Vermont Marathon: Vermont City, Vermont, May 25-26, 2024 – Marathon #48
Saturday, May 25, 2024
I woke up early on Saturday, but it wasn’t until about 10:00 AM that I finally decided to drive to Montreal, Canada. The drive wasn’t too bad, except for getting stuck at the border for about an hour and a half because they were down to one lane. It was crazy, but once I got through, the rest of the drive was smooth sailing.
I took a little detour and stumbled upon a covered bridge, where I stopped to take a few pictures. There was a farmer plowing his field, some beautiful flowers, and a super cool stream. The spot I stopped at was apparently a historical landmark for Canada. The only problem? All the information was printed in French. Yep, you guessed it—I don’t speak French!
As I continued on to Montreal, I decided to check out the Botanical Gardens. I didn’t go inside since it was getting late by the time I reached the city, but I did walk around Montreal for a bit. I ended up near a musical festival and stopped to listen for a few minutes. After that, it was time to head back to the good old USA and prepare for the marathon the next day.
The Vermont Marathon was beautiful, despite having to run the figure-8 loop (I’m not a fan of seeing the same course twice). The weather started out perfect, but it got a little too toasty as the race went on. Before the race started, I managed to snap a few cool pictures by the lake.
As for my performance, I started out running a little faster than usual—just over 8-minute miles. I know better than to start out too fast, but I always get caught up in the excitement. As expected, the pace wore me down in the second half. I managed to keep a solid pace until mile 18, when I came across a few younger runners who had gotten sick, likely because of the heat and their lack of proper hydration. They were relying solely on the water stations, which wasn’t enough in those conditions. I stopped to help until EMS arrived, which caused a 20-minute delay. After that, it was tough to regain a consistent rhythm.
While the delay definitely impacted my race, I would never rush past someone in distress. Helping others always comes first. I finished with a time of 5:14:45, and just like that, state #48 was officially on the books!
Afterward, I found myself in yet another race—the one to the airport to catch my flight home. I had 14 minutes to spare before boarding, only to find that my flight was delayed for 6 hours once I got to Chicago. As much as I’ve been flying the past 2.5 years, this was only one of a handful of delays, so I can’t complain too much.
Now I’m back home, getting ready to work for a few days before heading to Fargo, ND to run my 49th state. It’s getting real now!
Let’s go! Run, run, run!