Picture it:
It's the Friday after Marji. I'm getting ready for work. I have to grab my right pant leg and pull my foot up to my left knee to put on my shoe. Then I stand up. Pain is shooting down my right leg. Pain is pulsing from my left Achilles/heel area that is bruised. Pain is coming from a welt on my left hip. My toes and the bottom of my feet are extraordinarily tender with both big toe nails trying to fall off and a dozen or more of popped water blisters where the skin is still raw.
Yeah, what happens at Marji doesn't seem to stay at Marji.
Intro:
I've completed the Marji bike twice:
- Marji Gesick: I found my limits, then I pushed my bike uphill and around them.
- Marji Gesick: Second Time Around, Still Pushing my Bike Up Hills
I've done a bit of running, including the CrusherEX 50 Run. Following that run in 2020, I have had a thought in the back of my mind about completing a 100-miler. I have been following a bunch of Facebook pages, read about other events, but the Marji mindset for running is bonkers:
- Marji is not a western states qualifier
- Marji is not a UTMB qualifier
- Marji has a garbage finisher rate (2022 finisher rate was 🔥)
- Marji typically has less than 50% of those that sign up even toe the line
Even better, Marji has two categories, green dot (finish) and red dot (did not finish). You have 48 hours to get to the finish line. It's on you to get there. It's on you if you quit.
Signing up for Marji:
I got into the Marji Gesick run two-days before mass registration. All I had to do was be the in first five people to see an early registration run post and send a text to a number I found on a website. Then BAM, I'm in.
- Text: "I will show up and finish what I start"
- Yes, 906 adventure team is a cult.
Training:
The Saturday after Marji 2022, I ran a marathon distance training run on the trails. At this point, I knew it was time for that AFI training mindset.
Over the next 52 weeks, I completed 28 more runs at marathon distance or farther, with the toughest training run being 55-miles and 7500 feet of elevation.
Link to the completed training spreadsheet: Marji Training
Le Bike:
The run starts with a half mile bike loop. Prior to setting off, Todd stated, "In 2022, 18 people finished at a 40% finisher rate. I see more than a 40% finisher rate here today." For such a quiet statement, it was an impactful pep talk.
I took the bike portion seriously leading the race leaving the woods. What did this get me? A chance to say I led the race.
Forestville Campground:
The race starts at the Forestville Campground then returns to Forestville near mile 18. In between, there are varying types of off-road terrain with features consisting of abandoned railroad tracks with ties still down, a technical rock descent called "The Top of the World", and several rock gardens. This section is awesome to run, mostly because the race just started.
Sag was my wife. She met me at the conclusion of this section. I grabbed a Clif bar, topped off the water, then headed out.
A couple miles after this stop, I tripped and hit the ground. Landed in nice soft sand, which was a surprise as I cleared some long rocky descents right before the wipe out. Well, I got the first fall out of the way pretty early.
America Mall:
America Mall was our second sag stop on this route. The technical running increased on this section which included steep rocky downhills, tree roots on hills, janky bridges, and 1 mile of super soft sand. Overall, I kept the pace up well.
At this stop, I topped off the water pack with ice water, grabbed a payday, grabbed the trekking poles then headed out. The next half mile was paved and uphill. I'm notorious for running too hard on pavement, especially uphill. I walked this while eating the candy bar.
About 5 miles after this point, I took my second fall. This is the first time I have ever fell with the trekking poles deployed. This time I fell on a hard packed trail and roots, but no biggie. Interesting note though, one of the trekking poles popped out of the glove. No damage to the glove or pole, no idea if this is by design, but just something to note.
Shit:
So, I get to the south trails, turn off onto the single track, making my way through the winding trail thinking nothing of it. After a while, I see a red arrow ahead. When I get to the arrow, it's on the service road next to the trail and I'm on the trail.
Shit.
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
This process is simple right? Backtrack, get on course, and get back to the mindset of getting to the finish. Which is what I did, but for some reason, I decided to start pushing a little faster thinking I could make up for lost time. Faster is less than 12-minute miles at this point, with the trekking poles deployed, through the winding trails and rock gardens.
I don't have the exact spot, but near mile 39 on my watch (not the course as I now have bonus miles), I trip and slam down on the trail. Definite thump. I quickly push myself up. Whew, luckily I didn't get hurt on that one. Before I could finish the thought, my watch starts vibrating. Not like the mile mark quick vibration, but continuously. I look at the watch but can't tell what it says. WTF? My vision is actually blurry and it takes several seconds to focus. Watch: "SOS, hold any button to disable, 3,2." I quickly press a button to disable the SOS from being sent out. I don't recall setting up my wife's number in the app, so IDK where the SOS would go. That could have been expensive, I mean, I could have got hurt, but this is America and you have to think of the financial ramifications first. Time to get moving but my trekking pole popped out of the opposite glove this time and I can't find the pole. I look off the trail and down the hill, not there. Not behind, not in front. JFC, I'm standing on it.
