Tough race weather for both runs with warm temps, rain, and lightening. Being a tall guy and carrying more pounds than many shorter runners, I can't say I love warm races. Had to steal a kiss for good luck at the start of the Charlevoix race...
Very small race in Charlevoix, with only 170 finishers, but an energetic crowd at race start...
Thing about small marathons is that with 26.2 miles to run, the distance works to spread out the runners by considerable distances which can make for lonely runs... this said, the Charlevoix course was pretty enough to enjoy without too much company -- especially a stretch run on a long wooden bridge...
Sections along a forest path were pretty too...
But the real beauty of the area shows in these post race pics... couldn't believe how blue the water was!
Even got a picture of a wading fisherman having a bit of luck!
Iowa is also a pretty state but during our run the weather turned rough relatively quickly, making me stash the camera away while waiting for things to dry out a bit. Did get one pic of the storm as it built, taking the pic about five minutes before getting swamped...
One of the few nice things about running 4 hours is that it does give time for bad weather to clear up
Did manage to get a couple of more pics out on the race course...
Funniest moment of the race -- taking the pic below of a fisherman with a small bass he had just landed! He got a big kick out of a race participant stopping with a camera to get a pic of him with his catch... explained to him as I ran off that I shared marathon reports on a fishing forum site and he gave a big thumbs up as I headed back on to the course.
Really HAPPY to have the number of races left down to the TEENS!!! Next up a challenging high altitude run in Wyoming... don't know whether to
or 
to the next race.
