OF MONUMENTAL CHALLENGES AND GRACIOUS RESPONSES

News of the October 7th Mt. Rushmore/Crazy Horse Marathon appeared in the days before and after the race in the Journal. As one of the participants, I wanted this article to be a complement to the more standard news coverage. The goal was to provide you with a word picture of the race from the inside, from just one perspective. For some reason, I had trouble finding focus and made a number of false starts. Here are some of the slants I chose not to take.

Mile-by-mile diarist. Some of my running friends write fabulously detailed race reports that describe every aspect of their race. Somehow, they manage to remember what they were feeling at each mile, who they passed or were passed by, as well as the particular scenery at the mile they’re describing. I can’t do this. When I think back on a run, I get more of an impressionist image—for you artsy types, think of looking at a Renoir while listening to Debussy. Certain miles stand out, e.g., the course started to go uphill at mile 10 and stayed that way for a while so I do remember that at mile 15, when I was still toiling uphill and still had 11 miles to go, and it was raining a cold steady drizzle, I had to remind myself that I love running. The child in me (the Id?) kept whining, however, so the parent part (the Ego, or is that the Super-Ego?) had to take over and I know you don’t want to hear anymore about that.

Historian. This seemed important because there is more than a little bit of local history and tradition connected to this race. While All Sport Central, a Sioux Falls company, bought the marathon in 2005, its origin dates back to 1979. The marathon was started by the newly formed Black Hills Runners Club, and with the support of the also newly established Runner’s Shop, some other local businesses and civic associations. They named it the Black Hills Marathon. For many years, it was run over the Labor Day weekend. Eventually, it was owned and operated by the Rapid City Convention & Visitors Bureau and moved to Native American Day weekend. In 1999, the name was changed to the Mt. Rushmore Marathon. For a race to reach 30 years of age is a real achievement, something for a community to acknowledge, support, and celebrate. I’ve met a lot of runners from all over in my travels; when I tell them I live in South Dakota, many recount their story of “running the Rushmore.” This race was their South Dakota experience. As a former history major, I find this kind of “back-story” intriguing, and could tell you lots more about the people involved over the years, the course changes, and race details. Not everyone shares that interest, I realize, so we’ll shelve the archives and move along.

Investigative journalist. Some readers may have heard or read about difficulties encountered by Steve Kurtenbach, the Race Director. These difficulties were beyond the sort of issues most RDs experience at one time or another, i.e., bad weather, running out of safety pins for race bibs after all the stores in town close, not enough busses to get runners to the start line, lost bus drivers on the busses you do have, or missed shipments of sports drink mix or finishers’ medals.

With just weeks before the starter’s pistol set to fire, Steve had to reroute the course. Due to problems with permits and concerns of some local town officers, the race was not able to proceed as planned. In a September 27th press release, race staff wrote that: “we respect the decision of the public officials and have been working diligently to put into place our contingency plans for this year’s event in an effort to provide a quality event for the hundreds of people that have already made plans and been training for the last 6-12 months.” Those resulting contingency plans put the start for all the marathon runners (the original plans gave runners a choice of starting at Mt. Rushmore or at Crazy Horse) a bit northwest of Rochford, with the start for the half marathon just south of Mystic. With the exception of a few miles at the marathon start and the finish at the 1880 Train in Hill city, almost all of both courses were on the Mickelson Trail.

Were there resulting glitches? Sure. Are there some disgruntled participants out there? You bet. While I may disappoint some folks who were expecting me to publish a point-by-point critique in this forum, I believe any feedback I may have would be best directed in a private letter or email to Steve. Anyone with an idea for improvement should go the race website and hit the “contact us” line. Share your thoughts to the people who can do something positive with your comments.

Gracious responses. Ultimately, I chose to focus on the theme that we all respond to, that of overcoming adversity. Needless to say, the enormity of undertaking last-minute changes on such a scale is enough to make the calmest of folks feel their hearts race and palms grow sticky. If you’ve ever organized any public event, you know how daunting a task it can be. As the day draws near, you are fielding questions from all sides, being interrupted every time you settle in to make some progress on your numerous lists of things to do, and trying to smile through it all with a calm level of control you really do not feel you have. This is when you are coping with the “run-of-the-mill” emergencies.

Given the new, last minute look and the hurdles involved, the race was renamed “The Monumental Challenge.” With all that had to be accomplished in such a short period of time, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the entire enterprise might have been in danger of being cancelled outright. We local runners would have been disappointed to varying degrees. Imagine the response of the out-of-state participants, about 300 people, many of whom flew in, took time off from work, or planned family vacations around the run. Marathoners usually follow a training schedule of 10 or more weeks to get to the point where they are ready to run 26.2 miles. They “taper” for a few weeks heading to race day in order to be at peak performance. Suppose you (and your friends or family) had invested all that time and energy only to be told “sorry, no race.” How would you feel?