Time to just walk. The glove and trekking pole are ok. Vision appears to be clear again. I'm walking/trekking straightish. There appears to be blood coming from my leg, but it's not bad. Better check on it later.
New note: Garmin watches have crash detection SOS mode. I mean it makes sense, I just never considered it.
South Trails:
Current map after the above debacle:
Finally reached the south trails at mile 43.
The whole crew was at this stop. I'll have a lot more details on all the awesomeness captured in this pic later in the write-up.
This stop I had to grab the charger, fill up the water pack, and head out to take on the tallest climbs on the course.
Mount Marquette:
Zoogs:
During Zoogs, I got a fireball.
Rippling River Campground:
In the end, this last 10-miles cancels out as it's basically flat.
The next planned stop was the bridge crossing near Rippling River Campground.
At this stop. I had a chair, a jelly sandwich, and a monster. While taking in some calories and caffeine, Josh Smith, Sarah Smith, and Caylene Holmes took the time to clean my leg as best as possible from the fall I took several hours earlier.
So here's where I'm at in life:
- I've spent 52 weeks training for this shit show
- I'm not halfway to the finish
- I'm tired
- I'm hungry
- I really don't care about the blood mess on my leg
- Other people are making sure the spot isn't too bad as it's obvious I don't have the capacity to take care of myself, even for 5 minutes
Time to get going.
Lake Enchantment Road:
Heading to the next sag stop, I had to carry the poles in one hand and a battery charger for the watch in the other hand. The next 45-60 minutes was a fast walk while the watch fully recharged.
In the trails here, I had the chance to chat with a couple runners for a descent amount of time. Un-surprisingly, we had the common ground of "this race is pretty fricken hard" to chat about.
Took a bit to get here and I'm definitely getting tired. I cleaned my feet and changed out socks again. A bagel, a monster, and a Powerade were consumed at this stop for some more calories and caffeine.
About 1 mile and 15 minutes after leaving, I barfed up some of the bagel and beverages. Awesome. Tasty.
County Road 492 - Iron Ore Trail Crossing:
Came across the second checkpoint in this section as well.
The course remained flat through here:
As slow and tired as I was, I wanted to press on through the night. I made quick work of the next stop, skipped any eating and drinking.
Jackson Park 1:
Throughout this section I got progressively slower. The last 3 miles was mostly pavement heading into Negaunee. Pavement is brutal on the legs when your tired, so walking was my only option. In the last mile, I got to the point where I couldn't even walk straight.
The last stretch of flat ground I'll see on this adventure.
You know it's time to take a break when:
I laid down with 3 comforters in the bed of the truck and set an alarm for 630a. This would allow some rest and give me time to get back at it before sunrise.
Let me explain what it's like trying to sleep in the bed of a pickup truck halfway through Marji Gesick:
- Lay down without taking off anything
- Fall asleep
- Wake up 5 minutes later shaking from the cold
- Take off shirt, put on dry warmer shirt
- Fall asleep
- Wake up 5 minutes later to a pin drop
- Roll over and mess up blankets
- Straighten out blankets
- Fall asleep
- Wake up 5 minutes later to legs violently kicking getting your footing to not wipe out on the down hill
- Straighten out blankets
- Repeat steps starting with step #5 for the next 2.5 hours
At 4am, I got in 1.5-ish hours of shut eye, five minutes at a time. I ate a lunch bag size amount of cheesy puffs and decided it was time to start getting back at it. I opened the pickup shell and that was enough to wake up my wife. At 425a, I heading out of Jackson Park.
It's easy to get carried away talking about doing your best mile, best full, etc. But how often do you drop your slowest mile. Three hours and twenty-five minutes. 🤣🤣🤣
Malton Road Crossing:
Getting through the first ten miles after the first Jackson Park stop was slow and daunting in the dark. Now, the trail was showing it's ruggedness and that it was designed for MTB's. The ups and downs were continuous with constant rough footing. None of the hills are over-the-top tall, but flat ground is rare.
At this stop, I ate two fruit cups, drank an energy drink, changed shirts and made my way to Ishpeming (the first time).
North 3rd Street - Iron Ore Trail:
This section lets up a bit. Might call this the last good breather.
At this stop, I stuck with normal food, more cheesy puffs and another fruit cup. I requested pizza or a hot sub at the next stop if it can happen.
