Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon Race Recap

Several months ago, I shared that I would be running the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon as part of Team WHS for the Wisconsin Humane Society. As a runner for a charitable partner, I was given a fundraising goal of $500 and I'm excited to share that I surpassed it, raising a total of $555 for the animals at WHS!

The Packet Pick-Up and Expo was on Saturday, October 5th at the UW-Milwaukee Student Union on the northeast side of Milwaukee. I appreciated that it was open from 9 am to 6 pm, which allowed plenty of time for runners to get down there and pick up their bibs. B dropped me off and drove some laps while I went inside.

It was very easy for me to grab my bib - all the bibs were arranged alphabetically by last name. I had mine in hand in less than 5 minutes. I did a lap around some of the vendors - including our local running store, Performance Running Outfitters. I picked up a Lakefront Marathon quarter zip top from official race Merch booth, although I might see what kinds of finisher options they have once their online store is up and running as well. 

It's getting real!

Every runner got a gender-specific long sleeved tech shirt. I wish more races would offer a women's XS, since the S is way too long in the body and I'll just end up wearing it around the house probably.

Runners also got a coupon for a free Lakefront Brewery beer at the finish line, a $10 coupon to Dick's Sporting Goods, a discount for the New Balance store, and some pins for the bib.

I was in and out of the expo pretty quickly since I had been awake since 4 pm on Friday, then worked a 10 hour night shift (7 pm to 5 am), then stayed awake to go get my nails done at 9 am before heading to UW-Milwaukee. So I was exhausted and ready to sleep.

Flat Laura - full list of gear at the end of the post.

Normally I make a delicious pasta dinner the night before a big race - well, that didn't exactly happen.  I ended up sleeping from noon-ish until about 6:30 pm and when I woke up I was not in the mood to cook. Turkey sandwiches with cheese and avocado ended up being dinner and then I snacked on some fruit before putting my Flat Laura together, taking the obligatory Instagram photo, and getting ready for bed. I laid down around 11:30 pm with the goal of being awake by 5 am. Arthur, however, had different plans. He woke me up around 2:30 am to go outside and by the time I got up, walked him outside, etc I was wide awake. Since going back to bed wasn't happening, I made myself some breakfast, drank two cups of coffee, took a nice hot shower, then started to get ready for the day.

B and I left our house around 6 am with an anticipated arrival time of 6:50 am at Grafton High School, which is where the start line was. The race also offered complimentary shuttles from two of the race-affiliated hotels as well as the finish line area at the Summerfest Grounds.

Starting Line - feeling anxious! 

It was a cool and breezy 49 degrees F at the start, although it quickly warmed up once I was moving around and the sun came up. For this race, you aren't assigned a starting corral or anything like that (unlike most of the half marathons I've done) so I decided that I would put myself in the 5:30 pace group (wishful thinking!) which is a 12:35 min mile. I figured I could hit that at least for the first half of the race.

Starting off I felt okay. The sun came up pretty quickly after our 7:30 am start, so I was able to take my Buff off as well as my gloves. The first several miles are through the neighborhoods and farm fields of Grafton and relatively flat, save for a few slow and steady inclines that leveled off at the top. 

Closer to mile 13 and running through Bayside and Fox Point, much of the course is on a coned off area on the shoulder of the road (and these were busy roads). That made me quite uneasy, especially since I didn't see many bike medics or anything during this time. The spectators in these areas were also sparse, so these were some tough miles.

I hit the wall pretty hard around mile 18. I kept thinking "you're 2/3 of the way done, you've got this!" but the pounding of concrete was really starting to bug my right leg and the top of my right foot felt like someone was driving a railroad spike through it. I spent a lot of time walking the second half of the race because of the pain, but especially those miles between 17 and 24.

Around mile 23-24, I met up with Tori, who is a fellow Oiselle Volee WI bird, and her mom, who was running her second marathon. I ended up staying with them until the end (and crossing the finish with them!) and it was nice to have someone to talk to for those last few miles!

Fin.

I was in the last 10 or so runners to finish with an official time of 6:33:05.

At the finish, I was given my (hard-earned!) medal and offered a heat sheet, which I declined because even though we were right next to the lake, I was a little steamy. Volunteers had bags of edible goodies (a clementine, banana, some hard candies, Pringles, a granola bar, and a bag of snack mix) plus a whole table of electrolyte drinks, waters, and soda. 

B was waiting for me at the finish and gave me a big hug. He said he was proud of me for doing it since my training was pretty lackluster. There were a few times that I was so tempted to text him and tell him to come get me. 

Celebratory beers with Sheila.

After what felt like a 5-mile walk to the car (it wasn't that far, but everything seems far when your legs hurt!), we went to Indeed Brewing for a beer. The line at the Lakefront Tent at the Finish Line Party was long and I didn't want to stand there. I had a Hello, Milwaukee, which is an American Light Lager with a 4.5% ABV. I didn't want anything heavy and this one was light and refreshing. 

The reason I did it: for my best friend, Arthur.

Being able to conquer such a challenging distance while raising money and awareness for the Wisconsin Humane Society was such a wonderful experience. It would be awesome to see WHS partner with some of the local trail races to raise adoption awareness - they could even bring adoptable dogs to the events!

For more information about the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, check out their website.

Gear I used for the race:

Shoes | On Running Cloud X Black Asphalt *
Leggings | Zella Live In Lite Crop Leggings - similar
Socks | Stance Women's Train Tab
Earband | Oiselle Lux Earband
Gloves | Oiselle Lux Gloves
Arm Warmers | Oiselle Lux Arm Warmers - similar
Bra | Oiselle Kara Bra
Buff | Trail Sisters
Sunglasses | Goodr Flamingos on a Booze Cruise
Hydration Pack | Orange Mud Endurance Pack 4L
Headphones | Aftershokz Trekz Air