Pre-race

I knew from the start that this marathon weekend was going to be a bit hectic.  I considered multiple options to make everything work between running a marathon, work and travel for holiday.  The final plan was not ideal.  The plan was to fly to Havre with a connection in Billings, Montana on Friday (evening arrival), run the marathon on Saturday, fly out on Sunday to Santorini, Greece with connections in Billings, Chicago and London 😮‍💨  

My trip was booked through American Airlines, and the flight from Billings to Havre said it would be operated by Cape Air.  I didn’t think much of it, and thought “operated by Cape Air” was like the flight being “operated by American Eagle.”  My flight to Billings was uneventful.  It is a small airport with 4 gates, and a 5th “gate” for Cape Air.  I was a bit concerned 😬 that they had paper signs that looked to be written by a 5th grader.  

It had been raining all week in Montana, and today was no exception.  There were intermittent, thunderstorms ⛈️ in the area.  One of the other Cape Air flights got canceled, which made me nervous about my flight.  I looked into renting a car 🚗   It would be over a 3-hour drive, perhaps longer with the storms, and I could not imagine driving back early on Sunday to catch my flight… the first of 3.  Plus, I’m frugal when it comes to these things, and could not get myself to forfeit the plane ticket and spend extra money on a baseless fear. 

My flight did not get canceled 😊  The check-in took me by surprise.  Everything was weighed, including our self-reported weight.  That made me nervous, because there was a family of 4 with 2 large women.  I thought they would kick me off to keep the family together if we were over the weight limit.  We all made the cut 😮‍💨  Roll call was taken 😂 from an old school, dot matrix print out.  We were loaded onto the plane in an order to distribute the weight properly.  There were a total of 10 seats.  One of the pilots gave us the safety briefing 🦺  While awaiting taxi and takeoff, the flight agent/air control lady 🤨 cautioned the pilots that the flight may be grounded due to the weather.  It went from that to her barking, “Go, go go!”  And off we went… 🛫

The windows fogged from the rain… I was not sure how the pilots could see anything at all.  During the flight, he partially/poorly de-fogged it by wiping it with a cloth 😳  That was a long 1.5 hour flight.  I thought there was a good chance we were going down.

The “airport” was a small lodge.  There was a single counter like they have at a car rental.  After arriving, I called the hotel as instructed for pick up.  Quick background.  I realized there were no car shares while planning for my trip.  I had e-mailed the race coordinator, and was provided with 3 taxi options.  Each option was a link to a Facebook page.  The first’s most recent post was celebrating that he was finally cleared by his cardiologist, after a month, to drive again.  The second’s most recent post was a rant about “if you call me at midnight or whatever time, and my ass drives all the way to get you, and you don’t use my services…. you are still paying!!”… and her profile picture looked like a stripper.  The third option did not have business hours to pick me up at 4.45 AM.  So I called the hotel and was told they had a shuttle that could get me from the airport.  As for an early morning commute to the race, the receptionist offered to drive me herself…

I waited a little over an hour for pickup.  During that time, the “airport” lights were turned off, and I was seemingly, the only person there 😳  The hotel bus was old, in poor condition and it smelled 🤢 Not sure if the BO was from the van or maintenance man.  He is both the hotel’s driver and maintenance man.  Luckily, the trip was only 5 minutes.  

After arriving at the hotel, I quickly realized that “we’ll figure it out” was a royal we.  The receptionist who had taken my call earlier in the week was not there and did not leave a note about taking me to the marathon.  I had a brief, glimmer of hope when the front desk staff immediately knew of the Bear Paw Marathon.  However, they knew of no other way for me to get there than by taxi.  I resorted to calling the Facebook taxis 🚕  I called the heart attack man first because the hotel had recommended him.  He didn’t pick up and I was unable to leave a message.  I called the stripper next and she told me to “just call her tomorrow.”  I said I needed a concrete confirmation and it would be a 4.45 AM pickup.  She quickly said she would not be awake at that hour unless I left her a really good tip.  I certainly was not willing to rely on her.  Heart attack man called me back and agreed to pick me up early.  

This fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants is stressing me out.  I really hope I get to run this marathon.  It would be a very wasted trip, and unnecessary stress, if I miss it.  

Post-race

Heart attack taxi 🚕 punctually arrived.  He nor his wife looked in the best of health.  He was very nice.  I learned he is an ex-alcoholic, is on his 3rd wife and that his daughter is also an ex-alcoholic who likes to workout at 1 am 😳… the ride was about 7 minutes.

It was a rainy 🌧️ one.  It rained consistently for the first 1.5 hours or so.  Also, we ran into the wind 🌬️ for the majority of the time.   I was pretty cold 🥶… but kept reminding myself that it was nothing compared to Iowa.  About mid race, we ran in fog for long, strait stretches.  That was a mental battle for me to keep myself going.  

We then entered a muddy portion for 2 miles… it was a preview to the last 5 miles of mud at the end of the race.  My feet were soaked and trodden with mud.  It wasn’t comfortable and I had to concentrate harder.  On one hand, it was exhausting, but on the other hand, the change renewed my mindset and resolve to finish without walking. 

My body was quite tired the last 6 miles.  It felt like a lot of effort to move my arms and legs.  I didn’t stop though and nearly caught up with the female leader.  I overall finished 2/15 for females and 6/34 overall.  My pace was 9:01… right around what I trained for.  I’m tired but not completely spent and miserable. 

I thought I would go explore downtown Havre afterwards, but it was only 10 AM and I was so wet and muddy.  I could not wait to shower 🧼  I walked the 2 miles back to the hotel.  I had no desire for further taxi interactions.  I bumped into a guy who said his son had run the marathon, and he felt bad for me as he saw me walking back.

There was more mud than I had thought.  I threw everything into the tub to at least rinse it off first.  My hotel conveniently had a laundry room.  So happy 😁 I wouldn’t have to pack wet, muddy clothes for a week-long trip in Europe 🇬🇷 🇫🇷 

I walked towards downtown and stopped for food.  The flatbread was awesome and hit the spot.  Food in Montana has not been disappointing 😋  I loved my gyro 🌯 and sweet potato fries last night as well.  I finished my walk to downtown after lunch.  Unfortunately, the one tourist attraction was closed because they had gotten flooded.  Bad break for such a small town.

When I returned to the hotel, I was informed that my transfer to the “airport” was set, but it would be 15 minutes earlier to go with the pilots.  No problem… it would ensure I would not miss the flight.  The next morning, I got to the lobby earlier than the pilots, and waited for them to finish breakfast.  One of the pilots 🧑🏾‍✈️ came over and asked if I was ready.  He escorted me to their car 😅  They drove me to the “airport,” and dropped me off at the front.  They were going to check the plane, and then see me soon 😂

What an experience… I felt like it was quintessential Montana.  I made all my flights, and had a wonderful time in Santorini and Paris.