This year (2010) was my second time of running the Zoom Yah Yah Indoor Marathon. Once again, Race Director Dick Daymont did a fabulous job of pulling off another very organized and successful race. Everything was fully thought out, including the best dinner you will ever see anywhere the night before a marathon. We were well informed of every detail months, weeks and days before arriving. An indoor track seems like it would be long and never-ending. It is a complete opposite effect. All of the runners are evenly spread out on the track, yet we all get to know each other the course of the race. Having our names on the back of our shirts was a great idea. The entire event was held on the St. Olaf College Campus in Northfield, MN. Minnesota is a great place to visit year-round - especially in January if there is an indoor marathon to run like the Zoom Yah Yah. Whether it be your first or 100th, I highly recommend this marathon. Thank you, Dick and Chris Daymont, and the St. Olaf College Women's Track Team, for all of the encouragement during the race.

I had a blast! Everything about this event was first-rate: the pre-race gathering and meal (access to everything the St. Olaf cafeteria had to offer, which was very plentiful and delicious), the timers (St. Olaf women's track team, who cheered for every runner, lap after lap), the organizer (Dick Daymonthe does a wonderful job and is so personable), the perks (custom finisher medals, custom shirts with everyone's finish time on the back, coffee mugs, the awards, a 5x7 photo for each runner, splits for each of the 150 laps, 4 energy gels for each runner). You'd think running around a track would be boring for 26.2 miles, but it's not. Music is playing and there's always someone to chat with or cheer for. I heartily recommend this race!

I understand the hesitation some marathoners might have about a race where you run around the same lap 150 times. Boredom must set in, right? Not possible with 40 college girls cheering for you, 40 other runners egging you on, music in the background, a race director who cheers you by name, and a dozen or so spectators who you see 150 times. It is constantly 60 degrees, you have no wind or weather to battle, and aid stations are always available. If you train properly (you must get used to running turns and indoors), a fast time can be run as well (my 2010 time was only two minutes off my PR). You will love this race!

OK, let me get the obvious part over. Yes, it is in Northfield, MN on the campus of St. Olaf College; it is run in January (on the 10th in 2010, where it was -18 on packet pickup day BEFORE adding wind chill); and like the name states, it is run indoors.

No, I wasn't crazy. As a matter of fact, I was honored: Honored to be lucky enough to be one of 40 lottery entrants who was able to run the event. It was my 19th marathon, and without a doubt the most fun. Yes, you read that correctly. Nothing compares to this.

Race Director Dick Daymont, his wife, Chris, and a cast of other members of the 10,000 Aches Running Club do a phenomenal job. It is as if they are throwing a party and the 40 runners are the honored guests. It all starts off on Saturday afternoon with packet pickup. With just 40 runners and a 30-minute window to pick up your packet, everyone arrives at the same time and immediately gets to know everyone else. Traveling and running by myself can be a bit blah, but immediately I had friends and the camaraderie between the runners begins.

The pre-race meal was the best you will ever have before an event. We ate in the St. Olaf Cafeteria. Yep, best college food in America. I dont know how my nephew who is a senior there doesn't weigh 300 pounds. You name it, and they had it:  pasta bar, salad bar, carving stations, pizza, desserts galore, and on and on and on. No problem on carb loading. Oh yeah, it was included in the $65 registration fee, as were a 5x7 color running photo, a finisher's certificate, an awesome finisher's shirt (personalized with your time on the back), and a neat finisher's medal.

Race day starting line temps were about 60 degrees, and the course was flat as a pancake. We arrived at 5:45 a.m., and got dressed in the warm athletic center, which had huge bathrooms just a few yards away from the track. The highlight was meeting our personal lap scorer and cheerleader. Chris Daymont is the women's cross-country and track coach at St. Olaf, and she assigned a member of her teams to each runner. I was fortunate enough to receive Abby Smith, the captain of the track team. These poor ladies get to sit and watch everyone run around 150 laps while having to record our lap time each lap on our finisher's certificate. They absolutely make the race, but more about them later.

Once the race started, I ran with the elite runners. Think about it. For the overwhelming majority of the world reading this, you aren't going to line up with the elite runners. Even if you do, the gun goes off and they are gone. Since the race is run in laps, its advantage (especially for a slower runner like me) is that I got to see the elite runners throughout the race as they lapped me (often). Also, because we were always seeing each other, we were given blank bibs to write our names on and pin them on the back of our shirts. This just added to the camaraderie as people,  including the speedy,  were shouting encouragement to each other throughout the race. The winner and early finishers even came back and shouted encouragement after they completed their runs!

