RACES
RACES GO VIRTUAL
Eric Kile is pictured running with friends during his “grandma’s Marathon.”
BY ALLIE JOHNSON
T
hanks to the coronavirus pandemic, most races this spring
and summer have been canceled, leaving many runners disappointed. Most races, however, are giving runners the chance to run the distance virtually—on their own time and their own course—and still receive their race medal, finisher shirt and any other swag if they submit their results by a certain date. Some runners, like me, might throw in the towel on their training and wait until next year to run their races. But many others are taking to the streets of their own neighborhoods to finish what they started.
Eric Kile
Age: 39 Virtual race: Grandma’s Marathon Date run: Saturday, May 23
Eric Kile wasn’t going to let another cancelation keep him from finally running his first marathon.
18
SUMMER 2020
After nearly a decade of running half marathons, last spring he signed up with a friend for the Green Bay Marathon to finally tackle 26.2 miles. But the morning of the race, it was canceled because part of the course was flooded. He ended up running the half marathon that day instead. Eric decided to give the marathon another shot and signed up for MDRA’s spring training class this year, setting his sights on running Grandma’s Marathon on Saturday, June 20. He said his thoughts at the time were, “Maybe I’ll train for Grandma’s...Grandma’s can’t get canceled, right?” When Grandma’s was canceled, Eric realized that if he was ever going to actually run a marathon, this was the time to do it because he didn’t know if he would sign up for a third race. So, he decided to run Grandma’s virtually. “I was going for it because I wasn’t going zero for two,” he said. “I was here. I was trained. It was time for me to possibly keep it going.” Since he could choose the date of his virtual marathon himself, Eric moved up the race to avoid the summer heat. He said he continued to follow the MDRA training plan, shortening it a little bit. On Saturday, May 23, Eric ran his first ever marathon. He started at 5:30 a.m., running from the front steps of his house in St. Louis Park, around the Chain of Lakes in Minneapolis and back. The finish line was in his own driveway.
