This Memorial Day weekend, my best friend, A, and I drove up to Traverse City so that I could run the Bayshore Half Marathon. Bayshore has been on my list for a while, as every Michigander runner raves about it. Many use the marathon as their Boston Qualifier since the course is all downhill after the 14-mile mark. The course takes you all along Old Mission Peninsula and offers fabulous views of the bay.

Day 1 – The Expo:

The Expo ran from 11 am to 8 pm at the local Grand Traverse County Civic Center/YMCA. After an almost 5-hour car ride up in Memorial Day rush-hour traffic, we arrived at the expo a little after 6 pm. By that point, the Expo was starting to slow down, and volunteers were beginning to pack up. While I was waiting in line to get my packet and shirt, A attempted to register for the 10k, but the event was fully sold out. Then, while I was browsing through the Playmaker’s pop-up shop, a few volunteers started handing out last year’s participant shirt for free. A ran over and grabbed one to have for her morning run, but I passed since I have enough running shirts as it is. I ended up purchasing some Body Glide in the lotion form, some stickers, and obviously a BoCo Gear hat.

There was plenty of parking at the Expo, but after our car ride, we ended up parking on the street and walking from there. The Expo was set up fairly easy to follow, with bibs all the way in the back and merchandise in the front. The only thing that was confusing was that the Bag Check bags were not given out with the bibs. Instead, they were at a different table on your way out and had a longer line, primarily because the volunteers provided sharpies to write your bib number on the bag.

After grabbing my bag, we took a quick picture with the Traverse City Track Club sign and then headed to dinner.

Worried about how busy it might be, I booked us a dinner reservation on OpenTable for Artisan at 7:15 pm. When looking over the menu, there was a cauliflower steak and mocktail options that stood out to me. Thankfully, we were out of the Expo by 6:45 pm, which gave us plenty of time to head that way and see if we could be seated a little earlier.

The dress code was business casual, but I got away with wearing what I wore to work – jeans and a blazer. We ordered the starter bread plate (#CarbLoading) and the Voodoo Punch Mocktail first. Then, for food, A went with the salmon, which looked incredible, and I ended up not ordering the cauliflower steak. Instead, I ordered the mushroom spaccatelli. I am very glad I made the change per our server’s recommendation as it was delicious and just what I needed before a race.

After dinner, we headed to our hotel. I debated about staying close to the race site, but instead decided to use my Marriott points, so we stayed about 3 miles outside of downtown at the Courtyard Marriott. When we checked in, they informed us that there would be a shuttle system to get us to the race start. This was great news as now I didn’t have to wake A up early enough to drop me off. Since Bayshore made it very clear that the last shuttle for the half marathon was at 6:20 am, I planned on catching the 5:20 am bus. I have some regrets about not staying within walking distance of the start line…

Before bed, I laid out everything that I would need for race day. This included packing my post-race bag, as well as laying out my running clothes. Then, I read The Unsinkable Greta James for around 40 minutes and fell right asleep.

Day 2 – Race Day:

I woke up at 4 am, ready to seize the day. The weather forecast indicated that it would start off in the low 40s and end in the high 70s. I had planned to wear a sports bra and shorts for my run, but to stay warm, I bought the cutest clearance Winnie the Pooh hoodie at Meijer the day before. I was debating whether or not to use the Bag Check service. If I decided against it, I wanted something I could ditch but still donate. However, I ultimately decided to FINALLY give bag check a try, so I could keep these PJs for my marathon in October (MAJOR REGRETS).

After getting dressed, I enjoyed my peanut butter and banana sandwich.

I headed downstairs to the lobby at 5:15 am for the 5:20 shuttle; however, it never came… I wasn’t too worried since the next shuttle was at 5:35 am. That would still give me enough time, hopefully, to get to the half shuttle. While I waited, I grabbed a bagel and a 3 oz cup of coffee from the breakfast spread that Marriott had laid out for the runners. Then, I quickly ran to the washroom in the lobby. The shuttle could have easily arrived while I was in the washroom, but I wouldn’t have known. At 5:40 am, the shuttle finally arrived. I was the first person to board and was ready to head to the start line… but then the driver left the shuttle and didn’t return until 5:55 am. We made a stop at another hotel, and by this point, it was 6 am, and I started to panic.

The bus driver reassured us, saying, “Don’t worry y’all! We have one more stop, and then we should get you there by 6:30!” Following my husband’s advice to use my voice, I spoke up and asked, “Should I be concerned that I won’t make it in time for the last half marathon shuttle at 6:20?” We had a back-and-forth discussion where she assured me that there were plenty of shuttles and no one had informed her about there being no last shuttles. Another shuttle driver pulled up and offered to make the last stop so we could head straight there. I quickly stripped off my layers, applied sunscreen and body glide, preparing myself for the race. When the bus finally arrived, it dropped us off at the Expo location, and I still had 1200m (0.75 miles) to go before reaching the shuttle. I rushed out the door at 6:11 am and sprinted as if my life depended on it to catch the shuttle.