Note, I changed my socks for the first time today for something a little cooler and dry. Plus it gave me a chance to clean my feet again. Overall, this was the fifth time I have changed socks over the course of the run.
Jackson Park 2:
Getting back to Jackson Park put me back on the regular scheduled programing.
Somewhere in there, I got a dum-dum:
During all those ups and downs, all the water blisters on my feet popped. For long stretches, every step was stinging. After awhile, a very long while, the stinging stops, or at least becomes much less than the first thing on your mind.
My wife delivered. Pizza and rock star.
I didn't sit long. Enough to eat two slices of pizza, drink the energy drink, then head out.
Passing through the Jackson Park bag drop, Stacie Poquette gave a fist pump with a "You're almost there." I replied, "Almost there has never been so far away." Hindsight that's negative, but honest.
Suicide Bowl #1:
I've biked these hills several times. It's not easier walking them.
Another side note, I completed 100 miles just a shade under 32-hours, but this isn't a hundred miler, this is Marji Gesick.
I ate a third slice pizza here and setup the watch to charge while I completed the next section.
Suicide Bowl #2:
Heading to the second sag stop on suicide bowl, I got another dum-dum:
The second stop on suicide bowl was quick. I dropped off the charger and headed off.
Suicide Bowl #3:
This stop wasn't much further than my last stop, but I knew what was ahead. I grabbed an energy drink, one last slice of pizza, lights, a headband and departed.
Hill Street:
Getting to Hill Street from that last point on Suicide hill is brutal. Prior to getting here, I had water blisters on my feet. Earlier in the day, those water blisters had popped. I had new water blisters form where those ones were at, and those water blisters popped. My feet would ocellate between stinging pains and screaming pains. I could not go downhill, the feet could not take the landing. Getting to the end required trekking poles for every step. I put up multiple 25-minute miles.
I've been posting these trail sections, but now it's time for a description. Flat/near-flat is green. Every other color represents pain. Especially blue. Blue is brutal. Blue represents the popped water-blistered toes rubbing the front of the shoe going downhill. FU blue.
2-miles to the finish. Preparing for Jasper Knob:
Jasper Knob:
The last checkpoint.
The map from the last stop, up Jasper, and to the finish:
Ishpeming Finish Line:
I crossed the finish line with the crowd roaring. It was pretty DUCKING awesome. The announcer hyped up the crowd and made crossing the line an incredible experience.
THIRTY-DUCKING-EIGHT-HOURS:
Those finisher tokens:
That feeling of stopping the watch:
Green dot 🟢:
- Distance: 114.59 miles
- Time: 37:56:30
- Elevation: 13,921 feet
22 of 36 starters green dotted the 100-mile Marji run. To revert back to Todd's pep talk, as a group, we smashed the best finisher rate yet.
Text fulfilled:
The 2023 Marji Crew:
This crew was awesome.
Caylene Holmes:
My wife was ready at every sag point during this entire event. Drinks, food, chairs, chargers, clothes, etc. This was huge commitment for her as well, both during the training and during the race. No way I even get to the start line without her by my side.
Chris Marquardt:
Chris has been chasing the triple crown for years. He's had some major life obstacles get in the way, got through those obstacles, and on this year's Marji, he got the triple crown.
- 2020 Polar Roll 🟢
- 2020 CrusherEX 225 🟢
- 2021 Crushed Cancer 🟢
- 2022 Completed hernia surgery 🟢
- 2023 Marji Gesick 100 🟢
Rod Palmer:
Last year, Rod completed the triple crown. This year he took on the duathlon, and put down a time earning a buckle. 🟢
Pictured with Stacy, who he will have to chase at the Chicago Marathon as repayment for Marji sagging.
Josh Smith:
After a DNF in 2022, Josh came back, strong as ever, knocked out a 14-hour MTB 100 and put the green dot up for 2023. I couldn't source a pic of his SAG, Sarah, who was apart of the crew that cleaned up my leg 26-hours prior to this moment. 🟢
Thomas Ryan:
Ryan is a 50-mile and 100-mile MTB finisher. This year he smashed the duathlon and buckled. Ryan is even more elusive to pics than Josh, this blurry pic from the Mohican Trippple in June will have to suffice. 🟢
The whole crew green dotted this year, with a lot of support crew assistance. 🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢
Outro:
Running is dumb. I'm not good at it, and it's dumb. I have no idea why in the world I thought I had the capacity to run 100-miles. Actually, I didn't run 100-miles. I just didn't die and crossed a line under an arbitrary amount of time. I'm done running but I'm not done with Marji. Site #46 booked at Rippling River next September.
Until next year, ✌️
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