Lake Michigan RTS (Holland - 2021 - 10K)

    

  Lake Michigan RTS Photos

95.1 Mile Drive

Registration:

 

In September 2020 I ran in a very memorable half marathon in Holland.  Holland wasn’t a new city for me.  When I came across the Lake Michigan RTS race I was in awe of the course pictures.  They reminded me of The Mount Bald Head Challenge in Saugatuck.  I haven’t been back to the Mount Bald Head Challenge since 2019.  I’ve been looking for another run that takes participants on the shoreline of Lake Michigan.  Lake Michigan RTS had the shoreline course with a bonus….

 

….a 60-foot sand dune climb. 

 

The “RTS” stands for, “Road…Trail…Sand” …with an emphasis on sand.

 

There was a lot of information about the Lake Michigan RTS 10K on RunSignUp.com.  The two most important race details were about packet pick-up and hydration.  Race packets had to be picked up at the Gazelle Sports store in downtown Holland prior to arriving at the race start.  Participants had to bring their own water for the course.  Race information stated there would be a water refill station at the beginning of the race and a boxed water table at the finish line.  Lake Michigan RTS was very serious about participants having water and made it clear that anyone that showed up to the start without hydration packs or a water bottle would NOT be allowed to start the course.  This was mentioned on the registration page, on their Facebook page and sent via email to registered participants.  Race participants were offered 15% off hydration systems purchased at Holland’s Gazelle Sports prior to the race. 

 

I agreed with the race’s policy of having water or being asked to leave, but I also found it odd they said there would be no fill-up or aide stations on the course.  There ended up being one fill-up station at the top of the giant sand dune.  I was glad they added it for participants.  There is only so much water one can carry.  I think aide stations on courses like Lake Michigan RTS are still needed, even if you make every participant bring water.  If average temperature, exertion level and length of course are considered, Lake Michigan RTS far exceeds a normal road race 10K (4.42 miles). 

 

Registration fees were not overpriced for the 10K race.  They were priced slightly higher than a normal 10K.  It was a very unique course with an extremely well-made medal and long sleeve hooded shirt that I felt was worth $55.00.  Normally, I pay around $40.00 for a 10K race. Lake Michigan RTS offered one distance but had options of a morning and evening start time.

 

Gazelle Sports was a really nice store in the heart of downtown Holland.  I saw a woman with her awesome dog inside.  I asked the store to put a pair of Mizuno Wave Inspires on hold for me the night before the run.  They accidently put a pair of “wide” wave inspires on hold and didn’t have any regular size 10’s in stock.  I had to pass on getting new running shoes.  On a positive note, Mizuno typically has more colors online than they send to retail stores.  I liked the packet pick-up in the back of the store.  It was quick and easy to find.  The store was closing down early at 4pm so staff could get to the race.  I made it in with only minutes to spare.    

 

The packet pick-up location and start line were nine miles from one another.  It was the longest drive from a packet pick-up to a start line.  In addition to the 17-minute drive from Gazelle Sports to race parking, the walk from parking to the start line was a quarter mile and took ten minutes with my family walking with me.    

Course:

The Lake Michigan RTS course is one of the most beautiful courses in the lower peninsula.  There is no question about it.  Participants start on 66th Street near Gilligan Lake and run on the road for a half mile before transitioning onto private trails.  I ran over the finish line when I got onto the trail.  The sun was on its decent and the woods were darker than usual.  There were moments of sun shining through tiny holes in trees that made an angelic beam effect.  It was blinding and awesome at the same time. 

 

The trail started very wide but quickly changed to an extremely narrow single person path until I got to sand.  I did not like that particular trail path.  The private property trail was not maintained as well as many state parks I’ve run in.  Some parts of the trail I wouldn’t have even considered a trail with plants so overgrown.  I could just barely see a path to follow.  It was impossible to jump over and avoid all of the branches and leaves sticking out.  There were also three large tree branches and one fallen trunk to jump over.

