"Hey--Heads up. There's a bear up ahead on the trail. Just past Sugarcube, near Wetmore Pond. And she has cubs with her."
That's what I was told at the Sugarloaf Aid Station, which is at Mile 47 of the 51-Mile "Marquette Trail 50". This is one of my favorite events, and I had completed the 50-kilometer distance up in Marquette 4 times in the past. But this year I set out to the to whole 50 miles...well, 51 miles. 40 of the 50 mile course is on the "Four Peaks Loop" near Marquette, which takes you over a set of granite outcroppings that are simply incredible to see both from a distance and up close. In the 50k, you do them each once, but the 50 milers do them each twice. In between the big mountain climbs and descents is incredible trail running along Lake Superior and also along the North Country Trail. It is truly a beautiful course. In fact, I highly suggest you go to YouTube and search "NTN Marquette Trail 50" to see some absolutely incredible footage from the event.
But back to the bear. I had 47 miles under me, had been on my feet for 9 hours and 30 minutes by this point, and I knew I still had 4 miles to go...and they weren't easy miles. They involved a climb over "Sugarcube" mountian then a steady, and sometimes steep, climb back to the the finish line. This wasn't going to be fun. And now I am told that some of the faster runners had spotted a bear with cubs on the trail. Yikes. Suddenly, as I made my way to the Wetmore Pond area, where the bear had been on the trail, literally every relatively large dark object was a bear. Thankfully they were only boulders, or turned over tree stumps, or standing tree stumps, or shadows. And I also was startled big time by a red squirrel scampering to a nearby tree. Alas, no bear was spotted by me. I wouldn't have minded seeing her from afar, but I also don't mind not seeing her at all.
My friend Jason (great friend with terrible ideas) came up with me and was a perfect 'Crew Chief', navigating the course via the local roads, and finding me in different spots along the run with Coke, Gatorade, and ice-cold bandanas. The humidity was at 100% all morning, and those bandanas were a life saver. Another friend, Chris, joined me for about 16 of the miles and kept me running when I should be running, kept me in 'race mode' when I wanted to just throw in the towel. We also shared some laughs and got a couple photos on top of the peaks. The photo in this article is from when I had FINALLY reached the last of my "8 peaks", and then I simply had that eventful 4 miles to go to the finish.
There were many moments, especially in the first 10 miles, that I wasn't sure I was going to finish the whole 50 miles. In fact, I was seriously considering stopping at the 31 mile mark...as when you reach that point, you're actually at the finish line. Oddly enough, or perhaps completely planned...Jason and Chris didn't go to that mile marker. They weren't there. Instead, they were two miles down the trail at Mile 33. So I had no choice but to keep going. And am I glad I did!
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