Part of the attraction of the upcoming Detroit Marathon (next Sunday October 18th) is that you run from Detroit, Michigan into Windsor, Ontario (Canada eh?) and back. You run over on the bridge and then you run back through the tunnel (the only underwater international mile in the world). Oh... and then there's another 20 miles or so built into the course along the way.
For me the attraction was the time of the year, the proximity to my house, the support of friends and family and the lure of attempting my first stand alone marathon.
The time of the year is perfect. I did Ironman Wisconsin over a month ago, so it's given me enough time to fully recover and get back to some serious run training. Plus, any later in October or into November would mean suffering with more cold and wet weather. There's been enough rain here over the past few weeks to wreak havoc on my preferred running trails. I much prefer being able to run outside than having to take it to the treadmill.
Proximity to my house is great- a 20min drive to the tunnel (tack on another 20 for customs/ immigration) and then a 5 minute drive to find a parking spot near the start of the race. We considered getting a hotel room in Detroit, but most of them were completely booked and there shouldn't be much traffic at 5 am (who willingly gets up on a Sunday at that hour?).
Support of friends and family has been awesome. My wife Carlene, who just started running a few months ago, decided to really start training and signed up to do the 5k - a few days ago she convinced my 12 year old daughter Malika to do the 5k with her. They joke that their goal is to complete the 5k before I finish the marathon. They've been putting in some steady training hours, so I have no doubt they'll be at the finish line much before I am. My wife's sister Alana has been training hard and will be doing her first 1/2 marathon, along with her husband Ryan. Many other friends and colleagues will be there so it will be a much different experience than when we were in Wisconsin in September.
Doing a stand alone marathon will be a great experience for me. I'm excited to see how my training this year will pay off. Sure, I had to run (walk) a marathon at the end of the Ironman, but it's completely different doing it on its own. I came to triathlons with stronger cycling and decent swimming skills - running has really been something I've had to work on the past few years. While attending Diabetes Training Camp this past March I had the great benefit of being coached by Missy Foy. Missy is an ultra-marathoner, and was the first diabetic runner in history to qualify for Olympic Marathon Trials (yeah, she's Type 1 and man, can she run). I learned a lot at the camp and especially was able to glean some great training tips from Missy. I put them to use and it's definitely helped me train for the marathon distance and gain greater confidence in my running progress. I'm also hoping all goes well with my sugar during the marathon. I was able to manage it well during the Ironman, and generally things run smoothly enough on my runs. I have no idea what my finish will be, but I'm setting a goal of 3:45 to give me something to aim for.
Oh... and running internationally just sounds really cool.
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