August 5, 2005
Mary Flaws of Waukesha, Wisconsin wrote this report following her run in the Grand Island Trail Marathon. The event took place on July 30, 2005 in Munising, MI.
I admit, I was a bit nervous about running in the first ever marathon on Grand Island in Lake Superior. A lot can go wrong with a first ever marathon, and organizing a marathon on a remote island adds a whole new dimension in logistical challenges.
I am running this marathon as a training run, as I prepare for Milwaukee’s Lakefront Marathon on October 2nd. This is also the kick off to a short family vacation to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore – just about my favorite place on earth. My goal is to finish comfortably in about 4 ½ hours, and still be able to enjoy our vacation.
Though only a half mile from the mainland and the city of Munising, Michigan, its primitive charm makes Grand Island feel like it is miles from civilization. Visitors are not permitted to bring vehicles. Roads and trails are barely maintained. Besides an occasional pit toilet and drinking fountain, there are no services for the public. If you didn’t bring it with you, you won’t have it (no stores or concession stands). If you did bring it with you, you must bring it back (no garbage cans). As a visitor to the island, if you miss the last ferry ride of the day back to the mainland, and you didn’t bring your camping gear, you had better be a darn good swimmer.
But Grand Island does offer some spectacular scenery along its rustic back country trails, a bit of history, a handful of awesome beaches, and opportunities to see some great wildlife – including bears.
The marathon course starts at the south end of the 4 mile wide, 7 mile long island, near William’s landing – the only public boat landing. The course follows the perimeter trails of the main part of the island, with an inward spur past the island’s inland lake – Echo Lake. The trails will take us to the top of 300 foot tall sandstone cliffs, through forests, and along one of the beaches, and will finish in the same spot we started.
The course offers only 5 aid stations. Since the aid stations will have no cups, we are required to carry a 20 oz (or larger) water bottle with us, which the aid station volunteers will refill with water or HEED (or a bit of both). Hammer Gel will be available at 2 or 3 of the aid stations, but you will have to consume it at the aid station. You cannot take it with you, because empty gel packs are a very strong bear attractant, which our race director has told us he has witnessed first-hand.
Ferries at 6:00am and 6:30am bring us to the island. We have a place where we can drop off any gear we brought with us that we might want before or after the marathon. Just before the 7:00am start, the temperature is about 55 degrees, and there is no wind. Perfect marathon conditions.
I notice that our bibs do not have the tear-off strip used for timing, and we don’t have timing chips, and I don’t see a timing clock, so I am not exactly sure how they are going to score the 175 of us running this marathon. As we get ready to start, I look around for another runner who is not there with a friend or relative, hoping to find someone to run with. Friendly people, definitely, but no other ‘singles’.
At 7:00am we start. We cheer, the crowd of about 20 volunteer and spectators cheers, and we are off into the wilderness. Within minutes, we see (and nearly step in) evidence of bears. Before the first mile marker, I am joined by Marcus from Iowa City. He and I are running the same pace, and are both here to enjoy the course, and finish on our feet. At mile 4, we reach the first aid station. This station and the last 2 stations are staffed by island residents. They greet us with friendly faces. My water bottle is half full, so open the lid to have it topped off, with what I thought was water. I did not know that HEED was clear. I learned right away that a mix of half water and half HEED tastes all right.
Shortly after mile 4, we begin our inland spur past Echo Lake. We pass Echo Lake after about a half mile or more of uphill. The shallow water crossing that I remember from our bike tour a few years ago, has dried up. There actually is a small culvert that goes under the road. This was hidden by about 10 inches of water rushing over the road for about a 15 yard stretch when I was here before.
We continue our uphill inland spur for another 2+ miles, taking an occasional walk break. At the turn around we are cheered by a handful of spectators who not only paid $10 to get to the island, but another $10 to ride the island’s tour bus or another nominal fee to bring their bike over and ride it to this location which is about 7 miles from the boat landing. Back down our long hill we go. It seemed much steeper going down than it did going up. Returning to the perimeter trail, we get to our second aid station at mile 10. This one is also staffed by island residents, and is either the same station as the one at 4 miles, or they are geographically very close together.