 

I always wear knee high socks when I run in trails, even if it’s 90 degrees in July.  I think about ticks that like to sit on branches and leaves and jump onto people and animals that rub up against them.  I got poison ivy for the first time this year after moving across the state and working in our yard clearing out brush.  The spots of poison ivy rash I had were relatively small but they itched like crazy for over three weeks.  I cannot imagine having larger areas of poison ivy.  Since my itchy summer of 2021 I am more careful now when I go into brush areas. 

After my time spent skipping and jumping through tight overgrown obstacle laden trails I was so glad when I came to a big clearing that looked like it was used for ATVs.  There was a loop in the dirt where the sand started.  It was the first official “climb” that would be our warm-up before the mega dune.  I was thankful to make it to bright sunlight and sand with Lake Michigan around the corner.  I saw two women taking off their shoes.  I kept mine on.  Once I passed them Lake Michigan came into view.  The moment I see Lake Michigan it is a sight that stays in my memory.  It’s a big climactic “WOW” moment no matter how many times I’ve seen Lake Michigan. 

 

The lake was beautiful and relatively calm with clear skies overhead.  It was on the beach shore two things happened:

 

1.     I finally gave in to taking my shoes off, as 90% of participants had already done.

2.    My leg gave out, leaving me unable to run.  I limped for a little bit during the initial pain onset.

The beach shore portion of the course was as flat as a city road, a nice change from the hilly trails.  The sand on the beach was stiffer and easily to run on compared to soft dune sand.  It would have been my moment to shine.  It instead turned into a moment of panic.  I looked at my MapMyFitness stats.  I was 2.6 miles into a 10K course and hadn’t reached the mega dune yet.  I wanted to call Jason but I had no cell service on the beach.  I had no idea Jason and the kids were at Laketown Beach, almost a mile directly south of me.  I could have kept walking straight to them and skipped the mega dune.  

 

The hardest part of physically falling apart on a course is being passed by runners.  I had caught up a lot after my late start and was doing pretty good before my leg gave out.  It felt like every participant left in the race passed me as I walked carrying my shoes on the beach.  I took the opportunity to take a lot of pictures and a few videos.  I looked out at the lake a lot to find peace.  The water was calming for me.  The pain didn’t get better as time went on.  Eventually, while still on the beach race staff walked past me picking up course flags.  I told them what was going on.  They did not have a means for anyone to come get me and told me Jason would have no way to drive the car into the woods to get close.  They then said, “This course isn’t a true 10K, we were a little off this year.  You only have about a mile left after you get over the sand dune.”  It felt like top secret game changing information had been given to me.  I looked at my app after they left me and it read, “3.2 miles.”  I had beach walked a good distance since my leg collapse at 2.6 miles.  The mega sand dune was in sight.  If the course was truly around four and a half miles instead of 6.2…..

I was down for it. 

….well actually, I was about to be “up” for it….60 feet up for it.

 

Before getting to the mega dune I saw some pretty good “fake out” sand dunes.  The area of Lake Michigan beach we were on was very “duney.”  The mega dune can’t even be seen from the beach.  You have to climb up a mini dune and descend before it comes into sight.  When I saw the dune in front of me, I felt like I was in an Aladdin movie.  It wasn’t a steep incline; it was a very gradual incline.  I’ve said many times before that running in soft deep sand is extremely difficult.  Mega dune was soft deep sand the whole way up.  I was glad to have my shoes off.  I met two woman who I talked with while walking up mega dune.  One was from Chicago and the other, Grand Rapids.  It was nice having people to talk to.  It took my mind off the pain, which I didn’t feel as much on the softer sand.  Mega dune was very therapeutic.  My anticipation of it had been steadily increasing for the first three miles.  It’s threat level dissipated very quickly once I started climbing it. 

 

There were two volunteers at the top of mega dune across from a table with huge water jugs for refilling.  They reminded me of our old Absopure delivery jugs.  They were nearly depleted.  I didn’t have to refill my hydration pack.  I was good for one more mile of trails.    

