2020: (Virtual) Illinois and Grandma’s Marathons

If not for the ongoing global pandemic, COVID-19, the Illinois Marathon would have happened on 25th April 2020 and the Grandma’s Marathon would be happening on 20th June 2020. Organizers of the Grandma’s Marathon had sent out the cancellation notice at the end of March. In mid-March, organizers of the Illinois Marathon had only postponed the event to later parts of 2020. But the uncertainties being what they are, they too decided to cancel the 2020 edition. In the grander scheme…

Read More2020: (Virtual) Illinois and Grandma’s Marathons

2020: RATS In Houghton

No need to be feel scared or cringy – the RATS are not the kind you are probably thinking of. As far as I know, we don’t have that kind here. Inspired by my friend, Rickey Gates, and his 2018 adventure that took him through Every Single Street of San Francisco and coupling that inspiration with my academic interest in Graph Theory, I had plans of doing something similar in Houghton. But it was scheduled as a set of unstructured activities…

Read More2020: RATS In Houghton

2019-20: Ski The Keweenaw

Some winters ago, in a conversation with my buddy Adam Griffis (he took up social media distancing well before the social distancing became a thing in recent times) that most certainly involved good food and a fine beverage, we had an idea: ski 5 kilometers in every one of our trail systems in the Keweenaw while stopping for nourishment at our favorite local dining establishments in one day. Plagiarizing the name of another well-organized trail running event held in July, Run…

Read More2019-20: Ski The Keweenaw

2020: Great Bear Chase

Being a hometown event and the last officially timed nordic skiing race for the 2019-20 winter, this was an event that I could ill afford to miss. Given that it’s week #13 of a 20-week training plan towards a Spring Marathon called for a 20-mile LSD run, the only decision was the distance combination pending weather conditions: 25 km skiing + 10 km running OR 10 km skiing + 25 km running. In light of the 2020 American Birkebeiner experience…

Read More2020: Great Bear Chase

2020: American Birkebeiner

Currently in week #11 of a 20-week training plan towards 2020 Spring Marathon, this was never an event I planned on skipping. If anything, I had ambitions of skiing the full one – 55 km Classic – and powered by the CXC Academy training plan, I had even signed up for it. Only after designing the aforementioned marathon training plan and analyzing the timing of Birkie did I realize that my current skill/fitness level would not yet permit the Birkie…

Read More2020: American Birkebeiner