YMCA Famous Idaho Potato Marathon 2014

Friday 5/16
I took a morning Delta flight out of one of my favorite airports, the Long Beach Airport to Boise, Idaho with a stop in Salt Lake City. When I landed in Boise, I picked up a rental car from Alamo. I got a nice silver Chevy Cruze.

I was pretty hungry, so I drove out to Big Juds to eat some lunch. I wanted to check this place out because I had seen it featured on an episode of Man v. Food. Since I had a marathon to run the next day, I didn't order the challenge burger. Instead I ordered the Double super bacon burger with tater gems. It sounded plenty big. One thing you must have in Idaho is their fry sauce. It makes your fries or tater tots taste really good! They brought out my gigantic burger with a knife stuck through the center. That's a nice touch for a burger lover! I was there at about 1pm and the place was packed. I had to wait a bit to be seated. Once you're done, they'll bring you your bill, then you pay at the cashier. I would definitely come back here if I'm ever in town again.

Man v. Food's Adam Richman

Double super bacon burger with tater gems

After lunch, I drove out to the Riverside Hotel to pick-up my race packet at the race expo. Parking was a bit scarce and the expo was sort of hard to find located way in the back of the hotel. I also picked up my friend's race packet as she would be getting into town later in the evening and wouldn't be able to make the expo.

Along the way to check into my hotel, I stopped by an Albertson's to buy some drinks for the weekend. I stayed by a Super 8 that was pretty much a block away from the airport.

Race shirt

Race gear

Saturday 5/17
I got ready and drove over to pick up my friend. Per the race instructions, we parked near the finish line at the BSU Health Sciences Riverside Building on the NW corner of 9th and Royal Blvd. We caught the "Potato" Bus at the corner of Royal Blvd. and Lusk that took us to the starting area at Lucky Peak State Park.

Starting line

The majority of the course was along or near the Boise River. There was plenty of great scenery to look at all along the course. I loved that there were homes along the path where their yards would run right up to the path. There were people just sitting out on a nice Sunday morning. Just after the turnaround at around mile 19, my legs started feeling really heavy. I slowed up a bit, but for the most part everything felt good because the entire course was pretty much shaded. I just made sure to stay relaxed and to take what my legs could give me. It was nice to know that with a couple of miles left that a new PR was in the bag. The race ended at the Ann Morrison Park.
1-2: 16:24 (8:12)
3: 8:06
4: 8:17
5: 8:13
6: 8:20
7: 8:35
8: 8:33
9-12: 35:15 (8:48)
13: 8:58
14: 9:29
15: 9:55
16: 10:08
17: 10:08
18: 10:20
19: 10:18
20: 11:13
21: 11:49
22: 11:56
23: 11:58
24: 10:58
25-26: 22:32 (11:16)
26.2: 1:54
Finish: 4:13:19

Results

This was a small race, but it was well organized and a nice race to run to cross off Idaho from the list of US States that I still needed. I finished pretty much right in the middle of the field, but I still have a lot of room for improvement.

Finish line

It was pretty sunny and such a nice day at the finish. After grabbing some food and drinks, I found an open table and sat down to listen to the loud music that was blaring through the speakers. They had baked potatoes, but I skipped out on it because my stomach wasn't ready for food yet. It's hard to explain but whenever I run a PR, it just feels too easy. I relaxed a bit and let me legs recover a bit before moving closer to the finishing chute to cheer on the finishers. I waited until my friend finished. She had to stop by the EMT to get her wound cleaned out. She had fallen early on in the race.

Finisher's medal

My friend getting her wound cleaned out

After dropping off my friend at her hotel, I drove back to mine to get cleaned up. Then we met up again and we walked over to 10 Barrel Brewing Company. We met up with her friends and my former coworker here for some post race food and drinks. It was definitely a good idea to ask my local friend for recommendations. This was the perfect spot for a recovery meal and to celebrate a new PR. I loved their beers. I stuck to the IPA's (Boise pale ale, Apocalypse IPA, Ruffneck Peak, and Whispering IPA) that were on the list up on the chalkboard. For food, I ordered the Bratwurst burger that was on the specials menu. I'm used to a traditional burger, but this was a welcomed change in texture and flavor. It came with fries which you just have to have when you're in Idaho.

