Madison Mini-Marathon Finish!

Chock up another one!

The collection Grows!

 Add another half marathon to the trophy rack!   13.1 more miles in the can!  It was an interesting race today,

Early Start.  Noe the rain!

Preparing for Precipitation!

 Despite the bleak prediction of rain, the rain held off for most of the race.  The day started out wet, however the drizzle stopped moments before the start time and the did not return until we were packing up for home back at the hotel.  In fact, as I speak,  there are blue skies and sunshine here in Iowa.   It looks like Wellman got plenty of rain from the puddles and mud.  But before I get sidetracked,   let's focus back on the race...

Time to get wet....maybe.

A quick visit to the Bathrooms.

Early morning start time with drizzle in the back ground.   Cheryl has been planning for a wet race ever since the first Grandma's Marathon;  and they poor emergency ponchos have been languishing in the glove box ever since.   She was VERY excited to be able to pull them out and actually use them.  ( You can actually see her excitement!)

So excited, she can barely contain it!

Lose the Poncho, check the Garmin.

But moments after we arrived at the start line,  the rain stopped and the heat picked up.  Time to lose the Ponchos!  It was a strange thing.  The clouds hid the sun for most of the day, but the heat and high humidity stuck around for the entire race!   It did not cool down until we were packing up the car.   And then, along with the cool air, came the wind!  Luckily the race was over for Cheryl before she had to battle that challenge.   As it was,  the heat and humidity were plenty.

No mascot captures this year.

So, with bathroom breaks and national anthem out of the way,  the race began.   I was a little bummed that I was unable to capture any race shots this time.  The new camera has it's own identity... and taking action sport shots is not one of them.   Not that it mattered much.   Cheryl ran past me so quickly,  I probably would have had trouble capturing her with the old camera.  I finally gave up and decided to record her with video.  With only moderate success.

Cheryl's elbow...behind the blue guy

Wanna see?   Check out how she blows past me at the 30 second mark.  (look for the guy with the green shirt,  Cheryl is hidden behind the lady in the purple-ish top.   Don't feel too bad if you miss her the first time;   she's a blur!)  At 30 seconds,  she is in the lower right corner wearing orange shorts and turquoise top.
 The video quality is crap compared to the original... Hmm,  Guess blogger does not like videos much.

Cheryl rounds the corner to the finish.

Finally a still shot that turned out.

At the finish,  I managed to capture a couple of stills before she raced past me.   Her final time was 1 hour 47 minutes.   She averaged an 8:12 minute per mile pace.  Not her best, but the heat, rain, and job are all factors.  On the brighter note:   She did say she had a good time running and felt like she was running well,  until she saw the time.  Ah, but how time seems to always  ruin everything.....

Time to hang out by the water

And show off the medal.

Afterwards,  we collected the beer and finishers medal  ( not in that order); and sat around swapping stories, drinking beer and feeding the imaginary fish and ducks near the water.  We sat next to the bandstand as they read off the winners and age group awards.

And drink the beer!

And hear about the "winners" 

 Cheryl did not win any...but informed me that she did manage to place 12th in her age group.   (Which sounds good on a blog, but I guess that is about as good as finishing next to last...So she tells me.)  

Cheryl offers a bribe.

Hiro displays his disappointment

Upon arriving home,  the cat was a little upset with us for leaving him cooped up inside for a day and a half.  From the looks of it,  the squirrels and birds must have had a heyday wit the feeders.  Both of them were empty.   I filled them up while Cheryl bribed the cat with a Boston Creme cake slice.  Hiro seemed interested in just the creme frosting.

Hiro inspects he offer...

Takes a sniff...

So,  Cheryl gets to add another medal to her growing list of successes ( and semi- successes)  in the world of running.  She thinks that this year's medals are fewer than she had hoped, but at least some of the medals have ulterior uses that come in handy from time to time.

And then a taste.   Bribe accepted!

These medals come in handy

If only Cheryl would use them properly

Speaking of beer,  we managed to purchase a fine sampling of the local brews that are not found here in Iowa.   I can't wait to try them all!   The one I had last night was very nice.  I guess the Germans are good for  a few things after all.  ( I can say that, because I'm part German.....The bad half)

Lift and pull...lift and pull!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far and if you happen on a good German beer from Wisconsin,  I would recommend giving it a go.  you never know where you may discover your next newest favorite beer.