nor did any research so it seemed impossible.  Yet miraculously we found ourselves at The Brass Door a short time later enjoying delicious food with all 15ish of us together!  I will spare you the details and simply state this was most certainly an act of God. Seriously.  All praise to Him.  Also, special thanks to the owner of The Brass Door because I know he worked some magic to make that happen for us when I explained our situation to him.

Cousin's group dinner photo!

The race itself was, as promised, incredible. Making it all the more awesome for me was the fact that Tera and I cooked up a plan late Friday night for me to pace her to try to break 2 hours (a 20 minute PR for her if we pulled it off!).  It was a lofty goal, but one I felt was attainable.  

Tera and Kobe were not wrong when they said it is a well done race and that you feel emotionally overwhelmed (in a good way) to be a part of it!  Over 22,000 racers participated in the event and raised several million dollars to help kids at the hospital.  Since its inception, the race has raised over 138 million dollars for St Jude's Children's Hospital!  There were kids along the course who are patients at the hospital cheering us on and banners with pictures of past patients.  The most emotional moment for me came about mid race when a couple in front of us wearing shirts with a picture of their son and his birth and death dates on it and they were joyful and said they run it every year in his memory. I just told them I was sorry for their loss and they thanked me for running to help those still fighting.  I still tear up thinking about that moment.  Goosebumps moment for sure!  It gave me so much perspective at a time when I needed it.  

During the race Tera and I pushed our pace.   We chatted for about the first 8 miles of the run. The funniest part of our chatter time was when I said, "Geeze they sure have a lot of timing mats here"...and a few moments later Tera said, "umm I think they're speed bumps and they were!)!!!"  We laughed over that for a good half a mile. Then we got quiet and got down to business. I stayed just in front of her the rest of the way pulling her along dancing and yelling out encouraging words whenever I felt compelled to do so.  Tera had studied the map of the course and kept me informed of upcoming hills and turns and together we cranked it out!  Now I must admit I did a lousy job of keeping a steady pace, but when we approached that finish line I knew we had made it with about a minute to spare and I did a huge fist pump to celebrate! Happy Birthday to Tera--she just PRd BIG TIME!!! 

We did it! 

The car ride home was awesome except for the hotel hot tub bait and switch to which we were victims. I am still a tad bitter about that one.  We stopped in the village of Manteno, Illinois and it was a lovely village with impressive Christmas decorations and many thousands of twinkling lights. We even found authentic Mexican food complete with margaritas to celebrate our race!

  

                                                            1,2,3 say Margaritas!

This was the first real food we had eaten all day long.  It sure tasted amazing and the service was exceptional!  In fact a local couple who had just dined there actually cleared the table and seated us saying, "It takes a village" as we sat down!   We filled our stomachs walked around the village briefly and headed to bed.  We had planned to sit in the hot tub that was on their website, but alas there was no hot tub just a warm swimming pool and I am skeptical as to why. We are really racking up a lot of failed hot tub experiences, but someday it is going to work out for us! We woke early and headed for home. Once again ahead of schedule and under budget! Thanks for the memories Mird and Courtney!  

   

It was a lovely village and you know what they say, "It takes a village". Also, for the record, this is how a lamp post is supposed to look...upright, and well maintained!

In contrast, this was the lamp post at the starting line of the race.  It was a hazard for sure. It was neither upright, nor well maintained and I do not believe this to be acceptable in a clean city. Just sayin' 

Early morning recovery walk

           December 7, 2024 Memphis, TN State # 24

             (Vern, Tera, and Mird)  Just before the race 

Just a couple sub 2 hour half marathoners

(I represented the Lions the entire way!)

       

         December 7, 2024 Memphis, TN State # 24

                      (Cousin Cassie, Vern, and Mird)

PS BTW Memphis won the cleanest city awards long before any of us were born circa 1950s!  We found it to be not the cleanest city in the US,  Here's a couple examples of why...the lamp post...

This was on the side walk and 22,000 runners had to walk over or around it...Yes it is a huge lamp post that fell over a long time ago.

and exhibit B  

 this was in an area that people had to walk through to navigate their way to the finish line.

PPS  We three believe Manteno, IL may actually be the cleanest city in America although it is technically a village, but hey it takes a village and it is really clean!