From Madison...With Love. The Madison Marathon Packet Pickup.

What a difference Country Inn and Suites makes!   Compared to those high end hotels in the middle of those huge cities....This place is pure GOLD!   I should pause a moment and gush over the hospitality!   Free cookies,  Free WiFi, ( I should say: Hassle Free WiFI!)  Free PARKING! Huge room!   More than two small towels!  (Origami bow ties on the tub!  How cool is that!) Mini-Fridge, Microwave, AND coffee maker!  Vending machines!  One each FLOOR!

Window with a view, free breakfast,  candy  bar on pillow (We are silver members)  Free bottled water, Two beds,  Two Televisions, large elevators that are NOT crowded.   easy to come and go and easy to find places of interest.   I could go on, but the biggest thing is IT WAS LESS EXPENSIVE!   It makes me wonder where all that money goes for those inner city Hotels.   It also makes me appreciate the Country Inn and Suites franchise.  They spoil us to where we have come to expect these "little" things and miss them tremendously when they are unavailable.  What a difference a mere 10 minutes out of the center of the city makes.

Ok,  Whew!  Got all that out there so I can now begin the laborious task of cataloging our trip.   

We arrived in Madison, Wisconsin.  

Um,  Yeah.  That is pretty much it.  Nothing special to note.  

The packet pickup was short and sweet.   The EXPO was kind of small but larger than Cheryl had first expected.  She managed to find a couple of Tech-Shirts that she liked in preparation for winter running.   

Note the Plane flying the banner.

Other than that, looks like a cool day tomorrow.   Cheryl has been having a little trouble adjusting her wardrobe to match the conditions.   We shall see how things pan out this late in the year.   Other than the Turkey Trot last year, this will be the latest Cheryl will have ever run a half marathon distance race . (The ill-fated Turkey Trot was only a 5K.)   

An enlarged view of the banner,   Hooray for ZOOM!

I guess one item of note would be the University of Wisconsin Homecoming today.   Downtown looked like Iowa City on a Hawkeye game day.   Only everyone was red and white instead of yellow and black.  Ah...Sports fans...  There was even a plane advertising for  BEER over the stadium!

Cheryl unpacks her shirts

Speaking of beer, after settling in,  we hit the local grocery stores for even MORE unusual local beer. We found the Inaugural Red beer Cheryl likes   We will have to sample a couple tonight...for pre-race carb loading.   An Essential part of every race!

The Taste of Wisconsin.

Being a smaller race, smaller city and familiar territory,  we should expect things to run slightly smoother than usual...  Hopefully.  I'll try to snap some pictures and capture something Blog-worthy when the day is finished.   Hopefully,  just a simple routine run that helps fill out the calendar.  Wish us Luck!