I decided to join the 5-hour pace group, and stood at the back of the pack in solemn observance of Memorial Day. Coffee and snacks awaited us at the elementary school that provided ample floor space and bathrooms. The bus ride to the start line in Byron was uneventful. Both Cade and Alison are Titanium Maniacs. After finishing the 50 states in October, Michelle focused on 50 sub-4, Cade worked on 50 sub-3:30, and Alison recovered from a stress fracture that forced her out of the Tulsa Marathon in November. I had met Michelle Mom-o-6 in AK, ND and OK Cade R in NM and OK and Alison in OK. I joined a handful of Marathon Maniacs for dinner at Victoria’s. I enjoyed a hearty lunch at the Pannekoeken Dutch Restaurant. I found the finish line and the bus pick-up, both within a 3-minute walk from the Marriott. I picked up my bib number from the race expo at the Civic Center – I had to wait until Sunday to earn the short-sleeve finisher T-shirt. I enjoyed a hearty breakfast in the Marriott Concierge Lounge, and explored my surroundings. Merchants in the subway closed shop, badges disappeared from the streets, and even Starbucks operated on reduced hours.
The bustling downtown on Friday turned eerily quiet on Saturday.
Wheelchairs and scooters roamed the sidewalks, and an underground walkway permitted travel among the hospital, hotels and restaurants sheltered from inclement weather. On the streets, almost everybody wore a Mayo badge – employee, patient or relative. Many of these visitors donned traditional ethnic attire, and the television in the hotel offered a selection of foreign stations to occupy its guests. Home to the Mayo Clinic for the past 150 years, the city of 100,000 residents boasted 2.7 million visitors in 2013. The diverse population of Rochester, MN, took me by surprise.
0 kommentar(er)
