MANITOU TRAIL RUN (Roscommon - 2020 - 5K)
188 Mile Drive
The 2020 Manitou Trail Run was my replacement for the Labor Day Bridge Run. We came back home after staying Friday night in Big Rapids. We spent both Saturday and Sunday night at home and drove to Roscommon Monday morning. The run had a late morning start at 10:00am. We did not have to wake up super early. I originally had a job on Labor Day but it was cancelled. I wrote my Houghton Lake family to see if we could see them after the run. With less than 24 hours’ notice I received a second job on Labor Day. It caused us to come home right after the run. It was really sad, but it’s the unfortunate nature of my job. We stayed up north long enough to visit the city of Roscommon before we left. I just wasn’t able to see my Houghton Lake family.
The drive up on Labor Day was beautiful. I love the section of 75 when the expressway separates with trees in-between. I always knew the family cottage was close when we drove up north and got to that area. The start of the race was across the street from the Cross Country Ski Headquarters shop in Roscommon. Cross Country Ski Headquarters is an impressive and cozy log cabin style ski shop with an awesome dog named Donnie that greeted us and followed us around the shop for a bit. His owner showed us how well-trained Donnie is with a short trick show in the shop.
The grass parking lot was huge and perfect for an event. I picked up my bib and cool shirt outside the ski shop and walked across the street to the start. The start corral had lines on the ground that separated us into groups of five to eight. They sent us off into the forest 20 seconds apart. It was a really cool start. They had great cone coverage telling us where to turn on the course. The course was a beautiful grass path! All shades of green surrounded us. We were in dense woods that had clearings of grass fields every so often. I saw a field of power lines. There were birch trees everywhere. We finished in a large grass clearing. Water bottles, Gatorade, bananas and granola were waiting by the nicest finish line volunteers. A woman asked me, “What will you do after you run all the cities?” She had read the back of my shirt on the course. I replied, “Many cities have multiple runs and different festivals. I can try different events I haven’t been at and just have fun.”
When I walked back across the street to Cross Country Ski Headquarters I got the family and we headed to the large deck outside to get hotdog lunches. My lunch was part of my registration. The boys were only an additional $5 each. We all got hotdogs, chips and a can of pop. The workers were extra cautious in their handling of the food. We got great seats on wood benches facing the woods. The weather was perfect. It was a tad chilly, but it made for great long sleeve shirt and running weather. They announced times were at the registration tent. We went over in a line and a lady gave us our times. My time was drastically different than my app time. My MapMyFitness times are usually only a few seconds different than my official running times. I told the race director I had started in a wave near the end of the line four minutes after the first group left. I showed him my app and they changed my time for me. It was really nice.
We left the run and traveled to Roscommon. Jason had taken the kids there already while I was running. He said they had a great city sign I would like. I had never been to Roscommon. It was a really nice town. There was a butcher shop in town, Art-Y-Facts shop, Made Up North, Historical Model Train Museum and a Subway drive-thru!! We drove to the grounds of the annual Firefighter Festival. It was super cool! I had no idea Roscommon hosted the huge event. We saw a bunch of turkeys out on the side of the road. Jason tried to summon them but he was not successful like he was in Saugatuck last year. Roscommon, like Tustin, also had unofficial cars as their postal delivery vehicles.
The traffic coming home at 11:30am was absolutely horrible. A trip that should have taken two hours and twenty minutes took four hours. We had to take back roads all the way from Roscommon to Saginaw. The Zilwaukee Bridge in Saginaw was almost at a stand-still. It was an amazing sight to see from a distance. We travelled through Pinconnning due to the detour. Pinconning is a city I have always wanted to visit. I ran late to my job, but thankfully guests were understanding with it being a holiday.
Things I take The Manitou Trail Run are:
1. The old satellite dish that was painted as a smiley by a motel in Roscommon. It was almost as good as a smiley water tower!
2. The awesome race shirt design. It had a running shoe, big bold letters and a mountain. The cotton is very comfy.
3. The state’s biggest mailbox is located in Roscommon!
4. I love trails. They feel so good on my feet. I run slower, but nature is a fair trade-off for decreased speed.
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