Rails to Trails Marathon

This is one more of Wisconsin's marathon events that uses an old railroad bed converted to a sports trail for riders and runners. Rails to Trails and Elroy's Apple Dumpling Marathon both have a tunnel, and these two towns are not all that far apart from each other geographically, but I think Elroy's trail is flatter. The race director sent informational e-mails ahead of time so the runners were well informed about the details. There were several races going on, but there were only about 50 marathoners. The staff people who I spoke with said that the registration numbers were likely down this year because they had cancelled the previous year's race due to excessive rainfall, flooding, and trail washouts. Rain was a factor again this year, but rainfall this year was not significant. Participation required a drive across Wisconsin, through lots of farmland to get to Norwalk, from my home in the Upper Peninsula. My GPS served me well. Norwalk is a small town in a valley that primarily serves the area farms and dairies. Coming into town from the east, there were a lot of narrow farm roads with lots of sharp turns. So it took a while to drive the last 10 miles or so. I stayed in Tomah - where I-90 and I-94 converge - because I could not find accommodations in town. When I arrived on Saturday, it was easy to find the Community Center (it is a small town). That is where packet pick-up was, and where the spaghetti dinner was held. Packet pick-up was a breeze and the dinner was great. Lots of volunteers pitched in on this event. The start time for the various races were staggered, so there was not a lot of congestion at the start line. The start/finish was right across the street from the community center, and there seemed to be adequate parking to everybody. They did have an early start, but they only offered it to walkers. The rest started as a group at 8:00 a.m. The trail seemed to go pretty much east and west. Since they wanted us to avoid going into the town of Sparta - to the west - the course started out from ground zero with a 1.5 mile out and back going east. Then we went about 11.5 miles west, and returned to ground zero. The trail was in good condition, although there were still some lingering signs of the rainfall from earlier in the week. The tunnel was about mile-post 6, it extended for about ¾ of a mile, and it was lit with lanterns from one end to the other. They were spaced at, perhaps, every 20 feet, and they were in pairs, one on the right side and one on the left side. You could see all the way through the tunnel as you were approaching it. It looked like a runway at night. The area between each pairs of lights was dimly lighted, but the area between successive lights was in a shadow, and was quite dark. And the ground surface was like sandstone with bicycle tire ruts in it. Then there was a lot of water dripping down from overhead, and it made divots in the ground, and they created little mud puddles we had to navigate; they were potential trip hazards too. I am not aware that anyone fell, but the possibility was increased. Then there is a law - with signs posted - that you can not ride bicycles through the tunnel; you were required to dismount and walk your bike through. On the return, I encountered four bicycle riders, riding through the tunnel, and they refused to dismount. That just make is dangerous for everyone. The law is necessary for safety of everyone, but it is hard to enforce. One other runner said that there is a 1,000-foot incline over the course. I did not find out officially, but it seemed uphill during the return. It was hard to judge from the landscape. For most of the course there was a canopy of trees growing on both sides of the trail, with branches hanging high over the trail. So it was mostly cool and damp. The last two miles before the turn-around to the west seemed to have a lot fewer trees, and there was a lot more sun getting through. Still, with the temperature near 60, with a damp landscape, and lots of shade, it was a great day for a marathon. Then there were volunteers passing out fluids and carb snacks (pretzels, potato chips, and sliced oranges) about every 1.5 to 2 miles. They did a great job. But there were no gels on this course. We were told that before the races started, but by then it was probably too late for most runners to obtain their own gels. At the finish-line, there was roasted chicken, potato chips, a bread roll, and some kind of drink for the runners. There was an abundance of cookies and baked goods too. Jugs of water and Gatorade/Power-aid were still available too. Overall, the organizers and volunteers did a great job putting on this race. The smaller size and their attention to detail make it highly desirable.

I guess attendance was down this year (2017) due to coinciding with the Chicago Marathon (bat habitat issues forced the organizers to move the race from it's usual November date). I've previously run Chicago and there is no comparison, but this is a beautiful race in a beautiful part of the state, put on by nice people who are proud of their town. I pretty much ran the final 5 miles solo (which was fine with me!). There's ~ 1000 ft of overall elevation gain, so it's a challenging course (long and steady inclines and declines!)

One of the most friendly races, simple beautiful bike trail course with an AWESOME 3/4 of mile railroad tunnel. I highly recommend this beautiful race.