Glory.
The theme of the day was glory. Glory in God’s creation. Glory in the completion of a multi-year dream and all that training to build up to ultra mileage. Glory in the greatest friends who joined me on the path. Glory in the pain of running 42 miles. It was a truly glorious day!
It started the day before with a drive up to Munising. We caravanned with two caravans that we’d need during the run to swap runners and provide aid according to Pat’s perfectly detailed plan. We arrived and headed out for a run to two great waterfalls in Munising: Memorial and Tannery Falls. These twin falls have been carved out by tiny creeks through the centuries that have formed huge bowls in the sandstone with their persistence. The light cool rain was enough to keep anyone from taking a shower under one of the falls, as inviting as they seemed.
As the evening went on I wasn’t feeling great. My knee was really hurting from the long drive and I had a headache and a stomach ache. I’m not sure how much was from nervousness about tackling the distance the next day but I went to bed uneasy.
Morning came and we all got up at 5am so we could leave by 5:45 but already the glory was beginning. I had no knee pain and felt great! The forecast called for clear skies with a starting temp of 34 degrees climbing up to 50F by the afternoon: perfect! We arrived a little earlier than the sunlight that we’d need to hit the trail but it came up quick and after a few pictures I hit the trail with Ryan and Alexis who would accompany me for the first 12 miles. When my watch hit the 1 mile mark I thought, “Just 41 more of those, you got this!” We took off at a leisurely pace and I ran the whole day not worried about stopping to take a picture or soak in a vista. We met Pat and Doug at the first aid station at log slide where loggers over a century ago sent the surrounding old growth forest on a 300 foot slide down a dune into the big lake to help power Michigan’s industrial rise. Doug and Pat descended and ascended it while waiting for us and both (all four?) of their quads were up to the task!
A half mile after we took off there was an opening in the wood line that gave the first real view of Superior. I couldn’t help but cry “glorious!” We all were laughing and yelling at the overwhelming beauty. I was completely filled with awe at the bird’s eye view of the bluest blue waves crashing into the coast that stretched on and on. I thought about how I’d soon be running along that coast even farther than I could see. All of my senses were engaged: The wind blew with cool strength but felt good on my skin and caused the 6 to 10 foot waves below to fill my ears with their rushing din. The horizon stretched across the inland sea in a panorama that my eyes widened to match. Not to be left out my sense of taste still had the lingering salty sweetness of my first uncrustable PBJ of the day! Glorious indeed!
We picked up Doug at about the 8 mile mark so he could run the next half marathon with me We dropped off Ryan and Alexis near the start of 12 mile beach. I’ve been to parts of this trail before but the first 26 miles were all new to me and they were amazing. As the mileage got up into the teens I was still feeling good. The Rays and Doug kept me distracted with good stories and conversation and the brief stops to experience the glory of God’s goodness helped give me rest and stoke my excitement. One of the cool things that Doug and I saw was an old car that was abandoned in the woods about as far away from a road as you could get. Doug even found his name etched by some other Doug who’d been by. My dad had warned me not to get lost in the Beaver Basin and there were a few trail intersections that made us pause but we made it through!
Around mile 19 my legs really started burning which is concerning when that’s not even half way! At the 12 mile beach aid station I just didn’t take enough calories with me. I was very much looking forward to meeting up with Pat and the “meet bag” at the next stop. I ate oreos, nutter butters, fruit snacks and popped some ibuprofen at the 20 mile mark and Pat was ready to help get me through the rest of the run. It only took a couple of miles to start feeling better. I made a mental note about calories and Pat did great reminding me to eat or take a gel more often so I wouldn’t hit a wall. We ran through the most picturesque parts of Pictured Rocks and it was… Glorious!
Here’s the crazy thing. I felt really good the whole rest of the way. In almost 42 miles, almost 9.5 hours, I only felt kind of bad for one or two miles. I was scampering over roots and tiptoeing around mud with much more efficiency than I ever imagined I’d have so late in the run. Pat commented that he’s seen people happy when they finish a long run but he’s never seen someone so happy the whole way! Glory! I’m so grateful I didn’t turn an ankle or get light headed and fall off a cliff or get eaten by a bear (although any of those things would have made for a better blog post.) The whole crew came a mile into the woods and we ran the last mile or so together to end with plenty of daylight at Munising Falls.
We all felt great and celebrated with a beer at East Channel and some pizza. I’m so grateful that I could share this experience with such great people! The run was done but the UP fun wasn’t! The next morning we had time in the Word at Falling Rock Cafe and then headed for Marquette to have a Dead River Falls adventure. We hiked to all the falls which involved some perilous river crossings and then decided to stay on the opposite bank a little too long. This revealed some unseen waterfalls for Doug and I in a place that we’ve been many times but it also made it necessary to cross the cold and rapid river to get back to the van. As the guys scratched their heads to figure out what to do, Alexis was already halfway across the river with her shoes tucked in her hoodie like a pro (or like a West Virginian). We all made it across, some wetter than others (cough, cough, Doug). We spent some time at Black Rocks and Ore Docks – both the places and their eponymous breweries.
It should be noted that there was one glaring disappointment with this trip. No Taco Primo. The world’s greatest fish tacos were closed to the world because they apparently made too much money this summer and didn’t need to stay open. I’ve decided to embark on my own culinary quest to make the best whitefish tacos so I will no longer be dependent on anyone and I’ve designed this t-shirt to commemorate the disappointment.
On Tuesday we went for a pre-dawn run to some other Munising waterfalls (Wagner and Alger). Then we packed up and spent some time at Gallery coffee with the crew and talked about the news that really matters. Pat: “Mushrooms are news.” Jesus: “Make sure your eye is good.” These were the biggest spiritual takeaways from the trip. Out in the woods, nothing that we call news mattered. If our eyes are focused on the right things then we see the world differently. I resolved to spend less time looking at the world through the tiny lens of my phone or computer. We shared our favorite moments and hit the road. I was still basking in the glory of it all and already longing for more!
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