Millennium Meadows Marathon

This is the second year of this race. I did not know this until I arrived. And it is the same course used for the Last Chance for Boston Marathon. The Grand Rapids and Ground Hog Day Marathons both have courses on the west side of Grand Rapids/Kent County, and this marathon course uses parts of some of those other races. A runner who ran this marathon last year said that the medal was exactly the same. But they changed the ribbon attached to the medal with a 2019 ribbon, but they put the wrong date on the ribbons. Oh well, minor details I guess. Check-in was available mid-afternoon Saturday at the Fulton Street Pub and Grill. Don, the RD, was there autographing copies of his book - that they were giving away. The park was a short distance from there. There was a big covered pavilion in the park, and the marathon started a very short distance from there. You could park less than a stone's throw from the starting line. Saturday the temperature was in the 70's and the forecast for Sunday was to be in the 80's. The weather turned out pretty good with the shade on the course and the river and swamp nearby. It did not get excessively hot, and there were no bugs - which surprised me for all the standing water in the area. There was a 6:00 a.m. start for slower runners, so I opted for that. From the park proper, there was about a 1 mile distance to the loop we were going to be running on. The loop was 4-something miles - which we had to complete six times. Together, with the out-and back came out to 26.2 miles. And it was certified. The course was paved with asphalt the whole way, with a couple of wood bridges. It was a pretty flat course, with no major hills; they were more like swells on the sea going up and down. There were two aid stations. The first was at the beginning of the loop. And the second was somewhere close to the middle, where they could get volunteers and food supplies to. So each loop, we passed both stations. The course was substantially shaded. There were a couple of stretched where there was no shade, but they were relatively short stretches. And starting the run at 6:00 a.m., it was still dark. We started out running under a crescent shaped Moon and a star filled sky. A few runners had head-lamps, but it got light quickly after that. Close to the end of the loop, many spectators gathered and they really encouraged the runners. Many stayed to the end. After completing the 6th loop, we headed back up to the pavilion, where the finish line was. Afterwards, there was an abundance of food: Fruit, chips, cookies, Gatorade and chocolate milk; bottled water too. This was a good choice for a summer marathon.