The Madison Mini-Marathon Packet Pickup

This way to the Expo!

Cheryl sizes up the shoes...

Here we are in Wisconsin,  alive and well.   The Travel time was just a few minutes past annoying, but we did not have to swap drivers or experience driver burnout.  That being said,   after three and a half hours driving....( ok,  a little over 4 hours with bathroom breaks included) We are both a little exhausted.

Cheryl remembers those Chairs

Waiting for the Packets

I'm not sure why, but I seem to remember last year's event going slightly more smoothly than this year.   We first had a little trouble trying to find parking.   And then we ended up walking about 3/4ths of a mile to the Expo.

Cheryl makes sure papers are in order.

Time to see what the Packet contains.

The Expo and registration was in the Student Union for University of Wisconsin.  After checking in and getting the packet,  we checked out the merchandise to see if there was anything Cheryl could add to her arsenal of running gear.

Checking out the Merchandise

Cheryl thinks it is a little too big.

They did have a pretty cool shirt with the names of the people who were running the race this year.   unfortunately,  Cheryl felt it was too big for her and that she most likely would never wear it.  But it was cool to see her name on one of the shirts.

But this shirt literally has her name on it!

Pizza with lots of Wisconsin Cheese!

After that,  we climbed down the stairs to the food court,   We sampled a slice of veggie-pizza and  some cheesy french bread.   Yumm!

Checking out the school market

We noticed that the dairy products were all produced locally.   Meaning:   there on campus!   This should not be much of a surprise, as MSU also had the food science building supply all of the ice-cream, milk and cheese for the campus and city of East Lansing.  It also makes sense since this is WISCONSIN!   The Dairy capitol of the country.

Milk produced on campus.

Along with Ice-cream and cheese.

Heading back to the Hotel

So we have finally checked in to the hotel room and purchased our Wisconsin beer for the return trip.   Cheryl tried on her race shirt to make sure it fit properly and looks good.   Now, the only thing left is to post this blog entry and get some rest.  Looks like thunderstorms pretty much all during the race and even into the afternoon.  Good news if you need to keep cool while you are running.   Bad news if the lightning cancels the race.  Also,  the forecast called for the temps to hover in the 70's.   That is still a little warm for a race,  but perhaps the drizzle will counter it enough for Cheryl to endure it. We shall see.

The Official Race Shirt.

Rain and thunder predicted.   Might be fun!

The weather this year has just been kind of dud.   Mostly wet and hot all summer long.   These is not the most fun conditions for running....or even biking for that matter.   Heck,  I don't even like walking outside when the weather is 80+ degrees with a 90% humidity.  I'm hoping this fall can somehow compensate for the last few months of hostile weather.   I'm sure Cheryl would appreciate it if the conditions for Chicago improved as well.  Fingers crossed...and wish us all luck for tomorrow.