Now, talk about encouragement. The ladies from the track team are off the charts. Running past them 150 times made the pace a blur as they cheered, screamed, chanted and probably even sang your name. Additionally, I have never high-fived so many people in a race. Even after I cramped up, there was no way that I would think about letting myself walk past them with their enthusiastic encouragement. Abby even took my FlipCam at the start of the race and on three or four occasions - including the finish - was out on the track, filming me like an expert. Finally, as all the runners began their final lap, the entire crowd was notified, and they all started chanting the runner's name. When you have left it all on the track and are ready to die, nothing fires you up like hearing a crowd screaming your name as you run your last 0.18 miles. Think that will happen elsewhere? I don't think so.

The downsides to the event are few and really have more to do with you than the race. First, you run in laps, not miles, so if you are used to running a pace or need to know what mile you are on, you need to extrapolate it for the lap system. Second, even though there are tables in each of the four corners (well off the track) for your liquids and fuel, since you go by them so often, you forget to stop and drink like you should. Next time, I will simply ask my lap counter to let me know when I cross a certain point like every six (I had her tell me each 25 so that I would fuel), and the problem will be solved. And I assure you there WILL be a next time. I intend to run as often as I can lottery in!

Finally, once I get it processed, search YouTube for my 2010 Zoom Yah! Yah! video and you will get a glimpse of what it is really all about!

- Greg Goebel

I had a nice time. This event was well organized and about the friendliest race I've run. The members of the St. Olaf's women's track team were motivating and a big help. I would not hesitate to run this event again.

Hands down the most enjoyable race you will ever run. Dick does just a tremendous job organizing it all and the St. Olaf girls' track team is the best group of supporters you could ask for. Truly the best race out there.

The Saturday night pre-race dinner was at the college cafeteria and it was amazing. It was more like an upscale restaurant. They had whatever you wanted, and it all was great food. We received a lot of goodies in our bag, along with the best homemade cookies.

The race was very well organized by Dick and the St. Olaf Women's Track Team counted our laps and cheered for us the entire way. Thanks, Loren! It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience and one I would do again. We received medals at the finish and later our tee, photo and certificate will be mailed.

The friendliest marathon around. MN, nice!

This race is very well organized. Thanks, Dick. The girls from the track team who count the laps are a great support.

The problem with perfection is that it is, well, perfection, and you can't do better than perfection. If you've run a race twice and loved every minute of it, odds are that the only thing that lies ahead is disappointment when a perfect 10 is reduced to a 9.875.

That said, there may come a day when the Zoom! Yah! Yah! Marathon does not live up to my expectations. There may come a day where I have to take it off my list of favorite races. But that day will not come in 2010, and if the outstanding organization, dedication and friendly feel of this race continues, it may never come. Simply put, this is what every race should be.

If you have read the descriptions, you know what this race is about - 150 laps of an indoor track, going round and round in ovals until you've completed the marathon distance. And if that seems boring to you, well, then you don't know what the Zoom! Yah! Yah! is about.

The ZYY features the friendliest runners you will ever meet, including the natives of Northfield, who will take you under their wing like they've known you for years. Over 150 laps, you will hear you name called out by fellow runners, spectators, and most importantly, by the women of the St. Olaf Cross Country and Track teams, who wake up early on a Sunday morning just to count laps - one athlete per runner. They will cheer for you, sing for you, count each and every trip you make around the oval, recording your time with each passing. It will be, hands down, the most support you have ever received in a race. It is the only race in America where it is impossible to go through a single minute without smiling.

The race director, a marathon runner himself, has thought of everything, taking care of what is undoubtedly the best pre-race dinner in the business, offering all the pre-race information you could ever need and making sure your questions and concerns are taken care of. His willingness to listen to suggestions and then act upon them is the main reason that this perfect race keeps raising the bar for perfection.

There are many other marathons in the U.S.A. There are other Minnesota marathons. There are other indoor marathons. But the ZYY stands alone from all of them. It simply defines perfection.

I've never run an indoor marathon before, so this was my first. I enjoyed it so much. My counter, Heather, and her friend were a better cheering squad than the Wellesley College girls in the Boston Marathon. The entire marathon was organized so well. Dick and his team did a terrific job!!! See you next year! Thanks!!!