start yerrrrr engines!

 

Indy Mini-Marathon is completed!

A mini marathon is a half marathon.

We'll begin our story with some obligatory photos of the springtime flooding

in downtown Davenport. Kind of a lot this year.

The Mississippi is such a show off.

From Davenport, we departed early the next morning with our first stop

in Peoria, IL.

For a walk along the riverfront

Richard Pryor was there.

He was from Peoria.

You can find his statue a few blocks from the River, near the ball field.

On the trail of the Scale Model Solar System.

You can walk to Mars before you need to use a car to find the

outer planets.

We found Mercury before figuring out where the Sun was.

Venus.

Somewhere between Venus and Earth is Dan Fogelberg.

Just like the real solar system, I think.

Fogelberg is also from Peoria.

His monument overlooks the river along the trail.

Pale blue dot.

That's us. That's home.

And, by the Marina park and the playground, we found Mars.

Then we turned around and walked the trail back to the car.

And, after some poking around, we finally found the Sun!

Walking on sunshine!

Then back into the car after several miles of walking around Peoria.

In Eureka, IL we found a slab of the Berlin Wall.

Apparently Ronald Reagan went to college in Eureka.

It's difficult to know what's real in Illinois, as Lincoln and Reagan are

splattered all over the state of Illinois.

Can i get a ride, man?

A short detour into Champaign to visit Roger Ebert in front of the

Virginia Theatre.

There are empty seats next to him so you can join him in the critique of

recent movies, such as Sharknado 41: Tornados in Space.

When we finally arrived in Indianapolis, the Momster was kind enough

to join me for a visit to the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library. 

Vonnegut is from Indianapolis.

He wrote many books, several of which are classics of American literature.

I discovered his books in high school, where I read all of the

Vonnegut books at the local library.

So I had to take a stop at the museum.

The second floor is set up for a tea party.

Vonnegut played the clarinet!

I did not know that.

Okay, we can move on now.

We have a race tomorrow, so we need to get to the Convention Center

to pick up our race stuff.

A flock of swan boats.

It's a big race, apparently.

We bobble-headed ourselves!

Then, after checking into the hotel, we dropped into the Slippery Noodle Inn,

the oldest bar in Indianapolis, for some food and live music.

We stayed at the Omni Severin. A hotel built in 1913.

Finally, morning was upon us, so we strapped on our running shoes, tied on

the sports bras, slapped on some sunscreen and got ourselves to our starting corrall.

You never know who you'll find going after those finisher medals.

And we're off!

A feature of this race is the lap around the Indy 500 racetrack.

We didn't see a single racecar the entire weekend.

That time isn't accurate. Subtract about 35 minutes; our wave didn't cross the start

line until about 30 minutes after the 7:30am start of the race.

Leaving the track, another 4.5 miles to go.

In the home stretch.

I felt pretty good and had a good pace until about Mile 9.

The last bit was a struggle, but I pulled myself along and made it to the finish line.

Earned the bling to prove it!

Overall, a good race. Plenty of water stops along the route, so you should stay

well-hydrated. Entertainers along the route to keep you from getting

too bored. Running around the track is a neat experience. I didn't kiss the

bricks, but I did kneel before moving on.

A few days to recover and let the soreness subside, and I'll

get back to it.

🚗🚗🚗🚕🚗🚗