One of my first memories with my ultra running friends is
the Half Voyaguer. It’s now named after the past race director: Eugene Curnow.
The race is the baby of the Voyaguer 50 mile, a favorite of mine, which is run
2 weeks later.
Because I’ve been rehabbing my foot/knee and whatever other
body parts which are angry at me there is no chance I’ll be run running
Voyaguer 50 this year but I’m good to run the Half.
Maria and I went out for a 6 hour run two weeks ago-my first
run of any sort of this distance since Superior 100 last September! I really did a number on myself there.
Ugh. Anyhow, our run at Afton was
such a wonderful experience! She’s
rehabbing her hamstring, I’m rehabbing foot/knee. We walked, jogged, and
ran. My rehab schedule had 11
minute jog/4 minute walk on the plan which we stuck to pretty well. At the end
of our 6 hours I was jubilant. I didn’t hurt. I felt good. Eugene Curnow may be
a reality. Why not try it?
We spent the first week of July up at the lake. Had great
weather and a great time. I came back into town to deliver Troy so that he
could work and then decided to go back up to the cabin to spend a few more days
with Steve. I left the lake, spent the night at my Dad’s house and then left
for Carlton to the race in the morning.
It was a beautiful warm morning and was going to be a great
day. I hadn’t looked online to see who may be running the race so wasn’t sure
whom I might see.
I arrived in plenty of time to fill my pack, figure out
music, lube my feet, etc. I didn’t recognize anyone so I just climbed onto the
bus that would take me to the start.
As I climbed off of the bus I saw Alicia right away.
Yay!! Alicia and I have run a
zillion miles together and I just love her. She was one of the those that first
ran with me at that first Half Voyaguer so many years ago.
We began the race together and ran together up until the
last few miles where she went ahead and finished a few minutes in front of me.
What a great 6 hours of fun! We reminisced, we talked of the present, the
future, of how much things in ultrarunning had changed and how much we had
changed. It was such a great time. Neither my foot nor my knee hurt, I was able
to climb through the powerlines without a problem. Such a blessing.
Janet ran with Alicia and I most of the race, too. She
wanted to run a PR and said that by hanging with us she would do just that. She
did! She ran a great race and finished inbetween Alicia and I.
As we were running along Scott came up on us. Scott! Scott was also along on that first Half
Voyageur so many years ago. I hadn’t seen him in a few years. We caught up a
bit and then he left us to bomb on down the hills.
As I came across the finish all I could think about is how
blessed I was. Sharing the trail with amazing people, such good friends to me.
I hung around the finish line and cheered the rest of the
runners in. Drank a non alcoholic beer and headed for home, with a big smile on
my face! What a fabulous day.
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