Detroit Free Press Marathon 10-20-24

Let's go girls!

 

Once again the PPRF girls talked me into another marathon. 😁  They didn't exactly have to twist my arm however....  I had never done an "international" marathon starting in one country and going into another and then back to where you started... so I of course I agreed to do it. 😍

8 of us decided to go with 5 doing the full marathon and 3 doing the half marathon.  Susan & Tara would come from TN to meet us traveling from MS.  It was a FUN weekend.  From Susan accidently calling 911 from her hotel room asking for toilet paper 😂 to the 8 of us trying to recreate a TikTok video that some YOUNG runners had made. 😏😂

We arrived around 9pm Friday night.  Saturday morning 4 of us got up for a little shake out run and to kind of get a feel for the city and were everything was located while the others slept in.  😁

Penny, Fab, me and Michelle ready to head out.


We saw several monuments on our run that we would also see the next day during our marathon.

You couldn't really see over to the Canadian side that morning due to the FOG!

After a quick shower and breakfast we headed to the expo to pick up our race bibs.  By then the sun was out and the fog was gone so we went to the river to take pics with our passports with Canada in the background.  I mean how many races do people do where they need their passports?!?!?! 

Candy can take a nap anywhere! She decided to have one at the expo while waiting on us... so of course we had to get some pics. 😍😎😂

The it was off to the riverfront

We were back in our room early afternoon.... Alabama was coming on like 3pm and Candy & Virginia had to get to a TV to watch them and then later Georgia. They ended up in the ESPN bar at our hotel which was also a Casino.  We went down to visit them in hopes of eating there with them, but the smoke in the Casino was so bad we just got our food to go and back up to our room for the night.  Candy kept the TV on till around 11:30pm in our room watching Georgia.  She was quiet... but you know me.. I don't sleep with a TV on no matter how low it is.  I think Penny & Fab slept off and on but I would dose and then it would wake me... 😂  Thanks goodness Georgia won because if they had not... I'm not sure Candy would of ever went to bed she was so wound up. 😁  And of course Virginia had the TV on in the other girls rooms too.  We have like 3 in our group that likes football and the rest of us could care less. 😂

We did attempt our TikTok video that afternoon which was hilarious! 

Sunday morning at 4:50am came fast! Race started at 7am.  We were just a few blocks from race start so we didn't have to get up at 3am.. 😁  They didn't check corrals like some races so we were able to all jump in the same corral together and start together. 

And then we were off.... some of us stayed together for a bit and then we all kind of broke up.  Penny and I stayed together all the way till mile 23 and then I was toast and she went on while I jogged / walked those last miles.  I will say we all stopped several times at the bathroom in the first half, we stopped for MULTI photos, and walked through several aid stations.  So overall our time may not have been fast to some, but as we've aged we've learned it's ok to take a little walk break, take photos, and enjoy the moment.  I feel very blessed at 58 years old to be doing marathons! 

Leaving the USA

Heading into Canada

In Canada.. we even ran into Susan! She was shocked.  She had got ahead of us with our bathroom stops. 

inside the tunnel.... stand in middle and you in both countries... We tried to get over to the middle, but so many runners were also trying to do the same thing so we didn't get to get a pic like that... 

Coming out of tunnel.. Penny and I stopped to wait for the others for a pic

5 hours and 35 minutes later I was done.  Idle time 15 minutes (bathroom breaks), walk time 44 min.. taking pics, etc...  Actual run time 4 hours 35 min.. ha 

Post finish line photos:

After a quick shower we asked the hotel about a taxi to take us over across river into Canada.  The guy got us one and we got a very nice lady that is also a tour guide that told us all kinds of stuff and she even called a restaurant in Canada and got us a reservation for supper.  We really didn't know where we were going to eat so I'm glad she did that.  It was perfect! A nice Italian place that was not a chain.  The food was good.  We also had to pay $130 for this taxi service over... so after our meal we decided to try to catch the public bus that goes back and forth from USA to Canada and only cost $10.  We had to Uber to the bus station, but that only cost us $25! So going back was much cheaper! 😂😁  You just never know all these things when you are in a city you've never been to before.. Only 6 of us went over to Canada Sunday after race. Tara & Susan went on some Detroit tour and planned to go to Canada on Monday since they had a later flight than us. 

Once we arrived back in the USA as we walked to our hotel from Bus stop, we decided it was time to stop for ice cream.  Man it was so GOOD> 

Monday we had a leisure morning getting ready to head back to airport for our 2pm flight home.  It was nice not to have to rush. compression socks for me! 

Our hotel we stayed in

So I was able to scratch one more state off!  Marathon by the numbers:  

 Marathon #37

State #16

Marathon in 2024 #4

It was a good weekend and I'm so very proud of everyone.  We all finished standing up and had a great time together.  Now to recover because Penny and I leave for Greece in 10 days! 💗💗 Thanks to the good LORD for watching over us.  🙏