Race of Discovery

I came out of running retirement this weekend to run the Lewis & Clark half-marathon with Wendie. It was hard - given the snow, rain, hills, altitude, bears, bison and elk - to train for the race, but we did the best we could.

As a pre-race reward we hit the 2nd Street Bistro on the way to Bozeman for our pre-race dinner. Wendie went with the lamb pizza

while I chose to go with the burger and the biggest bowl of fries ever (those are carbs right?).

We stayed in a hotel so we could get up at 5:30am instead 3:30am. Up and at 'em, we headed to Montana State's football stadium (home of the Bobcats)

to register and catch a bus to the start (which is right near a campsite Lewis & Clark used in 1806). We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of shirts

and to find one of our friends from the winter on our bus, but once we got off the bus we got a little worried. Not only was the temp hovering around 40 but it was also drizzling. The cold we could deal with but given that it has been raining here since May, we didn't want to run in yet another downpour.

Luckily, just as the race was beginning, it started to clear up and we had perfect running weather for the rest of the day. And, just as L&C's Corps of Discovery were seeing places for the first time, Wendie and I got to take in parts of Bozeman we had never seen before.

The course was a little hilly at times but there was also a nice mix of running on the road and using some local trails, so not only did we get see some the sights but we also got to see where the locals live. Though I know Wendie likes the old-school log cabin look

which is prevalent in this area, I dug the look of the newer homes, which are sort of eco-friendly Craftsmen-style bungalows/ranches

After reaching the top of the highest hill on the course, I could see the stadium (AKA, the finish) below us and, pointing it out to Wendie, I felt like Captain Clark when he saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time and wrote in his journal, "O! The Joy!" But then like Clark, who soon realized he had to also go back the way he came, I remembered that we still had 5 miles to go. And, given that we never made it past 8 miles in our training, the last 5 miles weren't easy.

Still, with my knees aching and Wendie's asthma acting up, we made it to the MSU track,

did our victory lap (which Wendie's Garmin GPS told her was excessive since it said we had already run 13.1 miles before the extra .4 we ran on the track), and finished side-by-side. There were no personal records but we finished, which at the time seemed good enough considering they were giving away slices of pizza and oatmeal raisin cookies.

After some quick and much-needed showers, we celebrated, as Wendie only knows how, with some food. This time sandwiches from the Bozeman Co-op

and then made the hour and half drive back to the Park because Wendie actually had to go to work for the afternoon.

With a Dr. Pepper and the support of the Rangers at the Visitor Center who made this sign

she made it through her shift in one piece.