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Sunday, January 23, 2011

2011 Icebreaker Indoor Marathon Spectator Report

As I mentioned yesterday, I couldn't race the Icebreaker Indoor Half Marathon (HERE) yesterday in Milwaukee. The full marathon was scheduled for today and I wanted to spectate and see what this race and the Pettit Center was all about. So, I loaded up the munchkins in the marathon mommy minivan for a roadtrip to Milwaukee.

I was so happy that I decided NOT to wash my minivan yesterday, because I found this sweet note from Little Diva before we headed out. Made my heart melt.


As we headed out of town, it was a chilly January day in Wisconsin. Bright and sunny, but really cold. What a perfect day for an INDOOR race!

We arrived at the Pettit Center shortly after 11am (after two rest stops for the munchkins!). Several marathoners were still chugging along. The race started at 8am.

The kids and I headed upstairs to a nice room that overlooked the Pettit Center. You could see the runners on the track, speed skaters and games of hockey. There was so much going on. You really got a great view from upstairs ... and it was warm, too. Afterwards we also saw ice skaters and synchronized skating. Pretty neat. The track wasn't packed with runners at that point, but there was a steady stream of marathoners around it.
We headed back downstairs to get a closer look. It was quite a bit chillier inside. The kids opted to keep their coats on. I didn't find it necessarily (since I run hot). We unloaded our "bag of tricks" and sat down on a blanket to spectate. There were also bleachers off to the side and spectators lined up around the track. There were monitors that showed the names of the runners and how many laps they had completed. Announcements were constantly being made with updates.

Not too long after sitting there, I heard someone say 'hi' and it was Amy from Running (Reading) is Cheaper Than Therapy (HERE). She ran the half marathon the day before and stopped by to meet me and the kiddos. She brought along her two adorable little girls as well. The kids enjoyed coloring while we chatted for a bit. We were supposed to have connected back in early-October when we both ran the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, but didn't connect after the race on that cold fall afternoon. I hope that we can meet up again if she races in the Madison area this year. She was really, really sweet and I hope to see her again.

While we sat there, I saw Bill from Love 2 Run (HERE) running around the track. Bill and I had been writing ever since we both ran events at the Haunted Hustle Marathon and Half Marathon last October and discovered eachother's blogs. He had been working the Icebreaker events all weekend and completed his insanely busy weekend of fun by running the full marathon. His enthusiasm for these events is infectious and was the one that encouraged me to sign up last fall. Bill saved my packet for me, and the shirt really rocked. We met up after the race and sat around and chatted. It was really nice to finally meet him in person. He's totally down to earth and a great guy. I hope that we can meet up at some events or training runs in the future. He has A LOT of marathon experience, and I hope to gain some of that knowledge for my full marathon in October!
I am so happy that I stopped out to spectate and see what this race is all about. Had I raced yesterday, I would have showed up blind to what it all entails. I really am looking forward to signing up again next year and being a bit more informed in 2012. The concept of an indoor race in January in Wisconsin is really very awesome.

8 comments:

  1. I had the MOST AWESOME time this morning working the water station. My daughter, brother and I were there from 8 a.m. until the very last runner from our respective tables crossed the finish line, which was close to 1 p.m. I found that I really made a connection with "my runners" and felt that if I would have passed them off after 3.5 hours of helping them I would have left them high and dry, so we stayed until they they were all done. Sorry we didn't get to see each other, working that table kept me on my toes! I can still hear the numbers being called out as they passed letting us know what they wanted on their next lap. Did you see the lady with the cheesehead hat? She wore that the ENTIRE time and with a HUGE smile on her face no less.

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  2. That's great that you went to spectate and met up with some bloggy buddies. I love to spectate, it's so inspiring!

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  3. Sounds like a great time, and it must be really neat to meet up with your blog buddies. Good luck next year.

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  4. That sounds like way more fun that I would have ever imagined an indoor marathon being. Glad you were still able to go and had a good time. Sorry to hear about your aunt.

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  5. What a cool event!! Although running around a track that many times would definitely make me dizzy! :)

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  6. What a cool event! Love your shirt by the way!

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  7. Sorry you missed the half (and sorry about your aunt) but glad you got to go watch some of the full. I have never tried an indoor, but this made it look a lot more fun than I would first think! :)

    I have been reading for awhile and glad you are "back". Sorry for the tough changes you are going through. I have a new running blog you can check out if you'd like. :)
    http://seemomrunfar.blogspot.com/

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  8. Just stumbled upon your blog by way of the IceBreaker blog. A too am a single mother and am running one half or full each month of 2011....what a coincidence! The IceBreaker half was my January race. First time running it and a very unique experience. I'll be looking forward to following your races this year.
    Barb - http://runningstrongforhope.blogspot.com

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