Bratwurst burger and Boise Pale

Apocalypse IPA

Ruffneck Peak

Whispering IPA

We then walked over to the Taphouse that was a few streets over for our second stop on our post-race pub crawl. I constructed a nice little beer flight (Hopnoxious, Mucho Take It Easy, Outlaw, Leafer Madness). I also had their fish tacos. Not bad. This would be a great place to come watch a game while having a few drinks and some pretty decent bar food. They also had some outside seating which would be perfect for when the weather is nice.

Hopnoxious, Mucho Take It Easy, Outlaw, Leafer Madness

Fish tacos

Sunday 5/18
After checking out of my room, I drove over to the Boise Fry Company to eat lunch. From the outside, it was quite easy to miss. Thank goodness for GPS and Google Maps. It seemed like it was the only business that was open in the little parking lot. I liked that the menu showed the fries as the main item and the burgers were the sides. There were several different kinds of fries to choose from. I went with a small order of the russet fries. For the burger, I got the Original beef burger and added cheese and bacon. The fries were excellent and the burger was great as well, very juicy and tasty! You have the option of getting bison meat which is supposed to be leaner than beef. The chalkboard menu had easy to follow instructions on how to place your order. I loved the unique plate that the food was served on, which has little holders for the sauces. They have excellent fry sauce. There were many different condiments to choose from at the condiment bar. They had even posted suggestions from customers and staff on the wall.

Small order of russet fries and an original beef burger with added cheese and bacon

I gassed up the car and returned the rental car. Then it was time to catch my flight back home with a layover at Salt Lake City where I ate at Squatter’s Pub Brewery. They had a decent selection of beers. I decided on their Off Duty IPA. It was a decent beer. For my meal, I had the bacon and guacamole burger which was pretty decent. The servers were in the midst of some argument with each other which made for a rather awkward dining experience. But the service overall was decent.

Squatters Off Duty IPA

Bacon and guacamole burger

Fargo Marathon 2014

5/8 Travel Day
I took a morning flight out of LAX to Fargo with a stop in St. Paul Minneapolis. During my layover I ate at Ike's Food & Cocktails. I ordered an Ike's burger and had a flight of beers to go with it. For the flight, I picked the Horizon Red IPA, Extra Pale Ale, and Saga IPA. The burger was average, but not bad for airport food. It was pretty expensive for a burger though. All 3 beers were not bad! Maybe I should just stick to drinking if I eat here again in the future.

Flight time!

Horizon Red IPA, Extra Pale Ale, Saga IPA flight

Ike's burger

I landed in Fargo in the evening. After picking up my rental car, a blue VW Jetta, I drove out to the Motel 6 where I had booked for the weekend. The room wasn't too bad for a Motel 6, but it had a faint weird musky smell. I'm sure it was from a recent storm, a wet dog, or both.

Woo hoo Jet Setter level 3!

5/9 Expo
In the morning, I drove out to the expo at the Fargo Civic Center. Along the way, I stopped by a Walgreens to buy some drinks for the weekend. For the expo, I found free street parking a couple of blocks away on 5th St N. The expo was very well organized with lots of volunteers holding up signs ready to answer any questions. You first picked up your bib in the tent outside. Then you went inside where there was a table with people handing out free popcorn. They had footprints on the ground to help with the flow of traffic. You went through the exhibitor booths before you went downstairs to pick up your race shirt and a pretty nice Under Armour bag that they personalized for free. Since it was pretty popular and there was a big backlog, you had to wait about 30 minutes for them to heat press your initials onto the bag. While I was waiting, I had the folks at another booth laminate a personal luggage tag.

Drinks

Bag and shirt pickup

Uff da

Under Armour bag

After leaving the expo, I drove to a nearby Burger Time to pick up some lunch. On the way back to my motel, I was pulled over for running a red light. That was a very quick yellow light. He was in an unmarked police cruiser and I had noticed that he had been following for a while. Most likely he was going to get me for speeding if I had not run that light. I had been driving about 40 in a 30 zone. He was a super friendly cop and asked me if I knew why he pulled me over. I told him that I was pretty sure that I ran a red light. He asked to see my driver license and insurance before going back to his car. He came back to tell me that the good news was that tickets are ridiculously cheap in Fargo. He was right. It was only $20! But still I was hoping that the good news was that he was going to just give me a warning.