The top of the giant sand dune on the Lake Michigan RTS course is the reason I would recommend the course to runners, hikers and walkers.  It is more breathtaking than the dune from the beach, Lake Michigan or any part of the trail.  I was not expecting the view I got standing there.  I could not continue without stopping to admire.  I don’t know how elite runners run without stopping with a view like that, but I know every second counts and I spent a lot of seconds completely lost in that sight.  I could see for miles; miles and miles of dense trees with no break or landmark in sight. 

 

After I broke from my mesmerization on top of mega dune reality set in of how high I was and how steep the downhill was compared to the uphill trek.  It was momentarily terrifying and I second-guessed being able to go down it.  If steepness and height weren’t scary enough the bottom, where woods met the sand, was covered in a huge shadow from the dune, making it appear to be a decent into darkness.  It was two fellow ladies that started going down before me that got me over my fear. 

 

The sand down to the woods from atop the dune was the deepest softest sand on the course.  It was ironic because it was the last area of sand on the course.  Trails were all that was left back to the finish.  Participants had to do what I call the “Frolicking Dinosaur” maneuver to get down the dune.   I have a video of it in my album for reference.  It was really fun going down mega dune.  The woods did not end up being an entrance to a dark forbidden forest.  It was pretty sunny when we got to the bottom.  It was one of nature’s great optical illusions. 

 

Before officially getting back on the trail, all three of us put our shoes back on while we were still in the sand.  My shoes had been off for almost two miles.  I started to run again on the trail.  Mega dune had helped my leg relax.  I was surprisingly without the pain I’d had on the beach.  Even though I was less than a mile from the finish, I knew anything could still happen.  The trail to the finish line was much wider than the trail at the start of the race.  It never decreased to a single person trail, plants were not overgrown and there was nothing to jump over.  The trail was large enough for a small car to travel down and had less elevation changes.   

 

As a whole the course was one of a kind.  It had some obstacles I was not fond of in the beginning.  Everything got better once I got to the sand.  I loved how much of the course was on the shoreline of Lake Michigan.  I don’t know if another course will beat that length.  At the Mount Baldhead Challenge we ran on wet beach sand next to waves, but it was brief.  I was not expecting to walk the beach of Lake Michigan for so long.  I loved it.  It made the course stand out from other Lake Michigan beach courses.  The Lake Michigan RTS course was:

1.    Challenging

2.    Jaw dropping

3.    Curative (for my unique situation)

4.    Calming

5.    Scary

6.    Beautiful

 

As far as the acronym RTS is concerned, it went R-T-S-T from start to finish.  Road was the smallest part of the course while trail and sand were almost equal.

 

If you have never climbed a giant sand dune.  I would highly recommend it.  Michigan has an abundance of sand dunes to choose from.     

Swag:

Lake Michigan RTS swag was very high quality with a great logo design.  Michigan Awesome was brought on board for the medal design.  I have bought “awesome” Michigan items from Michigan Awesome over the years.  I still get compliments on my fuzz ball winter hat I bought years ago.  Michigan Awesome did an amazing job designing the 2021 race medal.  Race bibs and shirts had the matching medal design on them.  Medals were heavy with a thick personalized lanyard.  Shirts were a very soft long sleeve cotton.  They were hooded.  The design on the shirt was done very professionally for long-lasting use.  They were very comfortable light weight hoodies that I can wear in all seasons.  The medal resonated with me more after finishing the course.  The tree line across the sunset looks like the view from atop the dune (my favorite part of the course).  I love the font choice on the medal and how “2021” is broken up across “RTS.”  At packet pick-up I also got a coupon for a free frozen yogurt at PeachWave of Holland (the same yogurt that was waiting for us at the finish).  

