GREATEST FOURTH IN THE NORTH (Lake City - 2020 - 10K)

  The Greatest Fourth in the North 2020 Photos

209 Mile Drive

The Greatest Fourth in the North was a race I had had my eye on for a year.  When my friend Don emailed me on May 14th and told me he had found a race that was still live I was thrilled!  I was also shocked that a race was confident so far in the future during the middle of the lockdown.  I called their race director (who was teleworking from his garage) and got confirmation the race would still take place on the Fourth of July.  I signed up that day and emailed Don back to let him know.  He said he was signing up too.  I was so excited that the future had a race in it and I would see a friend.  Don is the No Frills All Thrills race director.  No Frills was the last race I ran before the lockdown started and racing got cancelled for months.

We decided to make The Greatest Fourth into our first family camping trip.   Jason’s parents gave us his dad’s Coleman 1979 tent because they hadn’t used it in many years.  It was an amazing surprise we were so thankful for.  They truly do not make things like they used to.  The vintage Coleman tent holds up like a champ.  I had accumulated a box full of awesome survival/camping gear from my time working at Cabela’s and Jason fixed an air mattress my boss told me to throw out.  We were all set.  The closest camp ground with the best rate was 45 minutes from Lake City.  It saved us two hours of drive time race morning, but we still had to wake up at the crack of dawn.  

On the way up the Friday before the race I noticed we may be able to make early packet pick-up.  We got to Lake City with a minute to spare (literally) after a Meijer stop in Alma.  Unfortunately, without strong GPS I guessed at an address and I was wrong.  I saw a local couple walking out of their backyard into town and asked them if they knew where the race was being held. They were very helpful and gave us the directions we needed.  When we pulled in I saw registration was being packed up.  I flew out of the car to catch them.  The race staff were wonderful and got my bib and shirt out of their truck.  I learned one man was from Rochester Hills!

We left Lake City for the night to set up camp in Kestelwoods.  In the morning Jason registered Ryan and Will for the 2K run.  I had already registered Jason and Luke back in May.  Ryan and Will decided they wanted to run when we got to the race that morning.  Registration was only $5 for the 2K and they had amazing spinner medals for 2K finishers.  We took pictures by the starting line.   I unfortunately did not see the four of them off.  I almost ran late to my start after using the bathroom at a local coffee shop.  I was left with the car keys thinking they would be done before I started.  I had to hide them in a park grill for Jason to find.  I would be gone for too long running my 10K.  I was the last 10K runner to start. I passed an older woman who said, “Hey I was supposed to be the last one starting,” jokingly.

10K runners went through 2K runners (our start/their finish).  I saw Luke up in the distance as I ran through that crossing.  Jason told me it was very chaotic for the 2K runners trying to maneuver around the 10K runners.  The course was very scenic.  It had trails and a lot of water views from neighborhood roads.  It was still hot, but thankfully not as brutal with such an early morning start.  I believe 7:30am is the earliest I have ever started a race.  I saw my friend Don as I was running the last home stretch to the finish and then caught up with him after.  We talked with Don and his awesome friend Ron for a bit.  We learned about Ron’s horrible boating injury that nearly took off his pinky finger and of the home the Taco Bell CEO was building across from the finish on Lake Missaukee.  I really enjoyed talking with them.  Don keeps good company and is a wonderful guy.  Don and his son ran the 5K.

We hung around Lake City after the race.  The Greatest Fourth in the North had been downsized but was still going on in town.  They had small blow-up areas and almost all shops were giving out candy to kids.  We found the Rustic Hog Barbecue and got lunch.  Their decorations, music and menu were outstanding.  I got their special of the day.  I also loved the tea I got to drink. We drove around to local garage sales after lunch.  There was a huge garage sale in a barn with the coolest decorations.  They had a giant flamingo pool float hanging from their ceiling and the man collected singing Bass which he had a wall of!  The city sign for Lake City was next to a really neat older cemetery.  We read the Veteran’s Memorial stones.  Jason jumped in and got a picture with the city sign with this being his first official timed race.

The rest of the trip was spent enjoying camp.  We made classic camp meals and snacks.  We went swimming at the campground pool.  That was the kid’s favorite part.  We took a drive to “Big M” trailhead.  It was a tad creepy with no one else in the park.  It was totally secluded unlike the state parks back at home.  We walked about a quarter mile in before the bugs flying around our heads got to be too much even with Deet.  It was a hilarious $5.00 tiny hike.  It turns out we should have just pulled into Cooley Bridge Roadside Park down M-55 near our campground instead of driving to “Big M.”  The roadside park was free and had breathtaking scenic views of the Pine River.  The stairs were amazing!  The bridge was amazing!  I could have sat there all night.  It was a random gem on the return back to camp as the sunset.

Kestelwoods Campground in Wellston, MI is very clean. That is very important to me and I commend them for their high quality standards.  The bathrooms were immaculate.  They had really nice amenities.  Their pool area had a massive steel fire pit and they had a playground with a cornhole area.  There was a great little liquor store with a café down the street from the camp site. The old owner of Kestelwoods was the race director for the longest running 10K in the state of Michigan in Cadillac.  He was a great guy to chat with. The owners care a lot about their property and it shows.  They are great people.

Things I take away from The Greatest Fourth in the North are: 

1.  Being able to see and chat with Don, take photos and be at a live race with someone I knew far away from home.  

2.  The squirt gun race volunteers out on the course!  They had two soaking stations.  I got sprayed right in the face at the first and told her she had excellent aim.  I LOVE RUNS WITH WATER!  This course also had a revolving sprinkler set up near mile four that was so “cool” to run through.  

3.  I wanted to see a wild bear really bad but we had no luck this trip.  Instead of a bear sighting I got an awesome story from the camp owners about a mom bear that ran in fear up in a tree next to their check-in booth and wouldn’t come down for hours.  They said bears can get up trees in lightning speed! 

 4.  All the caterpillars that invaded the camp site.  We had a few screams of terror and picnic table evacuations. 

 5.  The awesome section of trail on the Greatest North course that had slightly creepy décor.  It looked like it was the spot of a Haunted Forest.  

6.  Their hilarious shirts incorporating the pandemic in!  Kuddos to whoever thought of the shirt design with toilet paper! 

7.  The awesome race lead German Shepherd in a golf cart!!  

8.  Bob waiting for his bus! (See pictures)  

9.  Christmas tree fields everywhere and the house that made spilled milk out of landscaping!! (See pictures ^_^)  

10.  My first 10K age group win!  I came in third, my favorite age group place.  I couldn’t believe it!  It took half a dozen 10Ks and a year’s time to get this accomplishment.  Never give up.  <3

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