Race Report: Marji Gesick 50 Mile; Sept 17, 2022

The Marji Gesick was definitely the highlight of my 2022 season, and quite honestly, this race will be hard to top. An event that started as a very indirect mountain bike 100 mile race from Forestville to Marquette, Marji is "The toughest race you've never heard of" per their website. If you want to get an idea of the culture surrounding the race, just hop over to their website: marjigesick.com. Warnings immediately jump off the page: "Self-supported ethos." "You're on your own -- in an emergency call 911." "This course is designed to break you." "Blame Danny and Todd." "80% of folks will never see the finish line." The race is one of those events that your crazy endurance mountain bike friend probably did once, but with relatively few slots between the 50 and 100 mile bike and run events, it's tough to register and lives on shrouded in mystery for most of the Marji-curious. 

I was scrolling through facebook last October and saw the alert that registration would be opening, and 666 slots would be up for grabs. On a whim, I hopped over the ultrasignup and entered my credit card number. I was in for the 50! I had read exactly 0 race reports. 

The race report search came in January. I train in the west side of Michigan on trails the likes of Merrell, Cannonsburg, Luton, and occasionally Saugatuck Dunes or Yankee Springs. I quickly realized that Marquette trails were going to be a challenge. Not only is there much more elevation gain and loss, but the trails are quite rocky and technical. What I somehow missed in the excitement of trying to figure out how to optimize my training, was that the 50 wasn't 50 miles. 

During Ode to the Hoff, I overheard some of the guys talking about running Marji the year prior. As I started to ask them their experience, one mentioned that the 50 was 63 miles. Naturally, I assumed he missed a turn and added some distance. I was very wrong. 

My race stats: Finish time: 14:01:15. Distance: 64.1 miles. Elevation gain: 8,205 ft. Average heart rate: 151 bpm.

Let's look at the breakdown:

Race website: https://marjigesick.com/

Registration: Ultra Signup

Location:  ★★★★★
Marquette (or Forestville for the 100) to Ishpeming, Upper Peninsula of Michigan
I'm incredibly biased when it comes to the UP. I am absolutely in awe of the rugged beauty of the trails here. I loved starting in downtown Marquette. We camped just a few miles from the start line at the Marquette tourist park, and were absolutely thrilled to find a youth mountain bike skills park attached to the campground itself. Shakeout runs were so convenient along the north country trail. Packet pickup at Blackrocks Brewery Friday night afforded an opportunity to experience downtown Marquette. The finish in Ishpeming was so much fun. It felt like the entire downtown stayed open late to see us finish. Although the race is point-to-point, which can be tough logistically, the driving distance between Marquette and Ishpeming is really only about 15 miles/20 minutes. 

Organization: ★★★★☆
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LHU_tuXrbQ

The race is organized by 906 adventure team. Their philosphy: " 906 Adventure Team is a 501c3 Non-Profit based in Marquette, Michigan. Since 2014 we have been creating outdoor adventure experiences for youth through Adventure Bike Club and events like Polar Roll, The Crusher, and Marji Gesick. Our take on life is pretty simple - it’s an adventure. In life (and adventure) stuff doesn't always go to plan. Things go wrong. Bad things happen to good people and you don’t overcome it by complaining or pointing fingers. The truth is adversity brings out the best of us - by taking us down unknown paths to find it. 
906 Adventure Team uses revenue from the events to support trail organizations and create more youth Adventure Teams. The Marji Gesick will donate $27,000 to local trails this year, bringing total trail donations since 2015 to $216,000." 

Please watch the above video for an idea of what is going through the race organizer's minds in the creation of this event. Overall the race can feel rather disorganized (see notes regarding course below). However, I honestly think it's all part of the ethos. My one complaint is the timing of the race starts. The 100 mile run starts Friday at noon in Forestville. Saturday morning the 50 mile runners start at 7 am in Marquette. At 7:30 am, 100 mile cyclists and duathletes start in Forestville. Then, the 50 mile bikes start at 8:00 in Marquette. This is problematic because then the bikes are catching almost all of the 50 mile runners while we are still on singletrack. Giving another hour or so would allow the majority of the runners to hit rail trail before the cyclists catch up, making passing much easier. Of course, the daylight is limited even in the summer in the UP, so my thought for a happy medium would be to get the runners out at 6 am. 

Parking in downtown Marquette does look like it could be limited, but being in the first crew to shuffle through the start line, we had no issues getting our monster of a van situated. 

Course: ★★★★★
This is such a subjective scale. This course is five stars for achieving its goal: to break you, mentally and physically. First of all, the "50 mile" is actually 63+ miles depending on the year (I missed a turn and added about 0.5 mile) and the "100 mile" is really around 112. The course is well marked, but you have been warned time and again not to depend on course markings. GPS is required. However, the GPS file was not made available until WEDNESDAY before the race! Then, there was an issue with that file so I wasn't able to download the true GPS file until Friday morning. The race cue sheet indicated 8 miles between downtown Ishpeming and Jackson Mine park round 2, where you would get to see your crew again -- but in reality it was more like 13 miles. The GPS file indicated that the course would be 60 miles with 4000 ft of elevation -- and you see my stats above. All of this could add up to make a 1 star course, but, given the race ethos, this course is exactly what it should be. 