Fortunately, due to the response of a core group of South Dakotans you can be glad to call your neighbors (and of course, Steve and his staff at All Sport Central), the Marathon is now in the books. I wish I could name each and every one of them. Allow me to beg forgiveness in advance: there were so many people who pitched in that I won’t begin to note even a fraction of them. The point is that it’s not about individuals. When people put aside their egos and work together for an idea, they create a force, a spark, an energy that lifts them all. Consider those I do mention as symbolic of the spirit of the Black Hills. Whether or not a race goes on isn’t going to mean much in the face of the world’s problems. This one has our state and our area associated with it, however, and if we had let that become tarnished, it diminishes us all in some small way. My most memorable moment of the weekend was when I realized I was extraordinarily proud to be from my adopted state of South Dakota. Every place I turned it seemed there was someone doing something positive to make the day a success.

When I woke up at 4 a.m. Sunday to get ready, I had my share of trepidations as to how the day would unfold. Arriving at the start area in the predawn gloom after dodging deer and other critters on the drive to Rochford, I was buoyed up to see some runner friends had decided to sign up to run and support the race. Last time I’d seen them, they hadn’t committed. Stacey Peterson and Randy Erickson determined they’d run together at a relaxed pace and just have fun. Lisa Christensen’s smile was a cheery sight as she quietly set about getting things lined up for her 4 person Relay Team, the Mandelbaums (Matt McGovern, Andrew Sveen & Kenna Hagan), that went on to ace their Co-ed Team division. Trevor Bryan, who just started distance running, showed up even though he’s run several marathons in the past few months already. After chatting with Mike Loos and a woman from Tennessee who was worried about the altitude, I made my way to the start and we were on our way to Hill City.

One of the outstanding perks of running your hometown marathon is all the people you know along the way. Just before the first tunnel on the course, two of the Black Hills’ best-known runners/RDs manned an aid station. Jerry Dunn and Monni Karim were a delightful surprise. Jerry runs two highly regarded Mickelson Trail runs, the Deadwood Marathon in June and a series of distance runs, the Leanhorse 100, 50 and 50K in August. A lesser person might have turned his back when the call for help went out; after all, in some sense, Jerry’s events compete with the Monumental Challenge. Not to mention getting up on a cold, dark Sunday morning to stand outside and hand out water and sports drink may occur to some RDs as being somehow “beneath” them. Monni’s put on some shorter distance runs and has logged some impressively speedy times in the not-too-distant past. The Southern Hills Business Manager for BHP and father of three, Monni—like all of the many volunteers—made a significant contribution of his time and energy to keep the Monument Challenge on track.

The half marathon started later and farther down the trail, which meant we got some pep and zing from many of local runners entered in that distance. They were a little fresher and their cheers were much appreciated—recall this was in that relentless uphill portion of the course. Lesley & Mark Warren, Craig Johnson, Barb Schulz, Ashley Riter-Collins, Cindy Holte, Jennifer Trucano, Lori Storm (of the Dakota Divas), the graceful Edith Weber—these are just a few of the Rapid City area people I know who were making the Monumental Challenge a reality. (Greg Sperlich supposedly finished but I didn’t see him, so he gets an * here!)

At mile 23, Teresa Verberg and her husband John, BHRC stalwarts, were waiting with a big and very loud tambourine to spur us on over the last 5K. Teresa recently completed a 50 miler (at the Leanhorse) and will be running the 2008 Boston Marathon, so she knows exactly where runners crave moral support. Thanks, T &J! Roger Heacock, also of BHRC and a Boston veteran was at mile 26 to be sure we kicked it in for the last .2, which went around a tricky turn at the gate. Lindsay Borgman, another BHRC chum was amongst the many supporters.

The best part of any marathon is crossing the finish line. Even though he could have stayed home to play with his new granddaughter, Anna Magdalana, BHRC’s revered Cap’n John Haeder was a most welcome sight as he wrapped us in a space blanket and gave us each a warm hug in spite of our mud and sweat. Later, after I had some chili in the food tent, I got to follow up on some stories that further underscore how the Monumental Challenge was a splendid day for so many. See the accompanying box for these postscripts.

“Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?' “ This is to all those who joined together to make the Monumental Challenge the success that is was, with the hope that 2008 will be better for all that was accomplished this year.

Two area runners have enduring ties to the marathon. Elaine Doll-Dunn, who is the RD of the Leading Ladies Marathon, has run in the Mt. Rushmore event every year since 1979. If that’s not enough to link her to it there’s also the fact that she met her husband, Jerry Dunn, at the 1993 running of the race. For the past few years, she’s taken up the half marathon. I got to run in the last few yards of her finish this year, and she looked great. Homer Hastings, of Newcastle, Wyoming, ran the first 25 years of the event and holds the Masters Marathon record of 2:34:30. Homer was there Sunday, finishing his 28th Mt. Rushmore/Monumental Challenge in 3:57:35, good enough to take his 60-64 age group. He bested competitors from Texas, California, Kentucky, and North Dakota to do it.

There was one other gentleman behind Homer, finishing 13 minutes later to pick up the second place award in that age group. For Tim Raben, a native South Dakotan who has returned home and now lives in Rapid City, the race was his own personal monumental challenge. Despite running roots that go back to high school track at Central under Coach Cobb (inspiration for the team name Cobblers), Tim had never run a marathon. Trained for several, but never was able to put it all together until this fall. His time was a Boston Qualifier for him for 2009. Not bad for a first-timer. I’m guessing this won’t be his last.