Mackinac Island Great Turtle Run Half Marathon

I finished a long day of classes and a chemistry exam today and have some extra time tonight. I wanted to talk about what I did this weekend – I completed half marathon #6! (I think…). This was a race I’ve been wanting to do for years and I can finally say I’ve done it. I would definitely recommend the Mackinac Island Great Turtle run!!

I drove home Friday night after classes, and on Saturday my friend Olivia and I woke up early to drive to the ferry to get to the island. The race didn’t start until 11:45 which was unusual, but it was nice since we didn’t have to get up even earlier. At 10 we boarded the ferry, and by 10:30 we were walking around the island. Remember when we went here two summers ago? I can’t believe it’s been that long already.

We made our way to check-in, and explored a little until it was time to start. We were really worried about the weather because it rained our whole drive there, and it was cold. But for whatever reason as soon as we started running the sun came out! While it wasn’t warm, I was glad I didn’t wear another layer. Because the rain would come back.

Here are some of my thoughts I remember while running!

Miles 0-3

This is awesome! We are having so much fun! Look how beautiful the water is, this will be so much fun. We were passing a ton of people since we started in the back.

Miles 3-7

We started going into the trails during these miles. We encountered our first hills. I started to feel sore (I had a fitness test for the Air Force two days before). I started wondering how I could keep this up for nearly ten more miles. At mile 5 we took our first water.

Miles 7-10

Do we agree this is the worst part of a half marathon? My foot started hurting, I had cramps, my whole body felt like every step was too much. I focused on my form and how I know that I can do this. Around mile 9 the rain started again. It wasn’t bad though. It was just a light drizzle and felt refreshing. We got more water around mile 7.5 and 10. 

Miles 10-13.1

The end is in sight! Just one more 5k. The views were starting to get better and we were past the hills – all flat from here! We were back on the bike trail around the perimeter of the island.

I started to feel better and realized that I was going to finish a half marathon. It doesn’t feel like a big deal anymore, but I felt a different kind of proud while doing that last mile and crossing the finish line. I don’t know if it was that I was happy for Olivia for doing her first half or all the spectators cheering or just that since I don’t run as much anymore it means a little more now. Either way, I felt the most incredible happiness and had the cheesiest smile going on. It. Was. Amazing.

Results

Our official time was 2:01:18 (9:17 pace), 233rd/870, 88th/544 women, and first in our age group! I didn’t have any real goals but we didn’t walk at all and I’m very happy with our time.

After the race:

Clyde’s is the best. So good. So, so good. It was about a two hour drive back home and then I went straight to bed and back to college the next day. 

It’s weird because this race was the date I’ve had on my mind for the past few months. I’ve trained and worked things around my running. Now, I’m not sure what I’ll do. Maybe I’ll get back into lifting, or maybe I’ll try something else. I don’t know how much I’ll be running outside this winter! 

I have some posts I really want to get up so I hope to post again soon!