Food:

There were multiple tables set up at the finish in the woods.  One table had boxed waters.  One table with a Gazelle Sports canopy had frozen yogurts from PeachWave of Holland in to-go containers.  Flavors of frozen yogurt included: Mango, Vanilla Bean, Gelato, Pineapple, Raspberry, White Cake Batter and Chocolate.  The volunteers at the PeachWave table told me to take two yogurts.  I choose Mango and Vanilla Bean.  The frozen yogurts were resting on ice packs on the table.   The only unfortunate part was the frozen yogurts melted before I made it back to the van.  I couldn’t eat while I walked because I was carrying too much.  I tried to power walk as fast as possible to prevent melting and mosquito bites.  I only accomplished one of those goals.  The walk back to the car was a half mile and it was still very warm outside.

Awards:

Overall winners and age group winners received Gazelle Sports gift cards.  No formal awards ceremony was held.  Winners were sent their gift cards in the mail.  Age group awards went three deep and were given to participants in ten-year increments starting with “19 and under.”  I saw no kids on the Lake Michigan RTS course so this time it probably did not matter that their first age group was so large. 

City Notes:

We have visited Holland many times.  When we lived in the Grand Rapids Metro I got my first artist vendor booth approved at Holland’s Art in the Park.  We have a favorite pizza shop in Holland, Petrino’s Pizzeria.  We stopped at Petrino’s after the run for a few ready to eat slices.  I took a lot more pictures of downtown Holland before we left for the night.  I hadn’t done that after I ran Holland Haven in 2020. 

 

Discovering the Holland Library was awesome.  I really liked their Wizard of Oz statues.  They looked magical with the setting sun colors cast on the building.  The Wizard of Oz book made from plants in the center of downtown was another amazing thing we saw this trip.  I learned that the statues at the library and living mosaic book in Centennial Park were part of a Wizard of Oz Exhibit.  There was even a yellow brick road we missed. 

(https://grkids.com/wizard-of-oz-garden-michigan/)

 

We had never been to “Window on the Waterfront.”  It was an amazing flower garden park maintained by the City of Holland.  It had many benches for people to sit on and wide pathways cut in the grass to walk through.  The flowers were very well kept.  We saw all kinds of butterflies. 

 

Beer Garden had an epic door and gate to its outdoor patio.  It was cool finding the old Knickerbocker Theater downtown.  Downtown Holland has two movie theaters, Knickerbocker (1911) and Sperry’s Moviehouse (2019).  Sperry’s Movehouse is a small theater with a lot of modern amenities.  It has a restaurant that delivers food to movie theater seats.  There is a theater with a kid’s playground.  Seats inside the theater have headphones that allow guests to listen to movies in different languages.  Holland also has the Park Theater downtown for theatrical plays. 

 

Packet pick-up ended for the run at 4:00pm but my wave didn’t start until 6:35pm.  The two-and-a-half-hour window was great.  It should have guaranteed I’d get to the start on time…. but it didn’t.  I have more about that in my “Other Awesomeness” section.  It gave us a lot of time to get something locally to eat and explore Holland.  We like to avoid chain restaurants when we visit new cities.  I found Crazy Horse Steakhouse and Saloon on Google.  We were seated quickly even though there was a large crowd waiting inside and outside when we pulled in.  We got a great parking spot in front of the main door.  The menu was amazing for Luke.  Luke loved the food so much he asked if we could come back on his birthday.  The wait staff was awesome.  We noticed money pinned up on our booth and surrounding booths.  Crazy Horse donates money people pin up to local families in need.  I’ve never seen that done before.  It was awesome seeing all the random help.  I worried with it being so easy to grab, others may see an opportunity to take it instead of giving.  I hope that does not happen.    

 

When I ran Holland Haven Jason found a store in Holland called Seedlings and bought me an amazing garden wind charm for completing the half marathon.  When he took me back to show me the store it was closed.  This time Seedlings was open and I was able to see what Jason had been raving about last year.  Seedlings is decorated floor to ceiling (every square inch) in awesomeness.  There are tons of craft supplies in the store along with a large fairy garden section and…

 

Jacuzzi bathes?  …. A lot of high-quality Jacuzzi bathes and spas.