It was at this point that I deeply regretted choosing this race as the one where I would try bag check for the first time. Running through downtown Traverse City while lugging a fully packed, 7 lbs bag was far from ideal. I was in a state of panic, but when I reached the bus at 6:24 am, there was still a line of over 300 people waiting to board. It seemed that everyone had encountered shuttle issues or decided to rely on the last 6:20 bus. With embarrassment, I walked to the end of the line, which wrapped all the way around the high school, and joined the wait for the shuttle. Thankfully, there were still around 50 people behind me, so I wasn’t the last one. However, I noticed that the sunscreen I had applied had completely wiped off the bib number I had written on my bag using a Sharpie.

Mile 1: 10:23/mile
Mile 2: 9:10/mile
Mile 3: 9:39/mile
Mile 4: 9:41/mile
Mile 5: 9:24/mile

10K Split Time: 58:11.4

The line to board the shuttle bus took over 50 minutes. When I was about halfway through the line, they informed us that the start would be delayed by 15 minutes due to ongoing transportation of runners. Finally, around 7:15 am, I boarded the shuttle bus. After being dropped off and walking the 600 meters to the start line, I arrived just as they were allowing the runners to go at 7:45 am. I had already accepted that I wouldn’t be able to run with the 9-minute pace group to pursue my personal record (PR), so I didn’t rush myself at the start line. I took the time to drop off my bag check (and rewrite my bib number on it) and then used the portable toilet one last time.

I ended up starting around 7:53 am with the walking group at the back. I wouldn’t say it was a negative experience, although the first mile and a half required me to weave through a lot of people. It was mostly uphill, which made me unsure about what pace to start with. I gradually climbed the hill at around a 10:30 pace, and when I reached the top, there was a beautiful view of the bay. As I began my descent, I moderated my speed compared to how I usually coast downhill (again, I was stuck with the walkers, so there were plenty of people to navigate through).

Mile 7: 9:28/mile
Mile 8: 9:27/mile
Mile 9: 9:33/mile
Mile 10: 9:24/mile
Mile 11: 9:27/mile
Mile 12: 9:42/mile

Half Marathon Time 02:06:03

At this point, I decided that my new goal was to run the entire race without any walk breaks. If I got tired, I would simply run at a slower pace. Other than that, I would go with the flow. Miles 3 and 4 were a bit slower as the lead male runner was already coming up on the other side of the highway. Those of us in the half marathon were restricted to the right lane only. To minimize the amount of weaving I had to do, I slowed my pace to stay with the group around me and then passed on the left-hand side when the lane opened up again. By mile 5, I was overtaking the 11:30 pace group and had more space to start picking up speed. When I reached the 10k mark, I was impressed to see that I had completed it in under 60 minutes!

I was feeling very confident in myself at this point and believed I could maintain my pace. In the previous half marathon I did, I started to slow down at the 6-mile mark and ended up walking by mile 8. I was determined not to let that happen this time.

I managed to maintain the same pace through miles 7 and 8, and only slightly slowed down during mile 9 when the lead male runner passed us again. The half marathon runners were pushed even further to the right lane, leaving the left lane for the marathoners. We were all impressed when the lead female runner came back through because she wasn’t the same person who had passed us initially. She had been in 5th or 6th place on the way up, so it was cool to see her gain the distance and take the lead.

As we reached the end of the peninsula and started running back into town, I was still feeling good but getting quite tired. I significantly slowed down in the 12th mile, especially because we had some slight elevation gain in the 13th mile, and I wanted to ensure I had enough strength to finish strong. I turned the corner and saw what I thought was the finish line, so I kicked it into high gear. Unfortunately, it turned out to be just the start line banner, and I still had 300 meters to go. I was already sprinting at a 5:53/mile pace. I adjusted my pace back down a little as I turned onto the track. I tried to pick up the sprint pace again when I saw that the gun time clock had already passed the 2:10 mark. However, at that point, I was closer to a 7-minute mile pace. Finally, I got to the actual finish line and I was over the moon when I checked my Garmin! 02:06:11 was scrolling along the pause screen. This was the 3rd fastest half marathon I have ever completed, and the fastest I had ran since getting Covid and loosing access to my allergy shots.

02:06:03.1

Fuel:

• Honey Stinger Waffle 10 minutes before start
• Cliff Shot Gel (Razzberry) 30 minutes into run
• Honey Stinger Energy Gel (Fruit Smoothie) 65 minutes into run
• Cliff Shot Gel (Citrus) 100 minutes into run
• Water every 5 minutes

Final Thoughts:

I understand why every Michigander loves this race. A has already expressed her willingness to run it with me next year. Hopefully, we can both get in because this is a half marathon I would gladly do year after year. Apart from the shuttle bus issue, I really have no complaints. And even then, it’s not the fault of the organizers but rather due to it being the busiest race they’ve had since Covid. I was told by one of the volunteers that they used to only use school buses, but this year they had to utilize school buses, coach buses, and local city buses to transport everyone. The course was absolutely beautiful, and the consistent decline in elevation was an added bonus. I highly recommend this race.