We continue our perimeter tour around the west side of the island, stopping a few times to take some pictures of Lake Superior and the sandstone cliffs that are visible from the scenic overlooks along the way. We arrive at another aid station at mile 15.5. We are at the north end of the island, and are about 10 miles from the boat landing. This aid station, and our next one, are staffed by the Anna River Pedalers – a local bicycling club. They arrived on the island and made the 10 mile bike trip the night before, and camped out. They greet us about 20 yards before the station, and grab our water bottles, run back and refill them, and then give them back to us. This allows us to keep moving while getting our bottles refilled. These guys are awesome.
We are now traveling east at the north end of the island. Due to an unreliable bridge in the trail, we are detoured for about a tenth of a mile on to the island’s north end beach. This section is in the middle of about a half mile long sandy beach that is flanked by 300 foot high sandstone cliffs at either end. We stop to take some more pictures. I consider taking a further detour into Lake Superior, but fear I will not want to get back out.
Back to the perimeter trail, and soon we are heading south along the east side of the main part of the island. We’ve got about 10 miles to go. The east side trail is much like the west side trail: long gradual hills, 95% shade. Most of the trails we are on are just wide enough for an all-terrain-vehicle. Some require us to go single file, some are wide enough for a car. The pack is thinned out enough that we only occasionally see other runners. The terrain varies from thin grass, to soft dirt, to gravel road, and some mud patches. We’ve seen lots of evidence of bears but never see an actual bear.
Around mile 21, the trail widens out, and straightens out, and we see more runners. We pass a few, and are passed by a few. Somewhere around 22 miles, I have to say goodbye to Marcus and answer nature’s call. After a couple miles, I am able to catch back up to him while he is taking a walk break. As I catch up to him, he resumes running. Somewhere around mile 24 or 25 I start to get pretty tired. Through 22+ miles of trails, we have chatted about many various topics, but now I need to focus my energy on finishing. Though barely talking, I am sure glad to have company. The temperature has climbed into the upper 60s or low 70s, and as we near the end, the trail widens further, and we have quite a bit of sun shining on us. With the heat and the sun, and soreness beginning to build in my legs, I start looking at my watch and figuring out how many minutes are between me and the finish. I begin picturing the small beach at the boat landing, and how good it will feed to immerse myself in the cool water of Lake Superior. Five minutes left, probably. I can do this. I feel a little dizzy, and a little nauseous. Four minutes left, I hope. We start to see runners who have finished, and are walking back up the course to offer encouragement, or find their running pal. Soon we can hear the finish line volunteers cheering. Can’t see them yet. Since there is no wind, and no other noise on the island, their sounds carry fairly far. Ah hah – mile marker 26. Only 2 tenths left. As we approach the finish, I think to myself, “boy am I glad this isn’t 26.3 miles”, because I don’t think I could go an extra tenth of a mile.
As we cross the finish, I stop my watch at 4 hours, 24 minutes, 42 seconds (roughly). I see the volunteers are also using stop watches to time us. They are scoring us by writing our time on a bright colored card, (yellow for women, orange for men) and then stapling it to a bulletin board in the order we finished. Low-tech, but it does the job.
I wander to the tent where we dropped off our gear, find my stuff, and head over to the beach. A few others are wading in the water. I manage to peel off my shoes and socks without falling over, and waddle across the beach into the water. Its no ice bath, but it feels really good anyway. After a few minutes, I make my way to the picnic area, and wait for the next ferry back to the mainland. The awards ceremony will be held later this evening, at the Falling Rock Café and Bookstore in Munising, rather than at the finish line immediately after the marathon.
I have come to the conclusion that our race director is either a magician, a genius, or both. Absolutely everything went smoothly. Transportation to and from the island worked great. We arrived in plenty of time to start the race without being rushed. We were able to return to the mainland without any trouble, and not having to wait too long, nor feel rushed. Our 5 aid stations - sans cups - worked very well. (Keep in mind that a marathon usually has 10 to 15 aid stations.) The course’s turns were well marked, and course was complete with markers for every mile.
I can’t wait to do it again next year!
-- Mary Flaws
Race photos
Mary Flaws, 38, is an avid runner from Waukesha, WI and is also one of the Running in the USA webmasters. She has been running for several years and is a member of the Badgerland Striders.