 

I loved Seedlings.  Jason knows me.  The owner is amazing.  The selection of items blew me away.  We bought an awesome leather bracelet for Jason’s LARPING before we left.  This will not be the last time I stroll through Seedings.  I am sure new amazing things come in the store on a regular basis.  I love my Holland Haven fish wind spinner from Seedings.  We have it in our backyard. 

City Sign:

I didn’t need to find Holland’s city sign after Lake Michigan RTS.  I got the cool sculpture sign after my Holland Haven race.  It’s a huge sign in a great location that can be seen from quite a distance.  It’s the first city sign I’ve found with sideways writing. 

Other Awesomeness:

I was so glad that Jason and the boys found Laketown Beach Park.  From the pictures it looks like they got to walk down an amazing wood staircase and climb their own sand dune.  I didn’t know they were so close to where I was.  I could see miles south down the beach while I was walking. 

 

The 10K course was very well marked with small orange and pink flags in the sand and dirt.  There were a few square signs too.  There were four volunteer stations.  One on the trail start, two on the beach and one at the top of mega dune.  There were no volunteers on the second trail segment by the time I came through.  The most important volunteer was the man relaxing in a foldable chair at the north end beach turnaround.  Sand dune and beach volunteers had the most relaxing job.  Some used their time to build driftwood shelters in the sand. 

 

I don’t know if I will do Lake Michigan RTS again in the future.  I’m on the fence about it.  I wanted to find another run to take the place of the Mount Bald Head Challenge.  The parking and walk to start situation was one of my least favorites in the 190 races I have run.  I’ve had to walk some good distances from parking to race starts.  Being a runner who has a history of showing up at the last minute, long walks to starts can be my worst nightmare.  The walk to the Lake Michigan RTS start was about a quarter mile.  Jason and the kids wanted to walk with me to see me off.  The second we opened the van doors we were swarmed by mosquitos.  Mosquitos freak me out more since the Michigan EEE scare of 2019.  I brought bug spray knowing the course would be in an area that needed it.  I was not expecting the mosquitos to be as bad as they were.  Even with bug spray they were relentless.  So many got into our van.  It was a mess.  Walking improved the situation a little bit.  I couldn’t understand why participants had to park on the road so far from the start.  It must have had something to do with the private property situation.  The road was blocked off from traffic and had plenty of spaces for cars to park that would have been closer.  I felt bad my family had to walk back through the mosquito field after I left.  When I finished the race they were waiting in the van where the cones blocked off the road so I didn’t have to walk quite as far back.  I was lucky to not get a bug bite during my time outdoors. 

 

Even though we got to Holland at 3:55pm…. I still ran late to the start.  The walk to the start was the problem for me.  My assigned wave start was at 6:35pm based on my projected finishing time.  The last wave for the evening race took off at 6:40pm.  I started at 6:44pm.  Since it took me over an hour and a half to finish I should have been in the 6:40pm start group.  In a way it worked out just fine.  I think I made the start line man upset because he said to me and a group of three other woman that we needed to hurry as we got close to the start arch.  He had a mic and his distress message came across very loud.  One of the three women I started behind was walked to the start by her husband and kids too.  I wasn’t the last to start.  If you look at the last picture I took of Jason and the kids you can see two more women walking up in the distance. 

 

 I’m so glad I was able to finish the Lake Michigan RTS course even if my time was far off from what I’d normally be capable of.  When you get injured on a course it can go two ways, a debilitating immediate end or a challenging slower than normal finish.  I was lucky my leg came around.  Days following things continued to get better with rest and I was able to run the following weekend without any pain.  My leg was likely a result of racing in four races over the course of three days with mileage totaling a half marathon.  That may sound like a cake walk for some runners, but it gave my stamina a run for its money.   

Course Rating: 4.9 Stars

Post-Race Food Rating: 4.8 Stars

Swag Rating: 5 Stars

Awards Rating: 4.4 Stars

Lake Michigan RTS Quote:

“No matter what happens, no matter how far you seem to be away from where you want to be, never stop believing that you will somehow make it.”  -Brad Gast

 

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