Burger Time drive through

Bacon cheeseburger with fries and a Mountain Dew

The race shirt was a half zip long sleeve tech shirt. It was pretty nice but the design on the back of the shirt was a bit too artsy fartsy for my taste. So another shirt goes into the donation bin.

Shirt

Shirt back

For an early dinner I drove across the street to eat at JL Beers. It looked like the restaurant had been newly built. It was sitting all by itself on one side of the entire block. I found a place to sit down and ordered their classic burger with two beers. I also sampled a few other local beers. The waiter had me sample two other beers that he thought I would like. They were a Southern Tier 2xone and Rush River Double Bubble. They were both good beers. I preferred the Southern Tier. The burger was good but pretty plain.

Classic burger with Junkyard Coachgun IPA

Fargo Mighty Red after a Southern Tier 2xone and Rush River Double Bubble samples

After getting back to my room, I got my race gear and gels ready before calling it a night. The forecast called for a chilly morning so I got the arm warmers and calf sleeves ready as well as one of the mylar blankets that I had saved from another race.

Race gear

5/10 Race Day
Per the race instructions, I parked at the parking structure just off of 3rd St N at the Moorhead Center Mall and met up with my friend. We waited inside the mall where it was warm. Gear check was just outside. There were portapotties next to the parking lot. As the race start approached we walked a few blocks over to the starting area at the Veterans Memorial Bridge. Once it was about time to start the race we went into the corrals and bumped into other fellow Marathon Maniacs and 50 States Marathoners.

Marathon Maniacs at the start

Starting corral

I started the race at a slower pace than what I normally go out during the first few miles. My right glute or hip had been bothering me, so I didn't want to risk a major injury. I started to slow down by mile 9 and was passed by my friends that were running with the 4 hr pace group. We ran through a lot of residential areas and the course was nice and flat as advertised. I started feeling bad at about mile 19. My legs were feeling heavy and they were starting to cramp up. It took me several miles to recover. During the late miles, I even saw a drone hovering above the course. It was pretty nice to run through Concordia College. I recovered enough to finish the race feeling pretty good and under 4:40. The course finished right in front of the Fargo Theatre on Broadway.
1: 8:42
2: 8:53
3: 8:44
4: 8:57
5: 8:40
6: 8:49
7: 8:59
8: 9:07
9: 9:31
10: 9:39
11: 10:12
12: 9:56
13: 9:45
14: 10:38
15: 11:03
16: 11:47
17: 11:23
18: 11:20
19: 12:44
20: 13:43
21: 13:19
22: 12:32
23: 12:15
24: 12:15
25: 11:30
26: 10:51
26.2: 1:56
Finish: 4:37:09

Finish 4:37:09

After crossing the finish line, I bumped into a few of my friends that had finished before me. I waited for a couple of my friends to finish as I knew that they wouldn't be too far behind.

Marathon Maniacs at the finish

After getting back to my motel, getting cleaned up, and resting a bit, I went back out with my friend to eat dinner at the nearby Famous Dave's. I got a couple of Sam Adams Seasonal Ales and the brisket and rib tips combo with vegetables and mashed potatoes. I normally would eat a burger for recovery, but this kind of food would do nicely as well! I've never really been disappointed by the food at Famous Dave's.

Sam Adams Seasonal Ale

Brisket and rib tips

5/11 Going Home
I checked out of my room, gassed up the car, and got to the airport pretty early. The rental car counter wasn't even opened yet. So I filled out a form with the mileage and dropped the keys into the drop box. For my flight home, I flew into John Wayne Airport with a stop at St. Paul Minneapolis again. But once I landed in John Wayne, I had to take a ride on a Prime Time shuttle back to my car at LAX. It might have been cheaper but it was not very convenient to fly in and out of the different airports.

Cute little chairs after going through TSA security check in Fargo