Sunday we awoke to a sunny day. Race start was at 8:00 AM. Realizing Vermont is a relatively rural state, we were still shocked to hear that the Key State Marathon in Burlington is the single largest sporting event in Vermont, with 3,600 full distance participants and about 5,000 more marathon relay runners.
The race started along the shores of Lake Champlain in a pretty park area. First pic below shows a large totem pole that served as a gathering place for many of the runners.
Realizing Burlington is quite a liberal hot-spot, I was very happy when the race announcers made a spirited pre-race speech recognizing the significance of the Memorial Day weekend and the sacrifices made by all prior and active servicemen. The announcer even asked those who had served to raise their hands. Next up came the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, and again I was pleased to see that the vast majority of the crowd was respectful.
With only a few seconds to race start, I snapped a quick picture of Pam and me waiting for the start.
Also took a few pics of the rest of the field waiting for the gun...
The race was truly beautiful, with a number of miles along Lake Champlain's shoreline...
The race also included a number of paved bike path trail sections that were quite pretty...
As hard as this may be to believe, by race end Pam and I were both SUNBURNED! Pam even put sunscreen on before the race but to no avail... the day was so bright and so many of the miles were run along the water and through open areas that we were quite red by race end. Being the good Dermatologist, Pam made me drive quickly to the closest shop after the race to purchase anti-oxidant after-sun lotion
Have to give the Doc credit where credit is due, the lotion really did help treat the redness and soreness!Sadly, we had to turn right back around early Monday morning for our return, with a 4:00 AM wake-up call and 6:40 AM flight.
Can't end the report without mention of the funniest moment of the race. Around mile 20 and the infamous hitting of the wall I was greeted by a cardboard cutout of a beaming Hillary Clinton holding a "NEVER QUIT!!!" sign. Almost certainly put out by an Obama fan, but hilarious nonetheless
Don't think a single runner ran by the sign without laughing out loud... and laughing doesn't come easy so late in such a long run. Up next -- South Dakota mid-June and Michigan the end of June... going to be a tough month, but looking forward to knocking two more states off the list.