The course itself is also absolutely terrible in the best way possible. We started at the docks in downtown Marquette. It was still dark at 7 am. The initial 2 miles is pavement and sidewalk heading south before the course jogs west towards Marquette Mountain. The first climb is about 3 miles in, still on the road. Then there is a fairly staightforward trail section before you hit the rail trail for the fastest 6 miles of the race. However, that's about the last fast section as the course then meanders for 40 miles through RAMBA mountain bike trails. The trail is rocky and technical, with loose downhills and steep climbs. There aren't really words for the level of torment that last 8 miles of RAMBA is. The best I can provide is this video from Bike Life with Rob: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ5lwKVCoa4

Food: N/A
I can't technically grade the food, as the race is very clear about not organizing aid stations. However, "trail angels" are out en mass to support the race. All race support is neutral, meaning that while you may have crew supporting you, they must also offer the same assitance to all competitors. At every road crossing, both major and seasonal, there was at least someone there who would offer water or snacks. Jackson Mine park was essentially a city of support tents with plenty of food to go around. Since all food is offered on a volunteer basis, I did not want to depend on it and stuck to the food I had stocked in the van. 

The afterparty goes on all night in downtown Ishpeming, and there are multiple food trucks and a beer garden available for competitors and support crew. Important note is that these are at an additional cost, so don't forget your credit card. 

My race:

The morning of Marji Gesick was perfect: 63 degrees with the sun not yet up. It had rained for the past 2 days, and while the mud we were likely to encounter was on everyone's minds, it was a clear morning. The race started at the docks in downtown Marquette. It was a very quiet start, just a quick pre-race briefing before the horn sounded and we were off. No unicorns or LeBike starts, they save that nonsense for Forestville!

The first two miles of the race were paved. I quickly settled into a pack of about 8 folks and we chatted as we loosened up.  At the first climb, I reminded myself to powehike ever climb in the first half and then think about running more uphills if I had it in me during RAMBA. I felt like I was taking the pace pretty chill through the pavement and first chunks of singletrack, then finally pushed the pace a bit on the rail trail from miles 14-19. I knew this was likely to be the most runable section and wanted to capitalize on that. Plus, the sun was getting more intense and I was anxious to get back into the shaded singletrack.

After Jackson Mine Park, it was time to start the roughly 45 miles of looping through RAMBA. My pace was held back quite a bit in RAMBA by the cyclists actually. They would pass me on flats and descents, but then would have to unclip and hike-a-bike on ascents and technical terrain. Initially I could feel myself stressing about lost time. I made the mindful choice to use this time to stop and eat. Throughout the day, the same group of cyclists and me were leapfrogging and the banter with those people kept my spirits high. I honestly think that having that time and comiseration with those cyclists was a big part of me having such a good day!  I was priveledged to have runner company for the first 11 miles, then miles 20-26 but after that it was just me and my new cycling friends.  In the first 20 miles of RAMBA, I took care not to overrun the downhills and my IT bands thanked me later. However, miles 30-45 were so incredibly hot and supringly unsheltered by forest. This became a race of attrition. Having some cyclists around encouraged me to stay upbeat.

I was able to see my support crew of my husband and dogs six times during the race. He tracked my location throughout the day and at each meeting point, he would have a camp chair ready for me and all of my snacks spread out so I could decide what I needed. My training partner Desi was very upset that dogs are not allowed in the race, and she attempted to sneak her way into the event anyway!

One of the fun little quirks of Marji is that you have to collect tokens at undisclosed checkpoints on the route. I was in the dark for about two hours through the roughest portion of RAMBA. I was falling at least once every 2 miles. And, instead of being upset about falling, my biggest worry was that I was going to lose one of those frickin tokens and be turned around at the finish line to go collect another. I'm not really much of a finish line crier, but when I finally made that left hand turn into Ishpeming and started down the chute, I just started to sob. That's the power of da Marji.

Gear:
I wore road shoes for the whole thing. (Hoka Cliftons, wore two seperate pairs). I brought trekking poles but did not use them and left them in the van. 

Nutrition:
I stuck to mostly savory stuff: goldfish about an hour in. After the first bit, they were hard to get down but forced me to drink water which wasn't a bad thing at all. I was really feeling Pringles, and ate a few rice cakes along the way too. Good and Plenty's were the sweet of choice. Some oreos felt good towards the end. I ate about 3 larabars and 2 kind bars spread throughout the day as well. I prepackaged everything into small portions in plastic baggies which were stashed in my hydration pack. I had a little tummy trouble around 2-4 pm just as it was pretty hot, but I took a couple short walk breaks and it chilled out. I shockingly experienced no vomiting throughout the day! Drank water in the hydration pack and had a handheld with liquid IV electrolytes -- drank 4 of these throughout the day. This wasn't enough hydration as I only urinated 3 times during the day, but it was enough that I didn't end up with the crippling headache I've suffered after many events. 

    

At the end of the day, I finished 2nd overall in the 50 mile race behind Alisan Barrett. It was so incredible to have two women atop that podium! The Marji broke me physically and mentally, but rebuilt me to be so much stronger. While I won't return for 2023, I know Marji hasn't seen the last of me yet! 

Remember that I am recapping my experiences. Any inaccuracies regarding the course are likely secondary to me blocking out the trauma I endured in RAMBA!